Aldo R. Pucci - Rational Living Institute - Questionnaire

[Possibility of Being]

I've been researching a subject of invasive thoughts and biases vs. rational thinking a bit and came across a questionnaire which while not perfect, can still give you insight into your thinking flaws and biases/ beliefs.

http://www.rational-living-therapy.org/aldo_pucci.htm

About Dr. Aldo R. Pucci
Aldo R. Pucci, Psy.D., DCBT is president of the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists (http://www.nacbt.org) and founder of the Rational Living Therapy Institute. Dr. Pucci developed the very systematic, comprehensive cognitive-behavioral approach known as Rational Living Therapy. He has trained thousands of mental health professionals throughout the USA in his technique.

Dr. Pucci’s Rational Living Therapy approach is the main therapeutic technique for the national adolescent treatment program, VisionQuest. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention selected Rational Living Therapy for its smoking cessation program.

Dr. Pucci is the author of many articles and two books, The Client’s Guide to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Feel the Way You Want to Feel…No Matter What! He has been interviewed for articles in many publications, including the Oprah Magazine and Money Magazine.

Dr. Pucci obtained a B.A. in psychology from West Liberty State College, an M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Radford University, and completed his graduate training at Virginia Tech, California Southern, and Graduate Theological Foundation, where he obtained his Psy.D. degree. He holds a Diplomate in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and is a Certified Medical Hypnotherapist and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist.

The Questionnaire is free and all you need to provide is your first name, age and gender, and your email address (not used unless you want to be notified about new stuff, etc.). You can read an assessment and analysis of your answers on-line when you have answered all 51 simple questions. You can access the questionnaire at http://www.rational-thinking-score.com/

The Rational Thinking ScoreTM is based on the philosophy and principles of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), more specifically Rational Living Therapy. Rational Living Therapy was developed by Aldo R. Pucci, Psy.D.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy teaches that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not people, things, or situations. Therefore, the emphasis in CBT is on helping clients identify and correct problematic thoughts that stand in their way of happiness and goal achievement.

The Rational Thinking ScoreTM is derived from the Rational Thinking QuestionnaireTM Entering this website will give you access to the Rational Thinking QuestionnaireTM, which, when completed, will provide you your score as well as recommendations for improving your thinking based on your responses.

Have fun! :)

 

[truth seeker]

Re: Aldo R. Pucci - Rational Living Institute

Very interesting. I got 165 but may redo the test as I wonder if the score may not be even higher. :/

I found that many of my thoughts in response to the questions didn't match up with my behaviors - they contradicted each other. So for me, I think a truer score may result from looking at one's actions as we don't seem to be able to trust our thinking. For what it's worth...

 

[Laura]

Ummm, I think this test is rather psychopathic.

 

[truth seeker]

Ummm, I think this test is rather psychopathic.

Quite possibly! Often when they were talking about groups and opinions, I thought, "Well what group and whose opinions?" The answers would depend upon that distinction for me.

 

[mkrnhr]

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy teaches that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not people, things, or situations. Therefore, the emphasis in CBT is on helping clients identify and correct problematic thoughts that stand in their way of happiness and goal achievement.

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but it looks like they promote some sort of divorce from reality (see no evil and so forth) rather than observing reality, being angry, upset or whatever when necessary, and grow from it, OSIT.

 

[Gawan]

I've been researching a subject of invasive thoughts and biases vs. rational thinking a bit and came across a questionnaire which while not perfect, can still give you insight into your thinking flaws and biases/ beliefs.

_http://www.rational-living-therapy.org/aldo_pucci.htm

As I saw the ABC in the end-result field I was instantly reminded of Ellis Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy since it goes a bit in that direction too and there are some similarities as Puci states on his website. At least Ellis talks also about irrational thinking (have to etc.), but Ellis himself could be questioned too since he was eventually a bit narcissistic himself.

 

[Possibility of Being]

Ummm, I think this test is rather psychopathic.

Wow!

I too used quite a few neutrals in my answers as I often thought: "well, it depends...". But that's a pretty common problem with majority of such tests.

There were certain points in the assessment that I disagreed with and simply dismissed. Their way of attaching meanings to some words (e.g. what 'need' means) is very specific and perhaps that's part of what you refer to as psychopathic? Even though I disagreed with those selective meanings, I thought it is important to pay attention to, and be aware of, word selection we use for our narratives and what kind of messages we send this way to ourselves again and again. It's like with the "I have to" vs. "I want/chose to" phrases.

But it actually looks like you have to sweep a lot under the rug in order to find the rest somehow useful.

 

[clearmiddle]

Ummm, I think this test is rather psychopathic.

I haven't had an opportunity to look at or take the test, but the intro posted above in the first message of this topic wasn't reassuring. Apart from the "smoking cessation" reference there was Feel the Way You Want to Feel…No Matter What! CBT raises a flag from my earlier investigations into autistic spectrum issues, although it was some years ago and I don't remember the details. I think it is one of those things that can be used in different ways, depending on the character of the user.

 

[pstott]

I took the test and got 131 - however I entered a lot of "neutrals" because I could not agree or disagree with some of the "musts" and "shoulds". It seems that the questions are oriented to very "black-and-white" thinking, and often to choose the middle ground is seen as a defective mode of thought.

 

[loreta]

I took the test and got 131 - however I entered a lot of "neutrals" because I could not agree or disagree with some of the "musts" and "shoulds". It seems that the questions are oriented to very "black-and-white" thinking, and often to choose the middle ground is seen as a defective mode of thought.

Me too. And the objective of this test is to tell you that you HAVE TO BUY THE BOOK! And that you need counsel!

 

[obyvatel]

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy teaches that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not people, things, or situations . Therefore, the emphasis in CBT is on helping clients identify and correct problematic thoughts that stand in their way of happiness and goal achievement.

There seems to be enough experimental evidence to challenge this view - eg Dr Panksepp's work on affective neuroscience.

 

[apacheman]

I, too, found the survey to be poorly constructed and shows more of the interpreter's/creator's mind than that of the respondent.

I also noted that the analysis shifts meanings and inserts new ones that weren't in the original questions. For the most part, I answered neutral, with a few agrees/disagrees and very few "strongly" anything. The author's use of "must" and "should" as imperatives left little room for the nuance necessary to navigate life successfully. His analysis seem to indicate that his is a rigid, black/white world.

His system might have some useful nuggets in it, but I doubt they are worth risking the contamination of your mind with the other junk.