Rational Emotional Therapy (Albert Ellis) How does it work?

The rational emotional therapy (TRE) is a short form of psychotherapy that allows you to identify negative thoughts and emotions, question their rationality, and replace them with more adaptive beliefs. Their ultimate goal is to identify behavioral and emotional problems to lead a life with greater well-being and happiness..

Rational emotional therapy was one of the first cognitive therapies to be implemented in the field of psychotherapy. In fact, this treatment designed by the famous American psychotherapist Albert Ellis, began to be used as early as 1955.

Albert Ellis proposes a different style of psychotherapy to behavioral and psychoanalytic, indicating the importance of thoughts and cognitive styles in the face of psychological problems.

However, like all changes, the implementation of rational emotional therapy was not easy. In fact, Ellis spent almost 10 years (from 1955 to 1963) being the only psychotherapist who used this therapy in his psychological interventions..

Later, psychologists began to train in rational emotional therapy and its use became more widespread until it became consolidated as one of the main cognitive therapies..

Article index

• 1 The Bases of Rational Emotional Therapy
• 2 Main cognitive theories
  • 2.1 -ABC theory
  • 2.2 -Irrational beliefs
• 3 Stages
  • 3.1 -Stage 1: psychoadiagnosis
  • 3.2 -Stage 2: Intellectual Insight
  • 3.3 -Stage 3: Change of attitudes
• 4 References

The Bases of Rational Emotional Therapy

Rational emotional therapy is based on working on cognitive concepts when psychological disturbances arise. Mental well-being is no longer limited to “what people do” and is basically focused on “what people think”.

In this line, psychological functioning is beginning to be understood from a three-dimensional point of view, where behavior, thought and emotions play important roles that mutually feed back..

A person who feels anxious experiences a series of anxious emotions, which produce a series of nervous thoughts that produce certain behaviors that increase both anxiety emotions and nervous thoughts.

Given these considerations, Ellis interpreted that the fundamental point of the alteration is thought, since if a person with anxiety manages to eliminate their thoughts of nervousness, they will stop experiencing anxious emotions and will avoid performing behaviors that may increase anxiety.

Now, how are people's thoughts worked? How can you intervene in the cognitive style? Well, Ellis not only designed a cognitive therapy such as rational emotional therapy, but he also conducted an extensive study on people's thoughts.

Major cognitive theories

Rational emotive therapy is based on 2 main cognitive theories.

-ABC theory

This theory, which is based on personality and personality change, defends the importance of emotions and behavior, but places special emphasis on the role of thoughts and mental images..

The theory is based on a feedback between A, B and C, where A refers to activating events, B to beliefs and thoughts about these events and C to emotional and behavioral consequences.

It is argued that thoughts are important mediators between events and emotional and behavioral responses, since depending on what is thought, situations will be interpreted in one way or another.

Example

We are going to present an example briefly to understand more exactly how this theory works.. 

A person arrives late for a family meal and when entering the dining room all his relatives are looking at him.

This situation in which a person is involved acts as an activating event (A), which can provoke a specific emotional and behavioral response (C).

However, the C that causes this situation will differ significantly depending on what the person thinks at that moment, that is, according to the content of B.

Thus, if the person in this situation (A) thinks that everyone is looking at him because he has arrived late and is angry with him, the emotional and behavioral response (C) is most likely sad, angry or uncomfortable..

However, if the person thinks that everyone is looking at him because they wanted him to come, they have not seen him for a long time and are happy that he has finally been able to come, the emotional and behavioral response will be quite different..

In this case, the emotions you feel are probably positive, you feel happiness, joy and satisfaction, and your subsequent behavior is much more positive..

We see that in the same situation, a person's response can be quite different depending on the thoughts that appear at that moment.

-Irrational beliefs

Following the ABC theory, Ellis focused on studying the main thoughts that are causing psychological distress and mental disturbances.

The American psychotherapist grouped 11 basic irrational ideas that people with mental disorders usually have and that largely explain their psychological discomfort. These are:

1. Extreme need to be loved and approved by significant others.
2. Need to be very competent, sufficient, effective and achieve whatever I propose to consider myself as a valid person.
3. People who do not act as "should" are evil, infamous and should be punished for their evil.
4. It is terrible and catastrophic that things do not work out the way one would like.
5. Human misfortune and discomfort are caused by external circumstances and people do not have the ability to control their emotions.
6. If something is, or could be dangerous, I must feel terribly uneasy about it and constantly think about the possibility of it happening..
7. It is easier to avoid the responsibilities and difficulties of life than to face them.
8. I must learn from others and I need someone stronger to trust.
9. What happened to me in the past will always affect me
10. I must feel very concerned about the problems and disturbances of others
11. There is a perfect solution for every problem and if I can't find it it would be catastrophic.

Later, Ellis grouped these 11 irrational ideas into three more basic: the absolutist demands. These are:

1. Self-centered
2. Focused on other people.
3. Focused on life or the world in general.

Stages

Ellis comments that rational emotional therapy is a type of active-directive psychotherapy in which the therapist leads the patient to identify the physiological origin of their psychological problems.

Likewise, the psychotherapist is based on helping the patient to face his thoughts and show him that his disturbing irrational attitudes can be modified. The therapy can be divided into 3 main stages:

-Stage 1: psychoadiagnosis

The first stage focuses on evaluating the patient and discovering irrational beliefs or ideas that can produce counterproductive emotions or behaviors. During this first stage, the patient is taught how their problems contribute and the principles that we have exposed in the previous section are explained..

In this first stage the following tasks are carried out:

1. Patient problems are classified as external, internal or mixed.
2. Their irrational beliefs are detected through the patient's report.
3. The “problems about the problems” are detected, that is, the irrational ideas that appear about the main problems.
4. Establish flexible goals such as working on counterproductive Cs or modifying A's, to which the patient is exposed and which cause discomfort.
5. Explain the bases of ERT using the patient's own problems as an example.
6. Start self records like the following.

-Stage 2: Intellectual Insight

In the second stage, the following aspects are clarified to the patient:

1. Current irrational beliefs are the main determinant of emotional and behavioral problems
2. Although they were acquired in childhood, they are maintained because they continue to be reintroduced in them.
3. Understand which irrational beliefs cause problems
4. Be aware that there is no evidence to support irrational ideas.
5. Self-acceptance even though they have created and still maintain their problems
6. Understand that if they want to get rid of their learned irrational beliefs they have to work hard and intensely.

These aspects are exposed by the therapist in such a way that it is the patient himself who ends up identifying his functioning through these principles, and increases his motivation for change and his involvement in therapy..

-Stage 3: Changing attitudes

Once the aspects of stage 3 are well consolidated, cognitive restructuring and the change of attitudes, beliefs, emotions and behaviors can begin..

The efficacy of this therapy is based on the strong belief that the irrational belief is harmful and must be modified by an alternative, since this fact increases motivation and guarantees that the patient will make an effort to do it..

In this way, the therapist and the patient work together to undermine the patient's irrational attitudes and strengthen the rational ones..

At this stage, self-records are of great value, since they provide extensive material on the characteristics of the patient's irrational ideas..

Likewise, in this phase the therapist acts in a very didactic way, teaching the patient to reason and using Socratic dialogues in order for the patient to achieve:

1. Consider your ideas as hypotheses to be tested.
2. Value new beneficial and rational ideas.
3. Work hard to let go of old irrational beliefs.

References

1. Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive Therapy and Emotional Disorders. New York: International Universities.
2. Burgess, P. M. (1990). Towards resolution of conceptual issues in the assessment of belief systems in Rational Emotive
3. Caballo, Vicente et al. (comp ...) "Manual of Behavior Modification and Therapy Techniques". Editorial Siglo XXI, Spain. 1998.
4. Ellis, A. (1957). Outcome of employing three techniques of psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology 13, 344-350.
5. Lega, L., Caballo, V. E. and Ellis, A. (2002). Theory and practice of rational emotional-behavioral therapy. (2nd ed.). Madrid: 21st century.
6. Sutton-Simon, K. (1981). Assessing belief systems: Conceptions and strategies. In P. C. Kendall and S. D. Hollon (Dir.), Assessment Strategies for Cognitive Behavioral Interventions. New York: Academic.
7. Image source.