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Humanistic Psychotherapy: The Rational-Emotive Approach
Dr. Ellis discusses the biological foundations of man's irrationality, the philosophical and cognitive errors that serve to reinforce and perpetuate neurotic behavior, and the manner in which rational-emotive psychotherapy copes with people prone to violence, paranoia, sexual difficulties, feelings of lack of self-worth and other difficulties.
- GenresPsychology
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1974
60 people want to read
About the author
Albert Ellis
252 books450 followersAlbert Ellis was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He also founded and was the President of the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute for decades.
He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and the founder of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Based on a 1982 professional survey of USA and Canadian psychologists, he was considered as the second most influential psychotherapist in history (Carl Rogers ranked first in the survey; Sigmund Freud was ranked third).
He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and the founder of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Based on a 1982 professional survey of USA and Canadian psychologists, he was considered as the second most influential psychotherapist in history (Carl Rogers ranked first in the survey; Sigmund Freud was ranked third).
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October 14, 2025
ELLIS OUTLINES HIS RATIONAL-EMOTIVE THERAPY, AND NOT ‘HUMANISTIC’ THERAPY
Albert Ellis (1913-2007) was an American psychologist who developed Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), a cognitive-behavioral therapy. He has written many books, such as ‘Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy,' ‘The Myth of Self-Esteem,’ ‘The Art and Science of Love,’ 'Is Objectivism a Religion?,' 'Homosexuality: Its Causes and Cure,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1973 book, “at the first annual meeting of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, a subgroup of assembled members came up with at least twenty concepts of what they thought humanism was as applied to psychology, and these concepts differed radically… To make matters still more complex, the term ‘humanism’ itself has at least two major meanings that are overlapping but not necessarily the same. Psychologically, it seems to mean the study of … the individual as a whole… Ethically, it seems to mean the establishment of a set of rules for man to live by, characterized by an emphasis on human interests rather than on inanimate nature…
“It would appear that it is possible to present a definition of humanistic psychotherapy that includes both these concepts… The essence of humanism, in both psychological and ethical areas, is that man is fully acknowledged to be human… and that in no way whatever is he superhuman or subhuman… Ethical humanism … goes hand in hand with the scientific method… Any hypothesis that cannot be backed by evidence that ordinary humans can observe and replicate is deemed to be theological, supernatural, or magical, and cannot be considered… Humanistic psychology, by these rules, becomes the study of the whole individual, by logical-empirical means that are distinctly human, for the purpose of helping him live a happier, more self-actualizing, and more creative existence.” (Pg. 1-3)
He continues, “Although it weighs biological and early environmental factors quite importantly in the chain of events that lead to human disorganization and disorder, it insists nonetheless [that] the individual himself can, and usually does, significantly intervene between his environmental input and his emotionalized output, and that therefore he has an enormous amount of potential control over what he feels and what he does.” (Pg. 4)
He asserts, “The rational-emotive approach to psychotherapy is not only unusually effective clinically, but is now backed by a considerable amount of experimental evidence which almost consistently supports its phenomenological tenets and indicates that human emotions and behavior are enormously influenced by cognitions. Besides being successfully practiced today by a number of clinicians who attest to its usefulness… There is clinical, experimental, and other support for rational-emotive therapy.” (Pg. 27)
He asserts that humans “BRING something important to their conditioning ‘experiences.’ Especially in regard to the most common forms of emotional disturbances---such as feelings of inadequacy. Worthlessness, and overweening hostility---it is not merely rejection or brutal treatment by a child’s parents that makes him feel upset; rather, it is his own innate vulnerability to criticism and pain and his own inborn tendency to internalize others’ negative attitudes toward him and to perpetuate self-criticism and damnation of others long after his original tormenters’ barbs have ceased.” (Pg. 33)
He outlines, “Rational-emotive psychotherapy is a comprehensive approach to psychological treatment and to education that not only employs emotive and behavioristic methods but also significantly stresses and undermines the cognitive element in self-defeating behavior… there is no simple way in which [humans] become ‘emotionally disturbed,’ and no single manner in which they can be helped to overcome their disturbances. Their psychological problems arise from their misperceptions and mistaken cognitions about what they perceive; from their emotional underreactions or overreactions to normal and unusual stimuli; and from their habitually dysfunctional behavior patterns… Consequently, a three-way, rational-emotive-behavioristic approach to their problems is desirable; and rational-emotive therapy provides this multifaceted attack.” (Pg. 55)
He acknowledges, “Rational-emotive therapy owes a great debt to Alfred Adler, so much so that it is reasonable to inquire whether RET could not have developed within the Adlerian framework, becoming something of a revisionist approach in this system… [RET] is also a specific methodology. In [this] respect, it tends to differ radically from Adlerian methods … Philosophically… RET takes a rather extreme, and unique, stand on human worth and self-evaluation that differs significantly from that taken by individual psychology… Where Adler presented… a true ego psychology… RET is essentially an antiego psychology, which makes a determined effort to induce the individual to recognize rather than evaluate himself, and hence minimize ego games rather than play them successfully.” (Pg. 111)
He suggests, “Like all human beings, the therapist had better be primarily true to, and interested in, himself, rather then be masochistically self-sacrificial. He can thereby engage in therapy because he LIKES to do so, because he ENJOYS helping others help themselves. If he likes being a therapist because he prefers the status of his profession, desires to direct the lives of others… he is entitled to his preferences. But if he is to be both a good therapist and a good force for himself, he’d better like helping people solve their problems for their sake as well as his own.” (Pg. 142-143)
He explains, “Exactly how do I induce my clients to look their own irrational assumptions straight in the eye and to question and challenge these self-defeating philosophic premises? In several main ways, including the following: 1. I literally force my clients to look at the simple exclamatory sentences that they are telling themselves to create their emotions of anger and hostility… 2. I am exceptionally active-directive with most of my clients… actual homework assignments are frequently given… 3. I am exceptionally active verbally with my clients… I do a great deal of talking rather than passively listening to what the client has to say… 4. My therapeutic approach is unusually didactic. I continually explain to my clients what the GENERAL mechanisms of emotional disturbance are… and what can be done to combat them… 5. I make little use of the transference and countertransference relationship in my work with clients. I am deliberately not very warm and personal with most of my clients… at the same time… I serve as a much different kind of model for the clients… 6. The approach I take to therapy is more philosophical than traditionally merely psychological.” (Pg. 153-156)
He notes, “Rational therapeutic goals, consequently, can be achieved by many methods which at first glance seem to be either nonrational or antirational. [RET]… begins with a premise that for the individual to achieve a fundamental change in his personality structure, he must significantly modify some of his deep-seated and long-standing cognitions and beliefs.” (Pg. 166)
During one session, he contends, “they say that once a person … is described as an alcoholic… then he cannot touch another drink for the rest of his life… I have several people … whom I’ve got to give up drinking, and they do drink socially from time to time. But I usually give them the rule of thumb: ‘Never more than TWO drinks a day.’ And they stick to that… So A.A. is wrong…” (Pg. 199)
He explains, ‘I now have half-hour sessions and usually, with rational-emotive therapy, they are sufficiently long, since little time is spent on the client’s history or even on lengthy elucidations of his feelings, and good portion of time is spent… on teaching him how to think more scientifically about himself and the world.} (Pg. 215)
He states, “Rational-emotive psychotherapy was originally devised largely for use in the treatment of so-called ‘neurotics.’ However, most of these clients, it appears, can be more accurately labeled borderline psychotics or outright psychotics, and the classification of them as neurotics may have been a gross underestimation of the gravity of their condition.” (Pg. 225)
If you’re looking into this book as an overview/introduction to humanistic psychology, you need to look elsewhere---the book is really just a presentation of RET, and Ellis’s own views---which he does in more detail in his other books.
Albert Ellis (1913-2007) was an American psychologist who developed Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), a cognitive-behavioral therapy. He has written many books, such as ‘Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy,' ‘The Myth of Self-Esteem,’ ‘The Art and Science of Love,’ 'Is Objectivism a Religion?,' 'Homosexuality: Its Causes and Cure,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1973 book, “at the first annual meeting of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, a subgroup of assembled members came up with at least twenty concepts of what they thought humanism was as applied to psychology, and these concepts differed radically… To make matters still more complex, the term ‘humanism’ itself has at least two major meanings that are overlapping but not necessarily the same. Psychologically, it seems to mean the study of … the individual as a whole… Ethically, it seems to mean the establishment of a set of rules for man to live by, characterized by an emphasis on human interests rather than on inanimate nature…
“It would appear that it is possible to present a definition of humanistic psychotherapy that includes both these concepts… The essence of humanism, in both psychological and ethical areas, is that man is fully acknowledged to be human… and that in no way whatever is he superhuman or subhuman… Ethical humanism … goes hand in hand with the scientific method… Any hypothesis that cannot be backed by evidence that ordinary humans can observe and replicate is deemed to be theological, supernatural, or magical, and cannot be considered… Humanistic psychology, by these rules, becomes the study of the whole individual, by logical-empirical means that are distinctly human, for the purpose of helping him live a happier, more self-actualizing, and more creative existence.” (Pg. 1-3)
He continues, “Although it weighs biological and early environmental factors quite importantly in the chain of events that lead to human disorganization and disorder, it insists nonetheless [that] the individual himself can, and usually does, significantly intervene between his environmental input and his emotionalized output, and that therefore he has an enormous amount of potential control over what he feels and what he does.” (Pg. 4)
He asserts, “The rational-emotive approach to psychotherapy is not only unusually effective clinically, but is now backed by a considerable amount of experimental evidence which almost consistently supports its phenomenological tenets and indicates that human emotions and behavior are enormously influenced by cognitions. Besides being successfully practiced today by a number of clinicians who attest to its usefulness… There is clinical, experimental, and other support for rational-emotive therapy.” (Pg. 27)
He asserts that humans “BRING something important to their conditioning ‘experiences.’ Especially in regard to the most common forms of emotional disturbances---such as feelings of inadequacy. Worthlessness, and overweening hostility---it is not merely rejection or brutal treatment by a child’s parents that makes him feel upset; rather, it is his own innate vulnerability to criticism and pain and his own inborn tendency to internalize others’ negative attitudes toward him and to perpetuate self-criticism and damnation of others long after his original tormenters’ barbs have ceased.” (Pg. 33)
He outlines, “Rational-emotive psychotherapy is a comprehensive approach to psychological treatment and to education that not only employs emotive and behavioristic methods but also significantly stresses and undermines the cognitive element in self-defeating behavior… there is no simple way in which [humans] become ‘emotionally disturbed,’ and no single manner in which they can be helped to overcome their disturbances. Their psychological problems arise from their misperceptions and mistaken cognitions about what they perceive; from their emotional underreactions or overreactions to normal and unusual stimuli; and from their habitually dysfunctional behavior patterns… Consequently, a three-way, rational-emotive-behavioristic approach to their problems is desirable; and rational-emotive therapy provides this multifaceted attack.” (Pg. 55)
He acknowledges, “Rational-emotive therapy owes a great debt to Alfred Adler, so much so that it is reasonable to inquire whether RET could not have developed within the Adlerian framework, becoming something of a revisionist approach in this system… [RET] is also a specific methodology. In [this] respect, it tends to differ radically from Adlerian methods … Philosophically… RET takes a rather extreme, and unique, stand on human worth and self-evaluation that differs significantly from that taken by individual psychology… Where Adler presented… a true ego psychology… RET is essentially an antiego psychology, which makes a determined effort to induce the individual to recognize rather than evaluate himself, and hence minimize ego games rather than play them successfully.” (Pg. 111)
He suggests, “Like all human beings, the therapist had better be primarily true to, and interested in, himself, rather then be masochistically self-sacrificial. He can thereby engage in therapy because he LIKES to do so, because he ENJOYS helping others help themselves. If he likes being a therapist because he prefers the status of his profession, desires to direct the lives of others… he is entitled to his preferences. But if he is to be both a good therapist and a good force for himself, he’d better like helping people solve their problems for their sake as well as his own.” (Pg. 142-143)
He explains, “Exactly how do I induce my clients to look their own irrational assumptions straight in the eye and to question and challenge these self-defeating philosophic premises? In several main ways, including the following: 1. I literally force my clients to look at the simple exclamatory sentences that they are telling themselves to create their emotions of anger and hostility… 2. I am exceptionally active-directive with most of my clients… actual homework assignments are frequently given… 3. I am exceptionally active verbally with my clients… I do a great deal of talking rather than passively listening to what the client has to say… 4. My therapeutic approach is unusually didactic. I continually explain to my clients what the GENERAL mechanisms of emotional disturbance are… and what can be done to combat them… 5. I make little use of the transference and countertransference relationship in my work with clients. I am deliberately not very warm and personal with most of my clients… at the same time… I serve as a much different kind of model for the clients… 6. The approach I take to therapy is more philosophical than traditionally merely psychological.” (Pg. 153-156)
He notes, “Rational therapeutic goals, consequently, can be achieved by many methods which at first glance seem to be either nonrational or antirational. [RET]… begins with a premise that for the individual to achieve a fundamental change in his personality structure, he must significantly modify some of his deep-seated and long-standing cognitions and beliefs.” (Pg. 166)
During one session, he contends, “they say that once a person … is described as an alcoholic… then he cannot touch another drink for the rest of his life… I have several people … whom I’ve got to give up drinking, and they do drink socially from time to time. But I usually give them the rule of thumb: ‘Never more than TWO drinks a day.’ And they stick to that… So A.A. is wrong…” (Pg. 199)
He explains, ‘I now have half-hour sessions and usually, with rational-emotive therapy, they are sufficiently long, since little time is spent on the client’s history or even on lengthy elucidations of his feelings, and good portion of time is spent… on teaching him how to think more scientifically about himself and the world.} (Pg. 215)
He states, “Rational-emotive psychotherapy was originally devised largely for use in the treatment of so-called ‘neurotics.’ However, most of these clients, it appears, can be more accurately labeled borderline psychotics or outright psychotics, and the classification of them as neurotics may have been a gross underestimation of the gravity of their condition.” (Pg. 225)
If you’re looking into this book as an overview/introduction to humanistic psychology, you need to look elsewhere---the book is really just a presentation of RET, and Ellis’s own views---which he does in more detail in his other books.
November 2, 2024
This book is a potently rational approach to the most common psychological challenges we all face. Ellis directs the reader to recognize and relentlessly attack our underlying hateful attitudes toward ourselves and others while maintaining realistic humility. He demands that we consistently "de-propagandize" ourselves, which is as necessary today as ever. The writing and referenced writings should be considered within the context of the time they were written, but they can at the same time be criticized for clearly hypocritical assumptions around sex, sexual orientation and gender.
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