Can REBT be Used with Children?

Reader’s Question

I am a Play Therapist and wondering if REBT can be used with children? I live in Northern Minnesota and feel at a loss sometimes. Are there any specific articles or websites that pertain to helping children, specifically children in the primary grades, who take a negative view of life and relationships, often feeling angry, depressed and anxious? Some misread the intentions of others and end up in the spiral of negative emotional responses, inappropriate behaviors and then unpleasant outcomes. The children I work with have received a diagnostic evaluation and some are on medication. All are enrolled in our county’s Children’s Mental Health Services. Thank you.

Our Consulting Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

Rational Emotive-Behavior Therapy (REBT) can be very helpful in children. I would recommend reading “Rational Emotive Therapy with Children and Adolescents” by Gonzalez, J.E. et. al. published in the Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (Volume 12, n4, p. 222). They found that REBT has the greatest impact on disruptive behaviors and that children benefit from REBT more than adolescents. I would not only do Internet searches for resources, but obtain some of the catalogs that advertise therapy-related products. You can often borrow them from local mental health centers or psychologists. REBT has the advantage of being easily formatted for workbooks and visual aides for children clients. In short, REBT will work very well in your situation.

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