Our second spotlight is on Maxie Clarence Maultsby, Jr, M.D. Born in Pensacola, Florida on April 24, 1932, Maultsby focused on his studies all the way through medical school. He earned his M.D. in 1957 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Upon graduation from medical school, he worked as an intern for one year at the Philadelphia General Hospital, before returning to Florida to become a General Practitioner of Medicine. From 1962-1966 he was a medical officer in the US Air Force, before working for several hospitals associated with the University of Wisconsin through a Psychiatry Residency. During this time, he also participated in an intensive training in Behavior Therapy at the Eastern Psychiatric Institute, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
His Psychiatric Residency with the University of Wisconsin led to Maultsby joining the University of Wisconsin, Madison medical faculty in 1970. During his time there, he formalized psychiatric approach of his own creation called Rational Behavior Therapy. In 1973 he founded the Training and Treatment Center for Rational Behavior Therapy, where his method became increasingly influential.
Maultsby and his approach with Rational Behavior Therapy (RBT) made several unique contributions to psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
- • RBT is based on the neurophysiology (the structure of the nervous system) of a healthy human brain, which was unlike other traditional therapies based on introspection, observation, and/or the philosophical influences.
- • RBT is relatively easy to teach and easy to learn (does not 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.
- • 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.
RBT has continued to grow in influence since its beginning and has practitioners in many continents across the globe. In addition to founding the RBT psychotherapy, he also founded the emotional self-help technique called Rational Self-Counseling and the New Self-Help Alcoholic Relapse Prevention Treatment Method.
Maultsby became the Chair of Howard University’s Department of Psychiatry in 1989 and was given the title of Emeritus Professor 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.
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, Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr., M.D., passed away on August 28, 2016, in Alexandria, Virginia.
Learn more about Maxie Clarence Maultsby, Jr, MD, and his other accomplishments here.
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