Theory of Emotional Disturbance - Essay Example

Rational-Emotive Therapy's A-B-C Theory of Emotional Disturbance Over 2 Millennia ago, a Greek sage Epictetus expounded on the connection between events and reaction, he said; Men are disturbed, not by the events they experiences or face, but the way they perceive them (Cherry). It is around this postulation that Albert Ellis in the, 1950s framed his model of a“Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy” and it became popular as a method of psychology and as well as a philosophy of living. The rational emotive behavior therapy abbreviated (REBT); it is conceptualized around the premises that, contrary to popular belief, we do not derive our different reactions to situations from the actual events, but the way in which we view them. According to Albert Ellis, most people desire to be happy and contented; this is irrespective of whether we will experience this feeling as individuals or as parts of a group or groups. Moreover, they also want to be and appear educated and sophisticated with all the trappings of success in contemporary society such as a good job with good pay leisure time. Naturally, life does not grant all these and when and ambitions are blocked, people respond differently either through healthy, objective ways or unhelpful and irrational ones depending on individual characteristics and motivations (“What is REBT Network”). In this paper, I will apply the model to the reaction of some of my colleagues when they were fired or laid off from work, which, unfortunately, is becoming a common occurrence in recent times due to considerable global financial problems. In this case, several people were laid off and a few others got pay cuts because of the financial hardships experience by the company resulting in downward resizing of the firm. Therefore, the termination of employment was the activation event that is supposed to trigger off the sequence that forms this cognitive behavior model. This experience then resulted in the second stage of beliefs, in many cases, reaction to bad news if followed by negative reactions and people tend to feel devastated and disappointed. In the case of my friends, one I know asked himself and anybody who would listen questions, such as, “of the 100 or so workers in the firm, only 10 were laid off, does my presence in that least mean I am less valuable to the firm than the other 90?” Another blamed the management and even went as far as claiming the supervisor always had it for him, and this was all a ploy to get rid of him for good. Most of the ensuing reactions in these cases were subjective, often resulting from personal feelings, which often are irrational since once judgment is clouded by the impact of the activating action The consequences varied, with the fore mentioned beliefs, feelings manifested included, self-pity and self-depreciation. Some of the individuals believed they deserved to be fired since they were not good enough; thus, I considered it unlikely such and individual would get another job. In these circumstances, a person can easily lose hope, which in the long term, may lead to depression and clinical mental as well as physical disorders because of the stress they may undergo. There were a few extreme cases where the dismissed employees got very angry and hostile at the terminating authority an attempted to take drastic actions, which included physical violence; moreover, several threats were made anonymously over the phone targeting the personnel managers. Moreover, it is important to make it clear that A does not lead to C in the A-B-C theory; instead, it is usually the subject’s perception of the situation that makes them react in a certain manner. Consider for instance, if the person who was laid off felt he was in the wrong job, then they will take the termination as a positive thing and move on to try to make it elsewhere if optimistic, and they will indeed be more likely to succeed. Therapists use the fourth stage to bring patients around to rational thinking; this is the D for Dispute, as individuals could also use this mode of thinking to deal with their negative and irrational reactions to the Action. Here, the individual actively disputes the irrational reactions in part B and tries logically to understand and deal with their situation. The colleagues mentioned herein could have for instance asked themselves whether being laid off necessarily a bad thing. For instance, one may review their work and realize they have not been as productive as their colleagues have, and were probably axed “fairly”. They could also accept that 10 people had to go and the fact that they are in the group could have simply been a matter of bad luck and not a personal vendetta by management. If convinced, and have factual evidence they were treated unfairly instead of taking it personally, and they could appeal to the relevant authorities. Finally, there is the final Emotional reaction to the consequence, in this stage, therapist take cognizant of the fact that one needs to vent their emotions and after going through the D stage. They can do it in a healthy and rational way as opposed to what was evidenced in C; for example, I met one of my friends who had been laid off, he admitted to me that he did indeed slack on the job quite a bit and probably had it coming. However, he vowed to work harder at their next job, so the same does not happen to again in his next job. I was surprised he had changed his reaction so much since he had been one of those claiming unfair dismissal; this is a classic case of the model at work since he clearly dealt with his irrational beliefs and this was clearly helping him chart a way forward. In addition, one could believe that although it was hurtful and embarrassing to be fired from their job, it is not the end of their world. Personally, application of the competencies of this theory will be very beneficial in my life because it has given me insight in and an important reflection on the manner in which humans behave and deal with their problems. Therefore, in case I would be faced with such a situation or if someone close to me undergoes or experiences them, I can use the model to counsel them and help them deal with the issue practically instead of just sympathizing helplessly. Besides if faced with such issues in my own life, the model would be invaluable in dealing with them, I can avoid basing my actions based on raw emotions or irrational thinking in the future, which no doubts opens new frontiers for me when it comes to problem solving and handling stress. I believe the Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy is a great improvement from traditional psychoanalytical methods; among other reasons is that, it allows people to get to the root of the matters and express their feelings after rational contemplation. Unlike the other methods, the REBT model did not focus on the unconscious mind, but the conscious effort to change ones circumstances, which is more practical (Raymond and Wedding 210). Besides, its ABC format is dynamic and easily fits in the modern situations such as organizational and industrial scenes, which are in essence where majority of people today encounter stressful situations. Therefore, with my newly found competence, and “experience” through my colleague’s predicaments I am convinced that the corporate issues will be comparatively easy to handle. I will not waste much effort in irrational thinking, and I will be better placed to make sober judgments and handle the sometimes illogical and complicated situations the corporate world, which can at times be brutal and stress out employees. Bibliography Cherry, Kendra. “What Is REBT? Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.” About.com. n.d. Web. 25 November 2012. Raymond, Corsini and Wedding, Danny. Current Psychotherapies. Stamford: Cengage Learning. 2010. Print. “What is Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)?” REBT Network. n.d. Web. 25 November 2012. Read More