Gossette & O'Brien: The Efficacy of RET in Adults

Question 1

Overview

Answer 1

Using published studies and unpublished dissertations, the researchers selected measures that tested the distinctive components of RET, and not any combination of CBT

To what extent does RET facilitate improvement in adjustment over that found for Wait List, Placebo, or Other treatment conditions?

Question 2

Results

Answer 2

The most likely outcome of RET is an increased rejection of irrational beliefs, not a change in behavior

This is most likely due to the high degree of similarity between the verbal content of RET treatment and that of the measures

Measures of self-reported distress were somewhat less responsive to treatment

Question 3

Behavioral Measures and RET

Answer 3

Behavioral measures are a distinctive incongruity in RET literature, lacking any theoretical link to the phenomenological concept of negative affect

Yet, from clinical perspective, behavioral measures are critical to the assessment of maladjustment

The insensitivity of behavioral measures to RET reflects the absence of any systematic arrangement during treatment of the variables known to affect behavior

Question 4

The Effectiveness Attributable to RET

Answer 4

Much of RET treatment can be seen as a verbal training history

Forceful punitive pressures await “irrational” statements

Relatively weak positive reinforcement follows espousal of “rational” statements

The idea that a word, a self message, or thought can exacerbate negative emotional responses can be understood as a classically conditioned emotional response to symbols

RET will only be effective when techniques of behavior change lessen the frequency of the self initiated conditioned stimuli