Rational Emotive Behavior

Dr. Albert Ellis (1913 – 2007) was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), inspired by many of the teachings of Asian, Greek, Roman and modern philosophers. REBT is one form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and was first expounded by Ellis in the mid-1950s; development continued until his death in 2007.
Ellis explained REBT:

 
"REBT assumes that human thinking, emotion, and action are not really separate or disparate processes, but that they all significantly overlap and are rarely experienced in a pure state. Much of what we call emotion is nothing more nor less than a certain kind — a biased, prejudiced, or strongly evaluative kind — of thought [belief]. But emotions and behaviors significantly influence and affect thinking, just as thinking influences emotions and behaviors. Evaluating is a fundamental characteristic of human organisms and seems to work in a kind of closed circuit with a feedback mechanism: Because perception biases response and then response tends to bias subsequent perception. Also, prior perceptions appear to bias subsequent perceptions, and prior responses appear to bias subsequent responses. What we call feelings almost always have a pronounced evaluating or appraisal element."
Albert Ellis defined three major insights of REBT:
• Insight 1 - People seeing and accepting the reality that their emotional disturbances at point C only partially stem from the activating events or adversities at point A that precede C. Although A contributes to C, and although disturbed C's (such as feelings of panic and depression) are much more likely to follow strong negative As (such as being assaulted or raped), than they are to follow weak As (such as being disliked by a stranger), the main or more direct cores of extreme and dysfunctional emotional disturbances (C's) are people’s irrational beliefs — the absolutistic musts and their accompanying inferences and attributions that people strongly believe about their undesirable activating events.
• Insight 2 - No matter how, when, and why people acquire self-defeating or irrational beliefs (i.e. beliefs which are the main cause of their dysfunctional emotional-behavioral consequences), if they are disturbed in the present, they tend to keep holding these irrational beliefs and continue upsetting themselves with these thoughts. They do so not because they held them in the past, but because they still actively hold them in the present, though often unconsciously, while continuing to reaffirm their beliefs and act as if they are still valid. In their minds and hearts they still follow the core "musturbatory" [1] philosophies they adopted or invented long ago, or ones they recently accepted or constructed.
o [1] "Musturbation" is a play on the words "must" and "masturbation" coined by Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational-emotive behavior therapy. He used it to describe someone who tells themselves obsessively that they must do this or that.
• Insight 3 - No matter how well they have achieved insight 1 and insight 2, insight alone will rarely enable people to undo their emotional disturbances. They may feel better when they know, or think they know, how they became disturbed - since insights can give the impression of being useful and curative. But, it is unlikely that they will actually get better and stay better unless they accept insights 1 and 2, and then also go on to strongly apply insight 3: There is usually no way to get better and stay better but by: continual work and practice in looking for, and finding, one’s core irrational beliefs; actively, energetically, and scientifically disputing them; replacing one’s absolutist musts with flexible preferences; changing one's unhealthy feelings to healthy, self-helping emotions; and firmly acting against one’s dysfunctional fears and compulsions. Only by a combined cognitive, emotive, and behavioral, as well as a quite persistent and forceful attack on one's serious emotional problems, is one likely to significantly ameliorate or remove them — and keep them removed.
o The idea here is that if the person held an ‘Irrational belief'(IB), then their (C) Consequent emotional and behavioural response would be an ‘over-upset', or ‘disturbance' - such as feeling and acting in an angry, anxious or depressed way.
o On the other hand, if the person held a ‘Rational belief'(RB), then their (C) Consequent emotional and behavioural response would be a ‘reasonable upset' - such as feeling and acting in an irritated or concerned way.
Albert Ellis has suggested three core beliefs or philosophies that humans tend to disturb themselves through:
1. "I absolutely MUST, under practically all conditions and at all times, perform well (or outstandingly well) and win the approval (or complete love) of significant others. If I fail in these important—and sacred—respects, that is awful and I am a bad, incompetent, unworthy person, who will probably always fail and deserves to suffer."
• Holding this belief when faced with adversity tends to contribute to feelings of anxiety, panic, depression, despair, and worthlessness.
2. "Other people with whom I relate or associate, absolutely MUST, under practically all conditions and at all times, treat me nicely, considerately and fairly. Otherwise, it is terrible and they are rotten, bad, unworthy people who will always treat me badly and do not deserve a good life and should be severely punished for acting so abominably to me."
• Holding this belief when faced with adversity tends to contribute to feelings of anger, rage, fury, and vindictiveness.
3. "The conditions under which I live absolutely MUST, at practically all times, be favorable, safe, hassle-free, and quickly and easily enjoyable, and if they are not that way it's awful and horrible and I can't bear it. I can't ever enjoy myself at all. My life is impossible and hardly worth living."
• Holding this belief when faced with adversity tends to contribute to frustration and discomfort, intolerance, self-pity, anger, depression, and to behaviors such as procrastination, avoidance, and inaction.
Most of us tend to act because event (A) the “cause” produces the emotional or behavioral response or consequence (C) the “effect”. Example: I cry (“effect”) because someone shouts at me (“cause”).
In reality, however, our responses are “mediated” by our belief system (B). I cry because someone shouts at me and I believe that it’s unbearable; someone who believes it’s trivial might laugh rather than cry.
Most emotional problems are maintained by failure to recognise the role of cognitive mediation, i.e., A-C thinking rather than A-B-C thinking.
“People are not disturbed by things, but by the judgements which they form about things.” ~ Epictetus