REBT: Reducing Tyranny and War Through Community Feeling and Social Interest

ABSTRACT: This article proposes that rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), including some potentially helpful innovations in it, when employed as part of psychotherapeutic and educational efforts, has the potential to reduce oppressive tendencies on the part of human beings, thus fostering community feeling and Social Interest (the constituent elements of Adlerian Gemeinschaftsgefühl ). In this way, REBT can help rob both tyranny and war making of much of their possible psychological underpinnings. The article discusses REBT principles and methods relevant to efforts to reduce tyranny and war, describes how REBT can promote Gemeinschaftsgefühl and related horizontal striving for perfection, and closes with suggestions for future directions based on the discussions.