The Institute
for Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT)
The mission of this institute is to integrate various psychological therapies;
and to acknowledge and promote awareness of the necessity for balanced diet, physical exercise, relaxation and meditation
as essential underpinnings of a healthy body-mind.
Elements to be integrated include: Attachment theory; Rational therapy; Psychodynamic
(‘Object relations’) therapy; Cognitive therapy; Transactional analysis; Moderate Buddhist and Stoic philosophies;
Moral philosophy; and other modalities.
Update – Friday 13th November 2015
A change of name:
The Institute for Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy
(E-CENT Institute)
This morning, Renata and I were discussing
our new book***, on which we are collaborating; and we realized that the time has come to modify
the name of the Institute to take account of the true nature of our system of counselling and psychotherapy.
In our original formulation, we made the
mistake of following the pattern set down by Albert Ellis – in which rationality and cognition are elevated above emotion.
His system began with the words ‘Rational Emotive’ and ours began with ‘Cognitive Emotive’.
However, from the beginning, we were of the view that humans are fundamentally physical-emotional beings, with some (limited)
capacity to think and reason.
We follow the pattern explored by Antonio Damasio (2000)[1], in which the body-brain is the fundamental substrate of emotion. We then elaborate from the theories
of Theodore Sarbin[2], to the effect that our innate feelings, over the first few years of life, become woven together with stories
and concepts and themes and scripts which we acquire from our family of origin, and which we co-construct with them.
So, logically, we should have reversed
the first two letters of our acronym – from CE (Cognitive-Emotive) to EC (Emotive-Cognitive).
The second problem we realized is that, although the body-brain-mind
is the foundation of our understanding of the human subject – the counselling client – the word ‘body’
did not appear in the name of the therapy, nor is it represented in the current acronym.
In E-CENT counselling, we teach our coaching and therapy clients that we are body-minds, and that the
mind depends upon diet, exercise and relaxation, etc., in order to function properly: “To keep the body in good health is a duty – otherwise we shall not
be able to keep our mind strong and clear”.
The Buddha, from a quotation in Julia Cameron’s (1995) book, The Artist's Way:
A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self.
~~~
So
we have decided that we should only speak of embodied-narratives, and not the kinds of ‘abstract beliefs and thoughts’ that float around in CBT/REBT.
Therefore, we have concluded that the name of our Institute will henceforth be changed to The
Institute for Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy - (or E-CENTInstitute,
for short).
The acronym of the
system of therapy has now been changed from CENT to E-CENT. (It would be too ugly and confusing to hyphenate the letters
for Embodied-Narrative).
Welcome
to the Institute for Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT).
You can read about our new book – Putting Back the Body in Counselling
and Therapy: From CBT/REBT to emotional integration and holistic treatment – in the
current post to Jim’s Counselling Blog.***
~~~
PS:
Obviously, it will take some time to change all the references on this website from CENT to E-CENT, etc.
That’s all for now.
Best wishes,
Renata and Jim
~~~
[1] Damasio, A.R. (2000). The Feeling of What Happens: body, emotion and the making of consciousness, London, Vintage.
[2] Sarbin, T.R. (ed.) (1986a) Narrative Psychology: the storied nature of human conduct. London: Praeger.
Sarbin,
T.R. (1989b) Emotions as situated actions. In: M. J. Packer & R. B. Addison (eds.) Entering the circle: Hermeneutic
investigations in psychology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Sarbin, T.R. (1989a) Emotions as narrative
emplotments.In: M. J. Packer & R. B. Addison (eds.)
Entering the circle: Hermeneutic
investigations in psychology.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
~~~
The Institute
for Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT) was established
in March 2007, by Jim Byrneand Renata Taylor-Byrne.
The core mission
of the institute is to review the most prominent and most promising models of the human body-mind, created by the major philosophers
and psychologists, from the time of the Buddha and Plato to modern times.
These include the models of Plato, Aristotle, Freud and
the post-Freudians, Ellis and the cognitive-behaviourists, Attachment theory, Object relations, Transactional Analysis, Zen
Buddhism, Moral philosophy, and many other useful ideas and theories.
And, of course, we also need to promote awareness of
the links between diet, exercise, relaxation, meditation, on the one hand, and the quality of our mental functioning on the
other.
The
aim of all these efforts is to ensure that Emotive-Cognitive
Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT) has the most useful and well-informed model of the human body-brain-mind
to guide our counselling and therapy activities.
So, in addition to being a secure base for our clients; and teaching them more empowering
ways to think, and to manage their emotions; we also introduce them to: Meditation; relaxation; physical exercise; balanced
diet; vitamin and mineral supplementation; and other important elements of body-mind hygiene.
Update 2015: This year we have celebrated the eighth anniversary of the creation of the Institute
for E-CENT. In that time we have written and published 28 paperson various aspects of E-CENT theory, plus seven books(written; and one adopted), which apply E-CENT to various problems, such as how to be happier,
how to reduce stress, and so on. We have also produced 65 video clipson various aspects of E-CENT, and our take on Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT).
The Institute
for E-CENT arose out of the philosophical crisis in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), in 2004-7, and it is the first
post-REBT/CBT institution to set about the challenge of resolving the tension between logical imperatives and moral
imperatives. This we set out to do through the development of Emotive Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT)***, which also incorporates moral philosophy and critical thinking at its very foundations.
E-CENT counselling and therapy is holistic, seeing the client as a socialized-body-mind with innate drives and urges, which have encountered various
positive and negative experiences, at home and in school (and at work). We consider it important to help the client
to review their diet, exercise regime, self-talk (or inner dialogue), family life, current relationships, work and career,
as well as feelings, thoughts and behaviours. We also promote physical relaxation and meditation, and mindful awareness.
Dr Jim Byrne. (64).
~~~
The therapeutic functions of E-CENT are natural outgrowths of our integration of body-mind-relationships-attachment-environment.
This has been explored in our publications, which are available here***;and is further explored in our counsellor training events.
The second integration that we took on, and have largely completed, is the integration of the individual
self and the social network, through the modelling of mother-child interactions, and
the investigation of narratives and discourses of community development and personal connection and responsibility.This work was begun in a couple of E-CENT papers, and then brought together in Chapter 10 of Therapy After Ellis, Berne, Freud and the Buddha: The birth of E-CENT.
The third integration that we have
undertaken is the integration of the Freudian, the Bernian and the Ellisian models of the human psyche, into a new model of
mind, in which: the body, (diet and exercise [plus relaxation and meditation]); the brain, (brain food, blood sugar, and
brain/mind development); the environment, (relationships, right livelihood, living conditions); personal narratives, (stories,
scripts, frames, beliefs, attitudes, values); and a sense of "something bigger than the self", (a spiritual practice,
or a community involvement); are all treated as potentially equal contributors to personal happiness and mental tranquility.
Over
the past eight years, a great deal of work has been done towards taking our mission forward. Dr Byrne has written more
than twenty-seven papers and seven books on some of the key questions in Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT), and those books and papers can be found and purchased
from the E-CENT Publications page, here.
~~~
Today,
this work continues. For example, in The Counselling Blog***, we are exploring the 'models of mind' that were developed
by Plato, Aristotle, Freud and others. That blog occasionally posts snippets from the various elements (annexes and appendices)
for a new paper on E-CENT; and the fuller statements can be found on our new page, New Writing on E-CENT.***
~~~
Membership of the Institute is open to counsellors, psychotherapists, counselling psychologists, social workers,
youth workers, and students and supporters of those disciplines which are in sympathy with the E-CENT approach. See
the Membership Servicespage for details.
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On this site you will find lots of informational resources (mainly requiring
an access fee) about coaching, counselling and psychotherapy services to help with all kinds of emotional, behavioural
and relationship difficulties and problems; and public performance difficulties. Counselling, coaching and psychotherapy
in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, UK; and all over the world via the telephone system and by email.
We use the services of PayPal to sell our self-help resources,
informational packs, and distance learning courses.
ABC Coaching and Counselling Services is the home of
Emotive-Cognitive Embodied-Narrative Therapy (E-CENT) - which
is an integration of: Attachment theory; Rational therapy; Psychodynamic (‘Object relations’) therapy; Cognitive
therapy; Transactional analysis; Narrative therapy; Moderate Buddhist and Stoic philosophies; Moral philosophy; and other
modalities.
