One of my favorite summertime activities as a child was swimming. Whether at the Amarillo Community Center, YMCA, or various public parks in Bomb City, I adored being submerged in water, splashing around with other people, and practicing the front crawl technique.
For some reason, I didn’t have any fear of drowning in swimming pools. Although there were many occasions during which rough play with other children resulted in potentially critical moments of ingesting copious amounts of chlorinated water, I remained calm.
However, the same wasn’t true of open water. On rare occasions during which I could swim in a lake or river, I experienced significant apprehension with plunging into water while not being able to see what lay beneath the surface.
From a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) perspective, I now realize what caused the apprehensive fear that I felt back then. It may surprise people to learn that the inability to view the floor of a lake or river, the presence of aquatic life, and other such factors wasn’t the cause of my disturbance. Allow me to explain.
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.
In particular, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people use: demandingness, awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, and global evaluations. Addressing these, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unhelpful assumptions in order to explore Effective new beliefs.
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.
As an example, swimming in open water at Camp Christmas Tree as a child (Action) may’ve resulted in a venomous water moccasin bite (Consequence). The camp was infested with various species of pit vipers and natural world events could lead to unpleasant outcomes.
Now, suppose that when I thought about the potential of being bitten (Action) while unhelpfully Believing, “I couldn’t stand to come in contact with a cottonmouth while swimming,” my unproductive assumption would cause the emotional response of fear (Consequence).
Thus, swimming in open water didn’t create an unpleasant feeling. There was no A-C connection with which I was disturbed. Rather, I needlessly caused myself suffering with a B-C connection.
Unaware of REBT when going through recruit training at Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego, California, I plunged into disturbance during water survivor qualification training. Although I was a competent swimmer, I freaked out using a B-C connection when in the pool.
At one point in training, recruits were required to wear utility uniforms, boots, and helmets while treading water. I proficiently performed the requirement without emotional or behavioral disturbance.
However, there was something like 90 Marine recruits in an indoor pool at once. I wasn’t mentally prepared to frequently be pushed under water by inexperienced swimmers. Each time I was able to find a clearing for returning to the surface, I was again plunged underwater.
Nevertheless, I didn’t freak the fuck out through use of an A-C connection. Rather, I unhelpfully believed something along the lines of, “I can’t take this! I shouldn’t die in this pool! As well, it would terrible to have to redo swim qual all over again after being revived by an instructor!”
Thus, I plunged into disturbance with the B-C connection. Thankfully, I was able to achieve the highest level of swim qualification attainable in boot camp, swim qual class two. Still, I hadn’t been able to address the underlying issue which caused fear when in the water.
Whereas I’d previously feared only open water, I actually developed a new fear: swimming around a large number of inexperienced swimmers. Knowledge of REBT would’ve been helpful during my time in the military, because I could’ve un-disturbed myself during that time.
Following my military service, I saw no reason to swim again. After boot camp, I no longer enjoyed the pastime from which I once derived pleasure.
In any case, in 2014, my then-girlfriend invited me for a paddle boarding trip with her cousin on Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. Although I hadn’t swum since being in the Corps, I agreed to go on the adventure in open water.
I’m currently uncertain as to why I decided to go, though I’m glad I did. Otherwise, this blogpost would likely never have been written.
The three of us ventured out onto the water seven years following my discharge and about 11 years since I was last in a large body of water. Inevitably, as chance would have it, I fell off of a paddle board and into dirty water in which turtles and other aquatic life were present.
I…flipped…my…shit. No, not merely a flip of the board though I flipped the fuck out once I was submerged underneath the water. I don’t know what was deeper, the floor of the lake at which point I splashed or the plunge into B-C disturbance that caused fright. I believed I was dying.
Aside from terror, I recall feeling guilt. I unhelpfully believed something like, “You’re a Marine and you can’t even swim back to the paddle board?” as it drifted further from my water-thrashed position.
“I’m worthless for not being able to save myself,” I unproductively believed as my girlfriend made her way to me and spoke calmly while assisting me onto her paddle board. I lost my cellphone in the water and was unbothered by that fact.
Instead, I continued the plunge into disturbance about almost dying. “I can’t stand that this happened! I knew I shouldn’t have come on this trip! Now, what will they think of me – a Marine who can’t swim,” I unfavorably concluded of my girlfriend and her cousin.
For a moment, I genuinely thought I was going to die. Still, my go-to chain of self-disturbing beliefs mainly focused on a perceived inability to hold a rigid standard only I had set for myself. The plunge into disturbance was of my own doing, no one else’s.
A decade later, I now tell the story about which only a handful of people know. I, a proficient swimmer in my youth and competent swimmer in the Corps, almost drown in a lake. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for that moment in time.
Not since the near-death experience have I been in as much fear. Noteworthy, I understand that I caused that level of disturbance with an unhelpful B-C connection. More importantly, I now understand how to un-disturb myself when undesirable events occur.
Thus, I post this entry as a form of shame attacking exercise and because I was recently reminded of the Lady Bird Lake incident. Although apprehensive fear of water is a very real experience, we don’t have to plunge into disturbance of this sort. If you’d like to know more, I’m here to help.
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:
Hollings, D. (2024, April 2). Chain link. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/chain-link
Hollings, D. (2022, October 31). Demandingness. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/demandingness
Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer
Hollings, D. (2024, April 2). Four major irrational beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/four-major-irrational-beliefs
Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better
Hollings, D. (2023, September 13). Global evaluations. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/global-evaluations
Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/
Hollings, D. (2023, May 18). Irrational beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/irrational-beliefs
Hollings, D. (2023, September 19). Life coaching. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/life-coaching
Hollings, D. (2023, September 8). Lived experience. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/lived-expereince
Hollings, D. (2022, December 2). Low frustration tolerance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/low-frustration-tolerance
Hollings, D. (2024, April 22). On disputing. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-disputing
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. (2024, January 4). Rigid vs. rigorous. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rigid-vs-rigorous
Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance
Hollings, D. (2022, September 8). Shame attacking. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/shame-attacking
Hollings, D. (2022, October 7). Should, must, and ought. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/should-must-and-ought
Hollings, D. (2022, November 9). The ABC model. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-abc-model
Hollings, D. (2023, September 6). The absence of suffering. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-absence-of-suffering
Hollings, D. (2022, December 23). The A-C connection. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-a-c-connection
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. (2022, November 15). To don a hat. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/to-don-a-hat
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