Albert Ellis (1913 - )
Ellis was born in Pittsburgh in 1913, but grew up in New York. His initial career plans were to study accounting and retire at 30, but the Great Depression changed all of this. He ended up acquiring a doctorate from Columbia in 1947, and devoted himself to psychoanalysis over the next few years under the direction of Karen Horney.
In the late 1940s he taught at Rutgers and New York University. He also became the chief psychologist at the New Jersey
Diagnostic Center and then at the New Jersey Department of Institutions
and Agencies.
By 1955 Ellis had given up psychoanalysis and began
concentrating on changing people's behavior by confronting them with their
irrational beliefs and persuading them to adopt rational ones. This type of therapy he termed rational-emotive, and published his first book on rational-emotive behavioral therapy, or REBT, two years later. Two years later, he founded and organized the Institute for Rational Living.
Theory: Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy
Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, or REBT, is a theory developed by Ellis which has close ties with the philosophy of Stoicism (i.e., Seneca, Spinoza). The essence of the Stoic philosophy is that everything occurs according to a determinate plan, or set of natural laws, or Reason, and since everything is already determined, it is of little use to fret over things, or to express regret over things that happened according to a necessity of which we have no control over. The belief that we have control and free-will is an illusion. Everything has already been determined, and everything evolves according to deterministic laws (or Reason or God), and so there is little point in wishing for things that were not meant to be.
According to Ellis, Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy begins with the ABC's, or Activating experiences (i.e., sources of unhappiness)Beliefs (usually the beliefs that are at the root cause of our unhappiness), and Consequences (i.e., symptoms such depression and rage which result from our beliefs.
Twelve Irrational Ideas That Cause and Sustain Neurosis
1. The idea that it is a dire necessity for adults to be loved by significant
others for almost everything they do -- instead of their concentrating
on their own self-respect, on winning approval for practical purposes,
and on loving rather than on being loved.
2. The idea that certain acts are awful or wicked, and that people who
perform such acts should be severely damned -- instead of the idea that
certain acts are self-defeating or antisocial, and that people who perform
such acts are behaving stupidly, ignorantly, or neurotically, and would
be better helped to change. People's poor behaviors do not make them rotten
individuals.
3. The idea that it is horrible when things are not the way we like
them to be -- instead of the idea that it is too bad, that we would better
try to change or control bad conditions so that they become more satisfactory,
and, if that is not possible, we had better temporarily accept and gracefully
lump their exis tence.
4. The idea that human misery is invariably externally caused and is
forced on us by outside people and events -- instead of the idea that neurosis
is largely caused by the view that we take of unfortunate conditions.
5. The idea that if something is or may be dangerous or fearsome we
should be terribly upset and endlessly obsess about it -- instead of the
idea that one would better frankly face it and render it non-dangerous
and, when that is not possible, accept the inevitable.
6. The idea that it is easier to avoid than to face life difficulties
and self-responsibilities -- instead of the idea that the so-called easy
way is usually much harder in the long run.
7. The idea that we absolutely need something other or stronger or greater
than ourself on which to rely -- instead of the idea that it is better
to take the risks of thinking and acting less depen dently.
8. The idea that we should be thoroughly competent, intelligent, and
achieving in all possible respects -- instead of the idea that we would
better do rather than always need to do well and accept ourself as a quite
imperfect creature, who has general human limitations and specific fallibilities.
9. The idea that because something once strongly affected our life,
it should indefinitely affect it -- instead of the idea that we can learn
from our past experiences but not be overly-attached to or prejudiced by
them.
10. The idea that we must have certain and perfect control over things
-- instead of the idea that the world is full of probability and chance
and that we can still enjoy life despite this.
11. The idea that human happiness can be achieved by inertia and inaction
-- instead of the idea that we tend to be happiest when we are vitally
absorbed in creative pursuits, or when we are devoting ourselves to people
or projects outside ourselves.
12. The idea that we have virtually no control over our emotions and
that we cannot help feeling disturbed about things -- instead of the idea
that we have real control over our destructive emotions if we choose to
work at changing the musturbatory hypotheses which we often employ to create
them.
(From The Essence of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy by Albert
Ellis, Ph.D. Revised, May 1994.)
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