Skilful Disputing of Irrational Beliefs (IBs)

Skilful Disputing in REBT

From ‘Google Answers’, at GOOGLE ANSWERS, you will find the following background on ethical considerations of the problem of how to confront a client about their irrational beliefs:

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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, created by Albert Ellis,
emphasizes the following points, in response to the concern
about being confrontive, ...

"I've heard that REBT therapists do a lot of confronting.
This doesn't sound very empathic or supportive."

"REBT practitioners are very concerned about establishing
a helpful, supportive, and facilitative alliance with people.
They realize that not all people come to therapy ready for
action and change, and that some people—because of their
personalities and problems—require a great deal of support
and empathy before they are ready to change. At the same time,
REBT practitioners tend to take an active role with their
clients. They help provide people as quickly as possible with
the tools to help them change their beliefs leading to
disturbing emotions, thus freeing them to confront their
everyday problems with all their resources."

and

"REBT teaches what Albert Ellis calls the value of rational
self-acceptance. According to Ellis, healthy people are
usually glad to be alive and accept themselves just because
they are alive and have some capacity to enjoy themselves.
They refuse to measure their intrinsic worth by their
extrinsic accomplishments, materialistic possessions and by
what others think of them. They frankly choose to accept
themselves unconditionally; and then try to completely avoid
globally rating themselves—meaning their totality or their
"essence." They attempt to enjoy rather than prove themselves."

...


Obviously then, a therapist cannot teach "rational self-acceptance"
while practicing anything less than rational acceptance of the client.

and


"Rational emotive behavior therapists work collaboratively
with clients to clarify existing problems, and to identify
important general problems to work on together. And yes,
REBT practitioners are active in teaching clients new methods
for changing their thinking, feelings and behavior. However,
REBT does not control the client. Rather, it empowers people
to manage their own emotional problems more effectively and
to take control of their own behavior in order to try to
obtain more of what they want in life."

Here we see the emphasis on collaborating with the client in
identifying what to work on, and empowering the client, by
educating them about methods to change thinking, feelings and
behaviors.

Given the spirit of these guidelines, unethical behaviors
would consist of any situation involving the therapist

- failing to develop a rapport with the client based on
supportive and empathetic dialog, in which the client
leads the therapist in the direction which therapy will
take;

- pushing clients into realizations they have not arrived
at for themselves, and are not ready to deal with, rather
than collaborating with them in identifying areas to work
on;

- exhibiting a lack of acceptance of the client, in a way
which would jeopardize the client's ability to develop
"rational self-acceptance";

- imposing beliefs or belief systems on the client which
contradict or oppose currently cherished beliefs.

These principles would apply with regard to beliefs in any
of the areas which your question addresses, ...

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ABC Coaching and Counselling Services for REBT and CBT coaching, counselling and therapy.

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As an example, if a devout Christian has come to believe
that, as noted in the Bible: "Be ye perfect, as your Father
in Heaven is perfect", and has translated this into a belief
that one should never make a mistake, the therapist may well
know, from his own experience, and from working with numerous
clients, that this belief is crippling the client with a very
poor sense of self-esteem and self-acceptance. It may be clear
to the therapist that this client sees every mistake as an
opportunity to feel worse about themselves.

While it may be obvious to the therapist, they must work with
the client until, with an adequate rapport and trust, the
client comes to the realization that s/he is too hard on himself,
too much of a perfectionist, and that this expectation of herself
is the basis of her unreasonable expectations of others, thus
causing detriment to her relationships at work and at home.
The therapist must allow the client to come to the realization
that their beliefs about the meaning of the Bible passages are
at the root of these attitudes, and the source of his negative
self-perceptions.

~~~

About Dr Jim Byrne.

~~~

The same would be true in any tradition of therapy, not just in
REBT, and the same principles hold true with regard to all of
the circumstances and corresponding beliefs arising as a result
of religious affiliation, mental health diagnosis, socioeconomical
background, sexual orientation and preferences, physical diability,
and ethnicity.

~~~

REBT/CBT/CENT and Research Issues.

~~~

Dr Jim Byrne

Email Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching.