REBTOZ

Counselling is more than having a chat with someone though in itself this can be helpful, therapeutic even. But like any discipline there needs to be purpose to any endeavour. What is it we want to achieve for the client and what's in it for me? Can we cause more harm than good or not benefit the other at all? What is counselling any way but two people talking about something?  What do we want to achieve? The goal will always be to help the person you are working with to develop insight and to have the tools to work on themselves as they are getting on with their life. Is it telling people what they need to know or do they know already? These are things the counsellor will consider as the session/s unfold. Is there a payoff for me? Yes there are many but it is important to know what they are. If our main purpose is to feel good about ourselves we are not going to be useful. There are some self appointed experts who seek out opportunities to practise empathy on others asking...

Para Hills School P-7 has kicked off the New Year with school wide educator training in the application of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in daily teaching practise through Rational Emotive Behaviour Education. The focus is on developing student and educator capability via Albert Ellis' ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance. We teach students that as constructivists they have developed  habits of thinking that are useful (rational) or not so useful (irrational). With this insight students can learn how to manage themselves behaviourally and emotionally more effectively especially in the tough times. This learning/teaching is core business at Para Hills School P-7 and The REBE in Schools Program will help students engage more deeply with learning; to take healthy risks and to work hard towards their personal and learning goals. Principal Peter Reid says; 'The REBE in Schools Program will help students develop the capabilities that will help them to be happy and successful....

Published on August 8, 2012 by Bill Knaus, Ed.D. in Science and Sensibility Self-acceptance and confidence are a dynamite combination for any adult and any child to possess. Australian educator, Giulio Bortolozzo, shows how to use rational principles to earn this result. The rhyme, Little Jack Horner , carries a conditional-worth message: Your worth depends on what you do. For those who don’t remember, here’s the rhyme: Little Jack Horner, sat in the corner, eating a Christmas pie. He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum, and said 'What a good boy am I! Is it possible that Jack was a good boy because he pulled out a plum from the Christmas pie? What if he messed up and missed the plumb? Would this make him a bad person? This illustrates the problem with conditional-worth thinking. It is often self-defeating to rate your worth according to how well (or badly) you perform at certain tasks. If you discover the plumb, that is great. If not, too bad. ...

'Broccoli is horrible it really sucks!' exclaimed the year 7 student. 'No it doesn't,' said another. I like it!' A quick survey of the class indicated that most didn't like broccoli however a few did. Similarly with brussell sprouts but fewer still liked them. Substitute 'broccoli' with 'maths' or 'school' and you can do the same excercise and get similar results. Of course students will like or dislike whatever it is they like or dislike but the object of their approval or disapproval isn't the cause of this i.e. it's more about what they think about broccoli. Broccoli is just broccoli and isn't good or bad unless of course you believe it is! Same for maths, school, gerbils and elderberries.  This is what REBT teaches students and if this is true then perhaps we can change how we feel about things if we change how we think about them. This is the mission of Rational Emotive Behaviour Education (REBE). Based on Alber...

My Brain  My brain lives in my head  Its job is to do my thinking  If there's something in my eyes  It tells them to start blinking!  My brain thinks lots of thoughts  They bounce around my head  If I eat a bucket of slugs  I'll probably drop down dead!  My brain is just like jelly  It wobbles and it wibbles  It really is a helpful mate  It helps me work out riddles.  My brain is sometimes lazy  It plays tricks and puzzles me  Does two plus two make four?  Or a hundred and thirty three?  My brain is my best friend  Without it where would I be?  If it wasn't for my brain  My head would be empty!  From 'Have a Go Spaghettio!' an REBT based resource for early childhood educators and counsellors.

When 'it' is causing you to feel sad, inert, sluggish, aimless and generally down sometimes the best thing to do is just keep going. There could be a plethora of 'its' that ails us - past traumas, anxieties about the future, fears of today. Which 'it' is it? Or are they many and varied? We can become bogged down in rumination and contemplation which can ultimately overwhelm us until we stop altogether and resign from the world i.e. the big 'it' that is 'making' us so sad - 'stop the world. I want to get off!' As has been observed over the millenia it isn't 'it' that makes us feel as we feel and do what we do.Oh no! Its our estimation of 'it' that does us in! The world is as it is and is neither good or bad but our thinking about 'it' determines whether 'it' is indeed good or bad. As the great Albert Ellis once said: The world ain't for you or against you. It just doesn't give a shit! In a b...

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 ...