Albert Ellis

Albert Ellis (September 27 1913 – July 24 2007) was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and founded and was the president and president emeritus of the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute.^[1]. He is generally considered to be the grandfather of cognitive-behavioral therapies and, based on a 1982 professional survey of U.S. and Canadian psychologists, was considered as one of the most influential psychotherapists in history (Carl Rogers placed first in the survey; Sigmund Freud placed third).^[2]

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Early life

Ellis was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest of three children. Ellis' father was a businessman, often away from home on business trips who reportedly showed only a modicum of affection to his children.

In his autobiography, Ellis characterized his mother as a self-absorbed woman with a bipolar disorder. At times, according to Ellis, she was a "bustling chatterbox who never listened". She would expound on her strong opinions on most subjects but rarely provided a factual basis for these views. Like his father, Ellis' mother was emotionally distant from her children. Ellis recounted that she was often sleeping when he left for school and usually not home when he returned. Instead of reporting feeling bitter, he took on the responsibility of caring for his siblings. He purchased an alarm clock with his own money and woke and dressed his younger brother and sister. When the Great Depression struck, all three children sought work to assist the family.

Ellis was sickly as a child and suffered numerous health problems through his youth. At the age of five he was hospitalized with a kidney disease. ^[3] He was also hospitalized with tonsillitis, which led to a severe streptococcal infection requiring emergency surgery. He reported that he had eight hospitalizations between the ages of five and seven. One of these lasted nearly a year. His parents provided little or no emotional support for him during these years, rarely visiting or consoling him. Ellis stated that he learned to confront his adversities as he had "developed a growing indifference to that dereliction".

Albert Ellis had exaggerated fears of speaking in public and during his adolescence he was extremely shy around women. At age 19, already showing signs of thinking like a cognitive-behavioral therapist, he forced himself to talk to 100 women in the Bronx Botanical Gardens over a period of a month. Even though he didn't get a date, he reported that he desensitized himself to his fear of rejection by women.

Education and early career

Ellis entered the field of clinical psychology after first earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from the City University of New York. He began a brief career in business, followed by one as a writer. These endeavors took place during the Great Depression that began in 1929, and Ellis found that business was poor and had no success in publishing his fiction. Finding that he could write non-fiction well, Ellis researched and wrote on human sexuality. His lay counseling in this subject convinced him to seek a new career in clinical psychology.

In 1942, Ellis began his studies for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, which trained psychologists mostly in psychoanalysis. He completed his Master of Arts in clinical psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in June 1943, and started a part-time private practice while still working on his Ph.D degree – possibly because there was no licensing of psychologists in New York at that time. Ellis began publishing articles even before receiving his Ph.D.; in 1946 he wrote a critique of many widely-used pencil-and-paper personality tests. He concluded that only the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory met the standards of a research-based instrument.

Development of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

After the completion of his doctorate, Ellis sought additional training in psychoanalysis. Like most psychologists of that time, he was interested in the theories of Sigmund Freud. Shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in 1947, Ellis began a personal analysis and program of supervision with Richard Hulbeck (whose own analyst had been Hermann Rorschach, a leading training analyst at the Karen Horney Institute.) Karen Horney would be the single greatest influence in Ellis's thinking, although the writings of Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm and Harry Stack Sullivan also played a role in shaping his psychological models. Ellis credits Alfred Korzybski^[4] and his book, Science and Sanity^[5], for starting him on the philosophical path for founding rational-emotive therapy.

By January 1953 his break with psychoanalysis was complete, and he began calling himself a rational therapist. Ellis was now advocating a new more active and directive type of psychotherapy. By 1955 he dubbed his new approach Rational Therapy (RT). RT required that the therapist help the client understand — and act on the understanding —that his personal philosophy contains beliefs that lead to his own emotional pain. This new approach stressed actively working to change a client's self-defeating beliefs and behaviors by demonstrating their irrationality and rigidity. Ellis related everything to these core irrational beliefs such as "I must be perfect" and "I must be loved by everyone". Ellis believed that through rational analysis, people can understand their errors in light of the core irrational beliefs and then construct a more rational position.

In 1954 Ellis began teaching his new technique to other therapists, and by 1957 he formally set forth the first cognitive behavior therapy by proposing that therapists help people adjust their thinking and behavior as the treatment for neuroses. Two years later Ellis published How to Live with a Neurotic, which elaborated on his new method. In 1960 Ellis presented a paper on his new approach at the American Psychological Association convention in Chicago. There was mild interest, but few recognized that the paradigm set forth would become the zeitgeist within a generation. At that time the prevailing interest in experimental psychology was behaviorism, while in clinical psychology it was the psychoanalytic schools of notables such as Freud, Jung, Adler, and Perls. Despite the fact that Ellis' approach emphasized cognitive, emotive, and behavioral methods, his strong cognitive emphasis provoked almost everyone with the possible exception of the followers of Alfred Adler. Consequently, he was often received with hostility at professional conferences and in print.^[6]

Despite the slow adoption of his approach, Ellis founded his own institute. The Institute for Rational Living was founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1959. By 1968 it was chartered by the New York State Board of Regents as a training institute and psychological clinic. This was no trivial feat as New York State had a Mental Hygiene Act which mandated "psychiatric management" of mental health clinics ^[7] Ellis had broken ground by founding an institute purely based on psychological control and principles.

In 1965 Ellis published a book entitled Homosexuality: Its Causes and Cure, which saw homosexuality as a pathology and therefore a condition to be cured. He was writing a decade after the Kinsey Reports, which had found homosexual behavior was relatively common in both men and women. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declared that homosexuality was no longer a mental disorder and thus not properly subject to cure and in 1976 Ellis repudiated his earlier views in Sex and the Liberated Man, going on to become strongly supportive of the rights of gays, lesbians, and others.

In 2003 Ellis received an award from the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (UK) for the formulation and development of REBT. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Association. At the same time he celebrated his 90th birthday, an event attended by luminaries such as Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lama.

Albert Ellis and religion

In his book Sex Without Guilt, Ellis expressed the opinion that religious restrictions on sexual expression are needless and often harmful to emotional health. He famously debated religious psychologists, including O. Hobart Mowrer and Allen Bergin, over the proposition that religion contributes to psychological distress. Because of his forthright espousal of a nontheistic humanism, he was recognized in 1971 as Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association. Ellis most recently described himself as a probabilistic atheist, meaning that while he acknowledged that it is impossible to be certain that there is no god, he believed that the likelihood that a god exists is so small that it was not worth his [or anyone else's] attention ^[8].

While Ellis’ personal atheism remained consistent, his views about the role of religion in mental health changed over time. In early comments delivered at conventions and at his institute in New York City, Ellis overtly and often with characteristically acerbic sarcasm stated that devout religious beliefs and practices were harmful to mental health. In The Case Against Religiosity, a 1983 pamphlet published by his New York institute, he offered an idiosyncratic definition of religiosity as any devout, dogmatic, demanding belief. He noted that religious codes and religious individuals often manifest religiosity, but added that devout, demanding religiosity is also obvious among many psychoanalysts, communists and aggressive atheists.

Ellis was careful to state that REBT is independent of his atheism, noting that many skilled REBT practitioners are religious, including some who are ordained ministers. In his later days he significantly toned down and re-evaluated his opposition to religion. While Ellis maintained his atheistic stance, proposing that thoughtful, probabilistic atheism is likely the most emotionally healthy approach to life, he acknowledged and agreed with survey evidence suggesting that belief in a loving God is also psychologically healthy ^[9]. Based on this later approach to religion, he reformulated his professional and personal view in one of his last books The Road to Tolerance, and he also co-authored a book with two religious psychologists, Stevan Lars Nielsen and W. Brad Johnson, describing principles for integrating religious material and beliefs with REBT during treatment of religious clients, Counseling and Psychotherapy with Religious Persons: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Approach.

Later life

In 2004 Ellis was taken ill with serious intestinal problems, which led to hospitalization and the removal of his large intestine. He returned to work after a few months of being nursed back to health by Debbie Joffe, his assistant, who later became his wife.

In 2005 he was subjected to removal from all his professional duties, and from the board of his own institute after a dispute over the management policies of the institute. Ellis was reinstated to the board in January 2006, after winning civil proceedings against the board members who removed him. ^[10] On June 6 2007, lawyers acting for Albert Ellis filed a suit against the Albert Ellis Institute in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The suit alleges a breach of a long-term contract with the AEI and seeks recovery of the 45 East 65th Street property through the imposition of a constructive trust.

In April 2006, Ellis was hospitalized with pneumonia, and spent more than a year shuttling between hospital and a rehabilitation facility. He eventually returned to his residence on the top floor of the Albert Ellis Institute. His final work, a textbook on Personality Theory, was completed shortly before his death. It will be posthumously published by Sage Press in early 2008.

He died on July 24 2007 from natural causes, aged 93. ^[11]

Published works

• The Folklore of Sex, Oxford, England: Charles Boni, 1951.
• The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach (introduction). NY: Greenberg, 1951.
• The American Sexual Tragedy. NY: Twayne, 1954.
• Sex Life of the American woman and the Kinsey Report. Oxford, England: Greenberg, 1954.
• The Psychology of Sex Offenders. Springfield, IL: Thomas, 1956.
• How To Live With A Neurotic. Oxford, England: Crown Publishers, 1957.
• Sex Without Guilt. NY: Hillman, 1958.
• The Art and Science of Love. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1960.
• A Guide to Successful Marriage, with Robert A. Harper. North Hollywood, CA: Wilshire Book, 1961.
• Creative Marriage, with Robert A. Harper. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1961.
• The Encyclopedia of Sexual Behavior, edited with Albert Abarbanel. NY: Hawthorn, 1961.
• The American Sexual Tragedy, 2nd Ed. rev. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1962.
• Reason and Emotion In Psychotherapy. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1962.
• Sex and the Single Man. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1963.
• If This Be Sexual Heresy. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1963.
• Nymphomania: A Study of the Oversexed Woman, with Edward Sagarin. NY: Gilbert Press, 1964.
• Homosexuality: Its causes and Cures. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1965.
• Is Objectivism a Religion. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1968.
• Murder and Assassination, with John M. Gullo. NY: Lyle Stuart, 1971.
• A Guide to Rational Living. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1961.
• A New Guide to Rational Living. Wilshire Book Company, 1975. ISBN 0-87980-042-9.
• Anger: How to Live With and Without It. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1977. ISBN 0806509376.
• Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy, with Russell Greiger & contributors. NY: Springer Publishing, 1977.
• Overcoming Procrastination: Or How to Think and Act Rationally in Spite of Life's Inevitable Hassles, with William J. Knaus. Institute for Rational Living, 1977. ISBN 0917476042.
• How to Live With a Neurotic. Wilshire Book Company, 1979. ISBN 0-87980-404-1.
• Overcoming Resistance: Rational-Emotive Therapy With Difficult Clients. NY: Springer Publishing, 1985. ISBN 0826149103.
• When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol, with Emmett Velten. Barricade Books, 1992. ISBN 0-942637-53-4.
• The Art and Science of Rational Eating, with Mike Abrams and Lidia Abrams. Barricade Books, 1992. ISBN 0-942637-60-7.
• How to Cope with a Fatal Illness, with Mike Abrams. Barricade Books, 1994. ISBN 1-56980-005-7.
• Reason and Emotion In Psychotherapy, Revised and Updated. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1994. ISBN 1559722487.
• How to Keep People from Pushing Your Buttons, with Arthur Lange. Citadel Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8065-1670-4.
• Alcohol: How to Give It Up and Be Glad You Did, with Philip Tate Ph.D. See Sharp Press, 1996. ISBN 1-884365-10-8.
• How to Control Your Anger Before It Controls You, with Raymond Chip Tafrate. Citadel Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8065-2010-8.
• Optimal Aging: Get Over Getting Older, with Emmett Velten. Chicago, Open Court Press, 1998. ISBN 0812693833.
• Making Intimate Connections: Seven Guidelines for Great Relationships and Better Communication, with Ted Crawford. Impact Publishers, 2000. ISBN 1-886230-33-1.
• The Secret of Overcoming Verbal Abuse: Getting Off the Emotional Roller Coaster and Regaining Control of Your Life, with Marcia Grad Powers. Wilshire Book Company, 2000. ISBN 0-87980-445-9.
• Counseling and Psychotherapy With Religious Persons: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Approach, with Stevan Lars Nielsen and W. Brad Johnson. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001. ISBN 0805828788.
• Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Prometheus Books, 2001. ISBN 1-57392-879-8.
• Feeling Better, Getting Better, Staying Better: Profound Self-Help Therapy For Your Emotions. Impact Publishers, 2001. ISBN 1-886230-35-8.
• Case Studies In Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy With Children and Adolescents, with Jerry Wilde. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall, 2002. ISBN 0130872814.
• Overcoming Resistance: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Integrated Approach, 2nd ed. NY: Springer Publishing, 2002. ISBN 082614912X.
• Ask Albert Ellis: Straight Answers and Sound Advice from America's Best-Known Psychologist. Impact Publishers, 2003. ISBN 1-886230-51-X.
• Sex Without Guilt in the 21st Century. Barricade Books, 2003. ISBN 1569802580.
• Dating, Mating, and Relating. How to Build a Healthy Relationship, with Robert A. Harper. Citadel Press Books, 2003. ISBN 0-8065-24-54-5
• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: It Works For Me -- It Can Work For You. Prometheus Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59102-184-7.
• The Road to Tolerance: The Philosophy of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Prometheus Books, 2004. ISBN 1-59102-237-1.
• The Myth of Self-Esteem. Prometheus Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59102-354-8.
• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: A Therapist's Guide (2nd Edition), with Catharine MacLaren. Impact Publishers, 2005. ISBN 1-886230-61-7.
• How to Make Yourself Happy and Remarkably Less Disturbable. Impact Publishers, 1999. ISBN 1-886230-18-8.
• Theories of Personality, with Mike Abrams, and Lidia Abrams. New York: Sage Press, 1/2008 (in press).
• Rational Emotive Behavioral Approaches to Childhood Disorders · Theory, Practice and Research 2nd Edition. With Michael E. Bernard (Eds.). Springer SBM, 2006. ISBN 978-0-387-26374-8

See also

• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
• Alfred Korzybski
• Clinical psychology
• Cognitive therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Psychotherapy
• Mental Health
• Clinical Psychology
• Aaron T. Beck
• David D. Burns

References

Further reading

• Albert Ellis, Mike Abrams, and Lidia Abrams. Theories of Personality. New York: Sage Press, 2008 (this book,his final work, is currently in press)