A Compendium of REBT Principles and Best Practices for Working with Children and Adolescents

Over the years, a diverse set of REBT assessment-treatment practices have been written about by REBT youth-oriented practitioners such as Bill Knaus, Ann Vernon, Ray DiGiuseppe, Howard Young, and Marie Joyce. Many of these strategies were described in two edited books I did with Ellis, Rational Emotive Approaches to the Problems of Childhood (1984), Rational Emotive Behavioral Approaches to Childhood Disorders (2006), a book I wrote with Marie Joyce in 1984, Rational Emotive Therapy with Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Practice and a book I wrote by invitation of the Albert Ellis Institute, The REBT Therapist’s Pocket Companion for Working with Children and Adolescents (2004). In this chapter, I have elected to synthesis many of these best practices into a compendium. My desire is for readers somewhat unfamiliar with the practice of REBT with younger populations to see that the practice is so much more than helping younger clients cognitively restructure self-talk. I have organized my summary into the following parts: (1) Know Your Theory, (2) Relationship Building, (3) Assessment, (4) Treatment, and (5) Evaluation.