During therapy, clients are very quickly challenged to give evidence for their irrational beliefs. The rational-emotive therapist will openly and ruthlessly oppose the foolish absolutes that clients express and make it clear how they are upsetting themselves emotionally by insisting on such nonsense. It is not considered essential that the therapist be a kind, warm, {142} supportive person. In fact, rational-emotive therapy encourages therapists to show their impatience with irrational beliefs that cannot be defended empirically or logically. Once clients are shown that many of their beliefs cause them misery and disappointment, they are asked to _dispute_--silently, in their own minds--their irrational beliefs whenever they find the old habits taking over. It takes time to extinguish old habits; it doesn't happen overnight. Clients need patience and tenacity to oppose their old reflexes and replace them with rational, realistic beliefs. An hour a week in rational-emotive therapy is really, then, like a tutorial session with a teacher. The client-students talk about their feelings; the therapist criticizes underlying irrational beliefs and makes it clear to the clients what a rational response would be. Then the clients are asked to practice applying rational beliefs on their own, outside of therapy. Gradually, a more rational way of looking at things takes the place of the old habits. AN EXAMPLE Joan Hendley is single, twenty-nine years old, and assistant manager of a bank. She has come to Dr. Kovac because of chronic depression, a sense of low self-worth, and feelings of insecurity and anxiety. Lately, she has begun to drink heavily and regularly feels the need to use sleeping tablets. The following is a sample of their dialogue during their first session of rational-emotive therapy: DR. K.: Well, what would you like to start on? JOAN: It's hard to put it into words. I guess it's that I've been depressed a lot, about _everything_. I feel like there's no purpose to my life. I don't know where to go or how to decide. DR. K.: So, right now you don't know where you're headed. What's so terrible about that? It would be _nice_ if you knew, but you don't. Is that _awful_? JOAN: Yes, it is! Everybody should have a purpose! DR. K.: Why _should_ they? Most people go through life without much of a sense of purpose. JOAN: Well, that's what I believe in. DR. K.: Look, Joan, you appear to me to be an intelligent person. You and I can agree that it would be more satisfying for you to have a sense of direction, but you take this {143} one more step, and it's a _very_ big step! You think it's _terrible_ that you don't feel there's a purpose to your life right now. You think you _should_ have a purpose, and I suspect you're punishing yourself because you don't live up to that _should_. JOAN: But most people believe in things like that.