Albert Ellis and REBT
I have to confess that I'm not up to speed about this particular form of treatment. From a quick read, it appears to be somewhat of a hybrid of tried-and-true methods, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and RET (rational emotive therapy). If that's true, it should have merit in certain circumstances. I myself subscribe to the principles of RET and have had quite a bit of success with it.
I am wary of behavioral approaches because, although they work to change some behaviors, the changes are not enduring and are not transferable, i.e. they are environment-specific.
Of course, from a basic view of psychology, treating behaviors is akin to treating symptoms in medicine. Treating the behavior alone does not address the underlying psychopathology and therefore is inherently ineffective (like giving aspirin for Dengue fever - the pain is lessened, but the disease is still deadly, despite the lack of symptoms).
For example, any basic psych 101 text will use the phrase "A - B - C" or "attitudes create behaviors and behaviors create consequences." The problem with behaviorism is that it addresses only the behavior and the consequence and gives no gravity to the attitude, which, of course, is the genesis for all behaviors not related to biological survival.
It is my opinion that "programs" are largely ineffective due to this very basic flaw in their construction.
Beyond this, I suppose the conversation is over, as you have chosen not to specify which program you are patronizing or discuss its methods. I suspect it is largely BM, as every program I have ever studied has its basis in BM.
If you'd like to discuss this issue further, it will require your disclosure of specifics. Of course, I would recommend you do not disclose personal information like your name, email address or other such particulars in an open forum, but if you could tell me what your child's presenting diagnosis is and which program you sought treatment from, I'm certain I can offer some insight and advice. Otherwise, good luck with your kid and sincerely hope it all works out for your family.
