When living in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, I used to enjoy watching people practice capoeira on Copacabana beach. In particular, I liked seeing how capoeristas (practitioners of capoeira) contorted their bodies inside and out of one another.
A Brasilian friend of mine explained that the martial art form was designed to appear as a dance in order to fool slave masters while slaves were actually practicing self-defense in hopes of one day overthrowing their oppressors. I found the ritualistic practice quite captivating.
Around that same time in my life, I’d shop for various items along a stretch of Copacabana, as popup retailers sold clothing, music, decorations, and other merchandise in the evenings. Added to my massive CD collection was Floorfilla’s album The Dancers in Arena of Floorfilla.
One of the electronic dance music (EDM) tracks I most enjoyed from the anthology was “Anthem #3.” Reminiscent of capoeiristas aligning the beach, lyrics from the song state:
Inside, inside, inside out
Inside, inside, out, out
Inside, inside, inside out
Inside, inside, upside down
When considering this track through the lens of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I think of how the ABC model illustrates the process of self-disturbance. Sometimes, people turn themselves inside out and upside down when unhelpfully believing narratives about situations.
REBT theory uses the ABC model to illustrate how when Activating events (“Actions”) occur and people maintain irrational Beliefs about the events, these unhelpful assumptions – and not the actual occurrences – are what create unpleasant cognitive, emotive, bodily sensation, and behavioral Consequences.
Therefore, from a psychological standpoint, people 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.
To provide an example of self-disturbance, forgive me a personal anecdote. One evening, when shopping on Copacabana, a female sex worker propositioned me. At the time, my Brasilian Portuguese wasn’t very polished.
Understanding that she was soliciting me for sex, given that she kept motioning towards her crotch, I decided to play stupid by telling her I didn’t speak Portuguese. “Não fala Português,” I said.
She instantly became upset, as though an A-C connection occurred. However, an A-C chain of events did result in regard to the Marine who accompanied me. Mistakenly, I told the woman, “You don’t speak Portuguese” (Action) and her angry reaction resulted in the Marine’s laughter (Consequence).
“No, no, no” he said, “You just told her that she doesn’t speak Portuguese and now she’s yelling at you, because you’re the foreigner, not her. Say, ‘Não falo Português,’ which is, ‘I don’t speak Portuguese,” he added.
When initially speaking to the sex worker, I used an improper gender form (Action) and the woman likely Believed something like, “You shouldn’t disrespect me,” which resulted in her anger – flailing her arms inside out while her vocal tone went upside down (Consequence).
Because of her B-C self-disturbed reaction, I learned not to repeat my mistake. Ultimately, I was able to laugh at myself and I apologized to the woman by saying, “Desculpe” (I’m sorry).
This mild example of a B-C connection is what I envision when hearing “Anthem #3,” because the woman upset herself so much that for a moment, her world was turned inside, inside, inside out and upside down. Now, I’ve used the experience to teach the reader about the B-C connection.
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Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
Discogs. (n.d.). Floorfilla – The Dancers in Arena of Floorfilla. Retrieved from https://www.discogs.com/release/5860348-Floorfilla-The-Dancers-In-Arena-Of-Floorfilla
Expanded Music. (2011, May 12). Floorfilla - Anthem #3 (Official video) [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/Wf-EXRwvA-A?si=9Zys0Csz4B-OJqLf
Freepik. (n.d.). Men by the beach practicing capoeira together [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/men-by-beach-practicing-capoeira-together_33894650.htm#fromView=search&page=1&position=4&uuid=a9635bfa-13d6-47af-9e3e-92ae68843188
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Hollings, D. (2022, November 9). The ABC model. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-abc-model
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Last.fm. (n.d.). Floorfilla. Retrieved from https://www.last.fm/music/Floorfilla/+wiki
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Capoeira. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copacabana_beach