Which therapy emphasizes identifying and challenging irrational beliefs and is a precursor to CBT?

• A. Albert Bandura
• B. Albert Ellis
• C. John Krumboltz
• D. Rudolf Dreikurs

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is a therapy that centers on identifying and disputing irrational beliefs to reduce emotional distress, showing how thoughts drive feelings and actions. Albert Ellis developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, which explicitly teaches clients to recognize irrational, absolutist beliefs (like "I must be perfect" or "everyone must like me"), challenge them through logical, empirical, and pragmatic disputing, and replace them with more rational, flexible ways of thinking. This approach highlights how changing thinking patterns can lead to better emotions and behaviors, and it laid important groundwork for cognitive-behavioral therapy.

For context, Albert Bandura is known for social learning theory and self-efficacy, not this cognitive-disputing approach; John Krumboltz contributed to career counseling with a social-learning perspective; Rudolf Dreikurs expanded Adlerian ideas into a democratic, socially oriented approach.