Using Articulated Thought Disputation to Strengthen Rational Emotive Behavior Theory

Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) is a unified theory of psychotherapy, focusing on the examination of attitudes and beliefs as the basis for enhancing competence in Social Problem Solving (SPS). The therapist's dexterity at implementing the level of assimilative integration required for the client's effective use of REBT, however, may result in therapeutic failures. This study investigated the use of Articulated Thought Disputation (ATD) as a way addressing the perceived weaknesses in the model's transferability from the clinical to real world experiences. Thirty-five participants, ranging in age from 18-66, participated in the study. Twenty-two (68.8%) were Female and 10 (31.3%) were Male. Three individuals declined to provide demographic information. Twenty-eight European Americans (87.5%) and four African Americans (12.5%) participated. Results showed an improvement in the training group's SPS at Post-test (M = 108.29, SD = 12.25) compared to Pre-test (M = 100.29, SD = 13.97). An ANOVA failed to reveal a significant between-subjects main effect by Group, F (1, 33) = 0.00, p > .05 (partial N2 = .00, power = .05). This suggests that there was no overall difference between the training and control groups on Problem Solving. There was an overall main effect by Time. This increase was significant only for the Training group. Improvement did not differ by Age of Sex on Post-test scores. An assumption could be drawn that a continual increase in Social Problem Solving scores may have been realized, if the study had continued for a longer period of Time.