Skip to main content

Rational Emotive Behaviour Education Frequently Asked Questions



Q. What is REBT (Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy)?
A. It’s a psychotherapy tool used to help people sort out their behavioural and emotional issues. It is based on constructivist theory.

Q. Where does it come from?
A. Dr Albert Ellis created it in the 1950’s. It is acknowledged as the original of the cognitive therapies. Some others are Aaron Becks CBT and William Glassers Choice Theory amongst others. It is a philosophy based approach, Albert Ellis drawing on the work of Epictetus and others of the Stoic tradition.

Q. What’s the ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance?
A. It demonstrates that A (the event) is not solely responsible for how someone feels and acts (C) but what we believe (B) has a lot to with it! I.e. A+B=C

Q. I’m not a psychologist. How do I teach this stuff?
A. There are some basic strategies that can be used in daily teaching practise that will value add to the teaching/learning process. You don’t have to be a psychologist!

Q. What is REBE (Rational Emotive Behaviour Education)?
A. It’s the application of REBT theory and practises in daily teaching/learning.

Q. Why is REBE important?
A. It teaches students in a systematic way how their feelings and actions are driven by their constructed beliefs (Rational/irrational). If students are aware of this they can begin to make better choices by deconstructing unhelpful beliefs and replacing them with helpful ones.

Q. How does this support mental health and suicide prevention?

A. REBE is based on the very counselling model, REBT/CBT that is promoted by DECDS, (South Australian Education Department) Beyond Blue and Headspace to name a few. It teaches students that anxiety; depression, anger and shame/guilt are driven by irrational core beliefs. Through REBE we help students to examine their core philosophical beliefs and develop healthier ones. As depression is known to be a precursor to suicide and self-harm the benefit of REBE is inestimable.

Q. What other benefits are there for students?
A. REBE addresses victim and bully behaviour. It is a system based on educative, restorative principles and is a preventative mental health program, which can be delivered via pastoral care and across all curriculum areas.

Q. I feel overwhelmed by the number of approaches, strategies, and programs available.

A. The REBE approach is user friendly. It doesn’t rely on any program per se but on a counselling philosophy that embraces most of what we teach about behaviour/mental health via a plethora of other programs that are presented to us.
 
Hello there!

Q. I’ve heard a lot about Positive Psychology. Is this the new frontier of preventative/educative personal development teaching/learning in schools?

A. Bertrand Russell, eminent mathematician and philosopher of the last century talked about positive psychology. Albert Ellis and others likewise in many and varied ways promote the ideas of PS. Martin Seligman of PS fame draws on many of the ideas and principles of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy/Education.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Grieving the Loss of Self When Narcissistic Feed Dries Up

Professor Sam Vaknin is an authority on narcissistic personality disorder. His videos are informative and well communicated which helped my understanding of this condition. A narcissists  'feed' dries up when the supply of others adulation and affirmation withers and stops. A crisis ensues when the narcissist realises that incoming approval has diminished and their idealised self is under attack. The contrived and carefully constructed 'self' is no longer acknowledged and valued by external sources. They cease 'to be' because the sources feeding their self sees through the narcissists grandiose and phony veneer. The self they have concocted and which demands the positive regard and affirmation of those they have trained to adore them, is but an irrational virtual representation of the real world. There's a disparity between the narcissists version of reality and how things really are, projecting a world of fantasy replayed on a loop inside their heads, feedi...

APPROVALISM – the philosophy of the ‘love slob’

An approvalist is one who practices the philosophy of Approvalism. An approvalist lives life for the service of others seemingly without thought for self, ministering to the needs of others, making life ‘better’ for them. A good approvalist needs to do for others and her worth is measured according to how others view her and how helpful she can be to others. Approvalists say ‘yes’ to others demands and requests and are ultra sensitive to the needs of others (they must be rescued and saved). If they don’t perform to their own lofty expectations or (quelle catastrophe!) others don’t seem to value them (as they should) then they tend to harshly judge themselves as being ‘bad’ and may down themselves harshly! They will think, ‘I should have known that he needed support. I should have been there. I should have done better. I am a loser. It’s my fault he is in such a mess.’ They may also experience deep anger and direct it towards those ‘who do not appreciate me, after all shouldn’t they ...

Positive Psychology and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

The ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance illustrates how feelings and behaviour at C are determined by what happens at A and B i.e. what we believe (B) about what happens (A). This is an A+B=C philosophy. What happens when our constructed view of ourselves equates to an A=C way of believing e.g. failing at A makes me feel depressed at C and causes me to give up. An A=C philosophy ‘If I fail at A I feel really bad at C 'it' (A) makes me angry and sad’ is problematic for our less resilient kids because they are unaware that constructed beliefs at B have a lot to do with it! 
A is what happens e.g. 'someone has rejected me!' and C is how I feel and act in response to A e.g. 'I feel really sad because she has rejected me so I stay at home etc' The depth of despair and how long it lasts will depend on how self accepting the person is. If a child ‘needs’ the approval of others he/she is at risk of depression, anger, anxiety because...