Walter J. Matweychuk, Ph.D. Thirty-four years ago, at the end of my interview for gaining entry into the REBT training fellowship, Albert Ellis asked me if I had any questions for him. I then asked, “What is the weakest aspect of REBT?” In asking this question, I exposed my youthful grandiosity. My master plan was to attempt to improve upon his … Read more
REBT is a parsimonious philosophy, but as leading REBT psychologist, Dr. Windy Dryden has written, “REBT is simple, but not simplistic.” No concise sentence or paragraph captures the totality of this powerful philosophy. Different ways of explaining REBT can emerge from a deep and accurate understanding of REBT philosophy. Because REBT is parsimonious, it is tempting to … Read more
Albert Ellis, the originator of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, argued that the best practitioners of REBT were those who did not merely see it as a technique to be applied only to one’s clinical work with patients. Instead, he argued that the best practitioners of REBT used it routinely in their own lives. It is … Read more
“To begin depriving death of its greatest advantage over us, let us adopt a way clean contrary to that common one; let us deprive death of its strangeness; let us frequent it, let us get used to it; let us have nothing more often in mind than death. At every instant let us evoke it … Read more
Because of its philosophical roots, REBT is a cognitive-behavioral therapy that has something to offer even during a geopolitical crisis like the one we are currently experiencing. Recent events present the opportunity to feel anger, despair, and anxiety. I will assume you are an individual who adamantly opposes the current aggression in Ukraine. I will … Read more
All people have goals, purposes, and values. Pursuing these things produces a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and personal meaning. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is unique in its emphasis on rating the progress one makes towards these personal goals, purposes, and values while encouraging the elimination of the rating of the self or the person. REBT promotes the … Read more
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) acknowledges that it is challenging for humans to think flexibly and in a non-extreme way. In REBT, we encourage you to keep your preferences and desires but to avoid transforming your desires into absolute demands. It is easier to follow this recommendation when the object of your desire is a … Read more
Most people who fail complain that they are victims of circumstances. Those who get on in this world are those who go out and look for the right circumstances. And if they can’t find them, they make them on their own. … Read more
In my view, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is as much a way of living or a philosophy of life as it is a form of cognitive-behavior psychotherapy. I have practiced this philosophy for thirty-one years and find it very beneficial. I have tried to distill the main ingredients of this liberating philosophy to as few … Read more
Humans are highly imperfect and fragile. We are social animals who thrive on relationships with other humans. Relationships with significant others are often frayed or ended by the experience of unhealthy hurt. It is sad when people become estranged from family and friends due to hurt feelings. People sometimes are uncomfortable acknowledging feelings of hurt. … Read more
