Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

Albert Ellis developed the basis of a psychotherapy model still in use today.

Albert Ellis (1913 - 2007) was one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century and one of the most prominent figures in the field of psychology after his break with the psychodynamic school.

He was the creator of one of the theories that have revolutionized the foundations and methodology in the treatment of emotional and psychological problems, he has earned a place of honor among the greatest psychologists. Today we talk about Albert Ellis and RECT.

Albert Ellis and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

His theory (the Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy) is well known and although many psychologists do not share its principles, others are joining this line, finding in it a good basis to continue developing their profession and the appropriate treatment for each disorder, according to the current demands in the field of clinical psychology.

Albert Ellis was born in Pittsburg in 1913 and studied at Columbia University (New York), specialized in training professionals in Psychoanalysis. There he obtained his doctorate in 1947. Ellis soon realized the limitations of Sigmund Freud's theory and, disappointed by the few results he obtained with his patients, he gradually abandoned psychoanalytic theory to start working on his own theory.

By 1953, he broke completely with psychoanalysis and began to develop a type of psychotherapy that he called Rational Emotive Therapya type of psychotherapy with a cognitive-behavioral orientation cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.

ECRT: what does it consist of?

But, what does Rational Emotive Therapy consist of? It is known that Ellis received training in the field of literature. Among his studies, philosophy had a great deal to do with it, which would serve as a fundamental basis for the later development of his theory. Ellis considered that his theory could be summarized in the phrase of the famous Greek Stoic philosopher Epithetus, who stated that "People are not altered by the facts, but by what they think about the facts."

Ellis developed his theory by exemplifying it as shown in this this graph:

Albert Ellis considered that behavioral and emotional problems could have their genesis in the could have their genesis from three sources: thought, emotional and behavioral.. He emphasized how thoughts influence psychological disturbances.

Ellis (1995) stated that people are largely responsible for their disturbed feelings, which are generated either consciously or unconsciously. Therefore, these same people have all the resources at their disposal to be able to modify their thoughts and bring lasting and stable states into their lives.

The link between thought and emotion

According to Ellis, this shows how thought and emotion are related. Ellis claimed that what causes emotional disturbance or difficulty is not what happens at point A, but that people create a belief structure at point B and reinforce these beliefs in a negative and often detrimental way, which manifests itself in behavioral or emotional reactions: point C, according to Ellis (1962).

This body of theory and the therapy that arose from it motivated much criticism from some professionals in the field of psychiatry. and psychology itself, stating that it suffered from an excess of "rationalism", which caused the theory to be perceived as not very viable and unscientific. Nevertheless, time gave rise to numerous studies and researches on cases where TREC had been applied, obtaining high reliability and excellent results. That is why the TREC, since it was created by Albert Ellis until today is at the forefront of psychotherapies.

The studies that Ellis developed throughout his life have borne fruit. Currently, in his institute located in the city of New York, he continues working in the training of psychotherapists, through lectures, attention to people with family and personal problems, and with studies that make that day after day the science of psychology develops new tools for a century as demanding as the one we live in.

Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy has a clear mission, as stated by Saranson (2006) in his book Abnormal Psychopathology, the problem of maladaptive behaviorwhere he refers to Ellis and Dryden (1977): people have to question their fundamental beliefs (in most cases, irrational), and then replace them with more constructive (rational) ones.

TREC has not only been applied in the clinical field, but there are several writings on intervention in the work and educational settings. A psychotherapy that provides many opportunities in the study of the human being, emotions, thinking and mental health.

Bibliographical references:

• Caballo, V. (2010), Manual of technique and behavior modification.
• Ellis, A. (2003), Manual de Terapia Racional Emotiva, Editorial Desclee
• Saranson, B. and Saranson, I. (2006), Psicopatologia Anormal, el problema de la conducta inadpatada, Editorial Pearson.