Cognitions are ideas expressed through self-talking or self-images (thoughts) that direct the processing of events (perceptions), and ultimately, behavior. According to the perceptual control theory, people control perceptions, not actions (Maag, 1998). Cognitive psychology adds that, although we cannot change what happened (the event), we can change the way we think about what happened; that is, we can change our perception of the event. Other people or situations do not make us feel anything; we make ourselves feel in a particular way when we think about the event in that particular way. If we do not like the way we are feeling, we need to change the way we are thinking about the event. A person can achieve emotional health by learning to think and talk in ways that help the person feel more the way he wants to feel, and feel less the way he does not want to feel (Borcherdt, 1989).
Using cognitive behavior modification, therapeutic teachers can train children to generate an internal dialogue that structures their thinking and control their behavior. Through thought catching and becoming thought detectives, children learn to monitor the things they say to themselves, and to substitute their irrational beliefs (angry and self-defeating thoughts and ideas) with rational thinking. The rational-emotive approach (RET) helps children see the link between their thinking and their emotional reactions and behavior. The goal of this training is to teach children how to see themselves accurately, so that when problems are their fault, they take responsibility for it and try to correct their behavior, but when problems are not their fault, they still feel worthwhile (Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, and Gillham, 1995).
The cognitive method involves treating children’s angry and self -defeating beliefs as hypotheses that can be tested, and then changing the belief when it is proved wrong. This adds D and E to Ellis’s A-B-C Model of Emotions (Ellis in Ellis and Grieger, 1977). In this model, A is the activating event or experience (what happened or the trigger); B is the belief about the experience (rational and irrational ideas); and C is the emotional (feeling) or behavioral (reward or punishment) consequence. Neither A nor C is the determining factor in how children feel; what matters is what they are thinking or saying to themselves at point B about the activating event and/or the expected consequences. At point D, the irrational thinking is attacked for its veracity; that is, D is the disputation of the belief (B), or the argument the student makes to counter the belief. When the child disputes the belief at point D, he winds up with a new effect or philosophy (E); that is, the child develops a new way of thinking (cognitive effect), feeling (emotive effect), and behaving (behavioral effect). This new, rational thinking aligns with emotional health and improved behavior.
The rational-emotive approach helps troubled, anger-prone, and behaviorally disordered children understand how their emotions relate to their behavior, making explicit the direct connection between what they believe to be true and how they behave. Cognitive-emotive interventions are designed to help students see the link between what they think and how they feel. Children learn that what they believe about themselves, others, and their environment directly influences their behavior. Using rational-emotive techniques and interventions, troubled, angry, and acting-out students learn that controlling their thoughts is the way to emotional and behavioral self-control.