ABSTRACT
Cognitive-behavioral theory emphasizes teaching the client how to take charge of his thinking and behavior. This chapter provides an overview of three major cognitive-behavioral theories that have influenced current counseling theories: William Glasser's choice theory and reality therapy, Albert Ellis' rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and Aaron Beck's cognitivebehavioral therapy (CBT). In addition, under the umbrella of behavioral therapy, this chapter
will discuss Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning, B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning, Albert Bandura's social cognitive learning strategy, and ten popular behavioral techniques (Table 15.1).
William Glasser was training to be a psychiatrist in the late 1950s when he first observed that positive mental health occurred more frequently in clients who took responsibility for their actions and decisions than in those clients treated principally with psychotropic drugs (Glasser, 1965). And he rejected the general therapeutic trend of reliance on medication as a treatment strategy except in extreme cases such as schizophrenia. Glasser expands upon this logic in his groundbreaking book Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous to Your Mental Health (Glasser, 2003).
