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PYA--Push Your Ass--Until You Change
[ DISCLAIMER ] Photo credit , fair use In both my personal and professional life, I practice Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). This psychotherapeutic modality was developed by the late humanist psychologist, among other philosophical identifiers, Albert Ellis . Personally, his model of self-help is useful. Occasionally, I take time to reflect upon interviews featuring Ellis. Unlike the value of reading his written work, I find it helpful to consider how Elli
Deric Hollings
Dec 19, 20258 min read
Gratitude: Thankful for Those Who've Helped Me
[ DISCLAIMER ] “Son,” my dad said as I sat across from he and my late stepmom at a dining room table not long after graduating high school in 1995, “what’re you gonna do with your life?” I experienced a state of depression at the time, to the extent whereby suicide was considered a viable option. Having watched a number of commercials regarding the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps, chiefly the depiction of a gallant warrior on horseback defeating a number of game piec
Deric Hollings
Dec 19, 202512 min read
Two Ears and Only One Mouth
[ DISCLAIMER ] Photo credit , fair use 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 . Authors of The Daily Stoic quote Diogenes Laertius , biographer of the Greek philosophers, who stated, “To the youngster talking nonsense Zeno said, ‘The reason
Deric Hollings
Dec 18, 20254 min read
I Got To...
[ 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 18, 20258 min read
Memento Homo: A Non-Sycophantic Approach to Living
[ DISCLAIMER ] According to one source , “The story goes that Marcus Aurelius hired an assistant to follow him as he walked through the Roman towns square. The assistant’s only role was to, whenever Marcus Aurelius was praised, whisper in his ear, ‘You’re just a man. You’re just a man.” I wish I’d heard of this tale when serving in the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps (1996-2007), as I could’ve bolstered my critiques of military leadership with reminders of my Marine c
Deric Hollings
Dec 18, 20255 min read
Digital Veil
[ DISCLAIMER ] On lyricist Vinnie Paz ’s album Burn Everything That Bears Your Name (2021) is the track “ Digital Veil ” that features M.A.V. and a vocal sample of an origin unknown to me. The man on the snippet appears to be speaking to a group of people, as the introduction of the song states: Everything, as far as I’m concerned, everything is predestined . Everybody’s scared shitless of that word—predestined. It’s all predestined. Everything’s…this is predestined. We
Deric Hollings
Dec 17, 20256 min read
Two Handles
[ DISCLAIMER ] The word “handle” has a number of meanings. For instance, a handle is a part that is designed, especially to be grasped by the hand, such as the handle of a kettle. As well, a “handle” can refer to a nickname. For example, in the photo above, I had a couple different handles. When living with a family that took me into their care from a children’s home, the mother of the family used to call me “Tigger,” referencing a hyper tiger character from the children’
Deric Hollings
Dec 17, 20258 min read
An Untenable Position: Appealing to Emotion
[ DISCLAIMER ] The word “untenable” refers to that which is not able to be defended. The term “position” regards the laying down of a proposition (something offered for consideration or acceptance: proposal) or thesis (a proposition to be proved or one advanced without proof: hypothesis). When these terms are combined, an “untenable position” regards a proposal that cannot be maintained or defended, especially in a debate, argument, or assertion. Specifically, I consider
Deric Hollings
Dec 16, 20258 min read
LARPing as Military Personnel
[ DISCLAIMER ] Intentionally, I’m taking a less refined approach to the current blogpost. This is because, even though I was never deployed to war or experienced armed conflict when serving in the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps, I rigorously trained to take the lives of men, women, and children. It was an ugly affair, the process of engaging shoot/no-shoot firearms drills for unconventional targets (e.g., acquiring skills related to shooting steel targets of varying h
Deric Hollings
Dec 16, 202511 min read
If You Want It, You Gotta Go Crazy for It
[ 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 15, 202510 min read
Train Your Mind to Adapt to Any Circumstance
[ 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 . It isn’t uncommon for people to reach out to me regarding care for mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “ mental health ”), as they seek advice . Regarding such behavior
Deric Hollings
Dec 15, 20256 min read
Get Over Any Fear, You Have to Face It
[ 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 15, 20258 min read
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
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