Customer Reviews

Ask Albert Ellis: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America's Best-Known Psychologist

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When you're trying to change self-defeating attitudes, touchy-feely affirmations or so-called quick fixes aren't likely to add up to lasting change. Ellis is refreshingly up-front about identifying crippling thought patterns for what they are -- nutty ideas -- and cutting straight to the practical steps you can take to begin changing the way you respond to personal adversities. Using an A-B-C structure that's meant to stick readily in your mind, he demonstrates how you can make a situation better or worse depending on how you think, feel, and behave toward it. Point 'A' is a negative event. Point 'B' is your belief system or philosophy of what happens at 'A' (can be rational or irrational). Point 'C' is the consequences you create as a result of 'A' and 'B.' Shifting your perspective to produce an assertive, healthy, disturbance-busting result requires a conscious effort. Ellis's method is a cognitive *process* -- which means you need to incorporate it into your daily life, like a healthy diet and exercise, for long-term benefits. Yes, it takes some time to work at refusing to stress yourself out needlessly over upsets and challenges, but the steps outlined are easy to understand and based on common sense.

The book is as reader-friendly as it gets. Ellis pioneered this mode of therapy decades ago, but doesn't rest on the confidence he's earned with its proven track record. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he keeps it fresh and relevant with timely examples and updated insights, maintaining a gung-ho attitude about it that's entertaining and contagious. I couldn't help wanting to give his sensible suggestions a try. The collection of FAQs from his "Ask Dr. Ellis" Web Site covers a lot of ground, from broad, existential queries about attaining happiness to questions about coping with specific kinds of emotional suffering: anger, anxiety, depression, and relationship issues. His responses are warm and down-to-earth, blending clear explanations with no-nonsense motivation. This is a handy resource for general readers and professional therapists looking for reliable, pro-active ways to counteract irrational beliefs and dysfunctional behavior.

Dr. Ellis was a practical "common sense" kind of Psychologist who had a major influence on psychotherapy by developing his own common sense based theory of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (1955), that actually works.

Whether you are a psychotherapist or not you will find some great answers to several questions posed by real people with real problems. I hope this book remains available to both professional and lay people alike. I purchased my copy through Amazon.

In my opinion, Dr. Ellis was the "Real Deal".

The book arrived promptly and was in very good condition. It is a good self-help read and a good refresher course in REBT.