Albert Ellis 1913-2007

Top Psychologist Albert Ellis Dies
In NY At Age 93.

By MARCUS FRANKLIN, AP

NEW YORK -- In 1982, a survey of clinical psychologists ranked Albert Ellis as the No. 2 most influential in the field -- ahead of Sigmund Freud and behind Carl Rogers, founder of humanistic psychology.

Ellis, who started a renowned psychotherapy institute and was one of the most provocative figures in modern psychology, died Tuesday from kidney and heart failure, said his wife, Debbie Joffe Ellis. He was 93.

"He helped countless people, and a large number of people he helped now help other people," his wife said. "And in that, there's no question that he has influenced the world in an intensely positive way. In this crazy, violent world, he was a compass for truth."

In the 1950s, Ellis invented what he called rational emotive behavior therapy, or R.E.B.T., which stresses that patients can improve their lives by taking control of self-defeating thoughts, feelings and behaviors. His work, along with that of others including Dr. Aaron Beck, is considered the foundation of cognitive behavior therapy.

"We all owe a great debt to Dr. Ellis," said Robert O'Connell, executive director of the Albert Ellis Institute on Manhattan's Upper East Side. "His students and clients will remember him for his tremendous insight and dedication as a psychotherapist."

In recent years, Ellis had been slowed by illness and controversy.

Ellis was involved in legal battles with the institute he founded more than four decades ago, accusing its board of improperly removing him and canceling his popular Friday seminars. The board said the ouster came out of economic necessity.

Last year, a New York judge ruled that the board had wrongly removed Ellis without proper notice and reinstated him.

Though the fight saddened Ellis deeply, and he said the institute refused to let him teach there, he began offering his popular Friday night workshops in the building next door, his wife said.

"Nothing stopped him," she said. "Wherever he had an opportunity to contribute, he did, no matter the circumstances."

Ellis initially devoted most of his spare time to writing fiction. As he began reading about sexuality in the late 1930s, his friends started to regard him as something of an expert on the subject. They often asked for advice, and Ellis discovered that he liked counseling as well as writing.

After receiving a doctorate in clinical psychology from Columbia University, Ellis started a private practice specializing in sex and marriage therapy. R.E.B.T. grew out of his own experiences and the teachings of Greek, Roman and modern philosophers.

Early in his career, Ellis drew criticism from some in the psychological and psychiatric establishment because of his critical views about Freud and psychoanalysis.

"There is virtually nothing in which I delight more," he said, "than throwing myself into a good and difficult problem."

Ellis, who was born in Pittsburgh and raised in New York, wrote or co-wrote more than 60 books, including "A Guide to Successful Marriage," "How to Live With a Neurotic," "A New Guide to Rational Living." and his excellent "Sex Without Guilt," (New York: Lyle Stuart, 1958, and Hollywood: Wilshire Books, 1965).

He was married twice before; the first marriage ended in annulment, the second in divorce. He is survived by his wife.

Advantages of Masturbation
By Albert Ellis, Ph.D.

http://inkaboutit.homestead.com/mmadvantages50.html

SEXUAL ADVANTAGES OF MASTURBATION
20 observations
EMOTIONAL ADVANTAGES OF MASTURBATION
10 observations
HEALTHFUL ADVANTAGES OF MASTURBATION
6 observations
RELATIONSHIP ADVANTAGES OF MASTURBATION
8 observations
OTHER ADVANTAGES OF MASTURBATION
6 observations

excerpted from:
"Influential psychologist Albert Ellis
dies in NY at age 93."
By MARCUS FRANKLIN, AP
© 2007 Newsday Inc. July 25, 2007