logically get from A to C? Why should a personal setback or loss cause
such strong negative emotions? The answer is that you have used a middlestep in this sequence, B —the irrational Belief. The only way you could
logically conclude from breaking up with your partner that you should be
depressed is that you are also saying to yourself something like “It is nec-
essary for me to be loved and approved by virtually every person in my
life,”or“I can never be happy without this person.” Of course, when iso-
lated like this, the belief is obviously irrational. But these irrational beliefs
are so entrenched in our thoughts that it often takes professional help tosee the flaws in our thinking.
Ellis maintained that each of us harbors and relies on a large number of
these irrational beliefs. Imagine that you fail an important class (A). If youthen fall back on the irrational belief “I need to do well at everything to be
considered worthwhile ”(B), you’ ll lead yourself to the conclusion that this is
a catastrophe and therefore become excessively anxious (C). A rational emo-
tive therapist would point out that, whereas failing is certainly an unfortunate
event—and something you ’d prefer didn ’t happen —it does not warrant ex-
treme anxiety. Expecting everything to work out well all the time will only
lead to disappointment and frustration. Some of the more commonly used ir-
rational beliefs are listed in Table 15.2. Ellis (1987) maintained that some of
these beliefs are blatantly irrational and therefore easily identified and cor-
rected during therapy. However, other beliefs are more subtle or trickier and
thus are more resistant to change.
The goal of rational emotive therapy is twofold. First, clients must see
how they rely on irrational beliefs and thereby identify the fault in their rea-soning. Second, the therapist works with the client to replace irrational beliefs
with rational ones. For example, instead of deciding that your romantic
breakup is a reason to be depressed, you might tell yourself that, although
you enjoy a stable romantic relationship and wish this one could have con-tinued, you know that not all relationships work out. You also know that
this doesn ’t mean no one else can love you or that you are never going
to have a good relationship again. Thus, whereas the A statement is the
same—“I broke up with my partner ”—the B statement is different. Because
the situation is identified as unpleasant but not catastrophic, there is no needto become overly depressed, the old C.
In the following sample, taken from one of Ellis ’therapy sessions
with a young woman (Ellis, 1971), you can see how a rational emotive thera-pist tries to change faulty thoughts:
Client: Well, this is all a part of something that’ s bothered me for a long time. I ’m always
afraid of making a mistake.
Ellis: Why? What ’s the horror?
C: I don’t know.
E: You’re saying that you ’re a bitch, you ’re a louse when you make a mistake.426 CHAPTER 15 The Cognitive Approach