REBT in Italy: Dissemination and Integration with Constructivism and Metacognition

This paper describes and critically discusses how rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) spread among Italian cognitive psychotherapists. In the 1980s Cesare De Silvestri, with the help of Carola Schimmelpfennig, Franco Baldini, and Mario Di Pietro, brought REBT to Italy and eagerly disseminated it. In addition, De Silvestri cooperated with the two leading figures in the Italian clinical cognitive movement, Vittorio Guidano and Gianni Liotti. Guidano and Liotti applied the ABC framework to their constructivist version of cognitive therapy. Given that the large majority of Italian cognitive therapists adopted Guidano and Liotti’s approach, they all started applying the ABC framework and are still applying it today. However, Italian therapists adapted the ABC framework to their constructivist training. For example, Guidano and Liotti interpreted the ABC framework as aimed at promoting cognitive and emotional awareness in clients, while they considered the ‘disputing’ phase to be not compatible with the constructivist principles they held. They also encouraged the application of John Bowlby’s ideas to REBT and the use of life experience report techniques in the ABC. Sandra Sassaroli and Roberto Lorenzini applied George Kelly’s “laddering” technique to the ABC framework, a technique more focused on dilemmatic structures than on REBTian dysfunctional thought. Caselli investigated REBT’s influence on Adrian Wells’ metacognitive version of the ABC. Finally, Ruggiero and Ammendola have made a strong call for “back to Ellis”. This implies that any innovation should involve a more stringent and faithful application of REBT principles.     

Validating the Diathesis–Stress Model Based Case Conceptualization Procedure in Cognitive Behavioral Therapies: The LIBET (Life Themes and Semi-Adaptive Plans—Implications of Biased Beliefs,Elicitation and Treatment) Procedure

Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy - Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approaches use case formulation procedures based on the diathesis–stress conceptualization...     

Do Neurodegenerative Diseases Affect Creativity? Divergent Thinking in Frontotemporal Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease

Creativity is considered to be one of the most important characteristics that humans possess. It emerges from fundamental cognitive operations and the activation of specific brain regions. In several neurological disorders, such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), creativity plays an important role in diagnosis and rehabilitation strategies. This study examined the link between creativity and pathology in a sample of neurological patients (idiopathic PD, n = 17; FTD, n = 11 with behavioural or semantic variants), and 15 healthy subjects (Mini Mental State Examination score ≥ 20; age range, 45 to 85 years) using the Divergent Thinking Test. The FTD group exhibited lower scores than the PD and control groups. Furthermore, PD patients performed significantly better on the single DTT factor, originality, than controls.

These results are discussed in relation to neurological mechanisms that may influence creative strategies in dementia. Finally, it has been proposed creativity therapy as a cognitive rehabilitation approach, which may help patients enhance and maintain cognitive functions, reduce the severity of emotional disorders, and promote social interactions.