# A Narrative Commentary on the Use of a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy-Informed Group to Address Irrational Beliefs, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Comorbidities

## TL;DR

This paper explores how Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy can help address irrational beliefs and PTSD in various populations.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel REBT-Informed Group intervention for PTSD and discusses its potential for broader application.

## Key findings

- Irrational beliefs are prevalent in PTSD and other areas of life.
- REBT-Informed Group shows promise as a treatment for PTSD based on preliminary research.
- Re-analysis of prior work supports the potential of REBT approaches for PTSD.

## Abstract

Irrational beliefs of Demandingness, Catastrophizing, Low Frustration Tolerance, and Depreciation have demonstrated prevalence in disparate areas of life, including psychopathology, the military, politics, religion, and education. Individuals with mental health concerns, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), endorse elevations in such thoughts compared to the general population. This commentary describes the rationale for focusing on irrational beliefs in efforts to address PTSD and presents the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)-Informed Group for PTSD as a potential novel application of a well-established intervention. In support of these suggestions, we present a narrative review of the published work on irrational beliefs and REBT tenets as relevant for PTSD. We then introduce and describe the REBT-Informed Group intervention, summarize the prior preliminary research conducted by our group, and present some novel data from a re-analysis of this prior work. We end with commentary related to future directions of REBT approaches for PTSD to address limitations and expand the impact of the treatment to military and other Veteran or civilian populations.