REBTOZ

Ms. Vivienne Ayshus arrived at her new school with vim and vigour. Ms. Viv, as she preferred to be called, hit the ground running and she was true to her nickname, ‘Vivacious Viv.’ She presented as bright and bubbly and her students responded to her in a very positive way. Behaviour was never an issue as her students had what seemed, unconditional positive regard for her, and many would say how much they looked forward to coming to school each day. She smiled often, and her dangly earrings would catch the sunlight and sparkle like she did. Not only did the students like her, but the parents did also, as they knew that their children would have a great day at school with Ms. Viv as they would report on returning home at the end of the day. Many of her teacher colleagues also appreciated the value she added to the working environment. Ms Viv was an asset to the school and education, so you’d think it would be onward an upwards from here. Surely a person of this calibre would become...

Have a Go Spaghettio! Counselling In an ideal teaching and learning world there would be a qualified counsellor in each school across all year levels from preschool to year 12. However, it would be rare to find a qualified counsellor in the junior primary setting, but that aside, what would a counsellor be charged to do in the scheme of early childhood things? Albert Ellis, creator of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, said the future of psychotherapy is in the school system. What did he mean by that? He was suggesting that teachers can help students understand why they act and feel as they do according to the ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance counselling paradigm. What are their constructed beliefs about themselves, others and how the world works? And what can they do about self-defeating and destructive, deeply held irrational beliefs and how do they build new, robust and healthy rational ones? By what means do we bring a model of psychotherapy into the early childhood teaching an...

Narcissism can begin to develop in early childhood, with some traits appearing around ages 7 or 8 as children start to evaluate themselves based on others' perceptions. The development of narcissism is a result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors, with contributing factors including childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, inconsistent or overly indulgent parenting, and excessive criticism or praise.  Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) says narcissism is linked to  irrational beliefs  about one's self-worth which can lead to emotional disturbances like excessive self-criticism or grandiose self-inflation. The core REBT approach is to identify and dispute these beliefs, helping the individual cultivate   unconditional self-acceptance  a more realistic, balanced view of self that is not dependent on external validation or achievements. This involves replacing beliefs like "I must be superior" with more rational ones, teachin...