Albert Ellis and REBT Flashcards
philosophical assumptions of REBT
cognitions are greater than the environment, and rigid and extreme beliefs are at the root of psychopathology
REBT Theory: Irrational vs Rational Beliefs
rational= true, logical, flexible, aids long term goals irrational= false, illogical, rigid, gets in the way of long term goals
REBT theory: ABCs of REBT
A= activating event
B=belief about the event
C = consequences (emotional and behavioral) of holding B
A does not cause B. B is how you choose to respond to A
REBT theory: biological tendencies of humans
think irrationally and the ability to think about and change our thinking
REBT theory: psychological disturbances
rigid evaluative beliefs about events - “demandingness” or “musterbation” - includes awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, and depreciation/rating
Demandingness
confusing “should”/”must” with “want”/”need”
ex) I must do well and be loved by others
Awfulizing
rating an event as the worst thing that can happen
ex) If I am not loved by everyone, it’s awful
low frustration tolerance
believing that one cannot tolerate an outcome
ex) I can’t handle having a panic attack
Depriciation/rating
rating oneself as bad, subhuman, or worthless if they fail to do something “must” do or do something they “must not” do
REBT theory: Good psychological health (the opposite of psychological disturbances)
desiring not demanding, antiawfulizing, high frustration tolerance, unconditional acceptance of self
REBT theory: Healthy vs unhealthy emotions
healthy: sadness, concern, regret, disappointment, annoyance
unhealthy: depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, anger
* having healthy emotions does not lead to negative outcomes
REBT theory: the connection between beliefs, emotions, and outcomes
irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions which lead to poor outcomes
rational beliefs lead to healthy emotions which lead to good outcomes
REBT: perpetuating psychological disturbances
people act in ways that are consistent with and strengthen irrational beliefs
people use various defense mechanisms to help them deny that problems exist or minimize them
primary/secondary disturbances: secondary reaction comes from primary reaction about A - worried about being worried
REBT theory: irrational belief origins
everyone is irrational some of the time, people remain upset because they rehearse their irrational beliefs and re-indoctrinate themselves
Therapeutic process: therapeutic bonds
important but not necessary for clinical change, REBT therapists strive to unconditionally accept clients, and therapists may not be warm with clients because it may strengthen clients’ need for approval
Therapeutic process: goals
break down client’s problems into ABCs, help client identify irrational beliefs at B, help clients distinguish “musts” from preferences, help clients distinguish between primary and secondary problems
Therapeutic process: challenging irrational beliefs
debate true/falsehood of beliefs, debate usefulness/lack of usefulness, socratic questioning
Avoided in REBT
self-esteem (accept self don’t love it, because sometimes you are going to be unlovable), anything that encourages dependence on the therapist, pollyannish positive thinking, a distraction from working on irrational philosophies (i.e. yoga, meditation)
Empirical support: meta-analysis of REBT mechanism of change
a significant association between irrational and rational beliefs ( mechanism) and overall outcomes (i.e. greater the change in beliefs, greater the outcome)
Empirical support: tenets related to IBs/RBs and feelings - do IBs and RBs generate qualitatively different emotions?
undergrads grouped into high or low IBs and randomly assigned an arousal condition
explained arousal: no effect of RB or IB
unexplained arousal: RBs associated with high positive emotion and low functional and dysfunctional negative emotion, IB associated with the opposite except also high functional negative emotion
Empirical support: tenets related to IBs/RBs - distress as a binary construct of functional negative affect and dysfunctional negative affect
sample: breast cancer patients before and after treatment, filling out measures of negative affect and irrational beliefs
higher dysfunctional negative feelings in patients with high IBs vs low IBs, no difference between functional negative feelings between groups, higher functional vs dysfunctional feelings in both groups
