Albert Ellis

Term Paper # 104456

Psychology

Albert Ellis

A biography of the life, work and theories of psychologist Albert Ellis.

1,065 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Albert Ellis falls under the school of thought of cognitivists and how Ellis' rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) is a misnomer suggestive of a behaviorist orientation of his therapeutic methods. The paper then examines how, unlike the behavioralists' perspective, Ellis' ideas do not dwell on behaviors per se, but rather on the cognitive processes (i.e. irrational beliefs), which can give rise to these behaviors.

Outline:
School of Thought
Contributions to Personality Psychology
Occurrences During the Individual's Lifetime
Application in the Workplace

From the Paper:

"Ellis' pragmatic perspective on therapy may draw heavily from his experiences growing up and working prior to and during the Great Depression. Growing up, Ellis was a sickly child, suffering from a chronic kidney disease that forced him to be more bedridden than physically active. In spite of this, he was also forced to work, along with his siblings in order to help the rest of his family. In spite of these life circumstances, Ellis did not allow them to negatively influence him (Dobkin, 2005). As he grew up, other seemingly frustrating life circumstances such as his short-lived stint as an entrepreneur and prolific, albeit unpublished fiction writer and the Great Depression failed to deter him from pursuing the latter as an equally prolific non-fiction writer, which would eventually lead to his pursuit of counseling as an interest and training under the psychoanalytic school of thought (Boeree, 2006)."

Sample of Sources Used:

Boeree, C.G. (2006). Personality Theories. Shippenburg, PA: Shippenburg University.
Dobkin, M. (2005 Nov 7). Behaviorists behaving badly - why Albert Ellis isn't allowed at the Albert Ellis Institute. New York. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/14947/
Ellis, A. (2004). Post-September 11th Perspectives on Religion, Spirituality, and Philosophy in the Personal and Professional Lives of Selected REBT Cognoscenti: A Response to My Colleagues. Journal of Counseling and Development, 82(4), 439+. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008245505
Ellis, A. (n.d.). REBT. The Albert Ellis Site. Retrieved June 4, 2007, from http://www.rebt.ws/REBT%20explained.htm