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Inside of Inside Out 2: A Brief Movie Review and CBT in practice

by Harsimar Kang, Contributing Author




🛑 Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD🛑


We all remember the crushing anxiety of high school. The gossip, the comparison traps, the worry about where you would sit at lunch. Inside Out 2 explores these themes, opening with the return of our protagonist, Riley, who is now in the summer before her freshman year of high school – a time fraught with many charged emotions and moving pieces. Within the first few minutes, we see the formation of memory “islands” in her brain, which are areas formed in her mind from her past memories that form her Sense of Self and shape her personality. Or, in less Pixar words, they introduce the idea that memories form your belief systems, which in turn create your self-identity. Because of her past memories of right versus wrong, she knows to do the right thing, such as overcoming the social faux pas of helping out her classmate who embarrassed herself by dropping a jar of coins. This idea of the inner self is the fundamental thread that guides the movie, although there are other problems introduced along the way: from transitioning to high school and trying to form a new friend group to being the rookie on a new hockey team. With all these problems, Joy decides to use a machine that launches all of Riley’s awkward memories into the abyss in an attempt to repress anything that has ever caused Riley to feel distressed. But due to this repression, and additional shenanigans from Riley’s new set of emotions, Riley begins to develop maladaptive core beliefs based on her now unstable sense of self. She is making a new sense of self by throwing her old self away. But as the movie goes onto show, thoughts and memories cannot be repressed without consequence.


The movie excels at highlighting many Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques as part of its action sequences. In a pivotal moment, Joy challenges adverse thoughts (like Anxiety saying “What if Riley is so bad, she has to give up hockey forever?) by offering alternative positive consequences (“What if Riley does so well that the coach cries?”) A core assumption of CBT is that maladaptive cognitive processes produce psychological distress, which can be alleviated by modifying thought processes through cognitive exercises. Another cognitive technique involves challenging cognitive distortions or negative thinking patterns that are not based in reality. One movie example of this is Anxiety always catastrophizing, or imagining the worst case scenario for a given event, such as imagining Riley will be a failure on her hockey team or with her friends instead of imagining all the possible in-between scenarios. A different aspect of a CBT technique is known as grounding, or strategies to manage strong emotions by keeping yourself in the present. As we build up to the Panic Attack and Riley is stuck feeling “not good enough”, Riley is able to ground herself to the present by focusing on her different senses (sight, touch, and sound) bringing her back to the present moment. The physical touching of the hockey stick and engaging her mind away from the frenzy of frightening thoughts and sensations brings the horror-like climax to a close. Similar mindfulness strategies are emphasized during therapy sessions.


As more kids are experiencing anxiety at younger ages (DeAngelis, 2022), Disney and other animation studios are now given the task of creating CBT techniques in digestible media representations. Inside Out 2 does exactly that, offering all audiences an opportunity to appreciate the joy (and anxiety) of surviving adolescence.



For Further Reading


Benjamin, C. L., Puleo, C. M., Settipani, C. A., Brodman, D. M., Edmunds, J. M., Cummings, C. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2011). History of cognitive-behavioral therapy in youth. Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America, 20(2), 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2011.01.011


Boden, M. T., John, O. P., Goldin, P. R., Werner, K., Heimberg, R. G., & Gross, J. J. (2012). The role of maladaptive beliefs in cognitive-behavioral therapy: Evidence from social anxiety disorder. Behaviour research and therapy, 50(5), 287–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2012.02.007


DeAngelis, T. (2022, October 1). Anxiety among kids is on the rise. Wider access to CBT may provide needed solutions. Monitor on Psychology, 53(7). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/10/child-anxiety-treatment

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