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“Deep” RET: A reformulation of some psychodynamic explanations of procrastination

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Abstract

Ellis and Knaus (1977) have given an extremely helpful account of procrastination and how to overcome it. Their account focuses on irrational beliefs concerning the immediate task, and on ways of disputing those beliefs. Procrastination can also occur because of beliefs about the consequences of succeeding at the task. This paper describes four paradigms of cases that fall outside the framework provided by Ellis and Knaus. In these cases, therapeutic interventions aimed at beliefs about the task itself will fail, seemingly because of deep or dynamic motivations. If therapeutic attention is shifted from the presenting problem to the secondary ramifications of the problem, then rational-emotive theory can account for the cases without recourse to psychodynamic explanations.

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Reference Note

  • Ellis, A.Suggestions for research studies related to the theory and practice or rational-emotive therapy. Remarks presented at the First National Conference on Cognitive Behavior Therapy Research, Los Angeles, 1976. (Available on tape from Institute for Rational Living, 45 East 65th Street, New York, New York 10021.)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Miami University, 45056, Oxford, Ohio, USA

    Leonard G. Rorer

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  1. Leonard G. Rorer
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Additional information

Insights gained while attending one of Albert Ellis's practica contributed to both the content and the completion of this paper. Don Beal, Craig Beaver, Maggie Frame, Bobbie Hopes, Katherine Kowal, and Blanche Thompson provided helpful criticisms, comments, and suggestions in response to earlier versions of this paper.

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Rorer, L.G. “Deep” RET: A reformulation of some psychodynamic explanations of procrastination. Cogn Ther Res 7, 1–9 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01173419

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