Category: Psychotherapy (REBT)

American Woman: “What About Me?”

Quite a few women who consult me for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) are already uncomfortably aware, or become aware, of just how oppressed and repressed they are and have been. It may not be a pleasant insight, but it is an important and empowering first step toward emotional freedom…

Driving Without Anger on the Road of Life

Do you suffer from road rage? How about life rage? Well, this post will apply REBT to managing both. Even though “rage” may not be the level of upset you experience, these tools work for all perturbance. Let’s start by defining our terms. ANGER VS. FRUSTRATION Anger and frustration are…

Kick Your Comfort Junkie!

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) enjoys personifying clusters of self-defeating thoughts, like our “discomfort dodger” and “comfort junkie,” in order to quickly remind ourselves that our momentary upset and/or self-defeating behavior is coming from the irrational self-talk that has just been activated. In this post I will expose some comfort…

Tyranny of the SHOULD — a must read!

This post title comes from a chapter title by the same name in Karen Horney’s 1950 classic work, Neurosis and Human Growth: The Struggle Toward Self-Realization. Karen Horney, MD, was one of the most influential psychoanalysts and feminists of the last century. My mentor, Albert Ellis, PhD, received training from…

Self Esteem vs Unconditional Self Acceptance (USA)

As a young psychotherapist working in psychiatric programs at two major hospitals in the 1970’s, it seemed that many patients experiencing an emotional crisis were also identified as having “low self esteem.” This meant that they thought badly of themselves, compared themselves negatively with others, blamed and downed themselves, etc.…