Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy Responses to Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction Part 1: The Nature of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in Context Question 1. What is Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy? Question 2. Why Have You Changed Some of REBT’s Basic Terminology? Question 3. What Is Meant by the ABC Framework in REBT? Moreover, Isn’t This Framework Overly Simplistic? Question 4. What Is the Difference Between Healthy and Unhealthy Negative Emotions? Question 5. How Can a Therapist and a Client Know if a Client’s Negative Emotion is Healthy or Unhealthy? Question 6. What Are the Differences Between Rigid/Extreme Attitudes and Flexible/Non-Extreme Attitudes in REBT? Question 7. What Is Ego-Based and Non-Ego-Based Disturbance in REBT, How Are They Different, and How Are They Clinically Valuable for the Practitioner? Question 8. Why Does REBT Not Advocate Helping Clients to Raise Their Self-Esteem? Question 9. What Is the Difference Between Helping People Feel Better and Get Better? Question 10. What Are the Differences Between Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy? Question 11. Is REBT a Transdiagnostic Approach to Therapy? Question 12. What Advantages Does REBT Have Which Would Make a Client Seek This Form of Psychotherapy? Question 13. What Does REBT Mean to Help Clients Become Less Disturbable, and Do Most Achieve This Goal? Part 2: The Practice of REBT Question 14. What Is the Role of the Therapeutic Alliance in REBT? Question 15. Do You Have to Practice REBT Like Albert Ellis? Question 16. Which Client Factors Contribute to a Good Outcome or a Poor Outcome in REBT? Question 17. Which Therapist Factors Contribute to a Good Outcome or a Poor Outcome in REBT? Question 18. How Do REBT Therapists Begin Therapy with New Clients? Question 19. How Are Therapy Sessions Structured in REBT? Question 20. Does the REBT Therapist’s Behaviour Change over the Process of REBT? Question 21. How Does REBT View Case Conceptualisation, and How Does This Differ from Generic CBT Case Conceptualisation? Question 22. What Is Meant by a Meta-Psychological Disturbance in REBT, and How Is It Addressed in Therapeutic Practice? Question 23. What Cognitive, Emotive and Behavioural Homework Assignments Do REBT Therapists Commonly Use? Question 24. When REBT Integrates Techniques and Ideas Found in Other Forms of Psychotherapy, How Does It Go About Doing So? Question 25. How Is Lack of Client Progress Conceptualised in REBT? Question 26. How Can Clients Be Harmed in REBT, and What Can Be Done to Prevent Such Harm? Part 3: Miscellaneous Questions Question 27. What Common Mistakes Should Novice Practitioners Avoid When Doing REBT? Question 28. How Important Is Using Language Accurately in REBT? Question 29. What Training Is Necessary to Become a Skilled REBT Practitioner? Question 30. What Activities Do You Think Can Best Help REBT Practitioners Hone Their Skills in REBT? Question 31. Does REBT Only Apply to Alleviate Disturbance, or Can It Assist the Client in Pursuing Meaning, Life Satisfaction and Happiness? Question 32. Why Do You Think REBT Is Less Popular Now Than It Was? Part 4: Personal Questions about REBT Question 33. What Drew You to REBT as Opposed to Any Other Therapeutic Approach? Question 34. Which Ideas or Techniques Have You Personally Found Most Helpful as a Practitioner in REBT? Question 35. How Have You Combined Your Interest in REBT with Your Interest in Single-Session Therapy? Question 36. I Understand You Used to Have a Bad Stammer as a Teenager. Did You Deal with This Problem in Ways that Were Consistent with REBT? Question 37. How Have You Applied REBT in Your Life since Becoming an REBT Therapist? Part 5: FAQs from Clients Question 38. REBT States that Events Do Not Cause Emotions. I Can See This Is the Case When Adverse Events Are Mild or Moderate, but Don’t Very Adverse Events Like Being Raped or Losing a Loved One Cause Disturbed Emotions? Question 39. I Am Worried about the Principle of Emotional Responsibility. Doesn’t It Lead to Blaming the Victim? Question 40. If I Disturb Myself about Your Bad Behaviour, for Example, Won’t that Lead You to Say that My Response Has Nothing to Do with Your Behaviour and Is This Not a Cop-Out on Your Behalf? Question 41. I Get the Impression that REBT Neglects the Past. Am I Right? Question 42. Doesn’t the REBT Concept of Acceptance Encourage Complacency? Question 43. Doesn’t REBT Encourage Selfishness? Question 44. I Understand the Ideas of REBT Intellectually, but I Find It Hard to Be Convinced of Them. What Can I Do? Question 45. How Do You Respond to the Criticism that REBT Therapists Brainwash Their Clients? Question 46. But Don’t REBT Therapists Tell Their Clients What to Feel and What to Do? Question 47. Don’t REBT Therapists Prevent Clients from Finding Their Own Solutions to Their Problems? Question 48. Isn’t REBT Too Confrontational? Question 49. Isn’t It the Case that REBT Is Only Concerned with Changing Attitudes? Question 50. REBT Relies Heavily on the Verbal Interchange Between Therapist and Client. It Also Advocates Concepts that Are Difficult to Grasp. Doesn’t This Mean REBT Only Works with Highly Verbal, Intelligent Clients?

Biography

Windy Dryden is in clinical and consultative practice and is an international authority on Single-Session Therapy. He is Emeritus Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has worked in psychotherapy for more than 45 years and is the author or editor of over 275 books.