Psychology is one of the most popular areas of the past few decades. This is not surprising - after all, many want to understand the strings of human consciousness. The only problem is that the majority can not even figure out with themselves. These are the people Albert Ellis saw with his audience. The books of this person help to overcome internal barriers and begin to get out of the complex confusion of his consciousness.
A bit of history
Albert Ellis was born in the fall of 1913 and, having lived 93 years old, died in the summer of 2007. He is an American psychologist and cognitive therapist. Initially, Albert tried to do business, and then - literary work. But he soon realized that his calling was psychology. In 1943, he received a master's degree in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University. In 1946, he defended his thesis, and then underwent additional psychoanalytic training.
Ellis was initially heavily influenced by Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, Alfred Adler and Harry Sullivan. But by the mid-1950s, he was disappointed in psychoanalysis. Albert Ellis is known as a sexologist and ideologist of the sexual revolution. He was creating his own approach to solving problems. In 1955, his work was called rational-emotional behavioral therapy. Let's look at what it is.
Rational-emotional behavioral therapy
She considers dysfunctional behavioral reactions and negative emotions as the result of interpreting experience (and not because of its appearance). That is, the emphasis here is on incorrect cognitive attitudes - irrational beliefs. All this is designed by Albert Ellis. Rational-emotive therapy in its theoretical part contains a lot of references to family ties with many areas of psychology.
You can judge this in more detail by reading the contents of Ellis's books. A brief overview of them will be posted later. This psychologist was created and headed by the Albert Ellis Institute, in which he did not stop active work throughout his life.
Humanistic psychotherapy
According to this theory, people tend to build illogical irrational thought combinations. In the framework of rational emotional therapy, this is called mystical thinking. The book by Albert Ellis states that all the problems that a person can “boast” are the result of this approach of people to their own lives. The problems and neuroses that arise in us, according to this book, are the result of the numerous use of "need", "should" and "should".
Of course, any person is faced with real problems. Here are just the exorbitant severity and horror that accompany the experience - these are illusory and fictional demons. Everything can be controlled by a man. It affects emotional reactions, feelings and your behavior. Since a person begins to suffer involuntarily due to imperfect thinking, he can force himself to stop suffering in exactly the same way.
The practice of rational-emotional behavioral therapy
He wrote this book in collaboration with Windy Dryden. It begins with the fact that initially the general therapeutic model is considered. Then her various modalities are described (such as individual, marital, family and sexual). The book contains many real life examples that illustrate the possibilities of application in real life.
Its main purpose is to help clinical psychologists and consultants in their work. Although it will be useful for those who just want to help people and are interested in rational-emotive therapy. But the third book considered in the article is considered the most important work.
Albert Ellis Psychotraining
It is designed for a wide audience. Its main message is that in no case should one give in to the temptation to become unhappy. This simple thought is supported by a clear program of action in many different situations (among which are very relevant and complex, such as the death of a loved one, job loss, and a number of other similar cases). All this was actively promoted to the masses by Albert Ellis. Psycho-training according to his method has helped thousands of patients return to a happy life. He will be able to provide qualified and quick assistance to any person (if, of course, he persists in this matter).
A significant number of the techniques that are published in this book were publicly available for the first time. It should be noted that the work is written in living language - the author seems to be conducting a dialogue with his reader, discussing with him certain nuances. And so it goes on throughout the book. Of course, this may bother someone, but according to our own feelings, we can say that the book is being read in one breath. Not surprisingly, this is Albert Ellis's most famous work.
Conclusion
If there is a desire to better understand yourself and other people, then self-education is a useful direction. It will help in many life situations, and psychology is no exception. But it must be borne in mind that nothing will work out of nowhere. It will be necessary to set aside your own time to at least read the book. And it may take weeks, months, and in rare cases even years, to implement the methods and completely overcome the problems. This is what Albert Ellis and his writings represent. We advise you to read these works in order to successfully apply them in your life.