ABSTRACT
As mentioned in Point 44, it is important to persist at working on a problem once you and your clients have targeted it for change (such a problem is known as a target problem). We have formulated what is now called the rational emotive behavioural treatment sequence in which we have outlined six major steps that you need to take if you are to deal with your clients’ target problems thoroughly (Dryden and Neenan 2004a). Unless you have good reason to do otherwise, encourage your clients to remain focused on these problems and to work them through until they have reached a coping criterion on them. This means that your clients have had some practice at acting on their newly constructed rational beliefs in real-life situations and have gained some success at doing so. Thus, when your clients introduce new material into sessions, you need to evaluate this quite carefully and give only really important new material primacy over the current problem under discussion. Otherwise therapy will proceed in a way that is reminiscent of several half-eaten meals.
