Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

594 CHAPTER 14 Therapiescognitive therapy (CT)Therapy developed by Aaron T. Beck thatfocuses on changing the client's unrealisticand maladaptive beliefs.difficulties are caused by their faulty expectations and irrational beliefs. Rationalemotivetherapy focuses on changing the patterns of irrational thinking that are believedto be the primary cause of the client’s emotional distress and psychologicalproblems.Ellis points out that most people mistakenly believe that they become upset andunhappy because of external events. But Ellis (1993) would argue that it’s not externalevents that make people miserable—it’s their interpretation of those events.It’s not David’s behavior that’s really making Carrie miserable—it’s Carrie’s interpretationof the meaning of David’s behavior. In rational-emotive therapy, psychologicalproblems are explained by the “ABC” model, as shown in Figure 14.3. Accordingto this model, when an Activating event (A) occurs, it is the person’s Beliefs(B) about the event that cause emotional Consequences (C).Identifying the core irrational beliefs that underlie personal distress is the firststep in rational-emotive therapy. Often, irrational beliefs reflect “musts” and“shoulds” that are absolutes, such as the notion that “I should be competent ateverything I do.” Other common irrational beliefs are listed in Table 14.4.The consequences of such thinking are unhealthy negative emotions, like extremeanger, despair, resentment, and feelings of worthlessness. Not only does theperson feel miserable, but she also feels that she is unable to control or cope withan upsetting situation. These kinds of irrational cognitive and emotional responsesinterfere with constructive attempts to change disturbing situations (Ellis & Harper,1975; O’Donohue & Fisher, 2009). According to RET, the result is self-defeatingbehaviors, anxiety disorders, depression, and other psychological problems.The next step in rational-emotive therapy is for the therapist to vigorously disputethe irrational beliefs. In doing so, rational-emotive therapists tend to be very directand even confrontational (Ellis & others, 2009; Haaga & Davison, 1991). Ratherthan trying to establish a warm, supportive atmosphere, rational-emotive therapistsrely on logical persuasion and reason to push the client toward recognizing and surrenderinghis irrational beliefs (Dryden, 2008). According to Ellis (1991), blunt,harsh language is sometimes needed to push people into helping themselves.From the client’s perspective, rational-emotive therapy requires considerable effort.First, the person must admit her irrational beliefs and accept the fact that thosebeliefs are irrational and unhealthy, which is not as easy as it sounds. Old mentalhabits don’t always yield easily. Equally challenging, the client must radically changeher way of interpreting and responding to stressful events (Dobson & Dobson,2009; Haaga & Davison, 1991).AActivating EventExample: You‘repassed over for apromotion at work.Common Sense ViewCausesRational-Emotive Therapy’s ABC ModelCConsequenceYou‘re miserableand depressed.Figure 14.3 The “ABC” Model inRational-Emotive Therapy Common sensetells us that unhappiness and other unpleasantemotions are caused by unpleasant ordisturbing events. This view is shown in thetop part of the figure. But Albert Ellis (1993)points out that it is really our beliefs aboutthe events, not the events themselves, thatmake us miserable, as diagrammed in thebottom part of the figure.AActivating EventExample: You‘repassed over for apromotion at work.TriggersBBeliefs“I must be successfulat everything I door I am a completefailure. I was notsuccessful, so I am acomplete failure anda worthless humanbeing.”CausesCConsequenceYou‘re miserableand depressed.