Known for his linguistic flair, his colourful turns of
phrase drove home the REBT message that how we think about things can determine
how e.g., upset we become or our state of 'upsetness' as he would say.
Our 'upsetness' and the 'shithood' it places us in, Ellis suggests, is self-imposed
to a large degree. If we believe, irrationally, that people and things beyond
us, 'give us the shits' as it is commonly claimed in my neck of the woods,
then, could it be caused by our own Sustained Habits of Irrational Thinking
Syndrome? Do we give ourselves 'the shits?'
The Have a Go Spaghettio! Success Helper approach to wellbeing helps early
childhood students understand how we contribute to the degree of our own upset
experienced in most cases and this is done by engaging irrational, Success
Stopper, Brain Bully habits of thinking that lead us up the garden path to
Ellis' unsavoury place of personal misery and upset!
Children are acquainted with their thinking nature, and rational, Brain Friend,
Success Helper thinking is encouraged. They learn:
- thinking, feeling, and behaving are connected
- Success Helper, Brain Friend thinking is helpful
- Success Stopper, Brain Bully thinking is unhelpful
Ellis invites us to introduce the principles and practices of psychotherapy via
REBT and CBT into early childhood teaching and learning. Have a Go Spaghettio!
is one way to do this. Give it a try banana pie!
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| Albert Ellis |
