Cognitive Therapy and Rational-Emotive Therapy: A Dialogue

In the dialogue that follows, proponents representing rational-emotive therapy (RET) and cognitive therapy discuss ways in which they would conceptualize and treat various case examples. The similarities and differences in approaches are then examined. It was found that RET takes biological factors heavily into account, whereas cognitive therapy sees learning as primary in the development of emotional disorders; that RET focuses mainly on absolutistic thought, whereas cognitive therapy emphasizes faulty perceptions and inferences as much as absolutistic thought as targets for intervention; and that RET’s style is forceful and directive, whereas cognitive therapy’s style is gentle and more collaborative. In addition, the two approaches were found to differ in their goals for treatment: RET advocates an effort to minimize or eliminate the client’s “musts” and “shoulds”; cognitive therapy aims at moderating such absolutistic thought. Possible factors explaining the origin of these differences are explored.