Thanksgiving is a holiday meant to celebrate a bountiful harvest. We customarily gather with family and sometimes friends, hoping to reconnect with loved ones and reflect with gratitude on our blessings. A joyous family feast is then to ensue. Humans are imperfect; sadly, sometimes, people drink too much, the gratitude gets lost, and arguments erupt. … Read more

Teach your child to laugh at himself. Human beings are a funny race. They are incredibly inconsistent; They almost routinely practice, almost the exact opposite of what they preach; they behave with enormous stupidity even when they are unusually bright; they make the most ludicrous boners from birth to death, from morning to night, from country to country. Since your child is more than … Read more

Albert Ellis, the originator of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), created a system of ideas that helps people go beyond overcoming emotional disturbance. Since he wrote his first unpublished manuscript at age 19 on pursuing happiness, Ellis wanted to enable people to self-actualize and experience increased pleasure, satisfaction, meaning, and joy in life. People seem … Read more

In Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, REBT, we encourage people to go beyond learning this philosophy of life. We encourage daily practice with action consistent with its tenets. Below are nine self-helping attitudes you can practice daily to help you thrive in a challenging world. Healthy Attitudes – Realistic and Self-helping My goal is to have … Read more

When you learn REBT and apply the ABC model of emotion to understand your self-defeating reactions, you will see how flexible and non-extreme attitudes will lead to healthier responses to life’s adversities. One obstacle you may encounter is transitioning from intellectual insight to fundamental emotional change about the adversity you face. In REBT, the goal is to help you … Read more

REBT is a therapy, a system of interlocking ideas, a philosophy to help people cope with life’s challenges and maximize pleasure while minimizing pain. In my work, teaching people to use REBT to address something they are avoiding doing, which implicitly or explicitly will be good for them to do, I bring up the issue … Read more

REBT is a system of ideas for facing life’s challenges. It’s a tool that helps you identify and modify your self-defeating reactions while instilling specific values. But it’s more than just about survival-REBT is about thriving in a challenging world and finding greater happiness and meaning in your life. Who is Responsible for Your Emotional … Read more

Loss and facing unfavorable change are an inherent part of the human experience. We all face the possibility of losing jobs, relationships, bodily functions, and even the familiarities of our neighborhoods and cultures, which evolve and change in ways not necessarily to our liking. We even lose treasured items to breakage, theft, and destruction. Adding … Read more

“Look, being offended is a choice. You have to make a choice to be offended. I chose not to be offended.”  “Being hurt is not a productive emotion.”  Tom Selleck (Actor) Occasionally, some celebrities model ideas, attitudes, and philosophies consistent with Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). This fact is not a surprise because Albert Ellis, … Read more

Summary of Video: Constructing complete, foundational, healthy attitudes with two components is best. The first component is your asserted preference, followed by negating your demand. For example, I want you to treat me nicely (an asserted preference), but sadly, you may not do so. You do not have to treat me nicely (negated demand). Constructing complete, … Read more