Ellis developed REBT by placing irrational beliefs at its very core, claiming that these are the primary reasons for why we are miserable and dysfunctional. Through REBT, these irrational core beliefs are challenged, questioned, disputed, and acted against in order to change our emotional responses to events.
What You Need To Know About Irrational Core Beliefs
Through REBT, we turn unhealthy emotional and behavioral responses into healthy ones. Demand is placed as the primary irrational belief that centers around the idea of ABSOLUTE MUST. People demand because they need to.
Through Demand, other irrational beliefs follow:
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- Awfulizing – Awful is defined as anything that’s evaluated as being worse than 100% bad. Example: If I don’t succeed, my life will be awful.
- Low Frustration Tolerance (LFT) – Otherwise phrased by people as “I can’t stand it”. People with LFT believe that any struggle cannot be overcome and is unbearable. Example: This presentation is making me nervous and I can’t stand it.
- Conditional Self-Acceptance: Otherwise known as self-downing, or where we define our self based on one aspect. Example: I failed at math, therefore I am a failure.
Irrational core beliefs can influence and maintain emotional disturbance. When a person demands or expects something and doesn’t get it, they may or may not think, act, or feel appropriate to the event. For example, Nigel and Ann are both college students. They are both honor students and they take the same classes. In one exam, Nigel got a failing mark and Ann got a near-perfect score.
If we follow the principles of the irrational core beliefs, Nigel would demand that he gets a grade as good as Ann’s. However, that’s not the case. Nigel now believes that because he failed, he will fail this class (awfulizing). He can’t stand the feeling of failure so he’s unable to move on from the event (LFT).
Because Nigel failed one exam, he now feels he will fail the other exams from other classes and he feels that he’s no longer as good as he thinks he was (Conditional Self-Acceptance).
These irrational beliefs will prevent him from seeing the real cause as to why he failed the exam. Maybe he failed because he didn’t study enough or he got a crucial part of the exam wrong. Maybe he failed because a couple of nights ago, he had a family emergency and couldn’t think of anything else other than dealing with family emergency.
Characteristics of Irrational Core Beliefs
At the center of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy or REBT lies irrational core beliefs, which Ellis believes to be the reason for an individual’s emotional and behavioral disturbance. These core beliefs are underlying rules that guide how individuals react to the circumstances and events in their lives in general.
According to Ellis, there is a small number of core beliefs that are the root of the most unhelpful behaviors and emotions.
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- Irrational beliefs are irrational. This is any belief that’s used to avoid any instances of difficulties.
- Any belief that hinders responsibilities, growth, learning, confrontation, equality, pain, and tolerance are considered irrational.
- Your irrational beliefs are centered on ABSOLUTE MUSTS. This means that you want the results to be in your favor.
- Irrational beliefs are often exaggerated viewpoints and deliberately extreme because we feel the need for certainty.
- Any instances of uncertainty can lead to anxiety, stress, and other unwanted emotions, thoughts, and behavior.
Our beliefs, rational and irrational, are often developed automatically and on an unconscious level. We are only aware of our beliefs once there’s a verbal or physical manifestation of said belief. Even as children, we developed these beliefs because we feel the need for certainty. A lot of our fundamental beliefs about the world we live in are not based on our conscious and rational choices.
Your goals and actions are guided by the false beliefs you formed. It’s important to recognize your current belief system and question them. REBT puts these irrational beliefs in the spotlight. This is done so they can be questioned, disputed, and acted upon. As a result of these disputes, you’re left with rational core beliefs. This reduces our tendency to feel negative emotions and to act inappropriately.
