Dr. Albert Ellis
Albert Ellis, Ph.D., was born in Pittsburgh on September 27, 1913, and raised in New York City. He holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University, and has held many important psychological positions, including chief psychologist of the State of New Jersey and adjunct professorships at Rutgers and other universities.
He is the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), the first of the now popular Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT).
In 1959 he established the Albert Ellis Institute, a non-profit organization whose mission was to promote Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) as a comprehensive educative and preventative theory. The Albert Ellis Institute promoted REBT theory and practice through training professionals, paraprofessionals, and the public. Initially, he ran everything from his private practice as a psychologist. Then, in 1964, he purchased a six story townhouse in Manhattan that had previously been occupied by the Woodrow Wilson Institute. Dr. Ellis has donated the earning of his books—many of them bestsellers—to purchase the building and to fund the running costs of the Institute.
He practiced psychotherapy, marriage and family counseling, and sex therapy for over sixty years at the Psychological Center of the Institute in New York.
Dr. Ellis served as president of the Division of Consulting Psychology of the American Psychological Association and of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality; he also served as officer of several professional societies including the American Association of Marital and Family Therapy, the American Academy of Psychotherapists, and the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists.
He was a diplomat in clinical psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology and of several other professional boards. Professional societies that have given Dr. Ellis their highest professional and clinical awards include the American Psychological Association, the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, the American Counseling Association, and the American Psychopathological Association.
He was ranked as one of the "Most Influential Psychologists" by both American and Canadian psychologists and counselors. Dr. Ellis served as consulting or associate editor of many scientific journals. He published more than eight hundred scientific papers and more than two hundred audio and video cassettes.
In 1971, the American Humanist Association named Dr. Ellis as the Humanist of the Year.
He authored or edited over seventy-five books and monographs, including a number of best-selling popular and professional volumes. Some of his best-known books include:
- How to Live with a "Neurotic"
- Sex Without Guilt
- The Art and Science of Love
- A Guide to Rational Living
- Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy
- How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything—Yes, Anything!
- Overcoming Procrastination
- Overcoming Resistance
- The Practice of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
- How to Make Yourself Happy and Remarkably Less Disturbable
- Feeling Better, Getting Better, Staying Better
- Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors
- Anger: How to Live With It and Without It
- Ask Albert Ellis
- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: It Works for Me—It Can Work for You
- The Road to Tolerance: The Philosophy of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.
- The Myth of Self-Esteem
Albert Ellis died at home on July 24, 2007 (Albert Ellis obituary).
Update: Jim Byrne has posted a biography of Albert Ellis on his ABC Coaching and Counselling website.
About The Author:
Will Ross — is the webmaster and co-founder of REBTnetwork.org; he tutors REBT self-helpers and is the author and publisher of online REBT self-help materials.