Albert Ellis - Rational Emotive Therapy

• Aim

  • The assumption of rational emotive therapy is that if people are feeling overly stressed out about something then they are thinking irrationally
  • The aim of the therapy then, is to help the client think rationally about their stress and therefore feel better about it
  • The therapy is split into 5 stages (A-B-C-D-E)
• A-B-C-D-E


  A - (activating experience) - feeling that it's too hot outside

  B - (irrational beliefs) = 'I can't cope with this heat'

  C (consequences) - acting irritable and moody all day because of the feeling that the heat is awful and to hot

  D (disputing) - the therapist disputes the irrational beliefs ('it's not that bad, it's uncomfortable and you can deal with that)

  E (effects of therapy) - the individual has a new set of rational beliefs about heat and can deal with them much more effectively from now on