We're starting a new article. Hopefully this one will be more interesting than the last one:
Davis, Donald R. (1977, Summer). Rational counseling. Military Chaplains' Review, PAM 165-114, 49-58.
My comments written on the top of the paper from when I first found the article:
"oversimplistic"
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"If I had done everything in this paper would [the Vienna mission] have changed by my attempts?"
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"Where is God in this process?"
Remember that we read that in the chaplains' handbook that it wasn't taken for granted that all chaplains were equally gifted at counseling? Well this might be an interesting look at one approach to chaplains' counseling techniques.
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"Rational-emotive therapy (RET) is an approach that emphasizes a person's responsibility for creating his own emotions and consequent actions... The 'ABC theory' of emotions is the basic oncept ot knowing what causes a person to feel and act the way he does...'A' is the event or circumstances that one observes, 'B' is what one tells himself about that event. This is the inner belief, thought, attitude, or viewpoint that one has about the event we call 'A.' 'C' is the emotional feeling that one has created within himself by the thoughts he had at 'B.' It is not possible to change one's emotional feelings (barring the use of alcohol or other drugs) until he becomes aware of and changes that belief that is causing the feeling.So this, presumably is a type of counseling that chaplains might have used with the soldiers, as needed, of course. It's a very secular approach, as my question above highlights. I don't know that the H.R. director's would have used it with any of us blatantly, but they may have had such things in the back of their mind in trying to figure any of us out as needed. It's possible.
'An emotion is a physical reaction to a mental stimulus.'" (p. 50)
I don't know that I completely agree with that. We do live in a fallen world, after all, and not everything is all roses and sunshine. But if a person is constantly knocking him/herself then that's another matter, sure, there's no need for that. Even though we're all sinners, even Jesus didn't berate the "woman caught in sin" but looked up from "drawing" in the sand after all her accusers had disappeared and told her to go and sin no more. So God knows we're frail, made from dust and to dust we shall return.***"The next logical step is for the counselor to lead the client to an awareness of his inner beliefs. When they are known, then test them to see if they are rational or irrational. Rational beliefs cause positive or neutral emotions and irrational beliefs cause negative feelings and actions." (p. 51)
Do irrational beliefs, to the exclusion of rational beliefs, cause negative feelings and actions? I think that a person can have a realistic rational belief (about self) that causes negative feelings (if not actions). For example, I might have reason to believe about myself that I am selfish based on past experience. I might not be proud of it, but I believe it because certain situations that have happened. (Now, it may turn out that I'm not completely selfish, but this is at least true in certain situations.) There are different ways I can react to this, of course, including, as a Christian, asking God's forgiveness (and anyone else's forgiveness if I've wronged anyone) and see to overcome this weakness with God's help. I could maybe even make a special effort to try to overcome it, keep a journal, etc. So it doesn't mean I have to be resigned to it, but it also doesn't mean it's irrational, because it might be rational. That is, it's true and accurate, but that doesn't mean it has to stay that way; it's not set in cement.
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"Dr. Albert Ellis (1962) identified eleven irrational ideas that are the ideational ideas bases of emotional aberrations. Dr. Paul Hauck has added a twelfth irrational idea that he has observed in his clients...Next to number 7 I wrote "Yeah - God!". On the top of the list I wrote "Where do these originate iour society?" I'm at a point in my life where I would like for number 11 to be true, or at least if pain relief could be achieved by inertia and inaction I'd be happy with that too. As to number 9, as soon as I can finish this blog I hope I'll be done with the Vienna mission once and for all. I'm sick of that thing, man. You don't know. But I'm going to write about it till I'm all written out, and the rest of my story too. I'm sorry my dad was in star wars but I gave my life everything I could for my dream for what I thought I was called to and all that mattered was dad's work.
To acquaint the reader with these 'irrational ideas,' here are twelve given by Ellis in a pamphlet:
- It is a dire necessity for an adult to be loved by everyone for everything he does.
- Certain acts are awful or wicked, and people who perform such acts should be severely punished.
- It is horrible when things are not the way one would like them to be.
- Human misery is externally caused and is forced on one by outside people and events.
- If something is dangerous or fearsome one should be terribly upset about it.
- It is easier to avoid than to face life's difficulties and self-responsibilities.
- One needs something other, stronger, or greater then oneself on which to rely.
- One should be thoroughly competent, intelligent, and achieving in all possible respects.
- Because something once affected one's life, it should indefinitely affect it.
- One must have certain and perfect control over things.
- Happiness can be achieved by inertia and inaction.
- One has virtually no control over his emotions and he cannot help feeling the way he does." (p. 52-53)
As to number 8, if you live my life, you can't afford to mess up, you have to be perfect. All these things I've dealt with today are things where I've messed up on , why? because I'm sick - really sick, spinal issues, migrain, etc. and I can't keep up on things and the move and everything and these contractors are unethical and somehow I missed a bill so now it's extra work at this point to take care of it and I just don't have it in me. I have to be perfect, because there's no second chance and I don't have anyone to help me. So I have to be perfect, competent, knowledgeable about everything, etc., etc. I do the best I can, but it usually isn't good enough and my brothers will tell you I'm lazy, and I'll just tell them to stick it in their ear.
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"Almost all irrational self-verbalizations include the evaluative words 'should' and 'ought'; the words of catastrophe 'it's awful!,' 'It's terrible!' and 'I can't stand it!'; or overgeneralizations such as 'I will never be able to do it,' and 'I am a bad person.' " (p. 54)
Those are like excuses for not changing, enablers for remainig miserable. I hate it when people tell me to be more positive, because I've even had psychiatrists (in pain management) tell me I have a realistic understanding of things, and I think I do and that's how I bill myself, as a realist. I don't go off all depressed or the like, I mean not doing things, not taking care of myself, not being social (as much as I ever am), etc. I'm just sort of steady doing what I can. I'm not well enough to jump up and down and do cartwheels or anything. So don't expect that kind of thing from me.
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"What is rational depends on the goals of purposes on embrases. This concept makes rationality an individualistic thing. What is rational for one person may not be rational for another person because he has different values and goals. To help a person be rational it is necessary to help him clearly state his long-range and short-range goals. I normally do this in the first or second counseling session." (p. 56)My first impression in reading this was that I could not see the Vienna mission going for this kind of things at all. Then as I read on I thought that maybe a little. The personal goals would mainly be an issue if someone had goals that might affect their professional career within the mission or perhaps as part of the socialization process. But for the most part the mission wasn't going to be wanting much by want of different goals and values in its members, so it would have encouraged that individualism. But then, like I said already, the mission didn't formally do psychological counseling anyway, at least not as far as I knew it didn't.
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Okay, that's it for this article, and it's way later than I'd hoped, so I have to run.