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Name:
Albert Ellis
Dates:
Born: 1913 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died: July 24, 2007
Ph.D.: 1947
Founded the Institute for Rational Living: 1959
Biography:
When Albert Ellis first graduated from Columbia, he fully supported the
traditional program of psychoanalysis when it came to helping people overcome
their problems. However, over time he grew more doubtful - he found that his
patients improved at the same pace when he saw then daily, weekly or bi-weekly.
If the frequency of sessions did not matter, what about the content?
Over time Ellis became less passive in listening to his clients and began to interject his own opinions about how they could improve their lives, and recommended principles derived from the works of Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Spinoza and Bertrand Russell. He discovered that these principles served to help his patients even more and, by 1955, he abandoned Freudian psychoanalysis completely.
In place of traditional psychoanalysis Albert Ellis introduced the concept of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). This type of therapy is based upon the humanistic principle that individuals are responsible for creating their own emotions and, thus, their own emotional reactions to events around them. Because of this, people are ultimately responsible for overcoming problems based upon past experiences by choosing new patters of living and acting.
Ellis published more than 54 books and over 600 articles dealing with REBT, sexuality and marriage. His work has grown in popularity and application across the United States.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
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