Transcription
In this video, I'll explain how we can unhook from unhelpful patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving by using the ABCDE model. This model was developed by Albert Ellis, and it's one of the most foundational skills of Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Let's start by looking at the A, B, and C. The A is the activating event. This can be a real external event, a future event that you anticipate, or an internal event such as an image or memory. The A is usually referred to as the trigger. B is your beliefs about the event; this also includes thoughts, your personal rules, and the meanings that you attach to events. C is the consequences. This includes your emotions, behaviours, and physical sensations.
Let's look at an example. Mark's friend passes him in the street and doesn't acknowledge him. Mark believes he doesn't want to be my friend anymore. Mark experiences sadness, a knot in his stomach, and drinks too much alcohol when he gets home.
Now, let's imagine the same scenario but with a different person, and this has a very different outcome. Jane's friend passes her in the street and doesn't acknowledge her. Jane believes, "Oh, she mustn't have seen me." When Jane gets home, she calls her friend and says, "Hi, I saw you in town today. I don't think you saw me. Fancy going for a drink sometime?" Jane feels happy to talk to her friend.
It's interesting that the same scenario can cause such different outcomes. We can see that Mark's belief was very unhelpful, very black and white in his thinking, and clearly jumped to the worst possible scenario. This, in turn, led to his low mood and a destructive pattern of behaviour. Now, Jane's belief was more helpful, more balanced, and led to a positive consequence.
The basic idea behind this model is that an activating event does not cause the consequences; it's actually the belief that causes the consequences. So, it wasn't Mark's friend passing him in the street that caused him to feel sad and drink too much alcohol; it was actually Mark's belief, "he doesn't want to be my friend anymore," that caused him to feel sad and drink too much.
Thoughts, images, and beliefs can just pop up into our heads. Some are pleasant, some are unpleasant, and some are neutral. Negative automatic thoughts usually center around the following themes: negative thoughts about yourself; negative thoughts about the world; negative thoughts about other people; and negative thoughts about the future. The automatic thoughts we are interested in in therapy are those that trigger moods and behaviours that are problematic.
Recognizing that you're experiencing a negative automatic thought is easier said than done. It requires time, effort, patience, and being totally honest with yourself. You may find it difficult to look at your thoughts and beliefs; perhaps you're afraid they'll overwhelm you. Now, this is quite a normal, very natural response. Working with a therapist can be really helpful here, as they can help you identify your negative automatic thoughts and support you through this process.
Once you identify your A, B, and C, the next step is to dispute your irrational beliefs. D stands for dispute, and we do this by asking a series of focused, open-ended questions that encourage reflection, unravel deeply held beliefs, and help you find your own solution. In section D, we question and examine the belief from section B. The following questions may help Mark dispute his belief, "he doesn't want to be my friend anymore": Am I basing my thoughts on facts or feelings? Does my belief fit with reality? Where is the evidence for my belief? Am I jumping to the worst possible conclusion?
Through examining and challenging his beliefs in this way, Mark is increasing his own self-awareness and insight into alternative ways he can think and behave. He's also creating a memory bank of information that he can use to challenge his automatic thoughts going forward.
E stands for effect. In this final section, Mark writes alternative and balanced thoughts and beliefs from the evidence gathered from section D. Alternative or balanced thinking is often more positive than the initial automatic thought, but it's much more than positive thinking. Now, alternative or balanced thinking takes into account both positive and negative information in an attempt to acknowledge all available information. So, in section E, Mark writes: "My friend didn't say hi, but this doesn't mean he doesn't want to be my friend anymore; perhaps he didn't see me." "When I'm sad, talking to someone who cares would be much more helpful than drinking alcohol." "I'm a shy person and usually wait until someone else says hello, but I'm working on this and learning new social skills."
The goal of the ABCDE model is not to eliminate emotions. Instead, the goal is to modulate emotional and behavioral reactions when they are more extreme than the situation warrants. Typically, a mood can shift anything from 10 to 50 percent when the ABCDE form is completed well. This may not sound like a lot, but imagine you are 90 percent depressed, and your mood improves to 40 percent depressed; this change can be very significant.
According to Albert Ellis:
(1) The primary cause of your unhelpful reactions is your beliefs about an event, not the event itself.
(2) You remain psychologically disturbed because you continue to hold on to your rigid beliefs.
(3) Psychological health only comes from when you work hard to change your irrational beliefs.
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