Rational emotive behavioral therapy - following model of desert fathers?

[Troy Duker]

I am a Human Services major. Recently in my Theories of Counseling class We discussed Albert Ellis' RET (REBT.) This seems like it was ripped right out of the Desert Fathers. REBT can be summed up by this quote from Epictetus "We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them." Basically an event occurs, a thought is triggered, then an emotion and/or behavior is produced. It almost sounds like what is written in the first chapter of James,


"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."



I just wanted to hear what my fellow "Monchians" think about this?

[Father David Moser]

... Albert Ellis' RET (REBT.) This seems like it was ripped right out of the Desert Fathers. REBT can be summed up by this quote from Epictetus "We are disturbed not by events, but by the views which we take of them." Basically an event occurs, a thought is triggered, then an emotion and/or behavior is produced.

While I 'm not much impressed by Ellis himself, his RET is just a version of the much more complete and theoretically sound Cognitive Behavioral Therapy developed by Aaron Beck (with which and with whom I am impressed - I have had the chance to meet both men, btw). In my opinion and experience, the cognitive types of therapies are very much congruent with Orthodox belief. They focus on retraining the way the mind perceives and interprets the events of the world around the person. As you noticed, this same thing is apparent in both the fathers and the scripture. The difference is that cognitive therapies stop at the mind and in this world, while Orthodoxy looks further and deeper. The Orthodox faith works to change not just the mind but the soul and gives as perspective not the tangible world (the "reality" in "Reality Therapy" which is Glaser's version of the same) but the whole of the Kingdom of God, the spiritual realm and the span of eternity. Orthodoxy does not just seek to "change the mind" and thus "change the emotion" but seeks instead to transform (or perhaps "transfigure") the whole person by the application of divine grace.

For an Orthodox Christian, I find that the cognitive therapies are a good starting point and thus dovetail nicely with our work to live in the Orthodox faith. However, let me also mention that cognitive therapies are not the only places in psychology that one will see echos of Orthodoxy - Roger's ideal/real self and the dissonance between them is also very Orthodox (what he does with that is not necessarily Orthodox, but the basic concept is sound) and Freud's id, ego and superego have some interesting Orthodox reflections as well (to give two examples). Maslow, Jung and Erikson are also theorists from whom I have drawn extensively to demonstrate Orthodox truths.

So as you study the various therapeutic and personality theories you will find many reflections of Orthodoxy in the psychological speculations and discoveries of the psychologists from Freud on to the present - however the important thing to note is that psychology is only beginning to rediscover what the Orthodox Church has known all along.

Fr David Moser

[Troy Duker]

Thanks Fr. Moser. I was originally attracted to Roger's, but when I discovered that there was a more Orthodox Christian approach, I quickly fled to that theory. It seems more logical, for lack of a better synonym, than the more humanistic theories, whose attention seems to turn more toward the emotions. Are/were you a psychotherapist?

[Owen Jones]

Freud also has his own version of the tripartite soul. All of this points out that there are certain observable structures to consciousness that are constants. All secular ideologies (of which psychiatry and psychotherapy are examples) are basically heresies of Christianity. They were all invented and developed in "Christian" societies. There is also Logo Therapy, which was chic for a while. Then there is EST which tries to manufacture the Christian "surrender" experience and the communion experience. The list goes on. Of course, psychiatry and psychotherapy today is all about pharmacology, since one on one counseling is too expensive and time consuming, and insurance pays for the pills. The underlying thesis is that the brain is nothing more than a complex system of electro-chemical reactions.