Rational Emotive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy was developed by Dr Albert Ellis in the 1950’s and is one of the most established of the cognitive behavioural therapies. RECBT is an active-directive and goal-oriented psychotherapy. It is philosophically aligned with the Greek Stoicists & specifically Epictetus who wrote that "Men are disturbed not by events themselves, but by the views which they take of them".
RECBT proposes that it is largely our thinking in the face of life's adversities that creates our emotional and behavioural responses. In other words, think healthily and you will be more likely to feel and behave in healthy ways. Think unhealthily and you will be more likely to feel and behave in unhealthy ways. With an emphasis on the present, RECBT teaches us to identify unhealthy thinking and develop healthy alternatives in order to achieve our emotional and behavioural goals.