Behaving Patterns
How to be more effective by using your Event-Belief-Response cycle.

Adlerians and others such as Albert Ellis (Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy) and Aaron Beck (Cognitive Therapy) have developed ways to understand the process by which humans deal with events and seek to make effective responses, similar to the Event-Belief-Response cycle.

Put simply, an Event happens,which we perceive at several levels (conscious/non-conscious, objective/subjective, etc.). We then tell ourselves what the event "means" (to us). This is our Belief or "personal truth" about the event. We then make a Response to what we believe about the vent (and not the event itself...this is important!)   by a thought, feeling, or action. This is how you are effective (more or less) or ineffective in your life from moment to moment.

Remember This: We do not respond to Events, but to what we believe about Events. Therefore, if we wish change a feeling about something, or a mood in general, for example, we need to change what we tell ourselves is "the truth" (our belief) about an Event. LEAP offers several specific, practical, and very effective ways to do this.

One result of a Response is a self-rating of effectiveness That is, how effective were we in our response? (This involves several things, including how we define effectiveness or success, such as what has to have happened as a result of what we did.) This leads us to a level of  confidence on which further responses can be based. (That is, based on our past response-effectiveness, how much to we believe in ourselves to be effective in the future.) A low level may lead to discouragement and a feeling of future inability or incompetence; a high level may lead to encouragement and a feeling of future capability and competence. Mastery of one’s E-B-R Cycle is a major goal of LEAP.

Some ways to think about your "Behaving" patterns:

How accurately do you suppose you see the things that happen to you?

Do you make up your own mind about things, or rely on others to do your thinking for you?

Think of a time in childhood when you used "Private Logic" to excuse or justify doing something that went against "the community." (Example: lying, cheating, stealing.) Did it work? Did you do it again? Did others "find you out?" What did others think of you for what you did? Today, what are some common ways you use "Private Logic" to justify getting what you want, regardless!

What’s the first thing you think when something happens to you? What do you get out of it?

What kind of Responder are you: Thinker, Feeler, Doer? How successful are you at each?

How do you think the way you use your E-B-R Cycle is similar to how you used it when you were younger? How is that working for you now? What could you change to make your responses to life events more effective or successful?