Albert Ellis and REBT

Question 1

philosophical assumptions of REBT

Answer 1

cognitions are greater than the environment, and rigid and extreme beliefs are at the root of psychopathology

Question 2

REBT Theory: Irrational vs Rational Beliefs

Answer 2

rational= true, logical, flexible, aids long term goals
irrational= false, illogical, rigid, gets in the way of long term goals

Question 3

REBT theory: ABCs of REBT

Answer 3

A= activating event
B=belief about the event
C = consequences (emotional and behavioral) of holding B
A does not cause B. B is how you choose to respond to A

Question 4

REBT theory: biological tendencies of humans

Answer 4

think irrationally and the ability to think about and change our thinking

Question 5

REBT theory: psychological disturbances

Answer 5

rigid evaluative beliefs about events - “demandingness” or “musterbation” - includes awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, and depreciation/rating

Question 6

Demandingness

Answer 6

confusing “should”/”must” with “want”/”need”

ex) I must do well and be loved by others

Question 7

Awfulizing

Answer 7

rating an event as the worst thing that can happen

ex) If I am not loved by everyone, it’s awful

Question 8

low frustration tolerance

Answer 8

believing that one cannot tolerate an outcome

ex) I can’t handle having a panic attack

Question 9

Depriciation/rating

Answer 9

rating oneself as bad, subhuman, or worthless if they fail to do something “must” do or do something they “must not” do

Question 10

REBT theory: Good psychological health (the opposite of psychological disturbances)

Answer 10

desiring not demanding, antiawfulizing, high frustration tolerance, unconditional acceptance of self

Question 11

REBT theory: Healthy vs unhealthy emotions

Answer 11

healthy: sadness, concern, regret, disappointment, annoyance
unhealthy: depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, anger
* having healthy emotions does not lead to negative outcomes

Question 12

REBT theory: the connection between beliefs, emotions, and outcomes

Answer 12

irrational beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions which lead to poor outcomes
rational beliefs lead to healthy emotions which lead to good outcomes

Question 13

REBT: perpetuating psychological disturbances

Answer 13

people act in ways that are consistent with and strengthen irrational beliefs
people use various defense mechanisms to help them deny that problems exist or minimize them
primary/secondary disturbances: secondary reaction comes from primary reaction about A - worried about being worried

Question 14

REBT theory: irrational belief origins

Answer 14

everyone is irrational some of the time, people remain upset because they rehearse their irrational beliefs and re-indoctrinate themselves

Question 15

Therapeutic process: therapeutic bonds

Answer 15

important but not necessary for clinical change, REBT therapists strive to unconditionally accept clients, and therapists may not be warm with clients because it may strengthen clients’ need for approval

Question 16

Therapeutic process: goals

Answer 16

break down client’s problems into ABCs, help client identify irrational beliefs at B, help clients distinguish “musts” from preferences, help clients distinguish between primary and secondary problems

Question 17

Therapeutic process: challenging irrational beliefs

Answer 17

debate true/falsehood of beliefs, debate usefulness/lack of usefulness, socratic questioning

Question 18

Avoided in REBT

Answer 18

self-esteem (accept self don’t love it, because sometimes you are going to be unlovable), anything that encourages dependence on the therapist, pollyannish positive thinking, a distraction from working on irrational philosophies (i.e. yoga, meditation)

Question 19

Empirical support: meta-analysis of REBT mechanism of change

Answer 19

a significant association between irrational and rational beliefs ( mechanism) and overall outcomes (i.e. greater the change in beliefs, greater the outcome)

Question 20

Empirical support: tenets related to IBs/RBs and feelings - do IBs and RBs generate qualitatively different emotions?

Answer 20

undergrads grouped into high or low IBs and randomly assigned an arousal condition

explained arousal: no effect of RB or IB
unexplained arousal: RBs associated with high positive emotion and low functional and dysfunctional negative emotion, IB associated with the opposite except also high functional negative emotion

Question 21

Empirical support: tenets related to IBs/RBs - distress as a binary construct of functional negative affect and dysfunctional negative affect

Answer 21

sample: breast cancer patients before and after treatment, filling out measures of negative affect and irrational beliefs

higher dysfunctional negative feelings in patients with high IBs vs low IBs, no difference between functional negative feelings between groups, higher functional vs dysfunctional feelings in both groups