James, you contrast REBT-type 'disputation' with 'Socratic questioning'. However, for a good twenty years or more the Socratic method has been recommended by REBT researchers and writers as the most appropriate way to conduct disputation. The term 'disputation' is often misunderstood to mean directly contradicting or arguing with clients, which is usually counterproductive. I suspect that this misunderstanding arises partly from the use of the term 'disputation' itself. REBT continues to use it, though, because it begins with 'D' and thus conveniently fits into the ABC model. The other reason may be that the founder of REBT, Albert Ellis, tends to be rather didactic in his approach to resructuring cognitions, and practitioners who are aware of this - perhaps through seeing a video of Ellis in action - assume that all REBT therapists use the same approach. According to modern REBT, the most effective approach to disputation is Socratic.