Move! Get out the way!

[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 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. That negative outcome is disturbance.

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

It’s worth noting that the two forms of should, must, and ought-type demands with which people most often self-disturb are associated with use of absolutistic and conditional should beliefs. Generally speaking, these serve as rigid commands used toward oneself, others, and life.

An absolute must narrative is, “You absolutely must do as I say!” A conditional should narrative is, “Either you should do as I say, or you should be punished!” Noteworthy, in REBT literature, demandingness of this sort is said to function as a primary appraisal mechanism of disturbance.

Global evaluations (i.e., self-downing, other-downing, and life-downing), low frustration tolerance (also known as frustration intolerance), and awfulizing (e.g., terrible, horrible, etc.) function as secondary appraisal mechanisms. Together, GLAD will make you sad or mad, etc.

Although still serving as a form of prescription rather than description, flexible use of recommendatory, preferential, ideal, empirical, moral and ethical, and legal ought beliefs doesn’t necessarily cause self-upset. Here, rigidity versus flexibility makes a difference.

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.

Now, I offer a finer point of understanding in regard to the ABC model. There are a number of flexible and inflexible terms related to demandingness which serve as derivatives to “should,” “must,” and “ought” self-disturbing philosophies of life.

For instance, “In order to understand what I’m saying, you have to pay attention,” “You better not allow your mind to wander,” “You need to listen,” and, “If you want to stop self-disturbing, then you gotta practice REBT.” Perhaps a real-world example may enrich your comprehension.

On his third studio album Word of Mouf (2001), rapper Ludacris released the song “Move Bitch” that featured rappers Mystikal and I-20. Per one source, the “lyrics emphatically exhort the listener to move.” That’s putting things mildly.

For instance, Ludacris states on the track, “I’m doin’ a hundred on the highway. So, if you do the speed limit, get the fuck outta my way,” as the chorus states, “Move, bitch, get out the way! Get out the way, bitch, get out the way!” That’s emphatic, all right.

Given what you’ve learned about demandingness in this blogpost, were you able to identify Ludacris’s distorted inferences (irrational patterns of thinking which lead to unhelpful beliefs about oneself, others, or the world)? As not to assist you, I intentionally didn’t hyphenate them.

Presuming you understand the ABC model, you likely recognize the statement “if you do the speed limit, get the fuck outta my way” as a distorted way of inferring “if you do the speed limit, you must get the fuck outta my way!” Also, “move, bitch” infers “you must move, bitch!”

When using these forms of rigid inferences which result in inflexible beliefs, an individual most likely would self-disturb into an enraged condition and engage in road rage. Therefore, unaccommodating distorted inferences and beliefs can cause literally deadly outcomes.

Rather than telling others “move, bitch, get out the way,” it may be more helpful to tell one’s own self-disturbing inferences and beliefs to “get the fuck outta my way!” What do you think? Which inferences and beliefs would best serve you interests and goals?

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 hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, 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

References:

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