Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

with n-ouhled Students

Paul Zionts and Laura Zionts

Based on the early work of Ellis, Rational Emotive Behavior Theory

(REBT) seeks to identify and challenge irrational beliefs that under
lie behavior problems. This article outlines concepts and methods
of REBT and describes the application in counseling and as a
mental health curriculum for troubled children and youth.

carry on with their responsibilities. For example, they are

taught the distinctions between concern and anxiety, annoy
ance and anger, regret and guilt, sadness and depression.
Most importantly, they are taught how to move from the
latter to the former.

ational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is both

a theory and a strategy that can be used to help
individuals combat extremely negative feelings
and behaviors in a variety of ways. Parents and teachers
have found it to be effective in their personal and profes
sional growth (Joyce, 1 990, 1995) . For example, Bernard
(1 990) wrote about common parental emotions that pre
vent parents from having a healthy relationship with their
children. He listed guilt ("My child's problems are my
responsibility . . . it is all my fault"); anger ("My child
should behave"); anxiety ( "It's awful that my child is hav
ing a problem"); and low frustration tolerance ("It's too hard
solving my child's problems") .

Psychology and Philosophy of REBT

REBT can also b e an effective technique i n helping stu

dents manage behaviors and emotions that are preventing
them from succeeding in the classroom and workplace, or
at home. It is an effective classroom counseling interven
tion designed to reduce students' intense emotional
feelings and behaviors. REBT may also be used as a class
room curriculum for teaching general mental health con
cepts. The purpose of this article is threefold: to explain the
theory, introduce it as a counseling intervention, and pro
vide a framework and activities for its use as a classroom
intervention.
The goal of REBT is to minimize harmful emotions-reduc
ing them from an extreme level to a "manageable" one.
REBT is not designed to solve practical problems per se
(e.g., "Bobby called me a name") . When individuals have
deep emotional problems, simply resolving situations of
the moment is usually a temporary solution that does little
to change the person's emotional state. REBT is designed to
teach students to handle feelings that prevent them from
meeting their personal goals. In other words, it helps indi
viduals learn to deal with their feelings so that they can
pp. 1 03-1 08 '" RECLAIMING CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Embedded in REBT are many theories of psychology,

including cognitive therapy, behavior modification, and
humanistic psychology. REBT thus is particularly attrac
tive for use in the public school setting because of its utility
as a nontraditional, yet efficient, commonsense approach
that explains how emotional and behavioral problems
occur.
In the mid-1950s, Albert Ellis developed Rational Therapy as
a response to traditional psychotherapy (Ellis, 1962) . Ellis
believed that the latter was an insufficient and inefficient
approach because of the amount of time spent helping
clients achieve "insight" into their problems. He devel
oped a more active-directive approach in which he verbal
ized to his clients what he thought to be their inevitable
insight. Once the insight was realized, the clients were
expected to try out their new feelings and behaviors.
Rational Therapy soon evolved into Rational Emotive Ther
apy (RET), and is now called Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapy (Bernard, 1 995; Ellis, 1 995) . In REBT, psychology
and philosophy are believed to be inextricably linked
when considering mental health.
It is the concentration on philosophy that differentiates
REBT from other problem-solving interventions. Proponents
of REBT recognize that one's philosophy of life is a contin
ually developing process-a complex, multifaceted con
cept that results from interactions within and among the
family, culture, religion, and community. Further, an indi
vidual's biological tendencies toward perceiving the world
in unique ways are also considered.
Integral to REBT is the notion that negative emotions are
not the result of bad events, but rather the result of one' s

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unique perceptions of those events. Most people would

agree that there can be many different reactions to the same
event. When a student makes sarcastic remarks, other stu
dents in the classroom who hear them may become angry,
frustrated, or sad. However, the statement itself is static:
The variable that creates the different emotions is how the ,.
comments are perceived by the individuals experiencing
the emotions. The following are four REBT interpretations
of harmful emotions and behaviors:
1 . Anger is caused by low frustration tolerance. A person
who is angry believes that events should not be too diffi
cult or unfair (e.g., "Things should happen [easily] in
the way that I want them to," and "Students should be
able to follow my rules").
2. Anxiety is fear of the unknown. A person who is anxious
believes that something terrible will happen (e.g., "I
won't take the test because it would be an awful thing
if I failed it").
3. Shame occurs when students are overly concerned
about how they are perceived by others (e.g., "I won't
speak in front of the class because everyone will laugh
at me") .
4. Depression involves self-blaming over incidents (e.g., "I
can't stand the fact that I don't have a girlfriend. I am
totally overwhelmed. Nobody likes me").
The above interpretations are simply examples of feelings.
The actual individual who experiences these feelings will
elaborate upon them in much more depth.
Different perceptions are the result of the life philosophies
that each person holds. He or she may react to negative
events in a realistic, clear, and sensible manner that is con
gruent with his or her long-term goals. Such reactions will
result in unpleasant feelings and emotions that are control
lable and will allow the person to achieve his or her goals
(even though it will be difficult). The person is utilizing
rational beliefs. On the other hand, a different person may
react to disturbing events in an extremely negative manner.
His or her behaviors and /or emotions may interfere with
intended goals. This person is using irrational beliefs, which
are highly individualistic and empirically unverifiable.
DiGiuseppe and Bernard (1 990), for example, outlined
three beliefs that can lead to disturbed thinking:
1.

I must do well and win approval, or else I rate as

a rotten person.

2. Others must treat me considerately and kindly in

precisely the way I want them to treat me; if they
don't, society and the universe should severely
blame . . . and punish them for their inconsider
ateness.
3. Conditions under which I live must be arranged
so that I get practically all that I want comfortably,
1 04 .... RECLAIMING CHILDREN AND YOUTH

quickly, and easily and get virtually nothing that I

don't want (p. 271 ).
Irrational belief systems are complex structures and may
occur in many forms. Bernard (1 995) suggested that these
systems may appear in the form of "verbal, semantic
coding of experience such as found in personal rules,
memories of past experience, narratives, sensor-motor
representations and other nonverbal images and percep
tual representations" (p. 15). They may be thoughts that
individuals recognize when they occur or after they occur.
Irrational beliefs are part of one's life philosophy, and they
are nonempirical (cannot be proven). Bernard (1 995) stated
that the core irrational thinking tendency is "absolutizing."
Absolutistic thinking is exaggerated (or grandiose) think
ing, creating a personal world that should be absolutely
the way that the individual believes it to be. Accord
ing to Ellis and Dryden (1 987), irrational beliefs can lead to
particular systems that also generalize into disturbed emo
tions and behaviors:
1 . Awfulizing is when "a perceived event is rated as being
more than 1 00 % bad-a truly exaggerated and magical
conclusion that stems from the Belief: 'This must not be
as bad as it is' " (p. 15).
2. I can't-stand-it-itis is when "one cannot experience vir
tually any happiness at all, under any condition, if an
event that 'must' not happen actually occurs or threat
ens to occur" (p. 15).
3. Damnation is a "tendency for human beings to rate
themselves and other people as 'subhuman' or 'unde
serving' if self or other does not do something that they
must do" (p. 15).

Efficacy of REBT
REBT has been effective in reducing such self-defeating
emotions and constructs as anger, anxiety, poor self
esteem, and locus of control in such varied populations as
adolescents with conduct disorders, high-risk youth,
African American middle school students with emotional
disorders, children with learning disabilities, and parents
and teachers (see, e.g., DiGiuseppe & Bernard, 1990) . Some
of these efficacy studies have been criticized (Gossette &
O'Brien, 1 993), with most criticisms centered on problems
in research methodology (i.e., most of the studies were
relatively short term in nature) . These same criticisms
could probably be levied against most investigations that
use human subjects. However, as with all interventions, it
would seem imperative that REBT be carefully analyzed
(Bernard, 1 995) .

REB T as a Counseling Intervention

Implementing REBT as an intervention may require that
teachers assume a different role from that of the usual

provider of instruction: They will need to become class

room counselors as well as teachers of traditional academic
subjects. Students must actively take responsibility and
action in order to solve their problems (Zionts, 1 996) .
REBT may be used on an individual or group basis.
Because of the nature of most classroom settings, we rec
ommend the latter. Group problem solving is efficient.
More than one student will benefit not only from the pro
cess but also from seeing that other persons have signifi
cant-and often similar-problems. A teacher using group
problem solving should limit the number of participants to
8, regularly schedule sessions (at least three times a week
for 20 minutes), and keep records of the meetings.
Students' ages and cognitive levels must be considered,
and planning done accordingly. Generally, students under
the age of 7 should be taught rational self-talk using
methodologies similar to those of cognitive-behavior mod
ification. Students under 11 years of age can be taught how
to dispute irrational concepts; older students can be taught

to dispute irrational beliefs. Needless to say, simply teach

ing students to memorize rational self-talk without making
sure they understand concepts will not allow them to make
generalizations. Nevertheless, they will be better prepared
to apply REBT concepts because they have been exposed to
them.

Teach the ABC model

REBT groups must be used to solve problems, not to serve
as undirected chat sessions. The purpose of the meetings is
to teach students the REBT process and how to apply it to
their lives. To do this, the teacher must make sure that the
students have been introduced to the theory of REBT,
which can be done by using the ABC model. The und er
lying premise of the ABC model is that emotional prob
lems are caused by one's perceptions of the events that
aroused the emotions. The stimulus that is contributing to
the student's problem is called the Activating Event, or the
A. The A may be real or imagined, but regardless of its fac
tual basis, the teacher must understand that the individual

Art by Katherine, age 13.

Reproduced by permission.

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believes it to be true. When a student shares his or her

problem with the teacher or the group, the recipients need
to listen and honor the student's interpretation as "true."
For example, we as teachers have no way of knowing if
Bobby's mother does or does not hate him. To refute it will
simply set up a needless wall between us and Bobby.
Students believe that their reaction to the A is the cause of
their extreme emotions or behaviors, which are called Con
seq uences, or the Cs. These Cs must be extreme-they must
be preventing the students from managing themselves and
reaching their goals. This is the traditional counseling para
digm-determining the nature of the problem (the Acti
vating Event) and how it is affecting the student (the
Consequence). REBT postulates that the implementation of
irrational personal philosophies (Belief systems) is the gen
uine cause of the Consequences. Responsibility falls on the
group to Dispute (the D) the irrational Belief by requesting
that the student prove the truth of his or her statements.
The final step is the Effect, where the student is expected
to emotionally and behaviorally exhibit his or her new
cognitions.

Briefly Identify the A and the C

To understand the student's perception of the A or C, the
teacher or group can ask the following:
1 . Are there any feelings or behaviors that you
would like to change?
2. Does anyone feel so angry, sad, or frustrated that
you lose control and don't do as well as possible?
(Zionts, 1 996, p. 360)
Helpful techniques include using a camera check (the stu
dent is asked, "If you had filmed a movie of the incident,
what exactly would it show?") and journal writing (stu
dents record events and reactions) . If the student's problem
is seriously impeding attainment of realistic goals, then the
process can be continued. If it is not preventing life man
agement, then rational thinking has been achieved.

Understand the A and C

If the problem has been deemed to be serious, it is impor
tant to fully understand the A and C. The teacher can have
the students role-play the events and their consequences.
Sometimes the use of imagery (students imagine any or all
parts of the process) can be effective (Grieger & Boyd,
1 979). When the A and C are understood, the students will
need to set realistic goals to lower the intensity of their Cs.

Determine the B
It is crucial to discover which Belief system a student is
using. The easiest way to do this is to simply ask the stu
dents what they are thinking or saying to themselves when
1 06 ....

RECLAIMING CHILDREN AND YOUTH

the Activating Event happens. Are they awfulizing? Are

they demanding? For example, comments that include
shoulds, have tos, got tos and musts in all their sentences
probably fit within the Demanding belief system.

D(isp ute) Irrational Beliefs

Challenging an individual's irrational belief system is the
most important step in realizing permanent change.
According to Criddle (1 974), disputation is achieved by
"asking for evidence, applying logic and the scientific
method of thinking to one's ideas, and then replacing the
illogical ideas with rational, logical ones" (p. 9). Disputa
tion can be achieved by many means: questioning, behav
ioral activities, and humor. For example, time projection
("What will you say to yourself about this next year?"),
bibliotherapy (reading books, poetry, popular music, etc.,
that have rational messages), and shame attacking (having
students demonstrate silly, harmless activities so that they
learn that their thoughts about "horrible" outcomes are
usually unfounded) have been found to be successful in
the disputation process.

Practice the E(ffect)

Simply understanding one's irrational belief system is not
enough. The Effect, or new reactions to negative events,
needs to be in evidence. Behavioral contracts and careful
monitoring of student progress thus are crucial to the REBT
process.

REBT as a Mental Health Curriculum

Teachers interested in applying REBT as a classwide men
tal health program will want to begin by teaching basic
REBT principles, including separating fact from opinion,
using positive self-talk, taking personal responsibility for
one's feelings, understanding one's feelings, learning how
to communicate one's feelings to others, and becoming
able to recognize and dispute one's irrational thoughts.
Frequently, teaching the basic principles of REBT to stu
dents with disabilities or students who are at risk will take
considerable time. Teachers should begin an REBT pro
gram with the understanding that this approach is not an
"overnight wonder."
The following section will provide a "blueprint" for teach
ing REBT concepts as an approach to promoting self
esteem, independent problem solving, and rational think
ing. Teachers interested in learning more about this should
refer to Gerald and Eyman (1981), Knaus (1 974), Vernon
(1 989a, b), and Zionts (1 996).
When students have mastered the REBT principles, the
teacher can move on to teaching effective problem solving.
When students have firmly grasped the principles of prob
lem solving, they may be ready to begin working with the

ABC model. We recommend that this is the sequence to fol

low (REBT principles problem solving ABC model).
A more comprehensive mastery of the technique may lead
to more independent and sustained use by students.

about how their interpretations differ. Students can com

pare feelings they had when they saw the broken window
with the possible feelings of the owners of the window.
The teacher stresses that the different feelings are interpre
tations of the same event.

Teaching REBT Principles: Separating

Fact and Opinion

3.

Usually, it is best to teach fact and opinion concepts inde

pendent of one another before asking students to discrimi
nate between them. Terms should be clearly defined in
vocabulary that students understand well. For elementary
level students, a simple definition of fact can be "a fact is a
statement that is true and can be proven." The initial les
son(s) about the concept of fact would focus on defining
and explaining it (e.g., "A description of a thing, person, or
situation can be given by listing facts about it"). Students
would be given examples of facts and "not facts." The term
not facts will be substituted for opinion at this point because
one concept can confuse the other for beginning learners.
When students can define fact, explain it, demonstrate the
ability to discriminate fact from "not fact," and generate
their own examples and nonexamples of facts, they are
ready for the next step.
A similar process can be followed to teach opinion. An
elementary-level definition of opinion could be "Opinions
are what we think and feel about facts." It can be explained
to students as follows: "A description of a thing, person, or
situation can be explained by listing opinions about it. First
we learned to describe things, people, and events by list
ing facts about them. When we make descriptions by
listing our opinions only, and not listing the facts about
them, the descriptions may or may not be truthful."
Students are expected to master the concepts of fact and
opinion before REBT can be fully implemented. The fol
lowing list is composed of suggested activities for helping
students extend their understanding of how fact and opin
ion influence their perceptions and beliefs.
1. A teacher may prepare video segments that depict a
situation, then show the main character in the video
describing what happened in facts (e.g., a boy receives incor
rect change in the lunch line). The teacher then asks stu
dents questions about how the boy is likely to react. Next,
the teacher can show another video segment depicting the
character reacting in a positive way based on his opinions.
Finally, the teacher can show a second ending in which the
character reacts in a negative way based on his opinions of
the same activity.
2. A teacher can show students pictures of various scenes,
such as a child holding a baseball bat, with a broken win
dow in the background. The teacher asks students to
describe what happened (orally or in writing) and talk

A teacher provides each student with two paper "ther

mometers" that (a) show the ranges of several emotions,
and (b) allow the student to adjust the "temperature." The
students are asked to show what degree of emotion they
would feel based on an event the teacher reads from a pile
of "situation" cards. These cards may include events such
as the following:
1 . Your sister wants to watch [a popular showl on tele
vision but you do not.
2. You have to take a week off from school to go to Florida
with your family.
3. The teacher didn't call on you.
4. You must go visit your grandmother.
5. Your allowance has been raised to $.50 a week.
The teacher emphasizes the fact that everyone has differ
ent opinions about positive and negative events. Students
with opposite opinions can be asked to explain why they
selected their "degree" on their thermometer.

Conclusion
REBT is a multifaceted tool with many levels of application
for students, teachers, and parents. The purpose of this
article was to introduce its theory and some techniques
that may be implemented in the classroom. Interested prac
titioners are directed to refer further to the abundant liter
ature on REBT. Used properly, REBT can bring students to
a more rational thought process and promote their success
in everyday settings.
Paul Zionts is a professor of special education at Central Michi
gan University in Mt. Pleasant. He has taught students with
emotional and behavior disorders in a reform school and inner
city high school. He has been teaching educators and other pro
fessionals, students, and parents about REBT for 25 years.
Laura Zionts is an assistant professor of special education at

Central Michigan University. She has taught children with a

broad range of disabilities, focusing on children with behavior
disorders in public and private settings. She co-authored a sub
stance abuse prevention curriculum based on REBT theory for
students with behavior disorders.
The authors may be contacted at: Dept. of Special Education,
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858.
REFERENCES
Bernard, M. E. (1990). Rational Emotive Therapy with children and adolescents:
Treatment strategies. School Psychology Review, 19, 294-303.

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Bernard, M. E. (1995). It's prime time for rational emotive therapy: Current
theory and practice, research recommendations, and predictions. Journal of
Rational-Emotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 13(1), 9-27.
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DiGiuseppe, R., & Bernard, M. E. (1990). The application of Rational Emotive
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Ellis, A. (1 962). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. New York: Lyle Stuart.
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Springer.
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Institute for Rational Living.
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Living.
Vernon, A (1989a). Thinking, feeling, behaving: An emotional education curriculum
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PRO-ED.

I was walking along a residential street in historic

Georgetown in Washington, DC, when I noticed a
row of street signs that said parking was restricted to
residents only.

Then I noticed another sign,

obviously posted by the resident, next to his parking

space . I read it, chuckled, and realized this person
must understand cognitive theory. The sign read:
DON'T EVEN THINK OF PARKING HERE!

I also noticed this was the only open parking place on

the street.

NJL

1 08 ... RECLAIMING CHILDREN AND YO UTH