2 Hours / 2 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on How to Teach the ABC’s of REBT to Children and Adolescents is presented by Ann Vernon, PhD.

The purpose of this program is to present a rationale for using REBT with young clients, followed by a step-by-step process of how to implement the ABC counseling model with this population. Specific creative and developmentally/culturally appropriate techniques are shared that help young clients identify a problem, describe their feelings and behaviors in reaction to the problem, and identify/dispute irrational beliefs and replace them with rational alternatives.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

  • 1 Describe the top twelve reasons for using REBT with young clients
  • 2 Describe the steps in the ABC model and identify specific ways to implement it with children and adolescents
  • 3 Describe how to maintain change with young clients through creative interventions

  • Intended Audience

    This training is intended for professionals who wish to incorporate Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) into their work with children and adolescents. It is particularly relevant for those specializing in child and adolescent counseling, behavioral health, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and developmentally or culturally informed therapeutic practices.


    Examples of Relevant Professionals:
    • Mental Health Professionals
    • Child and Adolescent Counselors
    • School Counselors
    • Behavioral Health Specialists
    • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists
    • Clinical Social Workers
    • Marriage and Family Therapists
    • Psychologists
    • Pediatric Therapists

  • Experience Level

    This training is appropriate for mental health professionals at various stages of experience with REBT and child/adolescent counseling.

    • Beginner: Participants new to REBT or child/adolescent counseling will gain foundational knowledge of the ABC model and creative interventions for young clients.

    • Intermediate: Participants with some experience using REBT or working with young clients will deepen their understanding of developmentally and culturally appropriate techniques and refine their implementation of the ABC model.

  • Practice Setting

    Practitioners apply REBT with children and adolescents in settings that support brief, skills-focused, developmentally and culturally attuned care, such as school-based counseling spaces, outpatient clinics, and community agencies. These environments also include integrated pediatric practices and telehealth platforms where clinicians implement the ABC model and creative interventions to help young clients identify problems, emotions/behaviors, and dispute irrational beliefs.


    Examples of Practice Settings:
    • School-based counseling offices and student services centers
    • Outpatient child/adolescent behavioral health clinics and private practices
    • Community mental health centers and nonprofit youth agencies
    • Integrated pediatric primary care and hospital-based behavioral health
    • Partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs for youth
    • Residential treatment centers and juvenile justice programs
    • Telehealth platforms serving children, teens, and families

Presented By

Ann Vernon, PhD Professor Emerita, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls

Dr. Vernon is regarded as the leading international expert in applications of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy with Children and Adolescents. She has written numerous books and articles on REBT and has developed hundreds of creative interventions to help young clients deal with a variety of internalizing and externalizing disorders. She has also pioneered applications of REBT in educational settings. She was professor and coordinator of the school and mental health programs at the University of Iowa and had a large private practice, specializing in working with young clients and their parents. Until Covid, she traveled internationally, training mental health practitioners on how to apply REBT with children, adolescents, parents, and couples.

View More Programs from this Presenter
Ann Vernon, PhD

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).



Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.