2. ABC Model
15 minutes of daily practice is all you need
Michael Hickey
"Within Existential Therapy, clinicians work with their clients to accept responsibility for their lives, which is something that REBT therapists do as well. Taking ownership of one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviors is first required in REBT, before any challenging or replacing of irrational beliefs can occur."
Dan Pilat
Smart Recovery is a recovery model based on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
How CBT Dismantles ADHD Negativity: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Overview
CBT is supported by clinical results and research evidence showing that the therapy delivers real-world benefits for adults with ADHD— namely higher self-esteem, productivity, and happiness. Learn more about ‘cognitive distortions’ and how to unravel them with cognitive behavioral therapy.
Using CBT to Empower Black Patients (2025)
CBT's cultural adaptations can empower Black patients by addressing internalized racism and negative core beliefs, enhancing therapy outcomes.
Clinicians should use culturally sensitive strategies, like Socratic questioning and validation, to build strong therapeutic relationships with Black patients.
Expanding treatment to include racial empowerment and pride is crucial for mitigating the psychological effects of racism and fostering well-being.
Techniques like bibliotherapy can enhance critical consciousness, promote social action, and strengthen racial pride, contributing to overall psychological resilience.
AFFIRM Youth is an eight-session, manualized affirmative cognitive-behavioral group intervention. It is designed to reduce depression and improve coping skills and self-efficacy for LGBTQ+ youth. Using a trauma-informed approach, AFFIRM Youth is tailored to the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth and provides them opportunities to develop identity cognition (e.g., self-awareness, identifying risk), mood (e.g., recognizing the link between thoughts and feelings), and behavior (e.g., identifying strengths and ways of coping), as well as equipping them with the tools to self-manage their mental health.
We have created and evaluated among the first LGBTQ-affirming psychotherapy programs with empirical evidence for improving LGBTQ people’s mental health. These treatments are developed in close consultation with community members and clinical experts and show associations with reduced depression, anxiety, substance use across several clinical trials. Most prominently, with $13M in NIH funding, we have developed and evaluated LGBTQ-affirmative CBT with gay and bisexual men, queer women, and transgender and non-binary individuals in clinical trials, community settings, and countries throughout the world. The treatment has been successfully delivered in-person, remotely, in groups, and online. Our LGBTQ-affirmative CBT program is considered a “treatment that works” and is cited in LGBTQ practice guidelines of the American Psychological Association.
Michael DeMarco, PhD
Rational-emotive therapy (Bowins, 2021)
Albert Ellis started this form of therapy in the 1950’s, basing it on the notion that emotional reactions to stimuli are mediated by cognitions: A—Activating Event, B—Beliefs, C—Consequence (ABC model). A to B to C, not A to C. Irrational beliefs are rigid underscoring mental illness, such as with depression and anxiety, whereas rational beliefs are more flexible and linked to mental health. Therapy assertively attempts to shift irrational beliefs to rational ones. Emotion regulation and adaptability are robustly advanced, and certainly the latter as irrational beliefs reduce the capacity to adapt to ever changing circumstances.
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Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a cognitive-behavioral therapy (treatment that focuses on thoughts and feelings) for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, and related conditions. PTSD can develop when an individual experiences a traumatic event such as physical and sexual abuse or assault, accidents, threats, military combat, or being a witness to violence or death. CPT focuses on the connections between thoughts, feelings, behavior and bodily sensations. CPT is an evidenced based therapy which means that it has been proven to be effective through rigorous scientific research. CPT provides a way to understand why recovery from traumatic events is difficult and how symptoms of PTSD affect daily life. The focus is on identifying how traumatic experiences change thoughts and beliefs, and how thoughts influence current feelings and behaviors. An important part of the treatment is addressing ways of thinking that might keep individuals “stuck” and get in the way of recovery from symptoms of PTSD and other problems.
Try an ABC Exercise
What happened? Why do you think this happened? Do you have any if only thinking about this thing that happened?