Dealing with the Intellectual-Insight Problem in Cognitive and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

A client is said to have intellectual, but not emotional, insight when he or she acknowledges that holding a particular belief is irrational, but says that he or she still does not believe, or cannot accept, that fact. The intellectual-insight problem may arise because the client's negative core or irrational belief is embedded in a broader belief system that must be explored before the client will be able to surrender the negative core or irrational belief. In this case one appropriate intervention is to ask what the consequence of giving up the belief would be. Kelly's (1955) theory of personal constructs and DiGiuseppe's (1991) concept of personal paradigms offer ways to conceptualize the problem and its solution.