Foundation Certificate in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy – Windy Dryden

Course Overview

This certificate programme offers a clear, structured, and practice focused introduction to Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, taught by one of the leading figures in the field. Over six modules, you will explore the core philosophy of REBT, its distinct theoretical and practical features, and the powerful methods it uses to help clients examine and change unhelpful attitudes.

Each session includes both a teaching component and a live demonstration. Volunteers from the group bring a real emotional issue they would like help with, allowing Windy to demonstrate REBT with clarity and purpose. These demonstrations offer a rare opportunity to see REBT in action and understand exactly how the method unfolds in real time.

This programme is ideal for helping professionals who want to deepen their understanding of emotional processes, strengthen their therapeutic confidence, and integrate REBT thinking into their practice in a grounded, practical way.

Course Dates and Times

• 21 January, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• 28 January, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• 4 February, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• 25 February, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
• 4 March, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• 11 March, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Course Structure and Learning Experience

Each session is organised into two parts to support a rich balance of theoretical learning and practical application.

First Hour: Theoretical Foundations of REBT

During the first hour of each session, Windy Dryden will introduce the core theories, principles, and techniques that underpin REBT. The teaching follows a clear sequence that helps participants build their understanding step by step.

You will explore

• the ABCDE framework
• the role of attitudes in emotional disturbance and resilience
• the difference between rigid attitudes and flexible attitudes
• the distinction between unhealthy negative emotions and healthy alternatives
• the theoretical and practical features that give REBT its unique identity
• ways of examining attitudes that maintain distress

This structured learning approach ensures that participants develop a comprehensive and well rooted understanding of REBT as both a model and a method.

Second Hour: Live Demonstration and Interactive Experience

The second hour brings the theory to life. Windy will conduct a live REBT demonstration with a volunteer from the group who presents a current emotional difficulty. These demonstrations offer an invaluable opportunity to observe REBT in action at a high level of clarity.

Participants will see

• how questions and interventions are chosen
• how rigid attitudes are identified
• how healthier, flexible alternatives are developed
• how REBT supports emotional and behavioural change

This real time learning experience deepens understanding and strengthens confidence in applying REBT with clients.

Volunteer Participation

Participants who wish to volunteer for a live demonstration are warmly invited to contact Onlinevents before the course begins. Volunteers should bring a current issue they would like help with and feel comfortable discussing it in front of their peers.

Volunteering provides a rare opportunity to

• work directly with a leading authority on REBT
• gain personal insight into the method
• contribute meaningfully to the learning journey of the group

All demonstrations are recorded and added to the Onlinevents Learning Library. Access is restricted to course participants via a password.

Module Outline

Module 1: A Basic Introduction to REBT

You will gain a clear grounding in REBT’s central ideas. Windy will introduce the ABCDE framework, outline rigid and flexible attitudes, and explore their characteristics. The session also looks at the therapeutic relationship and key practical emphases of the approach.

Module 2: REBT’s Distinctive Theoretical Features

This module presents the theoretical principles that distinguish REBT within the wider world of cognitive behaviour therapy and psychotherapy. You will understand the concepts that give the approach its particular identity.

Module 3: REBT’s Distinctive Practical Features

Building on the previous module, you will explore the practical methods, tasks, and change processes that define REBT in everyday therapeutic work.

Module 4: Developing and Maintaining a Good Working Alliance in REBT

This session concentrates on how REBT conceptualises the working alliance between the therapist and client. Emphasis will be placed on how to develop and sustain this alliance.

Module 5: Working with a Client’s Nominated Problem

REBT is a problem-solving approach to therapy. This module explains how to help a client with a specific issue using a step-by-step REBT-informed treatment sequence

Module 6: REBT from Beginning to End

The final module offers a process overview of REBT from start to finish. It examines the issues that are likely to arise at the beginning of REBT, during its progression, and at its conclusion, illustrating how REBT therapists typically address such issues.

Certification and Further Learning

Upon completing all sessions, participants will receive a Continuing Professional Development Certificate from Onlinevents.

Participants may choose to present this CPD Certificate to Temenos Education. Temenos may award a Foundation Certificate in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy upon successful completion of a multiple choice assessment.

This may also open pathways to further training with Windy Dryden at Temenos.

Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event

By the end of this programme, participants will be able to

• understand the theory, principles, and techniques of REBT
• distinguish between rigid and flexible attitudes and link these to emotional outcomes
• identify the difference between unhealthy and healthy negative emotions
• apply REBT thinking within a wide range of clinical and professional contexts
• observe and analyse REBT in real time through live demonstrations
• use REBT methods more confidently and effectively in their own practice

Who is This Course Appropriate For?

• This programme is suitable for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists, coaches, educators, and other helping professionals. It is also valuable for practitioners from any modality who wish to incorporate REBT principles into their work.

How May This Course Impact Your Practice?

• Participants will leave the programme equipped with clear, actionable methods to help clients examine unhelpful attitudes, shift rigid beliefs, and move toward healthier emotional and behavioural responses. The combination of structured theory, guided learning, and high quality demonstrations makes this course a strong foundation for integrating REBT into clinical practice with confidence and clarity.

RECORDING

This event will be recorded and you can use the ticket function to pre-purchase the recording before the event. This will be useful for colleagues who are not able to attend the event live and also for those who attend the event live and want to watch it again.

ZOOM

This event will be hosted on the Zoom meeting platform where we will use our cameras and microphones to interact with each other as a group.

SELF-SELECT FEE

The self-select fee is a radical inclusion policy to open learning for all colleagues. We appreciate that income varies greatly in different locations and circumstances. Please contribute what you can to help us maintain inclusive professional training.

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At Onlinevents, we and the presenters we collaborate with are committed to working in a way that aligns with the ethical codes and frameworks of our respective professional organisations. We expect all colleagues attending our events to uphold the ethical principles of their professional membership.

If you are not a member of a professional organisation, we ask that you participate in a way that is both authentic and respectful, fostering a space of mutual learning and professional engagement.

By registering for this event, you agree to be present and interact in a manner that reflects these principles.

Professor Windy Dryden

CBT Therapist, Trainer, Academic and Writer

I am Emeritus Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths University of London and have been working in the field of counselling and psychotherapy since 1975.

I was one of the first people in Britain to be trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and have trained with Drs. Albert Ellis, Aaron T. Beck and Arnold Lazarus.

I have also trained at the University of Warwick where I was awarded an MSc in Psychotherapy. This was an eclectic course and gave me a very broad view of the field. What has been important and sustaining in my career has been variety. Thus, I work as a practitioner, trainer, academic and writer/editor.

CBT Practice

I have worked as a therapist in many settings: including in private practice, in a GP practice, in a clinical psychology service and in private psychiatric hospitals.

CBT Training

I have been active in training counsellors and therapists since 1975 and have trained therapists in many countries including Britain, USA, South Africa, Turkey and Israel.

Academic

I began my career as an academic as Lecturer in Counselling at the University of Aston in Birmingham (1975-1984) and joined Goldsmiths University of London in 1985 where I became Britian’s first Professor of Counselling in 1992. I am now Emeritus Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths and have held Visiting Professorships at University of Birmingham, University of East London, University of Westminster and London Metropolitan University. In 2005, I was awarded a DSc in Psychology at Babes-Bolyai University in Romania.

Writer and Editor

My first book was published in 1984 and I have now authored or edited over 230 books. I write for both the profession and for the general public. In addition, I have edited 20 book series and was, until 2012, the editor of the ‘Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy’.