Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-08-04 12:02 PM CDST

• Bandura's work in observational learning led to the development of therapies based both on learning and on cognition.
• Albert Ellis created rational-emotive therapy (RET) in which he assumed that people learn to react to the irrational beliefs learned over their lifetimes.
  • Ellis believed that cognitive learning came before emotional behavior, and so he set out to change clients' learned irrational thoughts.
    • He did so by developing a method that confronts clients and makes them see the irrationality of their thoughts.
• Like Ellis, Aaron Beck believes that clients' problems come from their cognitive distortions.
  • Beck's therapy works best to combat depression.
    • The goal of cognitive therapy is replacement of maladaptive schemata, or, at least, a greater degree of control over existing schemas.
• Stress-inoculation occurs when clients are taught to deal with stress inducing situations in new and more adaptive ways.
  • For example, students may be taught to view an assignment in manageable blocks rather than as a massive project.
    • In other words, clients are taught specific techniques to manage stress.
• Social problem solving is when clients are taught to see problems of living as extensions of problems in general.
  • Then, they are taught problem-solving techniques and shown how to apply them to their problems.
    • Here, clients are shown that their problems in life are simply a subcategory of problems in general.
    • They are then taught problem solving techniques which, hopefully, generalize to their life problems.

• Albert Ellis Institute
  • Home page of the Albert Ellis Institute, a center for rational-emotive therapy. Site contains information about the Institute, questions and answers about rational-emotive therapy, call for research participation, on-line pamphlets, and more.