Property of National Geographic, Plimsoll Productions, and The Walt Disney Company, fair use
I recall watching the documentary Free Solo shortly after its release in 2018. I knew nothing about rock climber Alex Honnold or why anyone would want to perform a free solo climb (without ropes or protective equipment) of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in California.
While watching the feature, I was nervous. Routine practice of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and understanding of the ABC model, in particular the belief-consequence (B-C) connection, allowed me to understand my emotional, bodily sensation, and behavioral response.
Watching Free Solo (Action) and unfavorably Believing, “Honnold shouldn’t die, because it would be awful to witness his death,” and, “I can’t stand heights, because my past Marine Corps training sucked when I was required to rappel,” I disturbed myself into an unpleasant reaction.
With a B-C connection, I experienced nervousness, fear, profuse sweating, increased energy, and I kept readjusting my body while in a seated position. According to REBT theory, this unpleasant Consequence wasn’t due to the documentary.
Rather, my unhelpful attitude about Free Solo is what caused my unpleasant reaction. Nevertheless, as discussed by psychologist Paul Bloom in his book The Sweet Spot: The pleasures of suffering and the search for meaning, pleasure and suffering are closely correlated.
Ergo, yesterday, I watched The Devil’s Climb (2024) in which Honnold and rock climber Tommy Caldwell set out to climb the Devil’s Thumb, a mountain in the wilderness of southeast Alaska. It’s said to be one of the most dangerous climbs in North America.
Being that National Geographic Partners – the prime production company that produced The Devil’s Climb – is a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company, I was surprised that Disney wasn’t able to reimagine Honnold and Caldwell’s characters into women. Yet, I digress.
It would be a story of triumph to report that I had no B-C connection effects while viewing the 2024 documentary. However, lying about myself isn’t something I tend to do within my blog. Admittedly, I experienced a similar unpleasant, though tolerable, reaction.
Nevertheless, the film also reminded me of a biblical passage that I was taught when growing up. In particular, Matthew 17:20 states:
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
When receiving this biblical lesson as a child, I genuinely believed that if my faith was strong enough I could move mountains. Of course, my juvenile belief was illogical and unreasonable (collectively “irrational”).
Not a single person alive can literally move mountains with nothing more than faith. To my knowledge, not even Jesus moved mountains when He was alive (if ever at all). Moving mountains is simply impossible, no matter how much faith an individual has.
While watching The Devil’s Climb, I contemplated how people often seek psychotherapy services from me with an apparent irrational attempt to move proverbial mountains. Sometimes, I’m tasked with clearing these obstacles from people’s lives.
For example, person X may say, “I want you to help me figure out how to get other people to like me.” Here, the mountain that separates person X from other individuals likely has something to do with person X’s behavior and not an imagined obstacle in this individual’s way.
Person Y may state, “I wanna know how to make people understand that political candidate Z isn’t good for our country so that they won’t vote for political party Z.” Here, the mountain in the way of person Y is a lack of unconditional acceptance, an obstacle shared by many people.
In the cases of persons X and Y, there is no mountain to move. Even if there were, I couldn’t move the obstacle for these individuals or instruct them about how to move mountains on their own.
Therefore, I invite people to take personal ownership of their reactions to unexpected, undesired, or unpleasant Actions and to challenge unfavorable, unhelpful, or unhealthy Beliefs about these events so that unwanted, unaccommodating, or unnecessary Consequences may be relieved.
In essence, I try to help people traverse mountains. However, I cannot altogether eliminate the obstacles before them. Unlike the voluntary tasks chosen by Honnold and Caldwell, unwanted geological structures of a proverbial nature arise in front of people throughout life.
Indeed, opting not to climb mountains or to go out of one’s way to avoid these obstacles is something to which people devote considerable time and effort. Still, when practicing REBT in my personal and professional life, I instead advocate proverbial climbing behavior.
Even though I experienced a B-C connection when watching Free Solo and The Devil’s Climb, I stuck with the mildly distressing films. If for nothing else, doing so allowed me an ability to write about how routine practice of REBT is akin to climbing and not moving mountains.
Therein, my time wasn’t wasted. Likewise, I invite you to consider how self-challenge, belief-challenge, and disturbance-challenge may benefit your interests and goals. Are you ready to climb? If so, I look forward to hearing from you.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you 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 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 helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
Bloom, P. (2021). The Sweet Spot: The pleasures of suffering and the search for meaning. Amazon. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Spot-Pleasures-Suffering-Meaning/dp/0062910566
Hollings, D. (2024, October 18). ABC model. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/abc-model
Hollings, D. (2024, August 7). Awfulizing. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/awfulizing
Hollings, D. (2024, October 27). Correlation does not imply causation. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/correlation-does-not-imply-causation
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Hollings, D. (2024, May 5). Psychotherapist. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/psychotherapist
Hollings, D. (2022, March 24). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-rebt
Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance
Hollings, D. (2024, April 21). Sensation. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/sensation
Hollings, D. (2024, February 27). Suffering, struggling, and battling vs. experiencing. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/suffering-struggling-and-battling-vs-experiencing
Hollings, D. (2022, December 25). The B-C connection. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-b-c-connection
Hollings, D. (2023, February 16). Tna. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/tna
Hollings, D. (2024, March 18). Unhealthy vs. healthy negative emotions. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/unhealthy-vs-healthy-negative-emotions
National Geographic. (n.d.). The Devil’s Climb. Disney Entertainment. Retrieved from https://www.dgepress.com/natgeo/shows/the-devils-climb/
Hollings, D. (2024, October 20). Unconditional acceptance redux. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/unconditional-acceptance-redux
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Alex Honnold. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Honnold
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Free Solo. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Solo
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Paul Bloom (psychologist). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bloom_(psychologist)
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Tommy Caldwell. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Caldwell
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