Do you struggle with negative self-talk? Have you thought about seeking professional help to address negative thought patterns? There are many proven methods to treat mental health problems like negative self-talk. Rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) is one of them.
A subcategory of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), REBT is an action-oriented approach that helps you cope with irrational beliefs and regulate your emotions towards better emotional and mental health. Like traditional CBT methods, REBT raises self-awareness and helps you identify negative thinking patterns before acting upon them irrationally.
Your Cognition, Emotions, and Behaviors Are Interconnected
There are physical, emotional, cognitive, and social dimensions to human existence; these aspects are interconnected. To alleviate the negative impact of events and situations, you need to understand how emotions arise as a result of certain beliefs that have been shaped by previous life experiences.
For example, you may blame external events for your lack of contentment in life. However, it is actually your interpretation of these events and situations that cause your psychological and mental distress. You may allow these cognitive and emotional energies to flow freely and impact your behaviors, sometimes in irrational ways. Doing so may unconsciously complicate relationships, causing more social distress in your life.
The Benefits of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy
During an REBT session, a therapist will help you recognize and identify three things: the activating event, your thoughts and beliefs about the event, and your emotional response to this belief. For example, if you have depression caused by relationship conflicts, the therapist may ask you to first identify the activating event for this depressive episode.
Then you may be encouraged to identify what beliefs led you to your negative emotions and feelings about the event. Lastly, you may work on how to cope with these beliefs and thoughts, to ultimately improve your emotional response to similar conflicts in the future. With practice, this can improve your outlook on life.
REBT therapy may help you identify irrational beliefs such as regret over past mistakes, perfectionism, avoidance of frustration in life, and lack of control over your happiness. These deeply-held beliefs can make it difficult to cope with ongoing activating situations. You may need to process these rigid self-expectations to release regret and anxiety.
REBT therapists tend to use a process known as “disputation” to challenge your irrational beliefs. For example, your beliefs may be questioned directly, causing you to rethink the validity of these deeply-held, but not necessarily rational thought patterns. You may also be asked to imagine another point of view that serves as an alternative and more rational belief. Over time, you may learn and internalize this disputation method.
You may learn to pause and ponder what you may have done differently. In challenging your own beliefs, you gain more self-awareness about how irrational your old beliefs may be. This may evolve your thought pattern into a new one that promises better outcomes in your emotions and behaviors.
Learning Self-Acceptance
The essence of REBT is to coach you in learning self-acceptance instead of constant self-criticism. You may learn how to replace irrational beliefs with healthier ones that open up to more possibilities. Remember that you are worthy of self-acceptance despite your past mistakes. This compassionate attitude can also be extended to others, even when their behaviors impact you negatively.
Negativity is part of life, and you can learn to accept it with peace. There is no rational reason to expect life to be perfect at all times. This cognitive principle may help you better cope with life’s frustrations. REBT therapy also helps you avoid sliding to the other extreme: seeing life with all negativity. REBT keeps you in the middle of the road by avoiding both irrational perfectionist beliefs and irrational pessimistic thoughts.
Embracing a Balanced Positive Outlook on Life
You must evaluate your understandings and beliefs about yourself and life, from time to time. Stress can come from all directions, whether it is with educational attainment, family relationships, or work situations. For example, job-related stress or burnout may be caused by experiencing decreased job satisfaction through self-doubt during intense stress at work. Some part of stress may be caused by your negative self-talk.
One-on-one or group REBT therapy may help you identify some irrational thought patterns behind your anxiety and depression. RETB holds that it is not events alone that cause stressful emotions and behaviors. By addressing your beliefs and thought patterns, you can regain a rational and balanced outlook on yourself and your life.
There are many proven mental health treatments to help you recover from negative thinking patterns. Rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT) is one of them. This action-oriented approach helps you cope with irrational beliefs and regulate your emotions towards better emotional and mental health. Like traditional CBT methods, REBT raises self-awareness and helps you identify negative thinking patterns before acting upon them irrationally. Casa Recovery has trained professional therapists who have experience in treating both the body and the mind. The staff at Casa Recovery believes that your treatment plan should be as unique as you are to maximize effectiveness and result in a successful treatment outcome. Your treatment team will work with you to provide customized efficient and effective treatment methods that have been developed and applied in clinical settings. Relearning how to process events can greatly affect your quality of life. Early intervention is key. To learn more, call Casa Recovery today at (888) 928-2272.