People / Cognitive, behavioural and contextual
Albert Ellis
Developed Rational Therapy in the 1950s, later called Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), and wrote about beliefs, emotions and self-acceptance.
At a glance
Lived 1913 to 2007. American. Clinical Psychologist.
Active 1943 to 2007. Landmark year 1955. Clinical era: 1946 to 1969, humanistic, behavioural and systems.
Lineage: Cognitive, behavioural and contextual. Roles: Modality founder or co-founder; Clinician and educator.
Associated modalities: Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT); Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT); Active-Directive Counselling.
Psychologist who developed rational emotive behaviour therapy, a cognitive and behavioural approach.
Review status: Educational draft, subject review pending. Source status: source checks not documented for this draft. Dates, sources and clinical statements require independent verification and specialist review.
Clinical overview
Albert Ellis was an American psychologist who began developing Rational Therapy in 1955. The approach was later called Rational Emotive Therapy and then Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT).
Ellis published How to Live with a Neurotic in 1957 and established the Institute for Rational Living in New York in 1959. He wrote and taught widely about the approach.
Historical and clinical context
Ellis proposed that beliefs and evaluations influence how people respond emotionally and behaviourally to events. His account emphasised the relationship between thoughts, emotions and actions.
REBT may combine discussion of beliefs with behavioural and emotional exercises. Its model is a proposed account of distress and change, not an established explanation for every person’s experience.
Core therapeutic contributions
The ABCDE Model of Emotional Disturbance. The ABC model describes activating events, beliefs and emotional or behavioural consequences. Later REBT formulations add disputation and an effective alternative philosophy as ways of working with beliefs.
Demandingness ('Musturbation') and Derivative Irrational Beliefs. Ellis distinguished flexible preferences from rigid demands and discussed how demanding beliefs may be associated with catastrophising, low frustration tolerance and global judgments of self or others.
Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA), Other-Acceptance (UOA), and Life-Acceptance (ULA). Ellis argued for evaluating particular actions without rating the whole person, describing this stance as unconditional acceptance of self, others and life.
In the consulting room
Therapeutic stance. REBT commonly explores the relationship between beliefs, emotions and behaviour and may use active, collaborative questioning.
Signature practices. Exploring beliefs and evaluating their usefulness in relation to a person’s goals; Discussing flexible alternatives and practising new responses between sessions; Using cognitive, behavioural or imagery exercises according to the person and setting
Common misreadings. Assuming REBT forbids unpleasant emotions rather than examining how people respond to them; Treating Ellis’s personal presentation style as a requirement for every REBT practitioner
Landmark clinical works
1957, How to Live with a Neurotic (book). First book-length presentation of Rational Therapy for clinicians and lay readers.
1961, A Guide to Rational Living (with Robert A. Harper) (book). Pioneering cognitive-behavioural self-help manual that introduced millions of readers to identifying and disputing irrational beliefs.
1962, Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy (book). Foundational theoretical and clinical treatise of REBT, laying out the core irrational beliefs and philosophical disputation.
1965, Three Approaches to Psychotherapy (Gloria Film Series) (clinical-film). Demonstrated active-directive cognitive-emotive disputation alongside Carl Rogers and Fritz Perls.
Clinical critiques and limitations
Ellis’s account of beliefs and emotional disturbance is a therapeutic model. It does not establish that beliefs are the sole cause of distress or that disputation is suitable for every person.
A 2024 systematic review identified 162 REBT intervention studies measuring belief change. Many involved non-clinical adults, and reporting and methodological quality varied; the authors called for more rigorous research.
Clinical genealogy
Influences and mentors: Epictetus; Alfred Adler; Karen Horney; Bertrand Russell; Alfred Korzybski.
Collaborators: Robert A. Harper; Janet L. Wolfe; Raymond DiGiuseppe; Windy Dryden; Debbie Joffe Ellis.
Students and successors: Aaron Temkin Beck; Donald Meichenbaum; Windy Dryden; Raymond DiGiuseppe; Maxie Maultsby; David D. Burns.
Sources and inspection notes
Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. Lyle Stuart.
Supports: A dated check of its relevance to this profile is not recorded for this draft
Ellis, A. (1994). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy: Revised and Updated. Birch Lane Press.
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Dryden, W., & Bernard, M. E. (Eds.). (2019). REBT with Diverse Client Problems and Populations. Springer.
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Albert Ellis Institute. Our mission and history.
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American Psychological Association. (2001). Psychology’s original survivor. Monitor on Psychology.
Supports: A dated check of its relevance to this profile is not recorded for this draft
Supports: A dated check of its relevance to this profile is not recorded for this draft
Albert Ellis Institute. About Albert Ellis, Ph.D.
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