Jove Wellness

Cognitive Behavioral / Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy were developed by Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis respectively. At Jove, we use an eclectic (combination) therapy based on the philosophies of both CBT and REBT. At the very core of our approach is for the client to reach unconditional self acceptance by learning to identify, dispute, and replace self defeating thoughts.

Our approach is not a psychodynamic one or psychoanalytic one, but a more here and now approach, targeting current symptoms and treating them actively. This does not mean that our approach is non supportive. On the contrary, when a client comes in and has suffered an adversity or “problem” in the previous week, we take the opportunity to support the client and teach the client how to avoid such “problems” in the future. Using a current “problem” to show the client how they ultimately disturb themselves works well because the thoughts are fresh in the clients mind, and able to be looked at.

The philosophy used to treat clients at Jove is the following:
Schemas can be viewed as a pattern, or a collection of beliefs. We have many different schemas which are formed in childhood and elaborate throughout ones lifetime. Examples of common schemas are Negative Schema, Self Downing Schema, Anxious Schema, Humorous Schema, and Driven Schema. As you can see schemas don’t necessarily have to be “bad” or maladaptive. However, the “bad” ones are the ones that get us into trouble. This is because life situations activate these schemas, and we behave according to the activated schema. For example, If a person has a negative schema, that person tends to look at situations in a negative light. So if the person sees a friend walking down the street and greets the person, but the person doesn’t respond, then the negative schema may get activated and the person starts to think negative about the situation (the friend doesn’t like me anymore, the friend is obnoxious, etc.). The person with the negative schema may not think that the friend was simply in a rush to get to their destination and did not see the individual. Once the Negative Schema is activated, it may activate other schemas such as the Self Downing Schema (“no one likes me anymore”), or the Anxious Schema (‘I won’t be able to stand losing that friend”). Schemas are essentially Core Irrational Beliefs.

In REBT, an ABC model is used to remove these “bad” or maladaptive schemas. A=Activating Event, B=Belief, and C=Consequence. Therefore, in the above mentioned example, the A=”the friend not acknowledging me,” the B=”she must not like me anymore,” and C=Sadness/Depression/Avoidance. The difficult part of the model is identifying the “B” that is trying to get at the Core Belief thats causing the emotion (sadness/depression). Once the core belief has been identified, then we evaluated it to see if its rational (true) or irrational (untrue). If it is irrational, then we dispute the belief. We do this using a logical, empirical, and functional challenge. For example, “does it really make sense that my friend doesn’t like me just because she didn’t say hi?” (logical), or “where is the evidence that she doesn’t like me? simply because she didn’t say hi?” (empirical), and “how is it helping me to think that she doesn’t like me?” (functional). Once you believe the disputes then you are ready to come up with an alternative belief. This step is necessary, because if you dispute the belief, it will come back if not replaced. An alternative belief might be, “I would prefer she say hi to me, but if she doesn’t it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like me anymore.” Or, “She has always said hi to me, she must be in a rush.” Get the idea? Good! Because that is all to it. Once these “new” rational beliefs are in place, they start to change how you view the world and life’s situations.

CBT/REBT has been shown to work really well with many disorders such as Depression, Anxiety, and Personality Disorders. The reason it’s so effective is because the treatment targets the thoughts that cause our unhealthy emotions (Rage, Depression, Jealousy, Anxiety). So in essence, we make ourselves feel by what we think. If we can think more rationally, then our feelings will be more appropriate and healthy (regret, disappointment, concern).