Walter J. Matweychuk, Ph.D. At his trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens, Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” On the first day of this new year, I have been reflecting on four questions: What would you do if you had all the time and money in the world? How would you live if you … Read more
Movies and paintings depict families in an idyllic way at this time of the year. Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, grandparents and cousins gather around a warm fireplace and enjoy food and drink merrily. People joyfully sing songs and exchange gifts as snow falls outside, creating a picturesque landscape. Everyone is paired off happily … Read more
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) argues that you can achieve emotional health by cultivating your capacity for enlightened self-interest. This concept means that you learn to think and feel in ways that allow you to take action to put yourself first and others a close second. Enlightened self-interest does not mean that you must always … Read more
Depending on the circumstances, most humans find adapting to change difficult at one time or another in their lives. When children and adolescents change schools or when a divorce occurs, they can feel anxious and depressed in response to the change. When adults change jobs or career paths, move from one location to another, or divorce, … Read more
We all grow old, except for those who die young. We lose our beauty, our strength, and our speed of thought and memory. We lose the opportunity to take specific paths in life as time goes on. We lose our friends and lovers. We lose so much as we age. Fortunately, we also may have … Read more
When people come for REBT psychotherapy, it is clear that we are teaching and encouraging them to adopt healthier ideas. An incomplete list of those ideas includes: Unconditional self-acceptance Unconditional other-acceptance Unconditional life acceptance Emotional responsibility Long-term hedonism Self-Direction Calculated risk-taking The role of healthy negative emotions Uncertainty tolerance It is equally or perhaps more … Read more
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), we emphasize the power of choice, personal In responsibility, and acceptance. REBT’s roots lie in philosophy, and over the years, one simple idea that has managed to survive is to change what you can change and accept what you cannot. I find myself going back to this simple prescription every … Read more
If you genuinely believed I would award you two million dollars at the end of a year in which you went for a daily thirty-minute walk, would you choose to do this? How much money would it take to make you willing to do this walk every day for one full year, knowing full well that sometimes … Read more
1. I will prepare myself in advance for future ills. When they occur, I will remind myself I am ready for this adversity. 2. I can choose a healthy emotional response to this test of my REBT philosophical skills. 3. Nobody is all good, nobody is all bad, but we all are fallible humans. 4. … Read more
Dr. Matweychuk’s Podcast Using Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people that we disturb ourselves when we encounter adversity. REBT heavily borrows from a 2000-year-old philosophy known as Stoicism. Many people misunderstand Stoicism and wrongly believe it means to be emotionless. Stoicism is a robust philosophy that helps people live well in … Read more
