ABSTRACT
Here is how I (WD) respond to such a question: ‘First, let me be clear what I mean by brainwashing. Brainwashing is a process where the person to be brainwashed is isolated from her normal environment and from people whom she knows, is deprived of food, water and sleep and when judged to be in a susceptible state is provided with information and beliefs which are usually counter to the information and beliefs she would normally hold. Obviously, by this definition REBT therapists do not brainwash their clients. However, I think you mean something more subtle than this. I think you mean that REBT therapists tell their clients what to think without due regard to their current views and press them hard to believe the REBT “line”. If this is what you mean, then I would deny that well-trained, ethical REBT therapists would do this. (I cannot speak for untrained individuals who pass themselves off as REBT practitioners.)
‘REBT holds that one of the hallmarks of mental health is the ability to think for oneself and to be sceptical of new ideas. It regards gullibility, suggestibility and thinking uncritically as breeding grounds for emotional disturbance. So, in presenting rational principles, skilled REBT therapists elicit both their clients’ understanding of these concepts and their views of these ideas.
