ABSTRACT
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) clients will often come to therapy experiencing dysfunctional emotions. Some will find it difficult to understand that before they can learn new skills or change aversive activating events they will need to change the irrational beliefs that are at the core of their disturbed emotions. One of the best ways that we have found to communicate this point so that clients learn and apply it is to show them that when they make themselves emotionally disturbed they give themselves an additional problem. Therapists need to use analogies to teach your clients the value of dealing with their emotional disturbance before they attempt to change their environment or learn new skills. A useful analogy is helping a client to see that when he is anxious he is running around like a headless chicken.
