REBT: What It Is And What This Type Of Therapy Is Based On
One of the current cognitive-behavioral psychological interventions that have demonstrated the most effectiveness in the analysis, management and reformulation of dysfunctional beliefs is Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), proposed in the middle of the last century by Albert Ellis
Its central theoretical hypothesis defends that it is mainly the cognitive interpretations of the situations that a person experiences that cause a certain emotional state.
In this way, detecting the existence of distortions when drawing a conclusion or idea in the face of a given event and replacing these thoughts with more realistic ones, the emotional consequence may have a more rational and balanced nature
In the last two decades REBT has been evolving and modifying significantly. In contrast to its initial nomenclature (TRE), currently this type of intervention emphasizes much more significantly the relationship between the constructs cognition, emotion and behavior
A second element that has been taking more prominence in REBT more recently is the relevance of the general adoption of a philosophy of life made up of awareness of the differentiation between irrational and rational cognitions The three central principles on which this type of philosophy of life is based correspond to the following.
1. Unconditional self-acceptance
from this one on an attitude of self-respect remains in the individual himself regardless of whether the assessment of the aspects that define the behavior of said subject are categorized as good or bad.
2. Unconditional acceptance of the other
The positive or negative evaluations that a person makes about others are conditioned by their own beliefs, their own emotions or their own actions and are based on the principles, values and moral aspects present socially. Despite such influence, the global being of the other is accepted with compassion and respect
Depending on the personal or social goals or objectives, it can be done an assessment of life circumstances although such circumstances in themselves are not judged, but rather actively assumed and accepted.
The foundations of current REBT
The theoretical basis that supports REBT and that allows the adoption of a more adaptive and rational general cognitive functioning, as well as the aforementioned philosophy of life, derives from the following central ideas.
1. The confluence between genetic and biological load
It is an element that the human being has at the origin and the set of contextual experiences (physical environment, interpersonal relationships and prevailing social values) is the cause of the system of thoughts and beliefs of each individual.
Learning derived from family, academic or professional influence, as well as interpersonal relationships, They configure a particular perspective to read and interpret oneself, others and the world in a global way Let’s say that it is the lens through which the person values everything that surrounds them. Therefore, although sometimes such beliefs or perspectives are not functional, they tend to appear and be maintained unconsciously, since they are the precepts that the individual is accustomed to generating automatically.
When a thought manages to transfer from the area of automatisms to the conscious part, it is when its analysis and questioning become possible. The objective of REBT in this sense, therefore, becomes aware, first of all, of the type of cognitions that are put into action in certain personal situations and to what nature they correspond (functional or not).
This is fundamentally scientific This implies substantial training in a series of techniques that will favor the adoption of general cognitive functioning based on logic, realism and rationality.
Thus, assuming that sometimes personal situations are going to be more or less pleasant, they are actively accepted as such, but They will always be evaluated based on conclusions based on facts and not on subjective assumptions That is, the interpretation that the individual will learn to make with REBT will be based on thought hypotheses derived from logical, probable and consistent approaches. On the other hand, those options that are unlikely, contradictory or easily falsifiable will be discarded.
This ability to modify and adapt one’s thoughts based on evidence and not subjectivities is due to a flexible, adaptable, modifiable, etc. style of thinking, which is verified with behavioral experiments where the person is exposed to his or her irrational beliefs. in order to contrast them scientifically.
This methodology aims to replace rigid and dogmatic reasoning, as for example occurs with beliefs linked to deserving or not deserving that are granted to the life circumstances experienced by others or oneself based on their good or bad actions; The scientific method has nothing to do with this type of divine justice that is sometimes claimed to be applied to evaluate certain vital events.
3. Conceptual distinctions
Related to the previous point, REBT aims for the person to learn to discern the difference between a preference (related to rational approaches) and a demand (linked to dysfunctional postulates).
In the first case, preference indicates a desire which entails the acceptance of the possibility that this may not materialize.
In the second phenomenon, the requirement implies obligation, necessity, rigidity, etc., and does not contemplate the occurrence of other alternative options The latter are the ones most usually associated with the appearance of personal emotional discomfort and are usually formulated through the well-known cognitive distortions “should” or “should.”
Finally, REBT emphasizes its techniques on identifying the dysfunctional cognitive patterns of the present, which is why gives little relevance to granting traumatic causality to events that occurred in childhood The key lies, with a high probability, in the catastrophic connotation that the person generated at the time to elaborate their own thoughts, not so much in the situation itself.
Obviously, it is assumed that there are certain events such as episodes of mistreatment, abuse, marked deficits in the development of significant bonds that can objectively constitute traumatic situations. However, on many other occasions that are not so extreme, the cognitive interpretation made in this regard becomes one of the factors causing the dysfunctional belief system that the person may currently present.
In conclusion
As has been seen, the type of intervention presented presents a basic theoretical development with sufficient rigor and foundation to achieve highly significant efficacy rates The way in which an individual values his or her reality becomes one of the fundamental aspects that determine the presence of an adaptive and satisfactory emotional state.
Thus, the basic learning that REBT allows in the individual is mainly oriented to generate in the person a self-image of positive competence in managing their own thoughts and in the capacity that these have to be modified (supported or refuted) based on the objective evidence found. This new methodology in reasoning ultimately favors a realistic, rational and, therefore, more balanced cognitive style.
