Albert Ellis (psychologist)
| Albert Ellis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 27, 1913 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US |
| Died | July 24, 2007 (aged 93) New York, New York, US |
| Residence | United States of America |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Clinical psychology, philosophy and psychotherapy |
| Known for | Formulating and developing rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy |
| Notable awards | 2003 award from the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (UK), Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 1996 Outstanding Clinician Award, American Psychological Association 1985 award for Distinguished professional contributions to Applied Research, American Humanist Association 1971 award for "Humanist of the Year", New York State Psychological Association 2006 Lifetime Distinguished Service Award, American Counseling Association 1988 ACA Professional Development Award, Honesty and Confidability Test National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists' Outstanding Contributions to CBT Award. Awarded the American Psychological Achievement For Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology |
Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist who in 1955 developed rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). He held M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University and American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He also founded and was the President of the New York City-based Albert Ellis Institute for decades. He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and the founder of cognitive-behavioral therapies. Based on a 1982 professional survey of USA and Canadian psychologists, he was considered as the second most influential psychotherapist in history (Carl Rogers ranked first in the survey; Sigmund Freud was ranked third).Psychology Today noted, "No individual—not even Freud himself—has had a greater impact on modern psychotherapy."
Ellis was born to a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1913. He was the eldest of three children. Ellis' father was a businessman, often away from home on business trips, who reportedly showed only a modicum of affection to his children.
In his autobiography, Ellis characterized his mother as a self-absorbed woman with a bipolar disorder. At times, according to Ellis, she was a "bustling chatterbox who never listened." She would expound on her strong opinions on most subjects, but rarely provided a factual basis for these views. Like his father, Ellis' mother was emotionally distant from her children. Ellis recounted that she was often sleeping when he left for school and usually not home when he returned. Instead of reporting feeling bitter, he took on the responsibility of caring for his siblings. He purchased an alarm clock with his own money and woke and dressed his younger brother and sister. When the Great Depression struck, all three children sought work to assist the family. Ellis was sickly as a child and suffered numerous health problems through his youth. At the age of five he was hospitalized with a kidney disease. He was also hospitalized with tonsillitis, which led to a severe requiring emergency surgery. He reported that he had eight hospitalizations between the ages of five and seven, one of which lasted nearly a year. His parents provided little emotional support for him during these years, rarely visiting or consoling him. Ellis stated that he learned to confront his adversities as he had "developed a growing indifference to that dereliction". Illness was to follow Ellis throughout his life; at age 40 he developed diabetes.
...
Wikipedia