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International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience | ISSN: 1522-4821 | Volume 20
November 26-27, 2018 | Los Angeles, USA
Psychiatry, Mental Health Nursing and Healthcare
World Summit on
Applied Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental Health
International Conference on
&
The THINK-FEEL-DO thermostat model: A simple but helpful visual to use with patients and clients to
help them generate a more functional amount of emotion and be more responseable
T
hey say a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s what makes the THINK-FEEL-DO thermostat model so helpful. It’s
based on the work of Dr Albert Ellis. He identified four basic types of irrational thinking: demandingness, awfulizing,
can’t stand it-itis and labeling and damning. the mistake people make is to start thinking they need things they simply want,
treating simple preferences as necessities and demand what they simply desire. This creates a much bigger gap between their
expectations and reality if they don’t get what they want, lose it, or imagine doing either. This makes the perceived threat
bigger than it is or needs to be and triggers more emotion than is helpful or necessary. That causes people to become reactive
and less response-able, or less able to respond to life in the best ways. Many things in life are unpleasant, inconvenient and
uncomfortable. By thinking we need things we simply want and demanding what we simply desire, we’re more likely to see
not getting it or losing it as awful and think we can’t stand it, rather than simply not liking it. This contributes to generating
more emotion than is helpful or necessary. We’re also more likely to label and damn a person rather than simply dislike their
behavior. The THINK-FEEL-DO thermostat visual allows people to assess quickly where they are emotionally and behaviorally,
why they are there in terms of their cognition, where they might want to be instead emotionally and behaviorally and what it
will take cognitively to get there. People can be taught simple ways to turn their thermostat down and ultimately keep it down
more often, or turn it down quickly should it go up. We can create multiple variations of this simple visual, depending on what
emotional issue someone is struggling with.
Biography
Ray Mathis was a health education teacher for 33 years. He recognized early that the real problem was his students generated too much emotion in their lives. It’s
why he became trained in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and Education (REBE). He developed the “Mental and Emotional Tool Kit for Life” for his
students. Since retiring from the classroom, he has represented the Chicago Institute for REBT and spoken to teachers and students in school and universities and
at state and national conventions to advocate for teaching the “tools” to all our teachers and students and parents if possible. He believes the “tools” would be a
major ounce of prevention worth many pounds of cures for so many of the mental health and other problems both young and older people so often struggle with.
Like Dr Albert Ellis, he believes therapy should be educational and education can be very therapeutic.
naturesmasterpieces@yahoo.comRay Mathis
Chicago Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, USA
Ray Mathis, Int J Emerg Ment Health, Volume 20
DOI: 10.4172/1522-4821-C5-023