Online Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) from just $35/session with licensed REBT therapists (PhD, PsyD, LCSW, LMHC, LMFT) trained in this evidence-based approach. At Grouport, we offer online individual therapy, online group therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, teen therapy, and virtual IOP options. REBT is the original cognitive behavioral therapy, with over 50 years of research supporting its effectiveness.
It is not what happens to you that makes you upset. It is what you believe about what happens. That is the core insight of REBT, created by Albert Ellis in 1955, a full decade before Aaron Beck developed Cognitive Therapy. Using the ABC model (Activating event, Beliefs, Consequences), REBT helps you identify and challenge the irrational, demanding beliefs ("I must," "They should," "Life has to") that drive depression, anxiety, anger, guilt, and shame. A comprehensive systematic review of 162 intervention studies found that most REBT interventions were successful at reducing irrational beliefs and improving mental health outcomes. A 50-year meta-analysis found REBT produced high effect sizes for emotional distress and medium effect sizes for depression, anxiety, anger, and quality of life. In a landmark randomized clinical trial of 170 patients with major depression, REBT matched both Cognitive Therapy and antidepressant medication, and REBT significantly outperformed medication at 6-month follow-up. Schedule a free call to learn if REBT is right for you.
Consistently Recognized as the #1 Online Therapy pick
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At Grouport, we offer multiple ways to access REBT therapy, all led by licensed clinicians. Whether you prefer individual sessions for personalized belief work, group therapy where members practice disputing together, or a more intensive program, our REBT-informed offerings are designed to create lasting emotional change. Many members choose to combine formats for the most comprehensive support.
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy was created by Albert Ellis in 1955, making it the first cognitive behavioral therapy, a full decade before Aaron Beck developed Cognitive Therapy. While both approaches fall under the CBT umbrella, REBT is distinct in its direct focus on the demanding, absolutistic beliefs ("I must," "They should," "Life has to") that Ellis identified as the core driver of emotional disturbance.
REBT uses the ABC(DE) model: an Activating event triggers your Beliefs about it, which produce emotional and behavioral Consequences. In therapy, you learn to Dispute your irrational beliefs through logical, empirical, and pragmatic questioning, arriving at Effective new beliefs and emotions. The key insight is that it is not what happens to you that creates your distress. It is what you demand about what happens.
The evidence for REBT is extensive. A comprehensive systematic review of 162 intervention studies found that most REBT interventions successfully reduced irrational beliefs and improved mental health outcomes including depression and anxiety. A 50-year meta-analysis found REBT produced high effect sizes for emotional distress and medium effect sizes for depression, anger, anxiety, and quality of life. In a landmark randomized clinical trial of 170 patients with major depression, REBT was as effective as Cognitive Therapy and antidepressant medication at post-treatment, and REBT significantly outperformed medication at 6-month follow-up, with better cost-effectiveness than pharmacotherapy.
REBT does not just treat symptoms. It changes the thinking patterns that create them, producing improvements that ripple through every area of your life.
The "musts" and "shoulds" that drive your distress feel like facts, but they are demands you have placed on yourself, others, and the world. REBT teaches you to recognize these rigid demands as they happen and replace them with strong preferences: wanting something without insisting it must be so. This single shift reduces anxiety, anger, and depression at their source.
REBT uniquely emphasizes unconditional self-acceptance (USA): the practice of accepting yourself fully, not because you have earned it through achievement, but because you are a complex human being who cannot be reduced to a single rating. This is different from self-esteem, which rises and falls with performance. Unconditional self-acceptance provides a stable foundation that does not depend on external validation.
Anger typically stems from demanding that others behave the way you think they should. REBT's 50-year meta-analysis found medium effect sizes specifically for anger reduction. By replacing demands on others ("They must treat me fairly") with preferences ("I would prefer fair treatment, but I can cope when it does not happen"), you reduce the intensity and frequency of anger episodes without becoming passive.
Guilt and shame often come from demanding perfection of yourself: "I must never make mistakes" or "I should always know the right thing to do." REBT teaches the crucial distinction between healthy remorse (regretting a behavior) and unhealthy guilt (condemning yourself as a person). You learn to evaluate your actions without globally rating your entire worth.
Anxiety is fueled by catastrophizing ("It would be terrible if...") and low frustration tolerance ("I can not stand..."). REBT directly targets these irrational belief patterns by helping you realistically evaluate the actual severity of feared outcomes and build genuine confidence in your ability to cope. This approach addresses anxiety at its cognitive root rather than just managing symptoms.
REBT does not just make you less disturbed. It makes you less disturbable. By developing a flexible, rational thinking style, you become better equipped to handle future adversity without creating unnecessary emotional suffering. REBT builds what Ellis called "elegant change": not just feeling better in the moment, but developing a fundamentally healthier relationship with your own thinking that lasts.
REBT is an active, directive therapy. Your therapist will collaborate with you, but expect to be challenged. That is where the change happens.
In the early sessions, your therapist will help you map your emotional experiences using the ABC model. Together, you will identify the Activating events that trigger your distress, uncover the specific Beliefs (demands, catastrophizing, low frustration tolerance, self-downing) driving your emotional Consequences, and begin to see the pattern clearly. This is the foundation: understanding that your beliefs, not the events themselves, are creating your suffering.
The core of REBT is disputation. Your therapist will guide you in challenging your irrational beliefs through three types of questioning: Logical (Does it follow logically that because you want something, you must have it?), Empirical (Where is the evidence that it is truly awful, rather than merely disappointing?), and Pragmatic (Is holding this belief actually helping you?). Between sessions, you will practice these skills through homework assignments, written exercises, and real-world experiments.
REBT does not just remove irrational beliefs. It replaces them with rational alternatives: strong preferences rather than demands, realistic assessments rather than catastrophizing, high frustration tolerance, and unconditional acceptance of yourself, others, and life. As these new beliefs strengthen through practice, you experience what Ellis called "elegant change": not just feeling better about this specific problem, but developing a fundamentally healthier thinking style that protects you against future disturbance.
See how our therapy options have helped our members experience life-changing results
Stephanie
“Grouport is time flexible and affordable and if it didn’t exist, I don’t know where I would go. I had looked into other places before Grouport and there really wasn’t any option like it.”
Michael
“I highly recommend this to anyone who is struggling with anxiety or depression. The therapists are top notch and have made me feel really comfortable and my anxiety has improved tremendously in only a few sessions!”
Isabel
"I joined Grouport to work on myself and to heal. I’m learning so much at every session! The change I see not only in myself but in my fellow group members is abundantly encouraging and profoundly fulfilling. Group therapy with Grouport is a powerful healing tool."
Sheldon
“I was feeling very down at the end of 2020 and I was ready to do something drastic that I know I'd likely regret. The group definitely helped show me that there are people who feel the same way as I do.”
Nancy
“The therapy from Grouport is high quality and convenient. I am becoming much more self aware and am liking myself more. My relationships at work are better and I’m much happier.”
Emily
“I like the connection you can make with total strangers and the confidentiality it comes with.”
Danielle
"Grouport can help you with your issues. Their therapists are well trained to work with you on your issues. I felt my anxiety greatly improve after only a few sessions. I highly recommend it!"
Glenn
"Grouport's approach to DBT is a real strength. This approach provides tools and methods for working with difficult emotions and getting a handle on them. It has given me hope where other approaches have failed."
REBT has been researched across a wide range of mental health conditions. Its focus on the core process of irrational beliefs makes it broadly applicable.
REBT has some of its strongest evidence for depression. In a landmark randomized clinical trial of 170 patients with major depressive disorder, REBT was as effective as Cognitive Therapy and fluoxetine (Prozac) at post-treatment, and REBT significantly outperformed medication at 6-month follow-up. REBT targets the self-downing and demandingness beliefs central to depressive thinking.
Anxiety in REBT stems from catastrophizing and low frustration tolerance. Research supports REBT's effectiveness for social phobia, test anxiety, performance anxiety, and generalized anxiety. REBT has been shown to be effective for anxiety disorders including social phobia in randomized controlled trials, targeting the core irrational beliefs that maintain anxious avoidance.
Anger is one of the conditions most naturally suited to REBT. The 50-year meta-analysis found medium to high effect sizes for anger at post-treatment. By targeting the demands you place on others ("They must treat me fairly," "People should not be so inconsiderate"), REBT reduces anger intensity and frequency while maintaining healthy assertiveness and boundary-setting.
Research with post-9/11 veterans found that an REBT-informed group produced significant reductions in both depression and PTSD symptoms in just five sessions. REBT addresses the rigid beliefs that maintain trauma responses, such as demands that the trauma should not have happened or that the world must be safe.
REBT's concept of unconditional self-acceptance directly addresses self-esteem issues. Rather than trying to build self-esteem (which rises and falls with performance), REBT teaches you to stop globally rating yourself altogether: accepting yourself as a whole, complex person who cannot be reduced to a single evaluation.
REBT addresses the low frustration tolerance ("I can not stand feeling this way") and self-downing that drive substance use. Research on rational emotive health therapy (REHT), developed specifically for addiction, found significant reductions in alcohol use frequency. REBT also targets the secondary disturbance (guilt about relapse) that can perpetuate the cycle.
Every Grouport therapist is a licensed, accredited mental health professional with specialized training in evidence-based approaches including REBT therapy, and extensive clinical experience in depression, anxiety, anger, self-esteem, guilt, shame, stress, and phobias.
Our therapists typically have over a decade of clinical experience across diverse settings, with specialized expertise in REBT, cognitive-behavioral, and disputation-based approaches, as well as depression, anxiety, anger, self-esteem, and stress. Our therapists are trained in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and other proven modalities to provide the best fit for your needs.
We continually evaluate outcomes through internal studies and outcomes studies with researchers from leading universities such as Carnegie Mellon, University of Essex, and University of Cologne.
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a healthier future starts right here
80%of our members start with moderate to severe mental health symptoms
70% of our members feel significantly better within just 8 weeks
50% of our members achieve remission levels within just 8 weeks
80%
of our members start with moderate to severe mental health symptoms
70%
of our members feel significantly better within just 8 weeks
50%
of our members achieve remission levels within just 8 weeks
Group, individual, couples, family, IOP, and teen therapy - all online, all therapist-led. Mix and match care options to fit your needs , and get discounted pricing when you bundle.
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REBT therapy challenges the irrational beliefs driving depression, anxiety, anger, and emotional disturbance. Our licensed REBT therapists also treat a wide range of conditions using proven methods.
Whether you are dealing with depression, struggling with anxiety, overwhelmed by anger, trapped in guilt or shame, or simply feeling stuck in rigid thinking patterns, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy can help you challenge the beliefs driving your distress and build a more flexible, resilient mindset. With licensed therapists and flexible online formats, Grouport makes it easy to get started. Take the first step toward emotional freedom today.
