REBT-Paradoxical Behavior/Stepping out of Character involves...

• A. The therapist models or prompts behavior that aligns with the client’s usual pattern.
• B. The therapist ignores the client’s patterns.
• C. The therapist asks the client to do something less than their usual standard three times between sessions.
• D. The therapist uses only cognitive discussion.

Answer: (C)

Paradoxical behavior and stepping out of character in REBT involve deliberately having the client act in a way that breaks their usual pattern to test and weaken rigid beliefs. Asking the client to do something less than their usual standard a few times between sessions creates a concrete deviation from their high-demand pattern. This shows they can tolerate lower performance or less-than-perfect actions without disaster, which undermines all-or-nothing or perfectionist beliefs. It provides experiential evidence that their self-worth or safety isn’t tied to always meeting extreme standards, making the irrational belief less credible.

This approach contrasts with simply modeling the client’s usual pattern (which would reinforce it), ignoring patterns (which eliminates the therapeutic challenge), or relying only on cognitive discussion (which lacks the behavioral testing that makes paradoxical interventions effective).