Attitude | Behavior | Change | Emotions | Faith | Self | Self-image | Self-talk | Understanding

STOOP’S THE ABC’S OF EMOTIONS
A book that I have found to be extremely helpful in counseling subjective individuals who tend to have negative self-image is the book, Self Talk by Dr. David Stoop (published by Revell, Old Tappan, New Jersey, 1982). This book is very simple, yet does as fine a job as I have seen at helping people understand how they think. Stoop develops a theme from Dr. Albert Ellis, a rational-emotive therapist, and presents the ABC’s of our emotions. The “A” is for activating events. The “C” is for emotional and behavioral consequences. He contends that many people believe that Activating Events equal Emotional and Behavioral Consequences. For example: “Someone did not return my phone call (activating event), therefore that person does not like me (emotional and behavioral consequence).” Stoop finds that there is something missing from the equation. “A” does not equal “C.” “A” plus “B” equal “C.” The “B” is for Belief System. A person’s belief system determines what…