Albert Ellis (September 27, 1913 – July 24, 2007) was an American psychologist and psychotherapist who founded rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT).

[1] He is generally considered to be one of the originators of the cognitive revolutionary paradigm shift in psychotherapy and an early proponent and developer of cognitive-behavioral therapies.

Ellis' father, Harry, was a broker, often away from home on business trips, who reportedly showed only a modicum of affection to his children.

But in some ways it was great: no fuss, no obligations, no time wasted, no having to put up with the inane conversation of most women, no pregnancy, no disease, no boredom.”[9] Illness was to follow Ellis throughout his life; at age 40 he developed diabetes.

At age 19, already showing signs of thinking like a cognitive-behavioral therapist, he forced himself to talk to 100 women in the Bronx Botanical Gardens over a period of a month.

[11] Ellis entered the field of clinical psychology after first earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from what was then known as the City College of New York Downtown in 1934.

In 1942, Ellis began his studies for a PhD in clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, which trained psychologists mostly in psychoanalysis.

He completed his Master of Arts in clinical psychology from Teachers College in June 1943, and started a part-time private practice while still working on his PhD degree—possibly because there was no licensing of psychologists in New York at that time.

In 1947, he was awarded a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Columbia, and at that time Ellis had come to believe that psychoanalysis was the deepest and most effective form of therapy.

[14] The writings of Karen Horney, Alfred Adler, Erich Fromm, and Harry Stack Sullivan would be some of the influences in Ellis's thinking and played a role in shaping his psychological models.

Ellis credits Alfred Korzybski,[15] his book, Science and Sanity,[16] and general semantics for starting him on the philosophical path for founding rational therapy.

In RT, the therapist sought to help the client understand—and act on the understanding—that his personal philosophy contained beliefs that contributed to his own emotional pain.

This new approach stressed actively working to change a client's self-defeating beliefs and behaviours by demonstrating their irrationality, self-defeatism, and rigidity.

He also worked with noted zoologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey and explored in a number of books and articles the topic of human sexuality and love.

While preserving some of the ideas about human sexuality from the original, the revision described his later humanistic opinions and ethical ideals as they had evolved in his academic work and practice.

[24] REBT is an active-directive, philosophically, and empirically based psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances and to help people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives.

He also famously debated religious psychologists, including Orval Hobart Mowrer and Allen Bergin, over the proposition that religion often contributed to psychological distress.

[34] While Ellis' personal atheism and humanism remained consistent, his views about the role of religion in mental health changed over time.

In early comments delivered at conventions and at his institute in New York City, Ellis overtly and often with characteristically acerbic delivery stated that devout religious beliefs and practices were harmful to mental health.

The school provided a curriculum that incorporated the principles of RE(B)T. Despite its relative short life, interest groups generally expressed satisfaction with its programmer.

[41] Many schools of psychological thought became influenced by Albert Ellis, including rational behavior therapy created by a student of his, Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr.[42] Ellis had such an impact that in a 1982 survey, American and Canadian clinical psychologists and counsellors ranked him ahead of Freud when asked to name the figure who had exerted the average influence on their field.

On numerous occasions he critiqued opposing psychotherapeutic approaches, and questioned some of the doctrines in certain dogmatic religious systems, i.e., spiritualism and mysticism.

Until he fell ill at the age of 92 in 2006, Ellis typically worked at least 16 hours a day, writing books in longhand on legal tablets, visiting with clients, and teaching.

On his 90th birthday in 2003, he received congratulatory messages from well-known public figures such as then-President George W. Bush, New York senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the Dalai Lama, who sent a silk scarf blessed for the occasion.

The suit alleges a breach of a long-term contract with the AEI and sought recovery of the 45 East 65th Street property through the imposition of a constructive trust.

He eventually returned to his residence on the top floor of the Albert Ellis Institute where he died on July 24, 2007, in his wife's arms.

In early 2011, the book Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy by Albert and Debbie Joffe Ellis was released by the American Psychological Association.

In eulogy of Albert Ellis, APA past president Frank Farley states:Psychology has had only a handful of legendary figures who not only command attention across much of the discipline but also receive high recognition from the public for their work.

: An Autobiography (Prometheus Books, 2009) —published after his death—is a more traditional narrative of his life and work (though it also meant to be an inspirational story of the use of rational thinking in self-help).

[62][23] In his obituary in the British newspaper The Guardian, it was reported that some members of the psychotherapeutic establishment accused him of misinterpreting Freud and demanded evidence for his claims.