The End of the JAEC

2007-06-30T03:06:00.001-07:00

ITEM ONE: PERSONAL STATEMENT
Jim Byrne
Saturday 21st April, 2007

Hi,
I was in Manchester last night, visiting my 86 year old mother-in-law. Perhaps it is partly because of my relationship with my mother-in-law that I am sensitive to the vulnerabilities of the elderly; and the need to protect them from those who are less sensitive to their humanity.

I was talking to Renata about the fact that it is now one and a half years since Albert Ellis contacted us to ask for help with the situation within the institute he founded, whereby he had been removed from the board of his institute, and removed from his professional training role.

During those one and a half years, we have campaigned to the best of our ability to bring Dr Ellis's problem to the attention of anybody who could conceivably help. In the early months of the campaign, Renata and I somehow managed to produce a DAILY update on the campaign, and got the word out to tens of thousands of people all over the world that Dr Ellis was in trouble and needed help. Later on, updates were produced three times per week; then weekly; and, in recent months, every few weeks, as and when news became available.

After one and a half years, we do not seem to have made any significant progress in helping Dr Ellis, in practical terms, to achieve his goals with regard to regaining control of the institute he founded and developed over a period of decades. More than 1150 people have signed a petition calling for his reinstatement; and hundreds of supporters have sent messages of solidarity, support and affection to Dr Ellis and his wife Debbie. Some people have sent financial donations to help with his medical expenses. But in New York City, where thousands of individuals, including prominent celebrities, have benefited from therapy sessions with Dr Ellis, very few have come forward to help him in his darkest hour.

We are, of course, grateful to the Mayor's office, the Housing Department, the Attorney General's office, and various social services agencies, plus some prominent individuals, like Professor Chuck Cairns and his wife Helen, for everything they have done. Plus various Friends of Ellis who live in New York City.

I therefore suggested, to Renata, last night in Manchester, that we acknowledge this reality, and move on. I was not proposing that we quit because of a faint heart. I was suggesting that we change our whole approach because my continued role in this campaign had become increasingly difficult, and was approaching the impossible.

Firstly, my doctoral studies were suffering, and I had been trying for the past few months to take time out to catch up on my reading and research activities.

Secondly, a number of colleagues involved in the Friends of Ellis movement in the US had recently received legal threat letters from lawyers acting for the Albert Ellis Institute; and I had recently been threatened with a law suit by ...Name Withheld... for comments that I had made in the heat of battle, which proved to contain erroneous elements for which I have no evidence; and which I have withdrawn. (Unspecified levels of financial compensation were referred to; plus legal costs).

Law suits are a "rich person's pastime", and not something that I, a part-time counsellor, part-time doctoral student, part-time author, and part-time Voluntary Advocate for the 93 year old Dr Ellis, could hope to compete in. ...

I was feeling just like Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher. He had developed a holistic view of the world as a kind of "Universal integrity", or "Way of Nature", which was assumed to be wholesome and self-regulating. However, he had become increasingly jaundiced in his view of human behaviour. According to the introduction in the Tao Te Ching, "...as he was riding off into the desert to die - sick at heart at the ways of men and women - he was persuaded by a gatekeeper in north-western China to write down his teaching for posterity". I shall therefore attempt to follow in Lao Tzu's footsteps, rather than leaving the scene totally. The big question is this: what can we learn about managing the morality of psychotherapists from the history of the removal of Dr Ellis?

I also realized that Machiavelli had already described the ways of men and women when it comes to political and commercial power struggles, especially when there are significant levels of material resources and ego embellishments at stake. I already knew, if I would only reflect accurately, that humans leave a lot to be desired in the ways in which they behave in situations of transition and in times of change or uncertainty.

In my notebook, in Café Nero in Manchester, I drafted the notes that would be required to reconstitute this page of my website, and began with the comments about Lao Tzu as above.

I followed that with a comment about Dr Albert Ellis and how he has been treated by his former colleagues at the Albert Ellis Institute, but find I cannot post that statement here, now, because when I got home from Manchester, I found I was in receipt of a “solicitor’s letter” (attorney’s letter?) threatening me with huge financial penalties - $US20,000 to $US200,000 - unless I removed a long list of statements that the Albert Ellis Institute considers to be defamatory. The truth about those statements, however, cannot be determined in the absence of an independent inquiry at the Albert Ellis Institute, or a legal assessment by a court. There is currently no agreement between Albert Ellis and his former colleagues with regard to what are the facts of the case, and Dr Ellis will be testing some of his claims in the court system in New York City in the very near future. (He won his first case against his former colleagues!)

I accept Dr Ellis’s statement, that his former colleagues have not treated him fairly or reasonably, which claim he will be testing in the New York City court system very soon. I believe his former colleagues have been lenient on themselves in assessing their behaviour towards him, and I believe that that leniency is probably facilitated by certain aspects of REBT theory, including Unconditional Self Acceptance. My Lao Tzu journey will tackle precisely that area of philosophy, and some others.

In his book entitled ‘The Happiness Hypothesis’, Jonathan Haidt (2006) states that psychotherapy involves two processes: “loosening up” and “tightening up”. At the moment, REBT mainly promotes loosening up – or loosening the grip of overly-punitive consciences. However, I believe there is a need to rectify that, and to have an understanding that, in some contexts, it is appropriate for some individuals to ‘tighten up’ their consciences. Especially individuals who present with weak consciences. This I shall make a part of my journey towards a new integration of therapies, which is called Cognitive-Emotive Narrative Therapy (CENT), and which I shall develop and promote from now on.

I believe it is important that we have a strong moral component in our psychotherapy training and practice, and I have now established a new Academy to promote such an innovation. It is called the Academy for Integrative Therapeutic Studies.

Jim Byrne,
Saturday 21st April 2007

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ABC Coaching and Counselling Services.

Jim Byrne’s Email Address.

Face-to-face coaching, counselling and therapy.

About Albert Ellis.

Online and telephone coaching, counselling and therapy.

Email coaching and counselling service.

The Institute for CENT Studies).

Couples Therapy Service: (Relationship skills; marriage counselling).

Confidence Coaching Service.

Training in REBT/CBT for counsellors/therapists.

The REBT Network, for information about the late Dr Albert Ellis and REBT.

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Personal Statement about the Albert Ellis Campaign

The End of the JAEC