Albert Ellis

He suffered from a number of illnesses throughout his life. Apart from his childhood illnesses, he also writhed from diabetes, intestinal problems and pneumonia.

He was married to Australian psychologist, Debbie Joffe Ellis, whom he claimed was ‘the greatest love of his whole life’.

He passed away at the age of 93, due to kidney and heart failure, in New York, USA.

Albert Ellis was the eldest of the three children born to a Jewish couple in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Later in his life, Ellis claimed that his mother suffered from bi-polar disorder and his father, showed very little affection towards his children.

From very early on, Ellis suffered from numerous health problems. Between the ages of five to seven, he was hospitalized eight times, out of which one lasted for almost a year.

When the Great Depression struck in 1929, all three children sought to help the family by working, despite their parents being emotionally distant from them.

Meanwhile, he did not let go off his studies and attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business from City College of New York Downtown, in 1934.

After graduating from college, he initiated a business which did not bring forth any promising result. He next forayed into the field of writing but was unsuccessful at that too. Finally, he decided to enter the field of clinical psychology.

Upon earning his Ph.D., he became greatly inspired by the works of Sigmund Freud and decided that he wanted to further his knowledge by studying and practicing psychoanalysis.

He also began teaching at New York University and Rutgers University and held a number of prominent staff positions. It was during his tenure as a professor that his faith in psychoanalysis began to disintegrate.

In the late 40s, he began working on ‘Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy’, popularly known as REBT. In 1952, he authored the book ‘Sex Beliefs and Customs’.

In 1954, he began teaching new systems to other therapists and in the next three years, he industrialized and set forward the leading cognitive behavior therapy. It was around this time, he developed ‘Rational Therapy’ (RT).

As he was deeply involved in the study of erotic relations and supported an open-minded attitude to sex - he published one of his most classic works, ‘Sex without Guilt’, in 1958.

Probably one of his best-known works is the development of the ‘Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy’ (REBT), inspired by the wisdoms of Roman, Asian and Greek philosophers. The theory was first explicated in the mid-50s and was continuously being developed till the time of his death.

REBT is based on the central principles that individuals do not just haphazardly get distressed by difficulties around them. It is the product of how each individual concepts their opinions and how they measure actuality, by means of language, beliefs and ideologies. Today, the REBT is used in a broad range of clinical diagnoses and is used as a universal treatment for numerous psychological problems.