RATIONAL-EMOTIVE

BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
(REBT)

 Albert

Ellis concluded that

psychoanalysis was a
relatively superficial and
unscientific form of
treatment.
He form the REBT by
combining from humanistic,
philosophical and behavioural
therapy.

REBT Assumptions of Human

Nature

According to Ellis, humans are both rational

and irrational, sensible and crazy.
Irrational thoughts or irrational beliefs
contribute to negative emotions and
ineffective behaviour.
He believed that when people have emotional
problems, their irrational thoughts would lead
to verbalisation or self-talk that is based on
faulty logic and assumptions. Subsequently,
what people tell themselves is related to the
way feel or act.

Table 1: Two Irrational Beliefs That Often to

Problematic Behaviours

Irrational Beliefs
1 I must be loved or
approved by almost
everyone in my life or else
I am not good or I am
worthless

Example
My children
dont like me.
I must be a
useless
mother.

2 I should be perfectly
competent, adequate and
achieving everything in
order to be worthwhile

I am not good
in
Mathematics.
I guess I am
not a good
student.

A-B-C Theory of
Personality
Activating
event

Irrational belief

Upsetting
emotions

This theory is the basic idea of nationalemotive therapy or counselling focused by

Ellis

Purpose of Counselling and Role

of the Counsellor
Goal of REBT
-To reduce or eliminate irrational behaviour by
changing irrational thoughts.
-The primary goal of counselling is to make
clients aware of their irrational ways of
thinking, and help them stop making
demands and becoming upset with their own
strict ways of thinking.

Counselling Techniques

The techniques focus mainly on teaching the

clients and disputing their irrational beliefs.
After exploring the clients situation, the
counselor explains the basic principles of the
activating events, beliefs and emotions. This
known as rational emotive education.
In the second part where the counselor
disputes the clients irrational beliefs, the
counselor may directly attack the clients logic,
challenge their thinking, and confront them
with evidence contrary to their beliefs.

Counselling Techniques

Using cognitive disputation, the counselor

uses a lot of direct questions, logical reasoning
and persuasion.
When using imaginative disputation, the
counselor will ask clients to imagine using the
rational emotive imagery.
In using behavioural disputation, the counselor
may ask clients to role play and act out the
behaviour opposite to clients usual way, or
give clients homework where they have to
practice or read some assigned materials.

Table 2: Examples of Statements that Disputes

Irrational Beliefs
Irrational Beliefs

Examples of Disputes

My children dont like Where is the

me. I must be a
evidence that
useless mother.
your children
dont like you?
I am not good in
What makes a
Mathematics. I guess good student
I am not a good
student.

REBT A-B-C-D-E model

Activating
event

Effective
beliefs
and
behaviour

Upsetting
emotions

Irrational belief

Disputes

Conclusion

REBT counseling focuses on changing

clients irrational beliefs as a reaction to
activating events. The irrational thoughts
cause negative emotions which also lead
ineffective behaviours. The counselors task
is to point out to clients and dispute their
irrational beliefs so that clients can be
rational and behave more effectively.