Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Key Takeaways:

• Rational emotive behavior therapy is a specific form of psychotherapy that focuses on identifying, disputing, and changing one’s irrational beliefs into more rational ones.

• This therapy can help with several mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and phobias. It has also been used successfully in many other settings, such as school and work performance, sports, and relationship issues.

• REBT sessions consist of various techniques, such as cognitive restructuring, skill development, and coping strategies. It is a collaborative process that requires time and effort from the patient, but it can lead to very tangible results.

What is Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy?

Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a type of psychotherapy designed to improve the relationship between one’s beliefs, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. It was originally developed by Albert Ellis in the 1950s and is considered to be the first form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). ^{[1] [2]}

One of the main premises of REBT is that one’s beliefs lead to specific emotional and behavioral responses to events. As a result, it’s not the events themselves that cause the most distress, but rather one’s reaction to these events, which is ultimately shaped by one's beliefs. ^{[1] [2]}

Within this, there are two main categories of beliefs:

• Rational

• Irrational

Rational beliefs are healthy and more adaptive. These beliefs are flexible/adaptable, logical, and aligned with reality. Rational beliefs help create more adaptive thoughts, emotions, and actions, so they can help you reach your goals. ^[1]

On the other hand, irrational beliefs are unhealthy and maladaptive. These beliefs are overly rigid, illogical, and not aligned with reality. This can then lead to dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, and actions, which make it difficult to function well and may diminish overall life quality. ^[1]

So, essentially, the goal of REBT is to strengthen and enhance the existing rational beliefs, while identifying, challenging, and weakening the irrational beliefs, ultimately replacing them with more rational alternatives.

What Conditions Can REBT Be Used to Treat?

REBT is used to treat many conditions, where it can improve not only mental health disorders, but also overall life quality, relationships, school performance, and other key areas.

Concerning mental health conditions, REBT has been shown to help with: ^{[1] [3]}

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

• Phobias

• Psychosis

• Disruptive behaviors

Beyond mental health conditions, REBT is helpful for many other areas too, such as:

• Cognitive performance: Thoughts, problem-solving, decision-making, self-efficacy

• Parenting: Parenting Skills and competency, parent-child interactions

• Performance: Academic performance, sports and athletic performance, work-related achievements

• Social skills: Conflict resolution, Assertiveness

Common Irrational Beliefs REBT is Used to Treat

Regarding irrational beliefs, REBT specifically focuses on treating someone’s evaluative beliefs, which are the judgments and evaluations you make about yourself, situations, interactions with others, and general aspects of your life and the world.

These irrational beliefs are broken down into one primary belief and three secondary beliefs, which are: ^[4]

• Demandingness (primary belief): This is the very rigid idea that, because you want things to work out a certain way, they must/have to work out that way, with no other option.

• Low frustration tolerance: When your rigid beliefs or desires are not met, it causes extreme frustration.

• Awfulizing: When your rigid ideas aren’t met, it is seen as awful and the worst possible thing imaginable.

• Global evaluation: If your rigid desires aren’t met, this means that you, others, and/or your life/the world are totally bad (depending on the situation)

Evidently, these irrational beliefs can cause significant distress and dysfunction.

How Does REBT Work?

REBT works by identifying and addressing someone’s irrational beliefs that are presently contributing to dysfunctional emotions and behaviors. REBT therapists work with individuals to directly identify and point out their deficiencies and dysfunctions, which ultimately helps to promote change. ^[5]

The main model that underlies REBT is the ABCDE theory of emotional change. The first three are often referred to as the ABC theory of personality, which consists of the following components: ^{[4] [5]}

• A: Activating events: The facts, behaviors, or events (i.e.. the things that happen)

• B: Beliefs: Beliefs triggered by the event or beliefs about the event itself

• C: Consequences: Your emotions and behaviors that result from the beliefs

Here is an example in the context of someone with anxiety about school:

• A: They received a C grade on one of the first exams

• B: They believe that the class is too hard and they’ll never pass

• C: They feel anxious, stressed out, and highly worried.

The final two components of the ABCDE model are:

• D: Disputation: The specific application of methods to dispute or challenge irrational beliefs

• E: Effects: The beneficial effects resulting from disputing the irrational beliefs

Within the overall ABCDE framework, REBT therapists help individuals to recognize that it is their beliefs and perceptions of events that are causing all of their distress, not the events themselves. And from there, they implement specific strategies and techniques to dispute these beliefs.

What to Expect in an REBT Session

REBT can be conducted in individual, small group, or large group settings. In an REBT session, your therapist will work with you to understand your current issues and goals. It’s a highly collaborative approach that focuses on addressing your weak points and limitations, so that you can improve your ability to function and overall life quality.

Once the irrational beliefs are identified, therapists use a variety of cognitive restructuring techniques to dispute, challenge, and reframe these beliefs, which then ultimately leads to the formation of newer, more rational beliefs. Various cognitive restructuring techniques are used, such as: ^[6]

• Logical: examining the logic and rationality of the beliefs.

• Empirical: examining the overall evidence for or against one’s beliefs.

• Pragmatic: evaluating the overall usefulness and helpfulness of the beliefs.

• Emotive/metaphorical: the use of metaphors, humor, stories, or other components to see the beliefs from a different perspective.

• Behavioral: practical exercises to test and examine one’s beliefs (e.g., exposure therapy).

Over time, these techniques can help individuals adopt more rational beliefs, which are characterized in part by:

• Greater frustration tolerance.

• Decreased catastrophizing.

• Unconditional acceptance (for oneself, others, and life overall).

REBT also involves specific techniques to deal with disruptive consequences that occur early on, while the irrational beliefs still need to be changed. Such techniques include relaxation, hypnosis, meditation, and other coping strategies. ^{[5] [6]}

In addition, REBT helps individuals develop specific skills, such as: ^{[5] [6]}

• Assertiveness.

• Social skills.

• Conflict resolution.

• Problem-solving techniques.

Benefits and Potential Limitations

REBT has many possible benefits in various situations. In general, it can help many different individuals overcome whatever difficulties or adversities they’re facing and to help them achieve their goals.

REBT can help with many important negative emotions and behaviors, including (but not limited to\!) anger, anxiety, procrastination, guilt, and depression. In turn, these positive emotional and behavioral changes facilitated by REBT can improve daily functioning, work satisfaction and effectiveness, relationships, and emotional health and overall well-being. ^[2]

However, there are some potential limitations to REBT as well. For example, REBT requires relatively complex and higher-level thinking, which might make it difficult or unsuitable for young children or individuals with intellectual difficulties ^[5]

In addition, REBT involves significant time and effort. Therefore, it may not be suitable or beneficial for certain people with severe mental health concerns, especially if they’re not willing or unable to change and be committed to the whole process.

Also, REBT is not able to explain the specific irrational beliefs (or other mechanisms) behind all mental disorders. Therefore, it might not apply to everyone facing mental health issues, even if they are willing and able to commit to the process.

How Effective is REBT?

In general, REBT is an effective therapy. A recent research review from the journal PLoS One showed that REBT led to significant reductions in irrational beliefs, along with significant increases in rational beliefs and positive mental health outcomes, such as decreased depression and anxiety. ^[1]

These effects were found across a wide variety of settings, too, including educational, forensic, relationships, sport and exercise, physical/mental health concerns, and organizational settings. Thus, REBT can benefit many different individuals in various life circumstances. ^[1]

Finding an REBT Therapist

To find an REBT therapist near you, you can ask your doctor or healthcare provider for recommendations. Make sure to tell them what you’re specifically looking for.

In addition, there are a few online organizations that can help you locate an REBT therapist, such as:

• The Albert Ellis Institute: They help you find an REBT therapist worldwide.

• Psychology Today: This link is for therapists in the US, but you can choose your country to find an REBT therapist near you

Summary

REBT is one of the oldest forms of psychotherapy, and continues to hold significant relevance today. By helping individuals to identify and change their irrational beliefs into more rational, healthier ones, REBT promotes improved mental well-being and functioning across a wide variety of settings, such as school, work, relationships, and even one’s general life outlook and satisfaction.