Purpose: This study aimed to understand the core concept of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) psychotherapy through the experience of psychotherapists by presenting an in-depth analysis of the formation and change process of their irrational beliefs. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with four REBT counselors selected through an intentional sampling process, and then analyzed and interpreted through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: After an in-depth analysis of the meaningful statements of the study participants, six themes and fifteen sub-themes were extracted. The six themes were ‘self-hindering thoughts’, ‘environments that amplify irrational beliefs’, ‘war and struggle for the self’, ‘realization of life strategies’, ‘my big self (I) that consists of countless smaller selves (i)’, and ‘life is a continuous self-therapy’. Conclusion: The results showed that REBT psychotherapists form their irrational beliefs through the overall evaluations of justification, exaggeration, and people that arise from important interactions with others, including their parents, and further reinforce these beliefs through internal and external compensation. These irrational beliefs led to evaluative judgment and self-discrepancy and negatively influenced the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects as well as their presence. These irrational beliefs internalized and transformed the rational beliefs that were confirmed through a debate on the separation between problems and people and, distancing, repeated self-talks, expanded from self-acceptance to others, and persisted through self-treatment methods

서 론
    1. 연구의 필요성
연 구 방 법
    1. 연구설계
    2. 참여자 선정
    3. 자료수집
    4. 윤리적 고려
    5. 자료분석
    6. 연구자의 준비
    7. 연구의 엄밀성 확보
연 구 결 과
    1. 스스로를 방해하는 생각
    2. 비합리적 신념을 증폭시키는 환경
    3. 나와의 전쟁과 투쟁
    4. 삶의 전략을 깨달음
    5. 수많은 작은 나(i)가 모인 큰 나(I)
    6. 인생은 계속해서 치료하는 과정
논 의
결 론 및 제 언
REFERENCES

• 박경애(광운대학교 교육대학원 교수) | Park Kyung Ae (Professor, Graduate School of Education, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Korea)
• 김지애(광운대학교 대학원 박사과정 수료) | Kim Jee Ae (Doctoral Candidate, Graduate School, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, Korea) Corresponding author