How REBT Can Be Less Disturbing and Remarkably More Influential in Britain: A Review of Views of Practitioners and Researchers

We asked British cognitive behaviour therapists and researchers for their views on the current status of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in Britain. All agreed that REBT had lost influence in comparison with Cognitive Therapy since the cognitive revolution 20 years ago. The main reasons given were that REBT, particularly in comparison with CT, was under-researched, was too rationalist in its approach and too active/directive in its style. One responder thought REBT was remarkably atheoretical. Overall there was a surprising degree of ignorance and misinformation. On the positive side, REBT was felt to be focused on the person rather than the symptom, and oriented more to the client than the professional or academic in its publication output than CT. We consider each issue and make recommendations for change.