Diablita: She’s a Devil
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I befriended gang members when in high school. One gang set with whom I was close was the Sureños (also known as Southern United Raza, Sur 13, or Sureños X3 – groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia).
Their main rival was the Norteños (also known as Northerners; Norteñas for females, and are the various affiliated gangs that pay tribute to Nuestra Familia). Because I was never a formal affiliate or validated gang member, I could freely spend time within whomever I wanted.
Nevertheless, I spent enough time and (allegedly) put in enough work with Sureños that I earned the nickname Suicide-Psycho. Regarding this moniker, I stated in a blogpost entitled Hulk:
Although I was nicknamed “2-Nice” by my gang-related friends, a member of another gang set once stated to me something like, “You’re fucking crazier than any of us! I’m gonna call you ‘Suicide-Psycho,’ ‘cause you’re fucking crazy, ese!”
Given that I’m now a professional psychotherapist and life coach, I understand how people may be somewhat confused by the relatively intense nickname I was once given. Even as I look back at my nonadaptive behavior from then to my current adaptive behavior, I’m amazed.
Nonetheless, years ago when residing in Bomb City as an adult, I dated a woman who was (allegedly) affiliated with a Norteños-adjacent gang that would’ve been considered a rival set by my high school friends. In my youth, it would’ve been frowned upon to have visited her barrio.
She was apparently given the moniker “Diablita” (feminine form of “little devil”—an evil spirt when spelled with a small ‘d’; the personal supreme spirit of evil represented in Christian belief as the tempter of humankind, the leader of all apostate angels when spelled with a capital ‘D’).
Herein, I won’t engage in dry snitching by relaying details about how Diablita reportedly earned a nickname identifying her as the female equivalent of Satan. Rather, I’ll provide a psychoeducational lesson on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).
Before doing so, I’ll note that when listening to an electronic dance music (EDM) DJ set by Miss Monique, I heard her spin the song “She’s a Devil” (2026) by Layton Giordani and AR/CO. The lyrics state, “She’s a devil here tonight. Love, don’t let me go. Got a fire in her eyes.”
Now, 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 event 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 distress or disturb themselves: global evaluations (GEs), low frustration tolerance, awfulizing, and demandingness. When contemplating these unproductive scripts, think of the acronym GLAD.
The claim that someone is a devil, or even the Devil, is an evaluative appraisal that represents a GE. In essence, GEs disregard other characteristics of an individual and instead label a person according to a globally narrow focus (e.g., instead of she acts like a devil, she is entirely a devil).
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.
While “Diablita” and I, as “Suicide-Psycho,” (may or may not have) earned our nicknames through maladaptive behavior, we weren’t our actions. Likewise, if you know someone who behaves poorly, that individual isn’t a devil or the Devil. We’re all just fallible human beings.
If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost EDM-influenced REBT psychotherapist—promoting content related to EDM, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues 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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