Albert Ellis

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Albert Ellis bigraphy, stories - Psychologists

Albert Ellis : biography

September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007

Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He also founded and was the President of the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute for decades. He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and the founder of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Based on a 1982 professional survey of USA and Canadian psychologists, he was considered as the second most influential psychotherapist in history (Carl Rogers ranked first in the survey; Sigmund Freud was ranked third). December 16, 2006Smith, D. (1982) Trends in counseling and psychotherapy. American Psychologist, Vol 37(7), Jul 1982, 802-809. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.37.7.802. Prior to his death, Psychology Today described him as the “greatest living psychologist.”Prospect Magazine: Albert Ellis. August 1, 2007 Issue 137 Jules Evans

Early theoretical contributions to psychotherapy

Of psychologists, the writings of Karen Horney, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm and Harry Stack Sullivan would arguably be some of the greatest influences in Ellis’s thinking and played a role in shaping his psychological models. Ellis credits Alfred Korzybski,Ellis A. (1991). General semantics and rational-emotive therapy: 1991 Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture. Institute of General Semantics his book, Science and Sanity,Korzybski A. (1933). Science and Sanity. Institute of General Semantics, 1994, ISBN 0-937298-01-8 and general semantics for starting him on the philosophical path for founding rational therapy. In addition modern and ancient philosophy and his own experiences heavily influenced his new theoretical developments to psychotherapy.

From the late 1940s onwards, Ellis worked on REBT(Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy) and by January 1953, his break with psychoanalysis was complete, and he began calling himself a rational therapist. Ellis was now advocating a new more active and directive type of psychotherapy. In 1955, he presented Rational Therapy (RT). In RT, the therapist sought to help the client understand — and act on the understanding — that his personal philosophy contained beliefs that contributed to his own emotional pain. This new approach stressed actively working to change a client’s self-defeating beliefs and behaviours by demonstrating their irrationality, self-defeatism and rigidity. Ellis believed that through rational analysis and cognitive reconstruction, people could understand their self-defeatingness in light of their core irrational beliefs and then develop more rational constructs.

In 1954, Ellis began teaching his new techniques to other therapists, and by 1957, he formally set forth the first cognitive behavior therapy by proposing that therapists help people adjust their thinking and behavior as the treatment for emotional and behavioural problems. Two years later, Ellis published How to Live with a Neurotic, which elaborated on his new method. In 1960, Ellis presented a paper on his new approach at the American Psychological Association (APA) convention in Chicago. There was mild interest, but few recognized that the paradigm set forth would become the zeitgeist within a generation. At that time, the prevailing interest in experimental psychology was behaviorism, while in clinical psychology it was the psychoanalytic schools of notables such as Freud, Jung, Adler, and Perls. Despite the fact that Ellis’ approach emphasized cognitive, emotive, and behavioral methods, his strong cognitive emphasis provoked the psychotherapeutic establishment with the possible exception of the followers of Adler. Consequently, he was often received with significant hostility at professional conferences and in print.Dr. Mike and Dr. Lidia Abrams: He regularly held seminars where he would bring a participant up on stage and treat them. His own therapeutical style was famed for often being delivered in a rough, confrontational style; however, it should not be confused with his rational-emotive and cognitive-behavioral therapy school that is practiced by his students and followers in a large variety of therapeutic styles (e.g., often depending on client’s personality, client’s clinical problem, and evidence-based information regrading the appropriate intervention, but also including therapist’s own preference).