A rational-emotive behavior approach in life coaching

This article presents a brief but comprehensive overview of the coaching field along with a Rational-Emotive Behavioral Approach in Life Coaching. The Rational-Emotive Behavioral Approach was founded in 1955 by psychologist and psychotherapist Albert Ellis in New York and is the first cognitive behavioral approach in the history of psychotherapy. Since then, it has significantly contributed to the field of psychotherapy as an evidence based approach (Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy, REBT) at a preventative and a clinical level. The ABC model for REBT supports the idea that our emotional, behavioral and cognitive output (C) is not determined by the activating events (either real and/or inferential) (A) but by the beliefs that we hold (B) about the activating event. Ellis and other REBT scholars-practitioners had always highlighted the ABC framework for use in non therapeutic settings after having written about a wide variety of REBT techniques that can be easily integrated and applied in diverse coaching settings and for many other fields of human performance. This article delineates the basic steps that a REBT Life Coach can follow during Rational-Emotive Behavior Coaching practice (REBC). It is also enriched with research suggestions and practical considerations not only for the REBC professional but also for all coaches in the coaching field.