A Guide to Rational Living

Albert Ellis, Ph.D., born in Pittsburgh and raised in New York, holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology from Columbia University. He 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 currently president of the Albert Ellis Institute in New York; has practiced psychotherapy, marriage and family counseling, and sex therapy for over half a century; and continues this practice at the Psychological Clinic of the Institute in New York City. He is the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and the originator of modern Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Dr. Ellis has served as president of the Division of Consulting Psychology of the American Psychological Association and of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex; and 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 is a diplomate 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 American Counseling Association, the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, and the American Psychopathological Association. He was ranked as one of the "Most Influential Psychotherapists" by both American and Canadian psychologists and counselors. He has served as consulting or associate editor of many scientific journals, and has published over 700 scientific papers and more than 150 audio and video cassettes. He has authored or edited over 60 books and monographs, including a number of best-selling popular and professional volumes. Robert A. Harper, Ph.D. was trained in psychology, anthropology, and sociology at Ohio State University and then took post-doctoral training in psychotherapy in Detroit, New York, and Washington. He has taught at several leading universities and directed counseling training programs at Ohio State University and the Merrill-Palmer Institute in Detroit. Dr. Harper has been president of the American Academy of Psychotherapists and of the American Association for Marital and Family Therapy. He has also been president of several divisions of the American Psychological Association, including the Division of Consulting Psychology, the Division of Psychotherapy, and the Division of Humanistic Psychology. He was in the private practice of psychotherapy and marriage and family counseling in Washington, DC for forty years. He has been given many awards and honors by a number of scientific and professional organizations, including the National Academy of Practice in Psychology, and the divisions of psychotherapy and of clinical psychology of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Harper has written more than 100 papers for professional and popular publications and is the author of several influential books, including Marriage and Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy: 36 Systems. He is now retired but is quite active in his ninth decade in various pursuits, of which gardening and travel are prominent. He notes, "I am living more actively and enjoyably by REBT principles than ever. If you don't believe me, ask my wife, Mimi!"