7 Practical Tips from Albert Ellis to improve your skills as a psychologist, coach, leader or trainer

Who was Albert Ellis?

Ellis was one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century. He was known for being the father and founder of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT). Ellis developed this psychotherapy in the 1950s as a way to help his patients change their Negative and self-destructive thinking patterns that often manifest in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other emotional problems.

REBT focuses on identifying and changing irrational, dysfunctional or catastrophic thoughts that generate serious psychological and emotional problems. This is achieved by encouraging the adoption of much more realistic, adaptive and functional thoughts. Ellis passed away in 2007, but as you will see in this article, his discoveries in the field of psychology, They are still useful and relevant. in the processes of psychological support and personal development.

Practical advice from Albert Ellis

Below, I present 7 practical tips based on Ellis' main ideas to improve your skills as a psychologist, coach, leader or trainer:

1. Stimulates Permanent Self-Evaluation

REBT emphasizes the importance of constantly checking our own thoughts and emotions. This in order to identify those that are unrealistic, irrational or dysfunctional. As a mentor to others, you can encourage and encourage this habit in your patients or students.

You can teach them to constantly confront your thoughts and beliefs by questioning them, to identify those core beliefs that cause anxiety, depression or other emotional problems. Many of these beliefs They are usually prejudices, which are negative attitudes or partial and arbitrary evaluations. towards oneself, a person or group. In this article you can expand further on the topic of prejudices and how they distance us from our well-being.

You can ask them thoughtful questions that lead them to question their toxic thoughts, beliefs, and habits. The approach is for the other to recognize those thoughts that are based on fantasies and prejudices to make room for more critical and realistic thinking. For example, you can ask How do you feel about a situation? o How much is this behavior close to or far from your values, goals and objectives?. The goal of these questions is to prompt you to review your own actions and decisions and consider whether they are in line with your goals and values.

You can also give them constructive feedback so that together you can identify their strengths and aspects to improve based on their way of thinking and acting. For example, you can recognize and congratulate them for positive behavior and highlight how it contributes to their objectives and goals.

2. Help them reframe their beliefs

This point is similar to the previous one, but at a more intense level. If the person is resistant to changing their point of view, you can confront them by inviting them to reevaluate their irrational or dysfunctional beliefs.

As a professional and mentor, you must help your patients or students identify these beliefs and examine their validity. The rational dispute technique It is usually a tool that directs you to question and dispute the irrational and dysfunctional thoughts of the other.

You can encourage the patient to examine the evidence that supports his negative thoughts and find alternative evidence that contradicts them. For example, imagine that a person believes that he or she will never be able to find a satisfying job and has thoughts like: «I will never be able to get a job I like, I am destined to work in a boring job for the rest of my life».

How to help them reframe their negative beliefs?

As a mentor you can lead him through a coherent line of reflective questions such as: What evidence do you have to support this belief? Do you want us to look together for alternatives to this negative perspective? What evidence do you base on your claim that you will never be able to find a satisfying job?Have you already tried to look for different jobs or explore other study or work options? Are there people you know who have found jobs that they like? Is it possible that your perspective is influenced by your negative emotions that you have based on experiences from your past?

At some point the person may become more flexible in their position and may think something like "Ok, I understand that it is not easy to find a satisfactory job, but at least there are some options available that I can explore to find other opportunities”, or “I recognize that I have valuable skills and talents that I can use to find a job I enjoy.” By using the rational dispute technique, a person can learn to question and challenge their negative thoughts and adopt a more realistic and positive perspective on their current situation.

3. Encourages the development of coping skills

This tip tells you that you can focus on teaching him effective coping skills to handle stressful or challenging situations. As a mentor, you must help your patients or students develop these skills by teaching them practical and effective coping techniques.

For example, imagine that a patient tells you that he has been experiencing a high level of stress lately due to being overloaded at work. You can tell him he has 2 options. The first is to give in to the pressure and feel overwhelmed by the situation, which can affect you on a personal and work level. The second option is that you can make the decision to use effective coping techniques to manage stress and overcome current challenges.

A coping technique is a tool that helps us face and take control of the situation.. An effective coping technique could be planning and organizing time. If we help you divide pending issues into small tasks and then put them on a scale of priorities, then the black cloud will begin to clear up and disappear.

As a result the person will have a daily checklist, to start with urgent matters and then move on to important matters, to ensure that all tasks are completed on time. Another effective coping technique could be practicing the relaxation technique of Mindfulness. In this article you can learn more about this topic of Mindfulness and learn about its risks and benefits.

Have you liked these practical tips from Albert Ellis so far?

4. Encourage the practice of healthy mental habits

As a mentor you can focus your accompaniment process on the practice and repetition of new patterns of thought and behavior to consolidate them over time. This is a process that requires patience and commitment on the part of the patient or student. As a professional, you should encourage them to put into practice the coping skills learned during the process and develop new, much healthier thinking patterns.

For example, imagine that you are working with a client who is going through a stage in their life where they experience large doses of anxiety and worry in their daily life. One way to encourage the practice of healthy mental habits is encourage the client to take care of their overall mental and physical health. You can start by asking about their lifestyle, including diet, exercise, sleep cycles, hobbies, etc. Then you can help him establish a routine with realistic goals and a system of rewards and incentives to improve his physical and emotional well-being.

5. Encourages personal responsibility

REBT emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility as one of the pillars of the solution to different emotional problems. As a professional, you must help your patients or students understand that they are responsible for their own emotions and that they can take control of their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

If you need to expand or delve deeper into this topic, let us know in the comments to give you feedback.

6. Be empathetic and compassionate

Although REBT focuses on identifying and changing irrational thoughts, one of Albert Ellis's practical tips that some professionals sometimes forget, possibly due to their “excess of theory,” it is important to be empathetic and compassionate with patients or students. .

We are very sorry how certain “Psychology and Coaching Programs” tend to be highly intrusive and coercive with people. We have heard from patients who tell us that they went through workshops or camps where behaviors were imposed on the entire group by force or through threats, social pressure, manipulation, intimidation and emotional blackmail.

From their experiences, they reported on social networks how these coercive behaviors generated aversion and fear in them because they were inappropriate, triggering serious negative consequences for their mental and emotional health.

As a personal development professional you must Always show an attitude of empathy, understanding and compassion for your patients, clients or students. When we are sensitive to others, this promotes vulnerability, which generates more openness towards personal change.

7. Encourages collaboration and autonomy

Promote the collaboration and autonomy of your patients and students. You have the great responsibility to guide them in the best way. Involve them in the experience and help them become co-creators of their own change. Encourage them to take responsibility and action as protagonists of their therapeutic process.

Finally follow up regularly. Evaluate their progress, determine if they are achieving their treatment goals, and give them ongoing feedback on the results achieved so far. This will make you feel motivated and aware of the adjustments you need to make.. This way, you will ensure that you are providing the best treatment possible.

In summary

The Albert Ellis model aims to change negative thought patterns based on the principles of Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy such as Permanent Self-Evaluation, reframing limiting or dysfunctional beliefs, developing coping skills, responsibility staff, among others.

His ideas invite us to constantly review our own thoughts and emotions, in order to identify those that are unrealistic, irrational or dysfunctional, in order to identify and replace those core beliefs that cause us anxiety, depression or other emotional problems.

I hope you have a great day!

Creation and Writing: Ruben Echavarria
Review and SEO: Aleja Ordóñez

If you liked this article, leave your comments and tell us what were Albert Ellis's practical advice that you most need to put into practice starting today?

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