Posted on 10/10/2005 12:51:21 AM PDT by nickcarraway
An eccentric shrink whose theories have come to shape modern psychotherapy is ensconced in an apartment atop the East 65th Street institute he founded while he battles a bitter coup.
Albert Ellis, 92, whose work has been hailed by everyone from the Clintons to Mayor Bloomberg to Nicole Kidman, was booted Sept. 18 from the board of the nonprofit Albert Ellis Institute. He also was barred from the Friday-night "stand-up" psychotherapy sessions he has conducted before crowds of as many as 200 for more than 30 years.
A lawyer for the board says Ellis' expenses are "preposterous" and putting the institute's future at risk.
Ellis says he's been defamed, and his lawyer claims people at the institute are trying to create the impression that Ellis is "losing it."
From his apartment in the mansion that houses the institute, Ellis has fired back with two lawsuits against the institute and four trustees. The suit accuses the trustees of acting illegally to remove him and "wrest and solidify control of the Ellis Institute and its benefits for themselves."
In the mid-'50s, Ellis proposed that therapy focus not on excavating childhood but on confronting and dismissing irrational expectations people have for their lives — such as "I must succeed" or "I must be loved." His rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) led the American Psychological Association to name him the second most influential psychotherapist, placing him above Freud.
Eccentric and foulmouthed, Ellis practiced a stop-your-whining form of therapy, some say. "All humans are out of their f---ing minds — every single one of them," he has said.
But now the master shrink has to wear special headphones because he is nearly deaf. He also suffered a gastrointestinal infection that nearly killed him two years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I'll never forget the way the liberal wankers at the American Psychological Association convention in -- ah, 1972 or 73, I forget -- treated Ellis.
Booing, hissing, and heckling. They wouldn't even let him speak. It was disgusting.
* "The art of love ... is largely the art of persistence."
* "The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president [emphasis mine: the yenta] . You realize that you control your own destiny."
* "The more sinful and guilty a person tends to feel, the less chance there is that he will be a happy, healthy, or law-abiding citizen. He will become a compulsive wrong-doer."
* "People and things do not upset us, rather we upset ourselves by believing that they can upset us."
This is sad - I've always liked Ellis' teachings. I can't figure out why the blame-everyone-but-myself-Clintons would (other than the fact that they are both sociopathic liars).
Guilty.
:-D )))
The Interpretation of Reams
Talking with Albert Ellis, world-renowned anti-Freud therapist
by Rachel Aviv
August 19th, 2005 4:45 PM
from http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0534,interview,67068,24.html
"People are crazy and stupid! And especially psychologists and therapists are stupid!"
Albert Ellis, the founder of cognitive behavioral therapy, has spent the past 50 years encouraging patients to "forget their goddamn past!" The best way to cure people's unhappiness, he says, is to just tell them—firmly—to stop acting irrationally. The author of more than 75 self-help books and 400 songs, including "Beautiful Hang-Up" and "Whine, Whine, Whine," Ellis has "almost died" multiple times and is now, thanks to a recent operation, missing his major intestines. Still, he's teaching and writing at an alarming pace and was recently named, by the American Psychological Association, the second-most-influential therapist of the century. He spoke to me in a nightgown, under the sheets of his king-sized bed, with the help of his doting, blond assistant.
When did you decide that Freudian analysis was a waste of time? Freud was full of horsesh*t. He invented people's problems and what to do about them. Tell me one thing about the past. I'll prove it's not what upset you. It's how you philosophized about it that made you disturbed.
If Freud is horsesh*t, why are so many people still spending hours on the couch, talking about their dreams? Because people are crazy and stupid! And especially psychologists and therapists are stupid! That's the main reason.
Many of your books include charts, questionnaires and equations, which show readers how to more efficiently deal with their unhappiness. Are there dangers in seeing deep mental processes as a formula? It's not a formula. It's several different formulas. I encourage USA, Unconditional Self Acceptance. I accept me, myself, my personality, whether or not I do well. I prefer to do well, but I don't put my worth on the line. And I accept you—with your [cough attack] stupidity and failings—whether or not you do well. And I accept life, which is bad, without demanding that it be exactly the way I want it to be. I avoid the words "should," "ought" and "must."
Do you think depression is indulgent? Yes, it's "I run the f*cking universe and it should do my bidding." That's arrogant and indulgent.
You seem very comfortable swearing—in writing as well. Much more than your average 91-year old. I was the first psychologist at the American Psychological Associate Convention in Chicago in 1950 who was able to use "f*ck" and "sh*t." The rest were scared sh*tless. It strikes home. It's direct. It doesn't beat around the bush.
If you had 50 more years, where would you take your theories?
[Assistant interrupts: "He does have 50 more years. He has to. At least! He promised!"]
I want to teach my therapy to every school child from nursery school onward so they can all stop upsetting themselves. It can be taught to everyone who isn't feeble-minded.
What are you working on now? I've written about five or six books recently, since I had my intestines out. And this one [points to a pad of paper] is on how to conquer envy and jealousy. I'm also working on the second volume of my autobiography. It's about my sex and love life and all the famous people I met and how idiotic most of them were.
Do you apply your theories to yourself? Yes, I used them on myself. First my own feelings improved, and then my sex, love and marriage feelings got a lot better because I got informed how to satisfy women. It did me a world of good.
[Assistant: "And Al, what about more recently? Tell her how about the doctors."]
They told me I'd have to have my major intestines out and I said, "Too f*cking bad! So I'll have them out. It won't kill me, and if does, I won't suffer after my death." There is nothing deeper than a person's philosophy. I refuse to make myself crazy.
Statement One in response to query, If Freud is horsesh*t, why are so many people still spending hours on the couch, talking about their dreams?: "Because people are crazy and stupid! And especially psychologists and therapists are stupid! That's the main reason."
Statement Two in response to query, 'Do you apply your theories to yourself?': Yes, I used them on myself.
Ergo if Ellis talks about his dreams, he's crazy and stupid.
Was his institute his dream?
BTTT
Some personal info..
I had a few sessions with Ellis back in my late teens when I was trying to "find my way". I was unhappy with school, and the direction I was headed because I thought it would be best for me to follow what others/parents felt I "should" be doing. Ellis was old back in the late 80's and would fall asleep while I was talking to him while in his socks and reclined in his chair. Even at 18 I thought the guy was eccentric. It is a big jump for an 18 year old to take Ellis's advice because they force you to rely on no one else but yourself for success and happiness. At some point, I did follow this teaching and it worked wonders. It will be sad to see the old guy go.
I wonder if we should take Harlan Ellison's last name literaly.
If Freud is horsesh*t, why are so many people still spending hours on the couch, talking about their dreams? Because people are crazy and stupid! And especially psychologists and therapists are stupid! That's the main reason.
Mr. Ellis doesn't seem at all interested in creating or perpetuating psychological problems or causes in order to justify any presumed preeminence.
I know a psychologist who teaches (a non-psych course) at Stanford U. She opined once that transsexuals are perfectly normal and it was the public's misperception and criticism of them that was the problem.
This woman's also an ultra-liberal, conservative-hating yenta who yearns for the good ol' days of "revolution" in college.
I am convinced that 98% of those seeking out a degree in psychology do so because they are too lazy or not intelligent enough to strive in a math, sci., or business field.
I disagree. 98% of the people who take psychology, do so because they have their own issues to address. Or to be put it in colloquial terms: Most people who take psychology are completely nutty. (By the way, based on my friend s who took it, they did have to take a lot of heavy duty math courses)
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