Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), was developed by Dr. Albert Ellis in 1955. It has since flourished and spawned a variety of other cognitive-behavior therapies (CBT). REBT's effectiveness, short-term nature, and low cost are major reasons for its popularity.

REBT's comprehensive approach works best for individuals desiring a scientific, present-focused, and active treatment for coping with life's difficulties, rather than one which is mystical, historical, and largely passive.

Do you get upset about being upset? Do you feel: guilty about getting angry at a loved one, anxious about being embarrassed in front of an audience, depressed about experiencing ever-increasing panic attacks or having life-long depression? If so, you have experienced secondary disturbance.

High self-esteem is now viewed much as cocaine was in the 1880s--a wondrous new cure for all ills, miraculously free of dangerous side-effects.

Self-esteem is both the sacred cow and the golden calf of our culture. Nothing is esteemed higher than self-esteem, and no self-esteem can be too high. Nathaniel Branden, a leading exponent of self-esteem, raises the question: "Is it possible to have too much self-esteem?" and gives the resounding answer: "No, it is not, no more than it is possible to have too much physical health."[1]

Albert Ellis introduced Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in 1955, a radical change from the traditional therapies popular at the time. It has since spawned a number of offshoots, usually called cognitve-behavioral therapy (CBT). REBT and CBT coincide in a variety of ways. Their core notion affirms human emotions and behavior are predominantly generated by ideas, beliefs, attitudes, and thinking, never by events themselves. Consequently changing one’s thinking leads to an emotional and behavioral change.