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The case of Keesha, an African-American fifth form girl, is common for pupils of her age. Her attitude towards further changes is determined first by her specific traits of character and behavior patterns and second, by her gender. On this point, rational emotive behavior therapy seems to be helpful to assist the girl in coping with her problems during the period of adaptation.
The therapy claims that human beings strive to achieve happiness; and people are prone to adopt irrational models of behavior, which support them on their way to achieving some goals. The most significant is the attitude that one or another individual expresses towards changing situation. For example, one person’s might feel mostly positive regarding undesirable changes: “It is unfortunate that this loss has occurredit is sad, but it is not awful, and I am able to adjust myself to new reality.” (Counsellingresource, 2015) Another form is: “This absolutely should not have happened, and it is horrific that it did. These circumstances are now intolerable!”(Counsellingresource, 2015)
The second person’s response is alarming; and this is the case of Keesha. The therapy however, is not aimed at ruining and reshaping some features of character, it helps to release the power to change beliefs and psychological settings of a person, and consequently improve health and communication with peers. The therapy is employed to clarify the relationships between activating events; point out beliefs and emotional consequences of the beliefs. Past and present life conditions strongly affect a person, but they do not disturb a person, unless the philosophy that causes disturbance is maintained. (Counsellingresource, 2015)
In order to aid Keesha, it is better to begin with the therapeutic interview. One of the approaches is behavioral technique. An interview can encourage a girl to think one more time about true evidences for her fears with the purpose to: test the validity of fears; explain that the changes are far from being grave; develop confidence in one’s ability to cope; increase tolerance for discomfort. (Froggat, 2005) In the case of Keecha her fears might be triggered by her wrong perception of herself: perhaps she experiences difficulties in establishing new contacts because of her background; then her behavior might be influenced by some mistakes in her upbringing e.g her parents have not instilled into their child such communicative patterns as decisiveness and talkativeness. These problems are common and easily solved with the help of emotive behavior therapy.
Opponents of the behavior therapy approach indicate that the therapy can be practiced poorly and turn out to be irritating rather than helpful. (Froggat, 2005) The interview could lead far from the girl’s central problem and become a waste of time on ineffective conversation with wrong outcome. A therapist runs a risk to present false models of behavior, which will widen the gap between the girl and her new classmates. However, with a great deal of skill, a professional aid will be productive, and some pupils will appreciate exactly this kind of approach, which is more theoretical than empirical.
Other therapist will encourage their clients with low self-esteem to set their minds on the idea of their “importance”. Behavior therapies proponents will use completely different approach: they will recommend to get rid of the concept of self-esteem entirely. They will proof that the easiest way to cope with problems is to be impartial to what other people think; although it does not suggest to overrated self-esteem. It is another tip that speaks in favor of the approach.
References
Counsellingresource. (2015). An Introduction to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Retrieved from counsellingresource.com: http://counsellingresource.com/therapy/types/rationalemotive/
Froggat, W. (2005). Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy. Retrieved from rational.org: http://www.rational.org.nz/prof-docs/Intro-REBT.pdf&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEjQnJSb_IDMAhXGboKHZPnCSqWFggRMAE&usg=AFQjCNF5IQtzMyXnDGp_NrE49HvbcSEO1w>
