International Committee For The Advancement Of Rational Emotive Education Is Formed

In the past 50 years, in the United States alone, we've seen a dramatic rise in psychological and behavioral disabilities, depression, anxiety, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. Cobble this with dramatic increases in the high-school dropout rate, incarceration rate, use of alcohol and illicit substances among middle and high school students, and we are witnessing a social crisis in process. In this changing social landscape, positive psychological prevention programs for children and adolescents may have measurable positive value.

A report of the 2000 conference of The Surgeon General's Report on Children's Mental Health recognized this crisis and advanced this warning:

Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not being met by those very institutions which were explicitly created to take care of them. It is time that we as a Nation took seriously the task of preventing mental health problems and treating mental illnesses in youth.

Rational emotive education (REE) is a research-supported positive prevention psychological education program for kids and teens that was pioneered and developed by psychologist Dr. Bill Knaus. It may be the best of its kind.

The program operates on three premises: (1) It is wiser and less costly to prevent needless mental health problems then to pay for the consequences. (2) Children and adolescents can be beneficially taught critical thinking, life skills, and rational coping concepts in classroom settings. (3) Children and adolescents can test positive mental health concepts through classroom simulations. In spontaneously arising situations they may apply what they previously tested and found effective.

While special training in the use of the REE method is desirable, with appropriate practice the original program was designed so that it may be used like a cookbook.

As a public service, the original REE program is now a free download offered at REBTnetwork.org. This donation was made by Bill Knaus in honor of Albert Ellis' enormous contributions to humanity, and in recognition of Ellis' special interest in prevention programs to support the positive mental health of children and adolescents. The original REE program is found here. (PDF)

As a public service, the program will be revised and also offered as a free download.

An article that describes the planned revision is found here.

In addition to its use as a primary prevention method, REE can be adapted for use in clinical and counseling settings as an intervention strategy for treating children and adolescents with emotional disabilities who are responsive to a rational cognitive and behavioral form of intervention.

If you wish to comment about the program, write REEcommittee@gmail.com.  Email messages sent to the committee address will be checked bimonthly.

The revision and evolution of the REE program is supported by The International Advisory Committee for the Advancement of Rational Emotive Education. The committee is open-ended. From time to time, new members with a special interest in prevention will join the committee.  The list of committee members follows:

The International Advisory Committee For The Advancement Of Rational Emotive Education

Bill Knaus, Ed.D. Originator of Rational Emotive Education. One of the original Directors of Postgraduate Training, REBT. Fellow, REBT. Supervisor REBT. Taught at City University of New York: Queens College, PACE University, Long-Island University, Springfield College, & American International College. Former president, Advocacy Network. Author of over 70 popular and professional articles and 15 books including The Cognitive-Behavioral Workbook for Depression and Rational Emotive Education: A Manual for Elementary School Teachers. Committee Chair.

George S. Elias, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus, Assumption College. Founder, and Director, Institute for Social and Rehabilitative Services (ret). Career development. Group guidance. Capacity building for previously under served. Rehabilitation of the Drug User-IRS Publication-co-editor: Guidelines for Employment Testing (co-author) for the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Co-author: Know Yourself.

Elliot Cohen, Ph.D. Principal founder of philosophical counseling in the United States. Co-founder and Executive Director of the Society for Philosophy, Counseling, and Psychotherapy. Ethics Editor for Free Inquiry. Editor-In-Chief and founder of International Journal of Applied Philosophy and International Journal of Philosophical Practice. Author of 20 books including The New Rational Therapy.

Sanjay Singh, MD, DNB, Ph.D. REE Representative in India. REBT Initiatives for India. Associate professor, Department of Dermatology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Reverend Thomas Downes, Ph.D. Supervisor, REBT. Diplomat, American Psychotherapy Association. Diplomat in Grief Counseling. Lead REP. NGO for Pax Christi International at the UN. Franciscan brothers. Hospital Chaplain training in evidence-based psychotherapy methods.

Rene F.W. Diekstra Ph.D. Professor of Psychology and Head of the Youth and Development Center, University for Professional Education, The Hague. Professor of Psychology and Head Social Science Department, Roosevelt Academy/University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Specialty: Adolescent suicide prevention. Co-author: Suicide Prevention: A Holistic Approach.

Vince Parr, Ph.D. President, Tampa Rational Living Foundation. Associate Fellow, REBT. Training Faculty, REBT. President, Center for Rational Living and the Rational Living Foundation. Adjunct Professor, University of Tampa. Member, Center for Inquiry.

Luney Parr, MS. Administrator of six Montessori schools, Berkely Prep, Tampa FL. Spanish language instructor, Hillsboro Community College, Tampa.

Gayle Rosellini, MA. Long-term practice in REBT. Specialist in 501-c-3, private, nonprofit agencies. Specialty: treatment of addictions and criminality. Political activist. Educational advocate. Co-author of Barriers to Intimacy: For People Torn by Addiction.

Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D. dePaul distinguished professor of psychology, DePaul University. Editor, Journal of Prevention &Intervention in the Community. Author of 3 scholarly books and 45 articles. 150 presentations on procrastination for academic, corporate and public audiences.

Timothy Pychyl, Ph.D. Associate professor, Graduate chair, Department of Psychology and Centre for Initiatives in Education, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Specialty: Procrastination research (www.procrastination.ca). National 3M Teaching Fellow, Excellence in teaching, higher education. Co-editor: Counseling the Procrastinator in Academic Settings (APA). Co-editor: Procrastination: Current Issues and New Directions. Special Issue of the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality.

Ed Garcia MA. One of the original Directors of Training in REBT. Training Faculty, REBT. Fellow, REBT.Certified Social Worker. Consultant: Piedmont Hospital, Nursing Development Program. Co-Author: Building Emotional Muscle and Homer the Homely Hound Dog.

Nosheen K. Rahman, Ph.D. Fellow, REBT. Professor/Director, Centre for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Author of chapter on: Status of Psychology in Pakistan in Handbook of International Psychology. Chapter on: Psychology of Adolescent Behavior in Pakistan for the International Handbook of Adolescent psychology.

James J. Burns, MD. Associate Professor, Pediatrics Tufts University School of Medicine. Chief, General Pediatrics Baystate Children's Hospital.

William Wagner. President, Chicopee Savings Bank. Community services: Board member of numerous organizations dedicated to education and to the betterment of the community.

Robert Forester. Vice-president of Marketing, New England Etching Corporation (ret).

Diane Nadeau. Educational Advocate and Political Activist. Owner: ACTION Business.

David L. Albright, MSW, Ph.D. student in Social Work, Florida State University. Research interests include: evidence-based practice, intervention research, post-traumatic stress disorder, military and veteran populations.

Reverend George Morelli, Ph.D. Associate Fellow, REBT. Training Faculty, REBT. Professor, Kean University. Taught Rutgers University. Archpriest and Assistant Pastor of St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church, San Diego, California. Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology and Religion.

Will Ross. Webmaster, REBTnetwork.org; Author and publisher of online REBT self-help materials.

Susan Tapper, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus, San Francisco State University, Department of Health Education. Distance learning program development.

H. Jon Geis, Ph.D. The original Director of Training in REBT. Taught at New York University, Columbia, and Yeshiva University. Private practice. Author of Effectively Leading a Group in the Present Moment.

Irwin Altrows, Ph.D. Associate Fellow in REBT since 1985. Training Faculty, REBT. Adjunct Assistant Professor (Psychiatry) and Clinical Supervisor (Psychology), Queens University. Author 18 publications.

Nancy Haberstroh, Ph.D., MBA Rational Emotive Education with developmentally disabled persons. Director of Psychological Services, Monson Developmental Center. Personnel selection. Absenteeism assessments. Marketing research. Continuing education programming. Co-author: A Rational Emotive Education Program to Help Disruptive Mentally Retarded Clients Develop Self-Control.

Deborah Steinberg, MSW. Fellow, REBT. Supervisor, REBT. Child specialty: character development and moral education. Author of How to Stick with a Diet.

Richard Snyder. Vice-president Bank of New England West (ret). Child advocate, State of Florida

Margaret Snyder. Leasing services, Bank of New England West (ret). Child advocate, State of Florida.

Robert E. Arthur, Ph.D. Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Specialty: School Psychology.

Janet Wolfe, Ph.D. Former Executive Director, Albert Ellis Institute. Author of How to Raise a Healthy and Happy Child (with Albert Ellis) and co-editor of The REBT Resource Book for Practitioners, and over 80 articles. Adjunct Professor of Psychology, New York University, and private practice, New York City.

Joseph Gerstein, MD. Harvard Medical School faculty (ret). Internal medicine and pain management. First president, SMART Recovery.

Karen Noon-Yvonne, Ed.D. Dissertation in Rational Emotive Education. Specialty: School Psychology.

Robi Richardson, Ph.D. Clinical psychologist and the Vice Chair of AREBT United Kingdom and Clinical Instructor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Assistant Attending Psychiatrist at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

Joseph Costanzo, Ed.D. Former Special Education Director, Westfield Schools. Child Advocate. Private practice.

Sam Klarreich, Ph.D. Training Faculty, REBT. President of The Berkeley Centre for Effectiveness and The Centre for Rational-Emotive Therapy (Toronto). Author, 7 books including Pressure Proofing. Positions include Chief Psychologist at a major Toronto hospital, Employee Assistance Program Director at an international oil company and Vice-President at a national career consulting organization.

Russ Grieger, Ph.D. Clinical psychologist in private practice of REBT. Fellow, REBT. Training Faculty, REBT. Former President of The Mid-Atlantic Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy. Formerly Co-editor of The Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia, and Organizational Consultant and Trainer. Author or editor of six REBT-based books, including The Handbook of Rational-Emotive Therapy: Volumes I and II, and over 60 papers, chapters, and monographs

Leon Pomeroy, Ph.D. Fellow, REBT. Adjunct faculty, George Mason University. President of The Robert S. Hartman Institute. Author of The New Science of Axiological Psychology. Multiple publications in the emerging field of values research, employing a mathematical model of value and moral behavior.

Susan Ellis, Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist, Licensed School Psychologist, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Family Mediator, Parent Coordinator. Private Practice, Largo (Tampa Bay area), Florida. Author of Make Sense of Your Dreams, and Make Sense of Your Feelings.

David R. Ellis, Esq. Attorney, Intellectual Property; Computer, Cyberspace, Technology Law; Business, Entertainment and Arts Law; Franchise, Licensing and Contract Law; Registered Patent Attorney, Largo (Tampa Bay area), Florida. Author, A Computer Law Primer. Lecturer and Writer. Former Adjunct Professor, University of Florida and Stetson University.

Joel Block, Ph.D. ABPP. Fellow in REBT. Training Faculty, REBT. Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Einstein College of Medicine, Senior Psychologist, North Shore, LIJ, Medical Center. Author, of numerous articles and 18 books including Staying Cool: Anger Management for Teens and Stepliving for Teens: Getting Along with Stepparents, Parents and Siblings.

David Cowles, Ed.D. Behavioral technologies applied to system development. Specialties: children's services, clinical services for the mentally retarded.

Forrest Patenaude MA. Retired marine officer. Specialist in systems development and logistics. Entrepreneurial initiatives and management. Educator. Former school board member. Donation of time and financial resources to just causes.

Guy Azoulai, Ph.D. French representative for REE. Supervisor, REBT. Member and teacher at the French cognitive behavior association (AFTCC), Addiction services. MINT trainer. Consultation.

Jules Evans. British journalist who specializes in writing on mental health and well-being, for publications including The Times, Prospect, New Statesman and Psychologies.

Howard Kassinove, Ph.D., ABPP. Professor of Psychology. Director, Institute for the Study and Treatment of Anger and Aggression. Hofstra University. Co-author of Anger Management: The complete treatment guidebook for practitioners.

Michael Edelstein, Ph.D. Fellow, REBT. Training Faculty, REBT. Diplomate in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Board of Advisors of the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. Past President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. Author, Three Minute Therapy.

Bruno Broll-Barone, M.A., Ph.D. candidate. Anger Management Therapist at the Hofstra University Institute for the Study and Treatment of Anger and Aggression. Former Peace Corps health educator, Cubolta, Republic of Moldova.

Paul Kurtz, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Chair, Prometheus Books. Editor-in-chief, Free Inquiry Magazine. Humanist Laureate and President of the International Academy of Humanism.

Giulio Bortolozzo, M.S. (Counseling). Counselor, educational consultant, teacher; trainer in REBT-based programs in Australia. REE advocate and author of REBT programs for students (People and Emotions and Have a Go Spaghettio!).

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