ABSTRACT
Having helped your clients understand that there is no evidence in support of their irrational beliefs, you need to help them envisage new possibilities in their thinking by constructing plausible rational alternatives. These should preferably be expressed in your clients’ own words and they need to see that holding these rational beliefs will help them to achieve their therapeutic goals (see Point 69). Having helped your clients to construct rational beliefs, your next task is to help them to weaken their conviction in their irrational beliefs and strengthen their conviction in the rational alternatives. Cognitively, you need to encourage your clients not only to dispute their irrational beliefs but also to affirm their conviction in their rational beliefs. Behaviourally, you need to encourage your clients to act according to their newly constructed rational beliefs while simultaneously negating their conviction in their irrational beliefs. Emotively, you need to encourage your clients to use cognitive and behavioural strategies in a vigorous, passionate way so that their feelings are fully engaged. The more clients work to uproot their irrational beliefs and practise their new rational beliefs using cognitive, emotive and behavioural techniques in concert, the more they will integrate their rational beliefs into their everyday emotional problem-solving repertoire.
