Rational Humorous Songs & Shame-Attacking Exercises in REBT

Jeffrey T. Guterman, Ph.D. demonstrates a rational humorous song and shame-attacking exercise, techniques used in rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). The use of the music from the song Misty qualifies as a "fair use" in keeping with U.S. copyright statute. As of this posting on October 19, 2006, see http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html for more information.

REBT
(Lyrics by Jeffrey T. Guterman, Sung to the tune, Misty)

Look at me
I'm as hopeless and depressed as I can be
But now I do understand,
The cause of my misery
Yes I understand what's causing my misery

Walk my way
And you'll hear me whining through the day
Or it might be the sound of my heart,
Breaking in two
Cause I'm doing what I never knew

I am demanding that my life be fulfilled
In almost every way I can imagine
Don't you realize how hopelessly I'm lost
That's why I'm following you, Al

Now, look at me
I'm determined to overcome this misery
I see exactly what it's going to take
To make the changes I want to make
It's just four letters
And they are—REBT

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• rebt
• counseling
• guterman
• psychotherapy
• shame
• rational

[ABCCoaching]

Hi Jeffrey,

I just love your Rational Humorous Song. Not only is it a great advert for REBT; not only is it brave; but it's also beautifully creative. Excellent work!

Best wishes,

Jim

Jim Byrne

REBT/CBT/CENT therapist

[jguterman]

Thanks for your kind comment, Jim.

[whyteay]

Those shame attacking exercises seem pretty useful (and scary!). I've heard of some which include: wearing odd shoes in public or calling out the name of train stops on a train. The key is not to leave the place immediately on doing this but to stay in this 'awkward' situation. Not sure when I'm gonna be doing it though, depends how much I really wanna accept myself.

[jguterman]

The key is not only to stay in the awkward situation but, also, to forcefully accept yourself while doing the act. I agree, though, that not leaving immediately is valuable. Moreover, staying in the stuation for an extended period of time might be especially helpful and doing the act repeatedly can reinforce self-acceptance.

[jguterman]

Part II:

P.S. The most relevant shame-attacking acts in life are not doing these types of exercises (although they are helpful for some people) but actually daring to be yourself; that is, doing what you really want to do and not doing what you really don't want to do and, then, accepting yourself despite the risks and inevitability sometimes of rejection or disapproval and failure.

[natalieanne1]

how do i download the soundtrack please, i really love it please dr Guterman i would really like it for my ipod pretty please

[jguterman]

I do not have the technical expertise on this, sorry. With some creativity, though, I am confident it can be done.

[samuelsixvids]

i accept myself :)

[SpayNeuter2SaveLives]

Dr. G, do I owe you a conference fee or an entertainment fee? Check is in the mail! - Paulina, CBT therapist

[kukrinja]

I will help you. I can send the song to you. Answer my messange and I'll send it to your e-mail right away as an MP3.

Gisle Sunde, Norway

[namitsu1]

I feel like these excercises can make you come closer to daring to be yourself.

[Blackshayde]

Thanks for your videos Dr. Guterman.

I had a cognitive behavioral therapist for about a year and we had a falling out. She was really really hard on me. But I realize that that was necessary as part of the therapy. I took it personally and let her go. But I still follow the principles of CBT that she taught me because they are wonderfully logical and effective.

Can anyone explain the difference between REBT and CBT? My therapist studied directly under Dr. Ellis.

Thanks,