Assignment task:
Patrick had promised, when his father was very ill, that he would take good care of the family on his behalf as "the only man" in the family. He would work hard in his study to qualify for professional education in university as a doctor or a lawyer.
The mother kept reminding the children to work hard on their schoolwork, telling them that this was the only way to break away from poverty. In particular, she explicitly voiced her expectation that Patrick, as the only son, should work exceedingly hard to get a high paid job in future.
Patrick's two elder sisters had been very successful in schooling. The eldest sister got a MBA from the University of New South Wales. She married to a wealthy businessman. The elder sister obtained a law degree from the University of Hong Kong and worked as a solicitor in a large law firm. She lived away from the family after she had the means to keep a small apartment near her office in Central.
As he had promised his deceased father, Patrick did study very hard in P. 5 and P.6 years to rank top in his class. He got into a Band 1 secondary school. However, starting from F.2 onward, he could only manage to obtain average grade. Even worse, he failed to get any of the UGC-funded university places. Reluctantly, he enrolled in a two-year self-financed Associate Degree in business management in what he considered to be a 'low-ranking' local university. After completing the AD, he took up a 'top-up degree programme' to graduate with a first-class bachelor's degree in business management awarded by a 'low-ranking' British university two years later. Nonetheless, he was ashamed of his inferior academic attainment as compared with the two sisters. He felt that his place as the only son in the family was undermined.
How to use REBT's cognitive restructuring techniques humor and irony reframing, to help Patrick address He felt that his place as the only son in the family was undermined. (irrational beliefs).