RET helps students understand the difference between a preference or a desire(e.g., I would like to havethat video game,) and a demand (I must have that video game). By turning their preferences into demands, students fall prey of their own irrational thinking, which according to the RET philosophy, is the source of all frustration, anger, and emotional disturbance. Ellis (in Ellis and Grieger, 1977), identifies the four basic forms of an irrational belief:
Basic Form 1: The child thinks someone or something should or must be different from the way it actually does exist.Basic Form 2: The child finds it is awful, terrible, or horrible when it is this way. Basic Form 3: The child thinks he cannot bear, stand, or tolerate the person or thing that should not be this way.
Basic Form 4: The child thinks that himself, or the other person, have made or keep making something terrible, and because of this (the child or the other person) deserves condemnation and does not deserve anything good in life. Consequently, the child gives himself or the other person a negative label like lousy, jerk, or rotten.
Ellis defines irrationality as any thought, emotion, or behavior that leads to self-defeating or selfdestructive consequences. Irrational thinking interferes with the ability to get along well with others. According to RET, irrational thinking stems from:
-Demands like must and must not; should and should not. We make a demand when we believe and consider an obligation that the world, other people, or both world and other people are different. Examples would be,
---The world should be fair and just.
---Others should treat me the way I want.
---I must be liked by everybody.
---I must be loved and accepted.
---People must approve what I do. If they do not, it is because (they are bad or I am rotten).
---I must excel at everything that I do.
---I must get what I want quickly and easily.
---I must not get frustrated.
---I must not get anything of what I do not want.
---This is the worst day of my life.
---It is terrible, horrible, and awful that things do not go my way.
---If I do not get that video game, I will just die.
Teachers can iden tify students’ exaggerations when we hear in their sentences words like always (e.g., I am always messing up) or never (I will never learn this stuff); everyone(Everyone hates me!) or nobody(Nobody likes me).
-Distorting and filtering the event;for example, Drake is only saying that I should expand my essay’s summary because he is jealous of me, or I had a bad grade because Mr. Evans hates me.
-Externalizing by believing that external circumstances (environment or other people) are the cause of our anger and unhappiness. Examples would be,---Theresa made me angry.
---They are so unfair to me.
---Everyone is against me.
---Mr. Evans always blames me.
---I had a low grade because the math test was too hard.
---She is always doing that to me.
-Denying responsibility ; for example,
---It is not my fault.
---Deon started it.
---I cannot help it. That is just my temper.
---I just have bad luck.
-Self-judging ; for example,
---I am just a failure.
---I can never do anything right.
---The other kids think I am stupid.
---I am always wrong.
---I stink!
---I am the worst dancer.
---I am a loser.
---I am going to do awful.