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Ellis's ABC Model

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated
Quick answer: the ABC model holds that it is our beliefs (B) about an event (A), not the event itself, that produce emotional and behavioural consequences (C).
Contents
  1. 1. Background
  2. 2. The ABC model
  3. 3. The ABCDE process
  4. 4. References

Background

Trained in psychoanalysis, Ellis founded rational therapy in 1955, later renamed rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT). He often quoted Epictetus: people are disturbed not by things but by the views they take of them.

The ABC model

  • A, activating event: for example, failing an exam.
  • B, belief: "I must succeed, and if I fail I am worthless."
  • C, consequence: depression, avoidance and other reactions.

Irrational beliefs take the form of rigid demands ("musts"), awfulising, low frustration tolerance and global rating of self or others.

The ABCDE process

The therapist uses D, disputing, to test the logic, evidence and usefulness of beliefs, helping the client reach E, an effective rational belief such as "failing is disappointing but bearable". With Beck's cognitive therapy, REBT laid foundations for CBT and has research support, though it is criticised as directive and confrontational.

References

  1. Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. Lyle Stuart.
  2. Ellis, A., & Dryden, W. (2007). The Practice of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (2nd ed.). Springer.
  3. David, D., Cotet, C., Matu, S., Mogoase, C., & Stefan, S. (2018). 50 years of rational-emotive and cognitive-behavioral therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(3), 304-318.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

There are no materials dedicated to this theory yet, but you can search related reports in the CampusDown library (Korean).

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This article was last updated on October 15, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.