University of Virginia Library

Psychology Seminar
Views Identity Crisis

A seminar on a little-used
approach in psychotherapy will be
held this Friday in Newcomb Hall
with approximately 150 students
and educators from both the
University and the state in
attendance.

Sponsored by the University's
Student Counseling Center, the
seminar will explore aspects of the
more behavioral, rather than
Freudian or neo-Freudian,
approach to psychotherapy which
has been developed by Dr. Albert
Ellis.

Thomas Gates, assistant director
of the Counseling Center, said that
the purpose of the seminar was "in
line with the philosophy" of the
center which is "to investigate any
forms or ideas in psychotherapy
having validity in working with
students."

The seminar will be led by Dr.
Maxie C. Maultsby, Jr. of the
Department of Psychiatry at the
University of Wisconsin Medical
School. Dr. Maultsby's approach,
which is called Rational-Emotive
Psychotherapy (RET), tries to deal
with the existential conflicts or
"identity crises" that invariably
accompany many emotional
disturbances.

These crises, which result from
not having a firmly rooted
philosophy on life, lead to a
searching and speculation which
commonly result in feelings of
inferiority, frustration, and
alienation.

Dr. Maultsby will outline the
basic ideas and concepts of RET
and their usefulness in gaining
insights into and efficiently dealing
with certain neurotic conflicts.

Friday's program will include a
morning work session devoted to
the theory and general applications
of Rational Emotive Therapy, with
considerable time given to
question-answer activity.
Demonstrations of
Rational-Emotive technique will be
held in the afternoon session for
those interested in the practice of
counseling and therapy. Both live
and taped case presentations will be
utilized to illuminate this
controversial approach to helping
human beings lead more effective
lives.

Dr. Maultsby is certified by the
Institute of Rational Living in RET
and completed his supervised
training under Albert Ellis, Director
of the Institute. He is currently
completing his residency in child
psychiatry at the University of
Wisconsin after a period of general
medical practice and a four year
tour in the U.S. Air Force. At the
present time, Dr. Maultsby is
co-authoring a book with Albert
Ellis on technical aspects of
Rational-Emotive Therapy and
conducting training seminars for
mental health clinics in Wisconsin.