Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy [Hardcover]

Albert Ellis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

First developed in 1955, Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) is the original form of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and one of the most successful psychotherapeutic techniques in the world. Its founder, world-renowned psychologist Albert Ellis, now offers an up-to-date description of the main principles and practices of this innovative and influential therapy. This fascinating look at REBT by its internationally recognised creator will be of inestimable value to professionals and laypersons alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...makes for a fine handbook reference..." -- Contemporary Psychology, Vol. 48, No. 5

"Ellis' plain-writing style and wealth of examples...make it accessible to anyone with an interest in this insightful therapeutic method." -- Metapsychology Online Review

"accessible to readers of many backgrounds, from the layperson to the student of psychotherapy to the professional therapist" -- Choice

From the Author

"The goals of psychotherapy are twofold: to help clients disturb themselves less emotionally and to enable them to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. When people seriously disturb themselves--that is, make themselves severely panicking, depressing, or raging--and when they function poorly--that is, unduly inhibit themselves, withdraw, or act compulsively--they live less happily. Effective psychotherapy usually first tries to reduce clients' disturbing but also teaches them the skills of leading a more fulfilling, self-actualizing existence. Unless they achieve the first of these goals, the second one is, while not impossible, damned difficult!"--Albert Ellis, Ph.D., Founder, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 419 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573928798
• ISBN-13: 978-1573928793
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #98,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

(1913-2007) Albert Ellis held M.A and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. He was the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), the pioneering form of the modern Cognitive Behavior therapies. He was the president of the Albert Ellis Institute in New York, where he practiced individual and group psychotherapy, supervised and trained psychotherapists, and presented many talks and workshops at the Institute and throughout the world. He published over seven hundred articles and more than sixty books on psychotherapy, marital and family therapy, and sex therapy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most up-to-date description of REBT, April 17, 2002

By 

Andreas Fellner "afellner" (München) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (Hardcover)

This book contains the most up-to-date description of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy available. Ellis especially emphasizes the following:
* The use of action verbs (e.g. I make myself angry or depressed) instead of nouns (I suffer from depression). This continually reminds oneself of the principle of emotional responsibility: neurotic difficulties don't come out of the blue, I partly create them by my irrational beliefs
* The basic philosphical underpinnings of REBT and how REBT relates to other systems of therapy, e.g. systems therapy, (cognitive) behavior therapy and psychoanalysis
* The flexible use of therapeutic procedures, sometimes even non-REBT techniques, to help patients overcome their neuroticizing
* As usual, Ellis tries to help the reader to achieve unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance and high frustration tolerance
* In contrast to some earlier books, Ellis does not postulate to have a panacea for all psychological problems

At times repetitive, this book nonetheless is worth reading as it contains several so far underestimated aspects of REBT. I recommend it for therapists and people already familiar with the basics of REBT. The interested lay person should better read Ellis' book: Ellis, A. (2011). Feeling better, getting better, staying better.

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars full of insight, March 18, 2002

By 

Coert Visser "solutionfocusedchange.com" (Driebergen Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (Hardcover)

This new book by Albert Ellis, founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), is a collection of articles he published in the last several years, some of them partly rewritten. Ellis originated REBT in 1955. Since then, it has gained great influence, primarily in therapy, but also in management coaching and training.

The basics of REBT have remained the same. They revolve around the ABCs of self-disturbing. (A) stands for the Adversities we encounter, (B) for our Beliefs about these Adversities, and (C) for the emotional and behavioral Consequences of these Beliefs. A coach, therapist, or trainer using REBT, has two goals: 1) to help people feel better and 2) to make them function better and does so by helping to replace the problematic Beliefs by more usable and realistic Beliefs.

Although the core of REBT has remained the same, some aspects of the approach have kept on evolving, and Ellis keeps on leading the development of REBT himself. The book shows many examples. Important is for instance that Ellis now defines the (B) of the ABCs not merely as Believing but as Believing-Emoting-Behaving.

Very interesting is how Ellis uses action language when writing about emotional problems. He thinks we misuse many nouns in psychology instead of verbs and therby create "semifictional entities" or "thought things". An example: Ellis doesn't say: "I suffer from depression" but "I depress (myself)".

A terrific chapter I found the one about postmodernism and constructivism in psychotherapy. I have never read such a clarifying chapter about this intruiging subject before. Ellis convincingly demonstrates how REBT and constructivism are not at odds but conincide well with each other. To illustrate, he says: "You have considerable power to construct self-helping thoughts, feelings, and actions as well as to construct self defeating behaviors."

Although this book is NOT intended to be a self-help book, each chapter ends with some great self-help suggestions, which can also be read as chapter summaries. This book, which is filled with great insights, shows the great inspiraton of Ellis, which is still there.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Change Destructive Beliefs to Heal and Reclaim Happiness, April 13, 2004

By 

Barbara Rose (BornToInspire.com) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (Hardcover)

Albert Ellis wrote a goldmine of a book to help people and therapists heal those who are in pain with destructive beliefs, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, marriage and family, jealousy, OCD, and many other difficulties that CAN be healed. It requires commitment and dedication on the part of the individual to want to heal.

One of the key points in this book is that our unhappiness stems from irrational beliefs, "must", "should" and how important it is to "create a vital meaning and absorbing interest in your life..."

This book will be outstanding for anyone committed to his or her own self growth, healing, with the strong desire to turn it all around.
Highly recommended!

Barbara Rose, Ph.D. author of Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE and If God Was Like Man
Editor, inspire! magazine