19. kafli – The cognitive - Behavioral Revolution
How to Manage Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors
The Greatest weapon against stress is our
ability to choose one thought over another.
William James
Introduction: Evolution of the
Cognitive – Behavioral Model
The perspective that developing a
healthy style of thinking can reduce
distress or enhance well-being is a
common theme across many generations and cultures. The cognitive - behavioral revolution is
predicated upon fundamental principles from ancient Persian, Buddhist, Roman and Greek
philosophies.
„Men are disturbed not by the things which happen but by the opinions about the things“
Epictetus
The cognitive elements of this viewpoint were recognized by Greek philosophers two thousand
years before the introduction of CBT.
Philosophers of the 17th and 18th centaury also built their view of the world around the idea that
the mind determines reality. this is particularly found in Réne Descartes concept “I think,
therefore I am”. According to William James (1842 -1910 father of American psychology) “the
greatest discovery of my generation is that a man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude
of mind”.
The national Association of cognitive behavioral therapists (2008) describes cognitive behavioral
therapy as a general classification of psychotherapy, including several intervention approaches:
rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, rational behavior therapy etc.
1
, Albert Ellis, Grandfather of Cognitive Therapy
Ellis is generally regarded as the grandfather of
the cognitive approach. In reaction to his
perception of psychoanalysis as “in-efficient and
in directive”. Ellis developed rational emotive
therapy (RET). He got influenced by Alfred Adler
who stated, “I am convinced that a person's
behavior springs from his ideas”. Ellis discovered
that he was often quicker than his clients and
discovering the source of their problems. The difficulties usually stemmed from a common
pattern of distorted thinking. He developed Rational therapy To enable clients to not only
recognize distortions in their thinking but also to the “vigorously dispute” them. it from a rational
therapy (RT) to rational emotive therapy (RET) and finally Rational emotive behavioral therapy
(REBT).
Common themes from Ellis’s writings:
1. Whereas rational beliefs are useful in helping
individuals get what they want, irrational
beliefs are more closed-minded and inflexible
and usually interfere with satisfaction of needs
and desires. (I should do that vs. I must do this)
which leads to self-condemnation and negative emotions as they try to satisfy a litany of
impossible self-imposed demands.
2. ABC: The A (activating event) – B (belief) – C (consequence) method of cognitive and
behavioral analysis and change.
It is one’s belief (B) about the activating event (A) that leads to the emotional
and / or behavioral consequence (C). From this perspective, clients can change C
by changing B, even if the activating events in their lives don’t change.
2
How to Manage Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviors
The Greatest weapon against stress is our
ability to choose one thought over another.
William James
Introduction: Evolution of the
Cognitive – Behavioral Model
The perspective that developing a
healthy style of thinking can reduce
distress or enhance well-being is a
common theme across many generations and cultures. The cognitive - behavioral revolution is
predicated upon fundamental principles from ancient Persian, Buddhist, Roman and Greek
philosophies.
„Men are disturbed not by the things which happen but by the opinions about the things“
Epictetus
The cognitive elements of this viewpoint were recognized by Greek philosophers two thousand
years before the introduction of CBT.
Philosophers of the 17th and 18th centaury also built their view of the world around the idea that
the mind determines reality. this is particularly found in Réne Descartes concept “I think,
therefore I am”. According to William James (1842 -1910 father of American psychology) “the
greatest discovery of my generation is that a man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude
of mind”.
The national Association of cognitive behavioral therapists (2008) describes cognitive behavioral
therapy as a general classification of psychotherapy, including several intervention approaches:
rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, rational behavior therapy etc.
1
, Albert Ellis, Grandfather of Cognitive Therapy
Ellis is generally regarded as the grandfather of
the cognitive approach. In reaction to his
perception of psychoanalysis as “in-efficient and
in directive”. Ellis developed rational emotive
therapy (RET). He got influenced by Alfred Adler
who stated, “I am convinced that a person's
behavior springs from his ideas”. Ellis discovered
that he was often quicker than his clients and
discovering the source of their problems. The difficulties usually stemmed from a common
pattern of distorted thinking. He developed Rational therapy To enable clients to not only
recognize distortions in their thinking but also to the “vigorously dispute” them. it from a rational
therapy (RT) to rational emotive therapy (RET) and finally Rational emotive behavioral therapy
(REBT).
Common themes from Ellis’s writings:
1. Whereas rational beliefs are useful in helping
individuals get what they want, irrational
beliefs are more closed-minded and inflexible
and usually interfere with satisfaction of needs
and desires. (I should do that vs. I must do this)
which leads to self-condemnation and negative emotions as they try to satisfy a litany of
impossible self-imposed demands.
2. ABC: The A (activating event) – B (belief) – C (consequence) method of cognitive and
behavioral analysis and change.
It is one’s belief (B) about the activating event (A) that leads to the emotional
and / or behavioral consequence (C). From this perspective, clients can change C
by changing B, even if the activating events in their lives don’t change.
2
