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Explanation and Justification
[ DISCLAIMER ] To provide a psychoeducational lesson on my approach to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I find it useful to illustrate how the scripts which we tell ourselves are constructed (made or formed by combining or arranging parts or elements; set in logical order). First, it may be worthwhile to distinguish between thoughts and beliefs. A “thought” is an individual act or product of thinking . A “belief” is a state or habit of mind in which trust or
Deric Hollings
Dec 13, 202512 min read
Law of Holes
[ DISCLAIMER ] I learned a thing or two about digging holes when residing in an all-male cottage of a children’s home during my eighth and ninth grade years. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” I was told, meaning that people with nothing to do are more likely to get into trouble, mischief, or sin. This was expressed, because boredom was said to have opened a proverbial door to negative influences or nonadaptive behavior , supposedly acting as Satan’s tools of temptat
Deric Hollings
Dec 13, 20258 min read
The Dark One
[ DISCLAIMER ] When I was a child, my late mom visited a fortune teller (someone with the supposed ability to foretell future events and especially the details of a person’s future). While my sisters and I weren’t allowed to enter the fortune-telling establishment, my mom shared what she learned. “She told me that [my older sister] would be married and have children,” my mom gleefully stated as we sat in the parking lot. When my younger sister asked what was in store fo
Deric Hollings
Dec 12, 202515 min read
M.I.N.D.
[ DISCLAIMER ] When listening to an electronic dance music (EDM) DJ set by Valentina Aguiar , I heard her spin the track “ Mind ” (2024) by Rafael Vilches . It was then that I thought of a psychoeducational lesson regarding the mind, which the American Psychological Association (APA) defines as: [B]roadly, all intellectual and psychological phenomena of an organism, encompassing motivational , affective, behavioral , perceptual , and cognitive systems; that is, the or
Deric Hollings
Dec 12, 20255 min read
Illogicality and Caveats
[ DISCLAIMER ] Photo credit (edited), photo credit (edited), fair use Imagine that I proposed “if I take a shower, then I’ll have toast.” What may you think about this proposition? Does one event (i.e., taking a shower) consequently lead to the next (i.e., having toast)? Although this may seem like a nonsensical matter of consideration, I suggest that it isn’t. Of course, the imagined proposal of taking a shower being correlated with toast is nonsense (words or lang
Deric Hollings
Dec 12, 20256 min read
A Simplistic Perspective
[ DISCLAIMER ] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy , this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . The authors quote ancient Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius who stated, “If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible—for anythi
Deric Hollings
Dec 12, 20255 min read
To the Shores of Tripoli
[ DISCLAIMER ] Photo credit , fair use When I attended United States (U.S.) Marine Corps Recruit Training in San Diego, California (1996), recruits were required to learn The Marines’ Hymn . For context, the first stanza states: From the Halls of Montezuma To the shores of Tripoli ; We fight our country’s battles In the air, on land, and sea; First to fight for right and freedom And to keep our honor clean; We are proud to claim the title Of United States Marine. To pr
Deric Hollings
Dec 11, 20258 min read
You Should Take Heed
[ DISCLAIMER ] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs ). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness . For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable A ction occurs and you B elieve an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable a
Deric Hollings
Dec 11, 20257 min read
Gradually and Then Suddenly
[ DISCLAIMER ] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy , this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . Regarding the current psychoeducational lesson on REBT, I invite you to consider that one of the major Stoic virtues is moderation (also referred to as temperance or self-control ). Co
Deric Hollings
Dec 11, 20256 min read
The Wet Duck Flies Backward at Midnight
[ DISCLAIMER ] Photo credit (edited), photo credit (edited), fair use “The wet duck flies backward at midnight.” That’s what was written on the chalkboard by a student at Randall High School in 1992. I stared at the expression, trying to make sense of it. As the bell had just rung, signaling students to transition from one class to another, I walked away. On my way out of the room, I observed a teacher chuckling at my bewilderment. “What did the sentence mean?” I wonder
Deric Hollings
Dec 10, 20257 min read
You Shouldn't Have Went There
[ DISCLAIMER ] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs ). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness . For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable A ction occurs and you B elieve an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable a
Deric Hollings
Dec 10, 20257 min read
The Only Way Out Is Through, Not Back
[ DISCLAIMER ] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy , this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . How do you approach the often arduous process of living from day-to-day? Unless your life is all sunshine and roses, I imagine you have some method that gets you through difficult times. P
Deric Hollings
Dec 10, 20255 min read
Ariana's Confusing Principle
[ DISCLAIMER ] * Landman (season 2) spoilers contained herein. Property of Paramount Television Studios, fair use I enjoyed the first season of Landman , a neo-Western drama television series, while remaining cautious of the feminist direction in which it was apparently heading toward the end of episode 10. Describing the premise of the series, one source states: Based on the notable 11-part podcast Boomtown , the series is set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Te
Deric Hollings
Dec 9, 202513 min read
I Chose What Type of Child I Was
[ DISCLAIMER ] As far back as I can remember, following the divorce of my parents when I was three-years-old, my late mom frequently threatened to send me and my sisters to live a children’s home. It was clear that she lamented having us. Often, we’d go on car rides past the residential facility. “One day,” my mom threatened, “I’m gonna drop y’all off and never come back!” One wonders why a Texas judge presiding over divorce proceedings of my black dad and white mom in th
Deric Hollings
Dec 9, 202512 min read
You're a Volunteer for That Ride, Not a Victim, Sucka
[ DISCLAIMER ] On the album Ascended Masters (2020), by rappers Checkmait and Mark Deez , is the track “ Sublime ”. In part, lyrics state, “You’re always on my mind . I think about you all the time. Your beauty’s so sublime. I’m yours. You’re mine,” as the song describes someone who’s in love . In my youth and early adulthood, someone with that mindset was known as a “sucka” (or “succa” for people using terminology of the Crips ). One source thusly describes this term,
Deric Hollings
Dec 8, 20259 min read
Sunk Cost and Standing in Line
[ DISCLAIMER ] As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy , this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman . The authors quote ancient Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca who stated, “Think of those who, not by fault of inconsistency but by lack of effort, are too unstable to live as they wish, but o
Deric Hollings
Dec 8, 20255 min read
A Gangsta Condition, Cuh
[ DISCLAIMER ] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs ). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness . For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable A ction occurs and you B elieve an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable a
Deric Hollings
Dec 8, 202510 min read
Speculation: We Must Be Doing Something Right
[ DISCLAIMER ] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs ). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness . For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable A ction occurs and you B elieve an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable a
Deric Hollings
Dec 7, 202511 min read
Don't Hold Back
[ DISCLAIMER ] When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I teach people about the ABC model of self-disturbance (how people upset themselves through use of irrational beliefs ). Now, I’ll address a finer point of this psychotherapeutic model of wellness . For context, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate how when an undesirable A ction occurs and you B elieve an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable a
Deric Hollings
Dec 7, 20259 min read
Self-Rescue
[ DISCLAIMER ] When at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan (1997-1999), serving as military police (MP), I learned quite a bit about rescue —responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, removal from danger, liberation from restraint, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an incident. For instance, hypothetically speaking, imagine there were thousands of military personnel, their dependents, and local national employees on a major logistics base at any gi
Deric Hollings
Dec 7, 20259 min read
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