Just as psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy have influenced the field of literary studies, literature provides insight about the theories and practices of its sister disciplines. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how literary works of Kurt Vonnegut illuminate principles of the influential branch of psychotherapy known as rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). This article traces the similar philosophies and shared beliefs of Vonnegut and REBT’s founder, Albert Ellis, and details how Ellis’s REBT is illustrated in selected works of Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions. The article concludes by suggesting that Vonnegut’s works—and the principles of REBT that they illuminate—provide a much needed guide for living in an irrational, often absurd, world.
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