RET Shared Characteristics

  1. The underlying premise illustrated by the A-B-C model is that what we think (and believe) about what happens to us influences our feelings and behavior more than the events themselves.
  2. The concept of rational v. irrational beliefs.  A rational belief (rB) is an idea that is based on logic and/or fact, while an irrational belief (iB) is either illogical (i.e., it defies reason) or untrue (i.e., there is no physical evidence to support it); it is these irrational beliefs that get us into trouble.  Figure 1.1 is a list of rational and irrational beliefs.

    3.  

    Irrational Thinking

    Rational Thinking

    I must be good at everything I do.

    Few people are good at everything they do.  I can only try my best.

    Everyone must like me.

    You can’t please all of the people all the time.  It’s okay if some people don’t like me.

    If people do bad things, they must be bad people and must be punished.

    People are fallible.  They don’t always do bad things because they are bad.  I do bad things sometimes, but that doesn’t make me a bad person.

    Everything must go my way all the time.

    It’s unrealistic to expect everything to always go my way. Sometimes I’m going to be disappointed.

    Everyone must treat me fairly all the time.

    It’s unrealistic to expect everyone to treat me fairly all the time. For one thing, people are not always going to agree with me about what is and isn’t fair.

    I never have any control over what happens to me in my life.

    While I don’t have control over everything in my life, I do have control over many things.

    When something bad happens to me, I must never forget it and I must think about it all the time.

    Thinking about bad things all the time makes me sad.  I’m a nice person.  I don’t deserve to be sad all the time.  Besides, thinking about something bad isn’t going to make it better.

    I should never have to do anything I don’t want to.

    There is always going to be someone to tell us what to do and we aren’t always going to want to do what they tell us to.  We can always refuse, but we can’t always escape the consequences.

    Figure 1.1: Rational and Irrational Beliefs

     

  3. The goal is to eliminate the iB that leads to intense negative emotions and maladaptive behavior, and replace it with a rB that leads to less stressful emotions and more productive behavior.
  4. The most practical and humanistic application of CR is to teach people how to use it to change themselves.
  5. Essentially, all forms of CR share the same six-step operating sequence shown in Figure 1.2.

 

Step

Description

1

Student recognizes emotional and/or behavioral signal(s) that something is wrong (C)

2

Student identifies event(s) (A) associated with signals

3

Student identifies belief(s) (B) that mediate(s) between (A) and (C)

4

Student attempts to dispute belief(s)

5

Student generates rational belief(s)

6

Student develops plan to internalize rational belief(s)

Figure 1.2: CR Operating Sequence

 

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