My rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) was one of the very few therapies that was originated partly or largely because I wanted to be brief and efficient. And therefore right from the start I was active and directive. I tried to show people some central masturbatory core to their philosophy and to get them to work at changing it cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally.
Albert EllisI think it's unfair, but they have the right as fallible, screwed-up humans to be unfair; that's the human condition.
Albert EllisThe emotionally sound person should be able to take risks, to ask himself what he really would like to do in life, and then to try to do this, even though he has to risk defeat or failure. He should be adventurous (though not necessarily foolhardy); be willing to try almost anything once, just to see how he likes it; and look forward to some breaks in his usual life routines.
Albert EllisThe individual is taught that there is nothing that he as a total person is to feel ashamed of or self-hating for.
Albert EllisWhining about your own, others', or the world's failings is a main element in what we usually call neurosis.
Albert EllisI thought foolishly that Freudian psychoanalysis was deeper and more intensive than other, more directive forms of therapy, so I was trained in it and practiced it. Then I found that it intensively went into every irrelevancy under the sun - and that it didn't work. People got insights into what was bothering them, but they hardly did a damn thing to change.
Albert Ellis