REBT revision Flashcards
Who developed REBT, when, and why?
Albert Ellis in the 50s due to frustration w/ psychodynamic psychotherapy - REBT now acknowledged as ‘the first CBT’.
What are the 5 qualities of rational beliefs?
Flexible Non-extreme Pragmatic Logical Reality-based
What are the 4 qualities of irrational beliefs?
Rigid
Extreme
Illogical
Empirically inconsistent w/ reality
What are the some of the values inherent to REBT?
Self-interest and social interest Self-responsibility Tolerance of others Flexible thinking Acceptance of uncertainty Risk-taking Realistic expectations High frustration tolerance
What is the stated aim of REBT?
To help people live longer, minimise their emotional distress and self-defeating behaviours, and live a more fulfilling and happier existence
What are the 3 core insights REBT seeks to impart?
You mainly create your own emotional disturbances by irrational beliefs you tell yourself
No matter when you started to disturb yourself, if you are upset today, you are still believing dogmatic irrational beliefs
To eliminate anxiety etc, there is no way but work and practice
What is the ABCDE model in REBT?
Activating event Beliefs emotional Consequence Disputation new Emotional Effect
What are the 3 levels of belief in REBT?
Assessment (e.g., “I’ve lost the use of my left side”)
Expectation (e.g., “I should be able to use my left side”)
Evaluation (e.g., “It’s terrible that I can’t use my left side”)
What are 3 types of evaluation in beliefs in REBT?
Low frustration tolerance (e.g., “I can’t stand it”)
Self-downing (e.g., “I’m useless”)
Catastrophisation (e.g., “It’s the end of the world”)
What are some problems with the reliability and validity of REBT measures?
Questionable internal consistency (the Irrational Beliefs Inventory), not all Ellis factors represented (the Attitudes and Beliefs Scale - 2))
What is a difficulty in identifying irrational beliefs?
They require an activating event - they may not be apparent until a crisis.
Despite limitations, homework recording and therapy sessions are the best way to tap them.
What is a key component for each REBT session?
Setting goals and outcomes for each session.
How can you dispute at different levels of belief?
Assessment: “Have you lost the use of the left side of your body?”
Expectation: “Why must you have the use of it?”
Evaluation: “How awful is it really?”
What kinds of negative emotions does REBT distinguish between?
Healthy negative emotions (e.g., concern, remorse, “non-problematic anger”) and unhealthy negative emotions.
Unhealthy negative emotions cause psychic pain and discomfort, lead to self-defeating behaviours, block goals, and perpetuate dysfunctional thinking.
If a client is depressed about being anxious, what would REBT call the depression?
A meta-emotional problem, or second order emotional distress
