Blocked by Fears

[DISCLAIMER]

When living in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil (1999-2000), my girlfriend invited me to take cityscape photos at Pedra Bonita—one of the peaks in Tijuca National Park at approximately 520 meters above sea level. Noteworthy, in the above photo, I gripped her tightly out of more than passion.

This is because I had undiagnosed acrophobia, which the American Psychological Association (APA) defines as “an excessive, irrational fear of heights, resulting in the avoidance of elevations or marked distress when unable to avoid high places.” I was terrified in the photo above.

For clarity, the APA defines a phobia as “a persistent and irrational fear of a specific situation, object, or activity (e.g., heights, dogs, water, blood, driving, flying), which is consequently either strenuously avoided or endured with marked distress,” as the APA thusly defines fear:

[A] basic, intense emotion aroused by the detection of imminent threat, involving an immediate alarm reaction that mobilizes the organism by triggering a set of physiological changes. These include rapid heartbeat, redirection of blood flow away from the periphery toward the gut, tensing of the muscles, and a general mobilization of the organism to take action.

Fear differs from anxiety in that the former is considered an appropriate short-term response to a present, clearly identifiable threat, whereas the latter is a future-oriented, long-term response focused on a diffuse threat.

Some theorists characterize this distinction more particularly, proposing that fear is experienced when avoiding or escaping an aversive stimuli and that anxiety is experienced when entering a potentially dangerous situation (e.g., an animal foraging in a field where there might be a predator). Whatever their precise differences in meaning, however, the terms are often used interchangeably in common parlance.

I was fearful of heights during the time that I was with my girlfriend at Pedra Bonita. Arguably, my phobia related to believing that wasn’t rational (in accordance with both logic and reason). Interestingly, one source claims:

Traditionally, acrophobia has been attributed, like other phobias, to conditioning or a traumatic experience. Recent studies have cast doubt on this explanation. Individuals with acrophobia are found to be lacking in traumatic experiences. Nevertheless, this may be due to the failure to recall the experiences, as memory fades as time passes.

I’ve always been irrationally afraid of heights without recalling a specific traumatic experience involving this particular phobia. In any event, I went to Pedra Bonita rather than being blocked by fear (experiencing fear-induced paralysis that keeps one from moving forward).

Regarding this topic, I’m reminded of the song “Blocked by Fears” from hip hop producer Gensu Dean’s album Raw (2016), featuring lyricist Substantial. Lyrics include the following:

Blocked by fears, but we gotta go

Holding on for years, now we gotta grow

Blood, sweat, and tears, you already know

Music to my ears, food for my soul

When considering Substantial’s use of the term “gotta” in the song, I think of the psychotherapeutic modality that I practice in both my personal and professional life. Now, I invite you to contemplate the tools of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).

REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, not the occurrence itself, that causes an unpleasant Consequence. This is known as distress or disturbance.

In particular, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people often use to upset themselves: global evaluations, low frustration tolerance, awfulizing, and demandingness. When contemplating these unproductive beliefs, think of the acronym GLAD.

Additionally, from a psychological standpoint, people distress or disturb themselves using a Belief-Consequence (B-C) connection. Of course, this isn’t to suggest that in the context of the naturalistic or physical world there is no Action-Consequence (A-C) connection.

From an A-C perspective, falling off the paragliding platform at Pedra Bonita and hitting the ground at a high velocity (Action) could result in injury or death (Consequence). Thus, a rational fear of walking too close to the edge of the platform at nighttime isn’t indicative of a phobia.

Yet, when thinking about a nighttime photoshoot at Pedra Bonita (Action) and Believing, “I’m worthless for not wanting to go [G], though I couldn’t stand to let down my girlfriend [L], as that would be horrible [A], so I gotta go with her [D],” then I was frightful (Consequence).

For context, Substantial used the term “gotta” that represents a demandingness derivative. Whereas Substantial’s demands were flexible (i.e., we gotta go and we gotta grow), my demandingness derivate was inflexible (i.e., I gotta go with her—as though I had no choice).

Addressing how people upset themselves with unhelpful attitudes, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unproductive philosophies of life in order to explore Effective new beliefs. Whereas rigid beliefs cause self-disturbance, flexible beliefs result in an un-disturbed condition.

Also worth discussing is that REBT uses unconditional acceptance (UA) to relieve self-induced suffering. This is accomplished through use of unconditional self-acceptance (USA), unconditional other-acceptance (UOA), and unconditional life-acceptance (ULA).

Whereas the ABC model is a scientific approach to wellness, UA serves as a philosophical method for un-disturbing yourself. I view the former as an abortive approach to disturbance and the latter as a preventative method. Of course, not all REBT practitioners use the same style as I.

With my approach to REBT, I incorporate author Stephen Covey’s concepts regarding the circles of control, influence, and concern, as well as an area of no concern. UA maps onto the circle of control (USA), circle of influence (UOA), and circle of concern and area of no concern (ULA).

The circle of control encompasses only oneself, the circle of influence encapsulates elements which may be subject to one’s sway, the circle of concern engrosses most matters one can imagine, and the area of no concern relates to all content which isn’t yet imagined.

Favorably, I wasn’t blocked by fear when visiting Pedra Bonita. Even though I didn’t know anything about REBT back then, I managed to push through discomfort that was caused by my unproductive beliefs about heights. As it turns out, my girlfriend and I had a great time!

Now, I invite you to consider practicing REBT techniques when experiencing a phobia, fear, or even anxiety. After all, there’s no A-C connection that results in you being blocked by fears. Rather, it’s the B-C connection with which you distress or disturb yourself.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

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