Albert Ellis (1913–2007) was an American psychologist. He developed a precursor to cognitive behavioral therapy—his psychotherapeutic approach, known as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT,) aims to help patients overcome irrational beliefs and unrealistic expectations.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ellis earned a PhD in psychology from Columbia University in 1947. He published his first book, An Introduction to the Principles of Scientific Psychoanalysis, in 1950.
Ellis’s REBT system taught patients to reduce self-defeating thoughts while focusing on constructive and self-accepting ideas. He popularized his approach in several best-selling books, including How to Live with a Neurotic (1957,) How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything—Yes, Anything! (1988,) and How to Keep People from Pushing Your Buttons (1994.)
Ellis rejected many of the ideas of Sigmund Freud, concluding that rather than arduously exploring traumatic childhood experiences, patients should be encouraged to forget their “god-awful pasts” and focus on taking practical steps to solve their problems.
Ellis also worked with noted zoologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and explored human sexuality in such books as The American Sexual Tragedy (1954) and Sex Without Guilt (1958.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Albert Ellis
We teach people that they upset themselves. We can’t change the past, so we change how people are thinking, feeling and behaving today.
—Albert Ellis
Topics: Thinking
The art of love … is largely the art of persistence.
—Albert Ellis
Topics: Love
You largely constructed your depression. It wasn’t given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it.
—Albert Ellis
Topics: Depression
The more sinful and guilty a person tends to feel, the less chance there is that he will be a happy, healthy, or law-abiding citizen. He will become a compulsive wrong-doer.
—Albert Ellis
Topics: Guilt
The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.
—Albert Ellis
Topics: Responsibility
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Steven Pinker Canadian Psychologist
Abbie Hoffman American Political Activist
Carl Reiner American Comedian
Larry King American TV Personality
Abraham Maslow American Psychologist
Howard Zinn American Historian, Activist
Sam Harris American Neuroscientist, Atheist, Author
Steven Weinberg American Physicist
Daniel C. Dennett American Philosopher, Atheist
Neil Postman American Educator, Social Critic