Applications of REBT in Schools: Prevention, Promotion, Intervention

Conclusions

In the ideal world, approaches such as rational-emotive education and You can Do It! Education would be routinely implemented in schools throughout the world in a systematic effort to enhance the emotional health of children. The major assumption of emotional education programs is that prevention is more effective than remediation, and that if we can teach children how to think rationally, they will approach both developmental and situational challenges in a healthier manner, which in turn will decrease the proliferation of self-defeating behaviors that far too many young people succumb to.

In order to effectively implement REE and YCDI, teachers and other school personnel must learn the theory and model it. Professionals need to continually challenge their own irrational thinking, getting rid of their demands that their job should always be easy, that their students should always behave perfectly, or that they will always be treated fairly. They must stop making overgeneralizations about student behavior or performance, avoid awfulizing about their work conditions, refrain from equating their own self-worth with their performance as a teacher; and force themselves to give up their demandingness that everything should come easily to their students. Until teachers themselves “walk the talk” and believe in the REBT principles, implementing REE and YCDI will not be as effective.

Although REE lessons appear to be an effective way to help children and adolescents approach life more successfully, rational thinking principles need to be an inherent part of every young person’s experience. Adults are important models, and although it is difficult to develop a rational stance toward life when surrounded by irrationality in the world, every effort to teach rational principles, directly or indirectly, will help facilitate healthy emotional development.