REBT Irrational Beliefs

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), developed by Albert Ellis, focuses on the rigid beliefs that drive emotional suffering: demandingness, awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, and global rating of yourself, other people, or life.

In practice, demandingness often shows up as specific beliefs such as “I must be approved of,” “I must succeed,” “People must treat me fairly,” or “Life must be fair and easy.” REBT then asks what follows from those demands: catastrophe language, unbearable-feeling beliefs, and harsh rating of human worth.

The REBT pages below present those core irrational beliefs, plus one important applied pattern: perfectionism. They are meant to help you spot the belief underneath the surface thought and reframe it into flexible preferences, frustration tolerance, and unconditional self-acceptance.