Rational behavior therapy (RBT) is a form of

cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (su ...

developed by

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr. Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr. (April 24, 1932 in Pensacola, Florida – August 28, 2016 in Alexandria, Virginia) was an American psychiatrist, author of several books on emotional and behavioral self-management, Elected Distinguished Life Fellow of ...

, a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

at the Medical College at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

. RBT is designed to be a short term therapy which is based on discovering an unsuspected problem which creates unwanted mental, emotional and physical behaviors. According to Maultsby, RBT addresses all three groups of learned behaviors directly: the cognitive, the emotive, and the physical. It also involves systematic guidance in the technique of emotional self-help called rational self-counseling. One of the features of rational behavior therapy is that the therapist assigns the client " therapeutic homework". In Dr. Maultsby's book, ''Rational Behavior Therapy,'' he discusses the nine scientific approaches that are the foundation to this method: # The art and science of practicing family medicine. # Specialty training in adult and child psychiatry. # Neuropsychological theories of Donald Hebb and Alexander Luria. # Classical conditioning theory of Ivan Pavlov. # The operant learning theory of James G. Holland and B.F. Skinner. # Learning theories of Hobart Mowerer and Julian Rotter. # Conditioning and learning research of Clarence V. Hudgins, Mary Cover Jones, John I. Lacey, Robert L. Smith, Charles E. Osgood and George J. Such, Gregory H.S. Razran, Arthur W. Staats and Carolyn K. Staats, John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner, Joseph Wolpe, and Arnold Lazarus. # Psychosomatic research of David T. Graham and William J. Grace. # Albert Ellis's theory and technique of Rational Emotive Therapy. CC-BY icon

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Some of the concepts of Rational Behavior Therapy is ABC Emotion scale, Five Rules for Healthy Thinking (5RHT), and Healthy Semantics. Both ABC and 5RHT creates Healthy Semantics. These concepts are used to help treat the patient. Another key component is Rational Self-analysis (RSA) which helps structure the patient. This is better known as being given a homework assignment that creates a routine for the patient. Rational Emotive Imagery (REI) is another concept used to create a essential learning of a habit to replace a old habit we no longer want.

History

Rational behavior therapy is the result of four significant influences in Maultsby's professional life: his experience as a physician, the

neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of t ...

Alexander Luria Alexander Romanovich Luria (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Лу́рия, p=ˈlurʲɪjə; 16 July 1902 – 14 August 1977) was a Soviet neuropsychologist, often credited as a father of modern neuropsychology. He develop ...

B. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974. ...

's behavioral learning theory, and

Albert Ellis Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and was cert ...

rational emotive behavior therapy Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is an active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral pro ...

. RBT is considered to be one of the first cognitive-behavior therapies that was developed specifically to be used as a self-counseling technique. It was Ellis who had the most significant impact on the development of RBT as a psychotherapy method. However, unlike Ellis's technique, RBT leaves philosophical issues to patients' individual preferences.

References

5. Wirga, M., DeBernardi, M., Wirga, A. ''et al.'' Maultsby’s Rational Behavior Therapy: Background, Description, Practical Applications, and Recent Developments. ''J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther'' 38, 399–423 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-020-00341-8

History

References

Further reading