Adolescent Development and Cognitive Transformations through REBT

 Adolescent Development and Cognitive Transformations through REBT

by 

Antonis Antoniou

Lifelong Learning. Adolescent Development and Cognitive Transformations through REBT. This is what we covered the first day. It was more of a reminder to see if we knew the theory. The subject revolved around adolescents. It was mostly about the young individuals displaying issues in social, emotional, behavioral, and academic areas often exhibiting developmental lags in their ability to process affective-interpersonal matters with reason and logic.

Challenges such as maintaining perspective, internalizing negative occurrences, and cultivating emotional regulation skills like relaxation or seeking support are common. These adolescents are frequently influenced by a large spectrum of illogical thoughts, including tendencies to belittle themselves, a low threshold for frustration, and an inability to accept others.

When confronted with challenging situations, these young people may regress to a mode of thinking reminiscent of an earlier developmental stage known as the pre-concrete operational phase. This mode of thought is marked by:

Arbitrary Inferences: Drawing conclusions that lack evidence or contradict available proof.

Selective Abstraction: Concentrating on isolated details while overlooking the broader context.

Magnification/Minimization: Misjudging the importance of events.

Personalization: Associating unrelated external events with oneself without justification.

Overgeneralization: Forming broad conclusions from specific, isolated incidents.

Dichotomous Thinking: Categorizing experiences into binary opposites, like good or bad.

The proposed approach involves employing Rational Theory. According to rational-emotive behavior theory, the root of emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents lies in their adherence to irrational and absolute beliefs (such as ‘shoulds’, ‘oughts’, ‘musts’, and ‘needs’). For instance:

“I must achieve success.”

“I require love and approval.”

“The world should fulfill my desires easily and promptly.”

“People ought to treat me with fairness and consideration.”

Challenging these beliefs, encouraging adolescents to listen to their own thoughts, and guiding them away from their irrationality is crucial. By understanding and applying this process, you can assist yourself and become equipped to support them.

They need you! You need to challenge the thought process and teach them to correct themselves.

Change the irrational into rational.

Be a good example!