Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Summary

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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy was developed by Albert Ellis in the 1950’s (Corey, 2007). Ellis’s work began with the understanding all humans naturally cultivate irrational thinking (Halbur & Halbur, 2015). According to Ellis, it is belief which is at the core of what clients come in complaining about. REBT claims it is not the event necessarily which brings harm to a person, but a client’s perceptions of said event (Corey, 2007). Thus, the aim of the therapist is to “disrupt” the client’s irrational belief system (Corey, 2007). There are many paths a therapist can go down in an effort to unsettle a client’s irrational beliefs, such as cognitive homework, bibliotherapy, rational emotive imagery, role playing, shame attacking exercises, …show more content…
I do realize the need to step in and confront at times with REBT; however, I would like to use this only as needed. My hope is I would be able to guide a client into a place where they realize the irrationality of the belief systems they have set up. Moreover, REBT does not believe a warm relationship with the therapist is necessarily a requirement for healing to happen (Corey, 2007). Trust is what lays the foundation for therapy to happen in my opinion, and I am unsure effective therapy can happen without a warm and trusting relationship between the client and therapist.
Nonetheless, at the core of REBT is the conviction I share regarding where problematic behaviors and emotions come from: subconscious belief systems which we have unwittingly created (Corey, 2007). Therapists using this theory are not satisfied attacking symptoms; instead, they are aiming for what is lying beneath the surface. Furthermore, REBT maintains a highly realistic view of change and the work it takes to experience growth (Dryden & David, 2008). Finally, the process of disruption parallels perfectly my belief of awareness/insight’s role in the healing