Everyone has some opinion of themselves or the world around them that, in one way or another, is nothing but an exaggeration.

Sometimes, people go for the drama and tend to overestimate the weight of certain threats which, well thought out, are no more than small inconveniences that we ourselves have contributed to making them look really scary.

These irrational beliefs are a fundamental component in understanding Ellis’s ABC model , which tries to explain how people, when faced with the same event, can interpret it in such a varied way according to our own cognitions.

While beliefs of this kind are not necessarily pathological, it is true that, taken to the extreme, they can involve disorders. To know more about what we mean, let’s look at this model, its components and therapeutic application.

Ellis’ ABC model: what is it?

The ABC model is a theory put forward by the cognitive psychotherapist Albert Ellis (1913-2007), who tries to explain why people, despite living through the same event, can develop different responses depending on their own beliefs. These beliefs are a fundamental pillar when it comes to understanding how a person sees the world and how he or she decides to face the demands of everyday life.

The idea behind the model is inspired by a quote from the Greek philosopher Epictetus, people are not upset by the facts, but by what they think about the facts. That is, it is not the fact itself that affects a person positively or negatively, but the way the individual sees it and treats it .

Components of this model

Ellis’ ABC model proposes three components when it comes to explaining and understanding an individual’s behavior and degree of psychosocial adjustment.

Activating event

Within the model, an activating event is understood as a phenomenon that occurs to an individual or that he himself has caused to occur that triggers a series of problematic thoughts and behaviours .

This can be a situation external to the individual, such as an accident, the illness of a family member, an argument with another person, or something internal to the person, such as a thought, fantasy, behavior or emotion specific to the person.

It must be understood that within the model the idea is contemplated that the same event can be perceived in a very different way by two people , and that the degree to which it involves some type of dysfunctional behaviour is very variable from individual to individual.

2. Belief system

A belief system is understood as the whole set of cognitions that make up a person’s way of being and seeing the world.

Indeed, this component includes thoughts, memories, assumptions, inferences, images, norms, values, attitudes, patterns and other aspects that shape the way both threats and opportunities are perceived. These thoughts are usually automatic , crossing the mind as if they were lightning and without having a conscious control over them.

Beliefs can be either rational or, on the contrary, irrational. The former, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, contribute to feeling satisfied with oneself.

On the other hand, in the case of irrational beliefs, these are usually based on illogical things or exaggerations that the individual makes of an aspect of his personality or of his abilities. They are often false thoughts, which come from overly demanding inferences, which are formulated in terms of ‘should’ or ‘would’.

They often involve very negative views of oneself, or unrealistic self-demands, which can contribute to a person’s perception of themselves as worthless or useless.

This results in feeling deep negative emotions associated with depression and anxiety , as well as encouraging harmful behaviors such as addiction, aggression and suicide.

3. Consequences

As the last link in the A-B-C chain we have the C of consequences, both emotional and behavioural (‘Consequences’). These are the response that the individual gives when faced with a certain activating event and modulated by his own belief system .

As each person has his or her own cognitions, the consequences of a given trigger event vary from individual to individual, being positive for some and negative for others.

How are disorders formed according to this model?

Based on the components explained above, this model considers that psychological disorders would be formed from an inappropriate and dysfunctional style of thinking when faced with facts that, objectively, are not threatening.

Having irrational thoughts is relatively normal and common. We all have a somewhat negative view of some aspect of ourselves. The problem comes when this significantly limits our way of being and deprives us of well-being .

In most cases, irrational beliefs taken to the extreme contribute to the development of mood disorders, such as depression, and anxiety problems. In turn, these disorders are sustained by the person’s own thinking.

Within the theoretical framework of the rational-emotive theory, which is inspired by Ellis’ ABC model and the psychotherapist himself contributed to its theoretical definition, it is held that there are certain types of ideas or insights behind the maintenance of pathological irrational thoughts .

In turn, these disorders are sustained by the person’s own thinking. The person often thinks that it is an event that makes him suffer, when it is really his way of thinking and perceiving the event itself. Also, because their irrational beliefs are rigid and extreme, they are very unlikely to change.

To make matters worse, those whose minds are clouded by this type of cognition tend to obsess over the past, instead of working on the present and future , which is what guarantees recovery.

Relationship and application with Rational Emotional Therapy

Ellis’ ABC model is widely applied within rational emotional therapy which, although it has been reformulated over the decades, is still strongly based on Albert Ellis’ thinking.

With the model, it is possible to understand why a person behaves in a dysfunctional way when faced with an event and, thus, once its way of thinking is understood, to work on it to modify it in such a way that a better adaptation is achieved.

This is where the debate is used in a therapeutic way. The aim of this is to overcome the problems that the person manifests due to his/her irrational beliefs when interpreting one or several activating events, which has led him/her to a situation in which self-destructive behaviours and dysfunctional emotions are manifested.

What the therapist should achieve, before discussing the patient’s dysfunctional cognitions, is to make him/her see and be aware of what they are. Once they have been identified, which is by no means simple, it will be possible to see them holistically and discuss which aspects are real and which are not .

One way to do this is to try to move the patient back to the exact moment when the triggering event occurred, when an event has caused the patient discomfort. Thus, he is made to see what feelings he considers inappropriate he began to manifest, based on what and whether his way of seeing the world explains more of his view of the event or is totally and absolutely to blame for the triggering event.

Once the irrational beliefs have been detected, a series of questions can be asked in the therapeutic context . Examples:

  • Where’s the evidence that that’s really threatening?
  • Is there a law or rule that says that should look the way you see it?
  • Why do you think this should always be done in the same way?
  • How does this fact affect your thinking?

With these questions the veracity of irrational beliefs is questioned . Once they are debated, it is easier to throw them away and make the patient start to take a more adjusted style of thinking.

Bibliographic references:

  • Ellis, A. (1991). The ABC’s of RET. The Humanist, 51(1),19-49.
  • Ellis, A. (1991). The revised ABC’s of rational emotive therapy. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 9(3), 139-172.