The ABCs of REBT Revisited: Perspectives on Conceptualization

109 Pages·2013·0.55 MB·English

by  Windy Dryden (auth.)

SpringerBriefs in Psychology
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Windy Dryden
The ABCs of REBT
Revisited
Perspectives on Conceptualization
Windy Dryden
Goldsmiths
University of London
London
United Kingdom
ISSN 2192-8363 ISSN 2192-8371 (electronic)
ISBN 978-1-4614-5733-6 ISBN 978-1-4614-5734-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-5734-3
Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012951151
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Preface
The cornerstone of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is its ABC framework
which helps therapists and clients make sense of the latter’s problems. My clinical
and teaching experience has led me to conclude that this model is easily misunder-
stood by both clients and professionals. This prompted me to undertake a series of
research studies on this question that form the cornerstone of this book. I fi rst stud-
ied what doubts, reservations, and objections clients had to the ABC framework
when they were formally taught it prior to beginning an REBT-based program in a
psychiatric hospital (Chap. 2 ). I then studied the errors and confusions made about
the ABC framework by a sample of authors of counseling and psychotherapy text-
books (Chap. 3 ). This led me to wonder how accurate REBT therapists were in
teaching the ABC framework to a notional class of graduate students (Chap. 4 ). The
results surprised me and led me to study whether the founder of REBT, Albert Ellis,
made similar errors and confusions in his portrayal of the ABC model as evidenced
in his last book on REBT written with his wife (Chap. 5 ).
The introductory chapter provides a background and context for this book, a
de fi nition and explanation of the ABC framework, and its application in Rational
Emotive Behavior Therapy. The closing chapter summarizes the research program,
discussing its strengths and weaknesses and providing suggestions for future
research.
This book is the fi rst to study systematically how different groups conceptualize
the ABCs of REBT and the errors and confusions that are commonly made. It will
be of value to students and practitioners of REBT, consumer patient groups, and
those teaching REBT in academic settings. It will also be useful to authors and
publishers of counseling and psychotherapy textbooks who wish to ensure accuracy
in their portrayal of REBT in their publications.
Windy Dryden
London
v

Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1
1.1 What Are the ABCs of REBT? ......................................................... 1
1.2 The ABCs of REBT: The Dryden Framework .................................. 2
1.2.1 Situation ................................................................................ 2
1.2.2 A ............................................................................................ 2
1.2.3 B ............................................................................................ 3
1.2.4 C ............................................................................................ 4
1.3 Putting It All Together: Some Examples of the ABCs of REBT ...... 10
1.3.1 Sally: An ABC of Hurt .......................................................... 11
1.3.2 Frank: An ABC of Health Anxiety ....................................... 11
2 How Clients Conceptualize the ABC Framework ................................. 13
2.1 Overview ........................................................................................... 13
2.2 Patients’ Initial Doubts, Reservations, and Objections
to the ABC Framework ..................................................................... 13
2.3 Method .............................................................................................. 15
2.3.1 Participants ............................................................................ 15
2.3.2 Procedure............................................................................... 16
2.3.3 Data/Content Analysis .......................................................... 17
2.4 Results and Discussion of Findings .................................................. 19
2.4.1 No Current Doubts/Reservations/Objections: View the
ABCs of REBT and Its Application Positively/
Optimistically (n = 10: 10% of doubts) ................................. 19
2.4.2 Doubts/Reservations about the ABC Model in Theory
(n = 32: 31% of doubts) ......................................................... 20
2.4.3 Doubts/Reservations about Putting the ABC Model
into Practice (n = 53: 51% of doubts) ................................... 25
vii
viii Contents
2.4.4 Doubts/Reservations about the Way in Which the
ABC Model Is Being Practiced in the Clinic (n = 5: 5%
of doubts) .............................................................................. 32
2.4.5 Long-Term versus Short-Term Issues
(n = 3: 3% of doubts) ............................................................ 32
2.5 Summary ........................................................................................... 33
3 How Authors of Counseling and Psychotherapy Textbooks
Conceptualize the ABC Framework ....................................................... 35
3.1 Overview ........................................................................................... 35
3.2 Method .............................................................................................. 35
3.2.1 Materials ................................................................................ 35
3.2.2 Procedure............................................................................... 36
3.3.3 A...................... ...................................................................... 39
3.3.4 B........................ .................................................................... 40
3.3.5 C........................ .................................................................... 56
3.3 Results ............................................................................................... 36
3.3.1 The Name of the Therapy ..................................................... 36
3.3.2 General Issues ....................................................................... 37
3.4 Errors and Confusions in REBT: Are Some Authors
More Culpable than Others? ............................................................. 60
3.4.1 Errors and Confusions in REBT by Category ....................... 61
3.5 Discussion ......................................................................................... 64
4 How REBT Therapists Conceptualize the ABC Framework ............... 65
4.1 Overview ........................................................................................... 65
4.2 Method .............................................................................................. 66
4.2.1 Sample ................................................................................... 66
4.2.2 Instructions ............................................................................ 67
4.2.3 Procedure............................................................................... 67
4.3 Results ............................................................................................... 67
4.3.1 A ............................................................................................ 67
4.3.2 B ............................................................................................ 69
4.3.3 C ............................................................................................ 75
4.4 Errors and Confusions in REBT: Are Some Therapists
More Culpable than Others? ............................................................. 77
4.4.1 Errors and Confusions in REBT by Category ....................... 77
4.5 Discussion ......................................................................................... 78
5 How Ellis and Joffe Ellis (2011) Conceptualize
the ABC Framework ................................................................................ 81
5.1 Overview ........................................................................................... 81
5.2 A Study of Errors and Confusions Made by Ellis
and Joffe Ellis (2011) ........................................................................ 81
Contents ix
5.3 Method .............................................................................................. 82
5.3.1 Materials ................................................................................ 82
5.3.2 Procedure............................................................................... 83
5.4 Results ............................................................................................... 83
5.4.1 General Issues Related to the Role of Cognition in REBT ... 83
5.4.2 A ............................................................................................ 84
5.4.3 B ............................................................................................ 84
5.4.4 C ............................................................................................ 92
5.5 Discussion ......................................................................................... 93
6 Some Future Directions ........................................................................... 95
6.1 What Is Distinctive about the ABCs of REBT? ................................ 95
6.2 The Importance of Flexibility and Accuracy: REBT Therapists
Differ in What They Group under A, B, and C ................................. 96
6.3 Future Research ................................................................................. 97
References ....................................................................................................... 99