ual can now study the prolific creator of this innovative therapy, Dr. Albert Ellis. Albert Ellis was born in Pittsburgh in 1913 and was raised in New York City (Sketch 1). Ellis was born with a serious kidney disorder and was forced to place his attention on books rather than sports. As a young man, Ellis lived a tumultuous life, living through financial hardships because of the great depression. Because of his financial adversity, Ellis gave up his dream of becoming a great American writer (Sketch, 1). Dr Ellis received his degree from the City College in accounting and began a clothing Business with his brother. After some time, Ellis began to tire of the business and decided to enroll in the University Of Columbia in the fall of 1942. Ellis received his doctorate in psychology and became a Psychoanalytic psychologist (Sketch 1). While practicing psychoanalysis on a numerous amount of subjects, Ellis began to notice his patients were progressing at the same rate whether he saw them weekly or daily. It was with this realization Ellis’ faith in psychoanalysis began to rapidly crumble. Dr. Ellis began to teach his patients the philosophical views of Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Spinoza because he, himself, had used these philosopher’s teachings to deal with problems in his own life; thus, in 1955 REBT was born. Albert Ellis’ practice concentrated on changing a person’s behavior by confronting a patient with his or her irrational beliefs and persuading the individual to adopt a rational sense of awareness (Sketch 2). “Remember that what is insulting is not the person who abuses’ you or hits you, but the judgment about them that they are insulting. So when someone irritates you be aware that what irritates you is your own belief. Most importantly, therefore, try not to be carried away by appearance, since if you once gain time and delay you will control yourself [and your emotions] more easily...
