The Albert Ellis Reader: A Guide to Well-Being Using Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

by Albert Ellis and Shawn Blau

Book Overview

A collection of 30 of the most popular and controversial articles by Albert Ellis, founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Each piece is updated by Dr. Ellis especially for this volume. Topics... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806520329
• ISBN13: 9780806520322
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Citadel Press
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

One of the Best books for fans of Ellis and REBT

This is by far one of the best books for the fan of Ellis and REBT. It's quite in depth and intelligent, but thankfully easily understandable to the average person. Ellis, unlike Rogers, is not all touchy feely and full of fake humility. Al tells it like it is, with clarity and precision, with humor and joy, and with ideas that have proven to be effective. Buy this book by THE greatest psychotherapist of all time! Of course not that you SHOULD or MUST buy it, but if you get the inside joke then this book is definetly for you!

The Place to Start REBT

Apparently, Albert Ellis, the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, or REBT, is the author or co-author of some 55 books. Some are obviously no longer in print, while others merely duplicate existing material. This compendium of Ellis' thought is perhaps the most exhaustive, one-volume set available, and for that reason alone, this book is to be recommended above all others. It contains all the essentials to a guide to well-being using REBT. The book is divided into three parts: Part I is about Sex, Love, and Marriage and deals with such diverse subjects as vaginal vs. clitoral orgasm, sex fascism and censorship, intercourse in all its flavors, unhealthy love and its causes and treatments, sex-love: its adventure and contribution to personality growth, the nature of disturbed marital interation (e.g., jealousy, extramarital affairs, distrust, etc.), and why Dr. Ellis became interested in such issues. Many of these essays are over 50-years old, and yet are every bit as vibrant and informative today as when first written. Some issues may at first cause consternation, such as the advocacy of adolescent masturbation and premarital sex, while other essays contain a sort of "eureka!" value at how we are our own most destructive individuals in our most committed relationships. Those who thought the Sixties brought sexual liberation will be impressed with just how advanced Ellis' thought was a decade or two earlier. His liberating attitudes towards sexuality in general, and "mishaps" in particular, are well worth the book alone. Part II concerns REBT in practice: The theory behind rational psychotherapy, the value of being human, techniques for disputing irrational beliefs and the human ego, the use of REBT imagery, achieving self-actualization, and how to use REBT to cope with disability. For those unfamiliar with the A-B-Cs of REBT, Ellis takes the reader on a step-by-step analysis of the process of coping with irrational behavior. "A" stands for actuating event, "B" stands for rational and irrational beliefs, and "C" stands for consequences. In life, we encounter actuating events that emote either (a) a rational or (b) an irrational belief, which then develop their consequence. Ellis gives examples of such events, both rational and irrational beliefs, and the consequence when one belief rather than other is chosen. The idea, of course, is to choose rational over irrational beliefs (the single most important locus of why we can or can't handle certain situations) to produce the healthiest consequence. This is the Core of REBT. Part III concerns rational living in an irrational society. I don't know of any of the other 55-or-so books that deal with this subject so explicitly. Topics include Labor-Management relations, the "Objectivist" view of self-esteem, a case against religiosity, application of REBT to an emotional education, REBT as a revolutionary approach to psychotherapy, addictive behaviors and personality disorders, and how to incor