In this video I am reading from "NLP The New Technology of Achievement" edited by Steve Andreas and Charles Faulkner.
This classic NLP method called The Fast Phobia Technique (Chapter 8, Exercise 29, Page 194) can be used to help with any fearful situations.
People with complex trauma have a lot of fears. They often get triggered and the person then suffers through anxiety and fear, reliving the fearful programming from earlier life. This in turn holds the person back from self-esteem, speaking up, taking action on their goals, even keeping them isolated and blocked from receiving the support they need.
Fear keeps us trapped in the trauma. It's not your fault that this happens. On top of the fearful, emotional flashbacks that one goes through, C-PTSD sufferers also beat themselves up for having the fear and not being able to get over it. Not being in control of fear reinforces a feeling of helplessness and loss of hope and we cope the best we can to keep safe.
But what if the flashback was just a way of our brain "coded" the information from a memory, a belief, an incident and the code instructs the body to go into "flight or fight" mode every time it's triggered, and the answer may be as simple as changing that code?
What I mean by changing the code really is a fancy way of saying change the memory. When I say "change" the memory, I don't mean try to replace it with a fake memory, what I mean is to change some aspects about the memory.
Our memories are selective, especially trauma memories, they always trigger the same feelings, like a pattern. That selective memory is a certain picture with certain sounds, looks a certain way, feels a certain way - and what NLP does is teaches people to change those pictures, sounds, looks, feelings so that the memory is still there but it is no longer coded to trigger panic or terror because we change the aspects about the memory. This helps it get un-stuck from always being triggered in the same way.
Sound too good to be true? If this worked why doesn't everyone use it? Sounds too easy? Sounds like mind stuff that won't work for me because I've got complicated feelings tied into it? Sounds like I don't want to change a memory, that would be fake and I'd know it, so how could that help?
All these doubts went through my mind too. But I tried NLP anyway because I was desperate for some relief with my Complex Trauma triggers that I wanted to heal and change so they didn't hold me back from what I really wanted in my life. After so many years I felt I suffered enough and it was time for a change. I just didn't know HOW to change the inner workings of my head and how it worked to keep my triggers anchored in place. Until I learned tools like NLP that shows us the "how" to change what goes on in our heads.
Every time I use NLP on an issue, it gets better - and that's better than doing nothing at all and staying stuck, or getting worse. So I encourage you just to try it on a few issues to see how it works and how it might be useful to you.
It's not a one-time-cure-all method. It's a method that can be used over and over again for whatever issues come up. It's a tool in your coping tool box.
So lets get to it. Think about an intense fear that bothers you or keeps getting triggered. If you have more than one, make a list of all of them and then just pick one. Use the Phobia Cure on any issue, just use it on one issue at a time. When you've picked one to try it on, listen to the video and follow the directions.
DON'T just listen intellectually to the directions but actually DO the directions, one step at a time. Pause the video at each step if you need more time to really think about it in your mind.
Record your before and after feelings so you can see for yourself how this works for you. It may take the fear away completely or it may just decrease the fear so you can deal with it easier. You may get some insights and learn something about yourself. It's different every time.
Tip: Use a moderately intense fear to work on first until you get used to the process. Don't pick your more intense fear to use the Phobia Cure on the first time. Find a mild to medium one just to "practice on".
There are many other NLP methods for working with your mind and your inner self-talk and triggers. Each time you try one you get better at using it. The important thing is just to try it and see if it helps.
