ABSTRACT
One of the ways in which people unwittingly maintain their problems is to disturb themselves about having these problems or salient aspects of them. This is known in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) as 'meta-emotional disturbance' - literally emotional disturbance about emotional disturbance. It is therefore important that you assess for the presence of meta-emotional disturbance when you are assessing primary emotional problem. Some helpful criteria for working with clients' meta-emotional problem includes aessessing if the presence of the meta-emotional disturbance interferes significantly with your client focusing on their primary emotional problem in therapy sessions. If the presence of the meta-emotional disturbance interferes significantly with your client focusing on their primary emotional problem in their everyday life. If the meta-emotional disturbance is more important clinically than the primary emotional problem. And if the client sees the sense of targeting their meta-emotional disturbance before their primary emotional problem and agrees to do so.
