Maxie Clarence Maultsby, Jr.

Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr. (April 24, 1932 in Pensacola, Florida – August 28, 2016 in Alexandria, Virginia ) was an American psychiatrist, author of several books on emotional and behavioral self-management, Elected Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. He is the founder of the method of psychotherapy called Rational Behavior Therapy, the emotional self-help technique called Rational Self-Counseling, and the New Self-Help Alcoholic Relapse Prevention Treatment Method. He was an Emeritus Professor at the College of Medicine at Howard University in Washington D.C.

Early life, education, and early career

Maultsby was born on April 24, 1932, in Pensacola, Florida and graduated from Jones High School in Orlando, FL in 1949. He received his B.A. from Talladega College in Alabama in 1953. He then attended Medical School at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his M.D. in 1957. Upon graduation from medical school, he worked for one year at the Philadelphia General Hospital as an intern, and then moved to Cocoa, Florida, to become a General Practitioner of Medicine. In 1962 he became a medical officer in the US Air Force, a position he held for four years, before working for several hospitals associated with the University of Wisconsin through a Psychiatry Residency, which was then followed by a Residency in Child Psychiatry. During this time he also participated in an intensive training in Behaviour Therapy with Joseph Wolpe at the Eastern Psychiatric Institute, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as studied Autogenic Training with Wolfgang Luth in Montreal, Canada.

Professional life in psychiatry In 1970, Maultsby joined the medical faculty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and one year later became an assistant professor in psychiatry there, as well as the Director of the Adult Psychiatric Outpatient Program at the University of Kentucky. In 1973, Maultsby founded the Training and Treatment Center for Rational Behavior Therapy, an institute which helped formalize the increasingly influential psychiatric approach created by Maultsby called Rational Behavior Therapy. Maultsby was the Director of the Training and Treatment Center from its origination until 1987. During this time Maultsby worked with Albert Ellis, founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and in 1974 co-published with him the Technique for Using Rational Emotive Imagery, a treatise that combined and elucidated their research results, which demonstrated that many individuals can learn to manage their emotions through a process of rational evaluation, and by relearning mental behavior, can overcome self-destructive thoughts and condition themselves for mental responses that result in a happier and more rewarding life.

In the mid-1980s Maultsby cooperated with O. Carl Simonton, M.D., a radiation oncologist and pioneer of psycho-oncology. Their work together resulted in the introduction of Maultsby's cognitive-behavioral self-help tools as a modification of the Rational Self-Analysis technique to work with cancer patients and their families. In 1987 he left the Training and Treatment Center for Rational Behavior Therapy and his academic position at Kentucky to briefly serve as Director of the Bryan Psychiatric Hospital in Columbia, SC, and shortly after become the medical director of Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services in Las Vegas, NV. Maultsby became the Chair of Howard University's Department of Psychiatry in 1989, and was given the title of Emeritus Professor there in 2004. In 2011, Maultsby also became a professor in the Psychiatry Residence Training Program, at Saint Elizabeth's Hospital, under the Department of Mental Health in Washington D.C.

Unique contributions of Rational Behavior Therapy Maultsby and Rational Behavior Therapy made several unique contributions to psychotherapy in general, and cognitive-behavioral therapy in particular:

Based on the neurophysiology of a healthy human brain (unlike other therapies based on introspection, observation, or the philosophical influences of Hellenistic Stoicism on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy). Is relatively easy to teach and easy to learn (doesn't require identification of disorders or knowledge of medical terms). Clients define what is healthy thinking for them. Clients are coached to become their own therapists (Rational Behavior Self-Counseling). In 1971, RBT psychiatrists pioneered visualization practices and the use of imagery to develop healthy thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Developed the psychosomatic learning theory of human behaviors and was amongst the first psychotherapies to recognize cognitive-emotive dissonance as an inevitable stage in the process of voluntary change. When one starts practicing a new, healthier behavior that is in conflict with old habits one begins experiencing a feeling as wrong, weird, or unnatural. This is the stage where people frequently quit practicing. Accepts the potential health value of religious, spiritual, and deeply rooted philosophical or existential beliefs, and their beneficial application and integration into a cognitive-behavioral, non-denominational, spiritual or existential counseling.

The International Association for Clear Thinking In 1978, Maultsby founded The International Association for Clear Thinking, Inc., a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization. The organization is dedicated to helping individuals reduce and eliminate painful emotional stress through a system of rational thinking and self-counseling. After Maultsby's resignation in 1990, the board of directors decided to continue IACT Non-Profit and training activities. IACT self-help materials and seminars have been provided free to participants since its foundation and IACT activities are fully funded by donations and voluntary contributions from participants.

The IACT Program is structured around research and studies from recognized experts and researchers in cognitive behavior therapy. The current program has been designed to provide a condensed simple, easy to understand process for personal stress management through 'Clear Thinking Analysis' and 'Emotional Re-education.' Key research for these techniques were developed by Maxie C. Maultsby Jr. and Albert Ellis, who is well known for his development of the ABC model of cognitive therapy. Maultsby's cognitive behavior therapy tools are utilized and developed at the International Association for Clear Thinking, including the scientifically researched studies of "Rational Self Counseling" and "Clear Thinking Criteria" which demonstrate that with dedication, rational clear thinking, and analysis, many individuals can eliminate learned and well-practiced irrational self-defeating thoughts and behaviors that cause unhappiness and stress.

Major professional interests Maultsby conducted research on Rational Self–Counseling with and without professional psychotherapeutic assistance, and pioneered RBT-based relapse prevention treatment techniques for alcoholics and other substance abusing children and adults. Recent research in Rational Self-Counseling has also been extended to enhance the rehabilitative process of medical patients with acute and chronic illnesses. Having taught at many universities and pedagogical institutions, as well as conducting workshops and seminars all over the world, Maultsby became interested in developing effective, low–cost ways of making the classroom an emotional health improvement center. Rational Behavior Therapy has continued to grow in influence since its beginning and has practitioners in many continents across the globe, and Maultsby himself had a significant following as a psychiatrist in not only the United States, but also the South Africa, Finland, and Poland. Some of Maultsby's notable students included Aldo R. Pucci, T. Allen Gore, and psychiatrists Aleksandra Wirga and Mariusz Wirga.