Focuses on Albert Ellis' formulation of the concepts of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, the original form of cognitive-behavioural therapy. This title describes the techniques he devised to deal with his personal problems, such as illnesses, stage fright, and pathological shyness, directly affected his professional theories and techniques.

Focusing on Albert Ellis' formulation of the key concepts of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, the original form of cognitive-behavioural therapy, this unconventional biography describes how the techniques he devised to deal with his personal problems, such as severe illnesses, stage fright, and pathological shyness, directly affected his professional theories and techniques. Also covered are Ellis' decades-long struggles to promote his theories and the tremendous resistance to those theories in the psychological and psychiatric establishments. Ellis' revolutionary political activities as a young man are described at length, as well as his famous feud with Ayn Rand, his numerous contributions to the field of sexology, his courageous battles in the 1950s and 1960s against the forces of sexual repression, and his relationships with such notable figures as Alfred Kinsey, Lenny Bruce, and Paul Kantner.