Albert Ellis, the renowned creator of one of the most successful forms of psychotherapy -- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) -- offers this candid self-assessment, which reveals how he overcame his own mental and physical problems using the techniques of REBT. Part memoir and part self-help guide, this very personal story traces the private struggles that Ellis faced from early childhood to well into his adult life. Whether you are already familiar with Ellis's many best-selling psychology books or are discovering his work for the first time, you will gain many insights into how to deal with your problems by seeing how Ellis learned to cope with his own serious challenges.
In his early life, Ellis was faced with a major physical disability, chronic nephritis, which plagued him from age five to nine and led to hospitalization. This experience then caused the emotional reaction of separation anxiety. At this time he also suffered from severe, migraine-like headaches, which persisted into his forties. Later in life, he realized that some of his emotional upset was the result of initially taking parental neglect too seriously. Active and energetic by nature, he gradually learned that the best way to cope with any problem, physical or emotional, was to stop "catastrophizing" and to do something to correct it.
As Ellis points out in all of his work, when faced with adversity, we must realize that we have a real choice, either to think rationally about the problem or to react irrationally. The first choice leads to healthy consequences--normal emotions such as sorrow, regret, frustration, or annoyance, which are justifiable reactions to troubling situations. The second choice leads to the unhealthy consequences of anxiety, depression, rage, and low self-esteem. When we recognize irrational beliefs as such, we must then use our reason to dispute their validity. Ellis goes on to describe how these techniques helped him to cope with many other adult emotional problems, including failure in love affairs, shame, anger, distress over his parents' divorce, stress from others' reactions to his atheistic convictions, and upset due to his attitudes about academic and professional setbacks.
Honest and unflinching yet always positive and forward-looking, Ellis demonstrates how to gain and grow from trying experiences through rational thinking.

In this overview of one of the most successful forms of psychotherapy - Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) - its creator and chief advocate, Albert Ellis, explains at length the principles underlying this therapeutic approach and shows how beneficial it can be, not only for therapy but also as a basic philosophy of life. As the title indicates, REBT promotes an attitude of tolerance, an open-minded willingness to accept the frailties, less-than-ideal behaviors, and unique characteristics of both others and ourselves. Ellis persuasively demonstrates that lack of tolerance of our own imperfections can easily lead to emotional disturbances and unhappiness. And intolerance of others, which fails to account for the great diversity of human personalities and behaviors, can become a serious disruptive force in today's highly diverse, multicultural global society. To counter such negative tendencies, Ellis advocates the adoption and practice of three basic attitudes of tolerance: (1) Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA); (2) Unconditional Other-Acceptance (UOA); and (3) Unconditional Life-Acceptance (ULA). He discusses the philosophical foundations of these principles and then devotes a number of chapters to comparing REBT to spiritual and religious philosophies. He points out the dangers of fanatical tendencies in religion while also showing how the basic principles of REBT are similar to some ancient religious philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and the Judeo-Christian Golden Rule. In addition, he criticizes certain secular philosophies for their extremism, including Fascism and Ayn Rand's Objectivism, and he also discusses the ramifications of applying REBT in the social, political, and economic sphere. In emphasizing how easy it is for all of us to think, feel, and act intolerantly, Ellis brilliantly shows that tolerance is a deliberate, rational choice that we can all make, both for the good of ourselves and for the good of the world.

For the first time, the founder of rational-emotive therapy applies it to recovery from problem drinking. This remarkable self-help book tells how to apply rational-emotive therapy (RET) to the problem of alcoholism, overcome emotional disturbances, and bring about a profound philosophical change that will resolve addictive tendencies and often change lives.

This candid autobiography, the last work by renowned psychologist Albert Ellis, is a tour de force of stimulating ideas, colorful descriptions of memorable people and events, and straightforward, no-nonsense talk. Ellis, the creator of one of the most successful forms of psychotherapy--Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)--recounts the memorable episodes of his life; discusses how he coped with emotional problems at different stages of life; describes his love life; and subjects his own self-description to a ruthlessly honest critique.
The heart of Ellis's book is his analysis of the psychological leitmotifs that have appeared again and again throughout his life. He describes the aim of this autobiography as follows: "As far as I can, I shall present my bad and good, stupid and intelligent, weak and strong points. Why? Because, following H. G. Wells's recommendation, I want to go as all-out as I can. I want to acknowledge my idiocies--and use REBT to feel sorry about but unashamed of them. I want to make the point--again a central tenet of REBT--that all humans are fabulously fallible--including, of course, me. We have no real choice about this, but we can unconditionally accept ourselves--our so-called essence or being--with our fallibility. That will momentously help us, probably encourage us to acquire unconditional self-acceptance (USA) and possibly inspire other people to give it to themselves, too." With a concluding chapter by Ellis's widow, Debbie Joffe Ellis, describing the final years of his life, this is the definitive summation of the life and work of one of psychology's most successful thinkers and practitioners.

Since the groundbreaking first edition of Rational Emotive Approaches to the Problems of Childhood by Albert Ellis and Michael Bernard two decades ago, our understanding of the nature and treatment of childrena (TM)s problems has grown considerably. Now in a completely new volume, Albert Ellis and childrena (TM)s REBT specialist Professor Michael Bernard have revised and updated this pioneering volume to reflect both the latest in clinical practice and research.

Fourteen expert contributors (including many from the original) share with the editors a deep commitment to integrating REBT with other cognitive-behavioral methods, and to providing young people with developmentally appropriate care. Together they give readers a practical framework for conducting assessment, treatment, and prevention with individuals, clients and groups as well as in family and school settings.

Key features of this new edition include:

• Developmental considerations in using REBT with children and adolescents
• Specific chapters devoted to major disorders -- aggression, phobias anxiety, depression, academic underachievement, and ADHD
• Latest strategies for challenging and changing the irrational beliefs of young people
• Techniques for building key REBT skills: emotional resilience and frustration tolerance
• Extensive research findings on the efficacy of REBT with young people
• Brand-new material on special issues -- involving parents, conducting group sessions, and working with exceptional children
• An overview of Rational Emotive Education and You Can Do It! Education, school-basedapplications of REBT

With coverage this thorough, Ellis, Bernard, and collaborators have created a resource of immediate value to child and adolescent mental health practitioners including school psychologists, school counselors, school social workers, behavior therapists, and family therapists, and educators involved in helping young people overcome behavioral disorders.

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Reissued with a new foreword by Raymond DiGiuseppe, PhD, ScD, St. John's University

"New trainees often get the theory of psychopathology; they struggle to get the case conceptualization and the strategic plan. Then they ask themselves. "What do I do now?" Going from the abstractions to the actions is not always clear.

"The Practice of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy" represents a compilation of years of theoretical and clinical insights distilled into a specific theory of disturbance and therapy and deductions for specific clinical strategies and techniques....The structure of this books focuses on an explication of the theory, a chapter on basic practice, and a chapter on an in depth case study. A detailed chapter follows on the practice of individual psychotherapy. Although the book is not broken into sections, the next four chapters represent a real treasure. The authors focus on using REBT in couples, family, group, and marathons sessions. Doing REBT with one person is difficult to learn. Once the clinician adds more people to the room with different and sometimes competing agendas things get more complicated. These chapters will not only help the novice clinician but also the experienced REBT therapists work better in these types of sessions.

So, consider yourself lucky for having picked up this book. Reading it will help many people get better." - From the Foreword by Raymond DiGiuseppe, PhD, ScD, Director of Professional Education, Albert Ellis Institute; Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, St. John's University

This edition, involving a unique collaboration between Albert Ellis and the world's greatest Ellis scholar, Windy Dryden, modernizes Ellis's pioneering theories. The book begins with an explanation of rational emotive behavior therapy as a general treatment model and then addresses different treatment modalities, including individual, couple, family, and sex therapy. The authors have added material new since the book's original edition on teaching the principles of unconditional self-acceptance in a structured group setting. With extensive use of actual case examples to illustrate each of the different settings, and a new brand new foreword by Raymond DiGiuseppe that sets the book into its 21st-century context.

In this illuminatingbook, Ellis provides a lively and insightful explanation of the differences between self-esteem and self-acceptance. Emphasizing the importance of self-acceptance, he examines this theme in the thinking of great religious teachers, philosophers, and psychologists. He then provides exercises for training oneself to change self-defeating habits to the healthy, positive approach of self-acceptance. These include specific thinking techniques as well as emotive and behavioral exercises. He concludes by stressing that unconditional self-acceptance is the basis for establishing healthy relationships with others, along with unconditional other-acceptance and a total philosophy of life anchored in unconditional life-acceptance.

Practitioners are increasingly aware that religious persons present unique problems and challenges in therapy. Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is among the most widely practiced, highly structured and active directive approaches to treating emotional and behavioral problems. Introduced by Albert Ellis in the early 1950s, REBT is the original cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and its efficacy has been supported by hundreds of treatment outcome studies.
A uniquely belief-focused therapy, REBT is usually quite appealing to clients from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and other religious traditions, who respond favorably to REBT's focus on right belief, active engagement in the work of therapy, and reading/practice focused homework.
In this practical and user-friendly guide, the authors outline the congruence between the therapeutic approach of REBT and the presenting problems and concerns of religious persons. They describe an approach to reconciling the sacred traditions and beliefs of religious clients with the no nonsense techniques of REBT. They review the essential components of practice with religious clients--including assessment, diagnosis and problem formulation, disputation of irrational beliefs, and other REBT techniques, highlight the primary obstacles facing the therapist when treating religious clients, and offer many case examples from work with this important client population.
Mental health professionals from all backgrounds will benefit from the detailed yet manual-focused approach to helping religious clients overcome all forms of emotional distress.

First developed in 1955, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is the original form of Cognitive Behavior 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.REBT emphasizes the importance of cognition in psychological disturbances. Its aim is to help patients recognize their irrational and destructive beliefs, feelings, and behaviors, and to restructure harmful philosophic and behavioral styles to achieve maximal levels of happiness and productivity. In this book Dr. Ellis points out the most recent revisions of the original therapy and examines the use of REBT in treating specific clinical problems. Among the topics considered are depression, stress management, addiction, marital problems, the use of hypnosis, disposable myths, and many other obstacles to mental health.This fascinating look at REBT by its internationally recognized creator will be of inestimable value to professionals and laypersons alike.

In Better, Deeper, and More Enduring Brief Therapy, Albert Ellis, founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, describes how REBT can help clients to significantly improve in a short period of time (10 to 20 sessions) and effect a profound philosophical-emotional-behavioral change - more often than can be achieved with other popular forms of therapy. In a comprehensive, accessible format, Dr. Ellis offers his theories, practices, verbatim sessions, and other materials that help to describe how REBT can be a valuable asset in psychotherapeutic treatment. He clearly elaborates those REBT methods best suited to helping people reduce their neurotic symptoms and achieve more fulfilling individual and social lives. He also includes alternative approaches that often prove effective, as well as common pitfalls to avoid when employing them.

Personality Theories: Critical Perspectives is the groundbreaking, final text written by Albert Ellis, long considered the founder of cognitive behavioral therapies. The book provides students with supporting and contradictory evidence for the development of personality theories through time. Without condemning the founding theorists who came before him, Ellis builds on more than a century of psychological research to re-examine the theories of Freud, Jung, and Adler while taking an equally critical look at modern, research-based theories, including his own. Features and Benefits: Helps students develop the scientific thinking required to evaluate current and forthcoming theories Encourages the reader to re-examine preexisting theories Provides the missing link between previously disparate disciplines of abnormal and normal personality theories, a feature especially important to students in graduate clinical programs Prepares the upper-level student for the growing trend in clinical programs to link human behavior, personality, and psychopathology to the neurological substrates Encourages more focus on relevant theories than on the biographies of those who developed them Intended Audience: This enlightening text will provide insight into personality theory for students in courses on personality. It should be required reading for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in psychology, counseling, and social work.

Practitioners are increasingly aware that religious persons present unique problems and challenges in therapy. Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is among the most widely practiced, highly structured and active directive approaches to treating emotional and behavioral problems. Introduced by Albert Ellis in the early 1950s, REBT is the original cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and its efficacy has been supported by hundreds of treatment outcome studies.
A uniquely belief-focused therapy, REBT is usually quite appealing to clients from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and other religious traditions, who respond favorably to REBT's focus on right belief, active engagement in the work of therapy, and reading/practice focused homework.
In this practical and user-friendly guide, the authors outline the congruence between the therapeutic approach of REBT and the presenting problems and concerns of religious persons. They describe an approach to reconciling the sacred traditions and beliefs of religious clients with the no nonsense techniques of REBT. They review the essential components of practice with religious clients--including assessment, diagnosis and problem formulation, disputation of irrational beliefs, and other REBT techniques, highlight the primary obstacles facing the therapist when treating religious clients, and offer many case examples from work with this important client population.
Mental health professionals from all backgrounds will benefit from the detailed yet manual-focused approach to helping religious clients overcome all forms of emotional distress.

All of us worry about something, big or small, every day. But much of the emotional misery we feel is an overreaction, and it can be significantly reduced, using the techniques you'll find in this landmark book.

World renowned therapist Dr. Albert Ellis, who created Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), believed that anger, anxiety and depression are not only unnecessary, they're unethical, because when we allow ourselves to become emotionally upset, we're being unfair and unjust to ourselves. Thinking negative thoughts is a choice we can refuse to make. Applying the proven, time-tested principles of REBT is a simple, logical way to find true mental health and happiness.

REBT acknowledges the power of emotions, but it also helps us understand which feelings are healthy and which are not. This classic book teaches you how to:

• Retrain your brain to focus on the positive aspects of your life and face each obstacle without unnecessary despair
• Control your emotional destiny
• Refuse to upset yourself about upsetting yourself
• Solve practical problems as well as emotional problems
• Conquer the tyranny of "shoulds"

...and much more, providing all the tools you need to take back your life-and your happiness. If you can refuse to make yourself miserable, you're that much closer to making yourself happy-every day.

New, updated resource for practicing therapists from the father of rational therapy. Modern cognitive-behavioral therapy has its roots in the rational approach created by Ellis in the 1950s. Now known as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Ellis's systematic integrative approach has grown into a powerful mainstream psychotherapy. Hundreds of thousands of patients have benefited from the interventions of therapists using REBT.

Lost enough loves for three lifetimes? Want to break bad habits and replace them with good ones that last? Whether you are male or female, single or married, gay or straight, Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), created by world renowned therapist Dr. Albert Ellis, can help anyone-at any age-learn to maintain healthy and lasting love. Simple and effective, the proven REBT techniques in this landmark book show you how to relate lovingly and intimately, for the long-term. Using a non-judgmental approach, here is more than just a guide to getting along better with a "significant other." You'll also find help for improving relationships with friends, children, and even in-laws. Discover practical information on: *Getting Your Relationships Together by Getting Yourself Together *Realistic Views of Couplehood *Communicating and Problem-Solving *Better Sex for Better Couplehood *Saving Time and Money and Enjoying Life More *Having or Not Having Children *Building a Deep and Lasting Relationship *Self-coping statements and exercises to keep you emotionally fit ...and much more to help you take matters into your own hands-and heart-and stop the cycle of relationship ruin. With healing doses of wisdom and humor, Dr. Ellis puts you firmly on the path toward a lifetime of love.

From social anxiety to phobias to post-traumatic stress disorder, sources of anxiety in daily life are numerous, and can have a powerful impact on your future. By following the rules of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), created by world renowned therapist Dr. Albert Ellis, you can stop anxiety in its tracks if you will admit this important fact: Things and people do not make you anxious. You do. Your unrealistic expectations produce your needless anxiety. Yet not all anxiety is needless... Healthy anxiety can ward off dangers and make you aware of negative things that you can change. Unhealthy anxiety inhibits you from enjoying everyday activities and relationships, causes you to perform poorly, and blocks your creativity. Using the easy-to-master, proven precepts of REBT, this classic book not only helps you distinguish between healthy and unhealthy anxiety, but teaches you how to: *Understand and dispute the irrational beliefs that make you anxious *Use a variety of exercises, including rational coping self-statements, reframing, problem-solving methods, and Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA), to control your anxiety *Apply over 200 maxims to control your anxious thinking as well as your bodily reactions to anxiety ...and much more, including examples from dozens of cases Dr. Ellis treated successfully. Now you can overcome the crippling effects of anxiety-and increase your prospects for success, pleasure and happiness at home and in the workplace.

Created in the 1950s by the legendary Albert Ellis, rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) teaches clients to challenge their irrational thinking. REBT is based on the simple idea that it is not external circumstances that make a person happy or unhappy, but rather internal thoughts about events or oneself. Thinking, feeling, and behavior are seen as linked and influencing one another. Because changing one's thinking is usually the simplest tactic in a given situation, it tends to be the focus of therapy, alongside the humanistic core REBT philosophies of unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance, and unconditional life-acceptance. This essential primer, amply illustrated with case examples featuring diverse clients, is perfect for graduate students studying theories of therapy and counseling, as well as for seasoned practitioners interested in understanding how this approach has evolved and how it might be used in their practice. This second edition includes updated clinical research, as well as a thorough examination of the important distinctions between REBT and cognitive-behavior approaches.

In Rational and Irrational Beliefs: Research, Theory, and Clinical Practice, leading scholars, researchers, and practitioners of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and other cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBTs) share their perspectives and empirical findings on the nature of rational and irrational beliefs, the role of beliefs as mediators of functional and dysfunctional emotions and behaviors, and clinical approaches to modifying irrational beliefs, enhancing rational beliefs, and adaptive coping in the face of stressful life events. Offering a comprehensive and cohesive approach to understanding REBT/CBT and its central constructs of rational and irrational beliefs, contributors review a steadily accumulating empirical literature indicating that irrational beliefs are associated with a wide range of problems in living and that exposure to rational self-statements can decrease anxiety and other psychological symptoms, and play a valuable role in health promotion and disease prevention. Contributors also identify new frontiers of research and theory, including the link between irrational beliefs and other cognitive processes such as memory, psychophysiological responses, and evolutionary and cultural determinants of rational and irrational beliefs.
A truly accessible, state-of-the-science summary of REBT/CBT research and clinical applications, Rational and Irrational Beliefs is an invaluable resource for psychotherapy practitioners of all theoretical orientations, as well as instructors, students, and academic psychologists.

Anger is universal. Unchecked, it can cause lasting damage in our lives: wrecked relationships, lost jobs, even serious disease. Yet in these increasingly stressful times, all of us have acted in anger - and often wished we hadn't. Is there a way that really works to solve problems and assert ourselves without being angry? The answer is a resounding yes, if you follow the breakthrough steps of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). This proven approach, developed by world renowned psychotherapist Dr. Albert Ellis, has withstood the test of time, helping countless people deal effectively with emotional problems. Using easy-to-master instructions and exercises, this classic book will show you how to apply REBT techniques to understand the roots and nature of your anger, and take control of and reduce angry reactions. Here you will discover: *The rational and irrational aspects of anger *Special insights into your self-angering beliefs *How to think, feel, and act your way out of anger *How to relax *How to accept yourself with your anger . . .and much more that will help you challenge and eliminate the anger that can frustrate success and happiness at home, at work, anywhere.

Anger. It's one of our most basic, and often most destructive, human emotions. And in today's world, it's a constant, escalating force, from road rage to domestic abuse, from teen violence to acts of terrorism. More than ever we need effective ways to live with it, understand it-and learn to deal with it. This landmark book from world-renowned psychotherapist Dr. Albert Ellis, creator of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), shows you how. Presented in a simple step-by-step program that anyone can master, the proven, time-tested principles of REBT teach you to manage and even eliminate anger, without sacrificing necessary assertiveness. Here you'll discover: *What exactly is anger, and must you feel it? *How you create your own anger *Methods of thinking, feeling, and acting your way out of anger *Why holding on to anger is sometimes fun-and how to let it go *How to use REBT to cope with tragic events that are far beyond our control ...and much more, including numerous real-world case studies, plus a comprehensive, critical analysis of the various approaches to this age-old problem. Whether at home or at work, in a personal or political context, this breakthrough approach will enable you to take control of the anger that can stand in the way of success and happiness.