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Rational-emotive therapy and cognitive behavior therapy: Similarities and differences

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Abstract

General or nonpreferential rational-emotive therapy (RET)is synonymous with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT).Specialized or preferential RET, however, differs from CBT in several ways. Cognitively, it has a pronounced philosophic emphasis, includes a humanistic-existentialist out-look, strives for pervasive and long-lasting rather than symptomatic change, tries to eliminate all self-ratings, stresses antimusturbatory rather than antiempirical disputing methods, recognizes the palliative aspects of cognitive distraction, discourages problem solving that is not accompanied by changes in clients' basic belief system, and emphasizes secondary as well as primary symptoms of emotional disturbance. Emotively, it stresses the discrimination of appropriate from inappropriate emotions, emphasizes methods of working directly with and on emotions, encourages forceful emotive interventions, and uses relationship procedures that heavily stress unconditional rather than conditional positive regard. Behaviorally, it favors penalization as well as reinforcement, is partial to in vivo desensitization and flooding, and makes sure that skill training is done within a philosophic framework of trying to help clients make basic changes in their irrational beliefs.

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Ellis, A. Rational-emotive therapy and cognitive behavior therapy: Similarities and differences. Cogn Ther Res 4, 325–340 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01178210

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