The ABC of Therapy

What we can learn from a successful and much-used form of cognitive therapy.

The basic idea behind cognitive therapy is that rational thoughts of the client can overcome their irrational beliefs. Therapists will “force” clients to think from different angles by asking many questions or by stating observations that contradict the beliefs of the client.

American psychologist Albert Ellis (1913–2007) fell out of love with psychodynamic therapy in the 1950s. Instead of the elaborate therapy, Ellis introduced his now widely used ABC theory of emotions — in which A stands for Activating event, B for Belief, and C for Consequent emotion. With that, Ellis meant that the client was at one point triggered by an Activating event to a certain Belief, that led to a Consequent emotion.

For instance, one of your colleagues said “hi!” to another colleague this morning in the hallway on the way up to the coffee machine, but the “ hi!” was not returned. Your colleague now has the belief that nobody likes them at work and is therefore sad and a bit angry. The saying hi and the subsequent not returning of the hi is the Activating event. The Belief is that nobody likes them, and sadness and anger are the Consequent emotions.

The therapist will now address the irrational belief that “nobody likes them” by…