ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the historical origins of the cognitive perspective and considers the key principles of this approach as applied to psychological disorders. It provides an evaluation of therapeutic practices which derive from this perspective. The chapter deals with a historical overview of the origins and development of the cognitive perspective and in so doing, presents the work of the two most influential figures who were predominantly involved in the cognitive revolution in psychotherapy: Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is often viewed as the original form of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) by many therapists today, although it is different from CBT, as REBT positions rational and irrational beliefs at its core. Aaron Temkin Beck, is viewed as the father of Cognitive Therapy – a type of psychotherapy based upon an information processing approach, rather than a motivational or instinctual approach to human behaviour.
