Keynote: The empirical status of Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory and Practice
Time: 12.00 – 12.45 GMT
Keynote speaker: Dr Daniel David, Ph.D
Daniel David, Ph.D., is Director of Research and a Diplomate/Supervisor at the Albert Ellis Institute (AEI). He holds the Aaron T. Beck Professorship at Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dr. David is the President/Director of the International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, as well as an adjunct professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Oncological Sciences, in New York. Dr. David is the founding editor of the Journal of Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapies, and the founding director of the “Babes-Bolyai – PsyTech” Psychological Clinic. He serves as President of the Romanian Board of Psychologists, Cluj Branch, President of the National Comission for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy on the Romanian Board of Psychologists, and President of the Professional Comission in the Romanian Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies (a national representative in the European Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies). Dr. David’s current research is focused on the role of cognitive mechanisms, both explicit (e.g., autobiographical memory) and implicit (e.g., implicit memory; priming) in generating subjective/emotional (cognition-emotion relation), behavioral, and psycho-physiological human responses, more specifically, on the role of (a) rational/functional and irrational/dysfunctional beliefs and (b) response hopes and/or expediencies on various psychological and medical outcomes related to mental health and cancer. When clinical trials are used as research instruments the analysis employed is typically multilevel, concerning: (1) outcomes (i.e., efficacy and/or effectiveness); (2) theory/mechanisms of change (both psychological and neurobiological); and (3) economical aspects (e.g., cost-effectiveness, cost-utility). A specific research interest includes the theory and practice of cognitive hypnosis/hypnotherapy as part of the cognitive neuroscience paradigm and the use of technological developments in psychotherapy (i.e., virtual reality therapy; robotherapy). Dr. David has authored and co-authored numerous books and book chapters, including Rational and irrational beliefs in human functioning and disturbances: Implications for research, theory, and practice; Rational emotive behavior therapy. În K. S. Dobson (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive-behavioral therapies; The cognitive-behavioral model of hypnotherapy. În S.J. Lynn, J.W. Rhue, & I. Kirsch (Eds.), Handbook of clinical hypnosis; and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT); The view of a cognitive psychologist, in W. Dryden (Ed.), Theoretical developments in REBT. Dr. David has also published numerous articles in top scientific Journals (e.g., Anesthesia & Analgesia; Clinical Psychology Review; Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice; Cognition and Emotion; Interaction Studies; Journal of Behavioral Medicine; Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; Journal of Clinical Psychology; Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Journal of National Cancer Institute; Personality and Individual Differences; Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice; Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology etc.).