We still see A Guide to Rational Living as a revolutionary book.

When it first appeared, in 1961, it was one of the first books by

reputable, experienced psychotherapists to show people how to deal

effectively with their own problems. Yes, a long time before such

popular books as Your Erroneous Zones and The Road Less Traveled

appeared.

Even a little earlier, we anticipated the trend to popular self-help

books, since one of us (A.E.) had brought out How to Live With a

"Neurotic" in 1957 and The Art andScience of Love in 1960, and in

1961 we jointly authored A Guide to Successful Marriage just before

writing A Guide to Rational Living. Our earlier books, however, only

dealt with limited aspects of emotional disturbance and did not cover

the wider range of problems. Moreover, they only partly presented

the new system of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT),

which I (A.E.) started at the beginning of 1955.

A Guide to Rational Living went far beyond our first books and

became the most authoritative and widely quoted work on REBT for

the general public. Along with Reason and Emotion in

Psychotherapy (aimed largely at the professional therapist) it has

become a classic in the field. Over the years, we have received

thousands of letters and personal greetings testifying to its

helpfulness. Hundreds of psychotherapists have urged their clients to

read it. Many of its main suggestions have been copied or

paraphrased, with or without acknowledgment, iri others writings.

Good! For our goal is still to take the best wisdom about changing

"human nature" and to make it widely available, with revisions and