Comments on: RIP Albert Ellis

By: jonny jones

jonny jones — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:01:51 +0000

Good piece well written. Looking forward to Evans’ book. Ralph Waldo Emerson needs a mention in this field too!

By: Barre Fitzpatrick

Barre Fitzpatrick — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:20:13 +0000

Good piece, well written I find, and important that the writer has himself benefited from CBT. Albert Ellis is new to me. But I have been studying Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus and applying their teachings to contemporary life, and recognise the figure of the stoic philosopher in Ellis. Especially as he spends his last hours teaching from his bed - truly reminiscent of Socrates.
On the substance of CBT, I think it is difficult to put it across in such an article without making it sound glib and superficial. After all, there are large social forces encouraging us to be victims, and lots of profits being made. BUT what I don’t like about short therapies and NLP is that the alteration in our habits of perception can take a long time, and Diogenes et al saw it as a lifetime’s work, a way of being, rather than a quick fix. Satori may be instantaneous… but there is a path of learning involved, rather than a mere act of consumption.
Anyway, thanks to Jules Evans for this introduction to a remarkable man.

By: Andrew Bousfield

Andrew Bousfield — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 18:56:59 +0000

I’m glad that the author of this article has come out of the mentally troubled woods thanks to CBT. He doesn’t explain exactly what the method of CBT is, and we are left to believe that it really is forced positive thinking, American faux happiness. It is also clear that the author may need a little more training in realism if he is coming out with ridiculous attempts at humour like this one:
“Perhaps if our troops were taught more Stoic values, they would be less inclined to cry when someone took away their iPods.”

Can the author name on single example of this happening? Or is it just a silly childish joke?

By: John NAGENDA

John NAGENDA — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 11:39:22 +0000

Wonderful article by Jules Evans, a new name to me. But to call the article “the last interview by Albert Ellis” leaves me thinking perhaps I only accessed but part of the article. What interview?! John Nagenda.

By: Gayle Rosellini

Gayle Rosellini — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:53:33 +0000

I am a close friend and supporter of Dr. Albert Ellis and his wife Debbie Joffe Ellis. The article written by Julian Evans is one of the most perceptive of the hundreds that have been written about Al in recent days. Jules did an excellent job of understanding both the man and his philosophy. Well done!

Gayle

By: Joexxx1957

Joexxx1957 — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:22:15 +0000

Musturbation is evil and pernicious
Masturbation is good and delicious - Albert Ellis

By: “don’t should on yourself”: albert ellis dead at 93 » change therapy - isabella mori

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:16:19 +0000

[...] he had a falling-out with the albert ellis institute– but that did not keep him from sticking to his stoical values: the board members were, he said “fucked-up, fallible human beings, just like everyone [...]