This is an overview of the help I can provide
to PTSD Sufferers. NLP has a very effective technique to help/cure PTSD.
(1) WHAT IS NLP? ("NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING")
NLP refers to the ways our Brains
process information - namely Language, our 5 Senses and “Gut Instinct” – and that many of our thoughts, reactions & behaviour patterns are programmed “into” our brains and just
“run” (like computer software). NLP
contends that many of these can be programmed “out” to be replaced by new and more helpful thoughts, reactions and behaviour patterns which are programmed “in”. Think of your brain as a computer and sometimes there’s a software glitch, so you just remove the corrupted
file, replace & reboot.
It's "a set of tools
proven to increase personal effectiveness” (Robbie Steinhouse – Master NLP
Coach). It is the gateway to the reprogramming of the
mind and to quote Gregory Bateson “…
is the key to the difference that makes the difference…”
(2) HOW DOES NLP WORK?
Unlike the more traditional therapies, NLP does not
seek to get you to relive the “traumatic event” in detail other than very
briefly right at start (no more than 2-3 minutes) to put things into context. It focuses on the present and how you
use those memories now, and, if they
are painful (as they often are), the technique seeks to break pattern of current use and
change it – “changing the disc” as it were.
change it – “changing the disc” as it were.
Developed in the USA in the early 1980s, NLP has evolved over the years. It is supported by anecdotal reports by practitioners covering a period of over 30 years. Among these are reports provided by Richard Bandler, Steve Andreas, Robert Dilts & William McDowell who have each treated 1000’s of Clients suffering from PTSD & phobic conditions who have experienced complete symptom alleviation and long-term results.
It has been proven to be an effective approach specifically through a technique
aimed at the extinction of PTSD. It enables you to reprogram your brain’s
response to the original experience by separating the mental pictures and their associated feelings so that irrational fear and behaviour in specific
contexts are no longer triggered. It’s a simple and effective process that works
by discovering traumatic event which caused the issue and then you distance your
current self from it and thus “unlearn” it. Its reprogramming
effect integrates new perspectives that result in your brain no longer
triggering an unnecessary activation of “fight or flight” reaction. We “briefly
re-awaken a memory to then modify it”.
(4) A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE TECHNIQUE
My aim is to create Order from Disorder and give you the
means to consign trauma to where it no longer shapes/affects your day to day life.
This is done over 3-4 sessions. I will also provide you with a Self-Help
Toolkit as well as a really great Meditation Exercise (Organ Correspondence)
which is super-helpful and takes no time at all. It may sound a bit "woo", but as a practical straight-talking Yorkshireman, I can assure you, it isn't!
The technique involves taking you through the “17
Question PTSD (Military) Checklist” to establish how you are using your memories
now of the “traumatic event” and to
establish a “baseline” position as to the extent of your PTSD. Detailed notes to personalise the context are taken and you then give the “traumatic event” a bland and disassociated name.
An important part of the process is “changing the disc”. You do this by bringing a very pleasant and positive experience to
mind – which you describe in a lot of detail using all 5 Senses. You then
give the experience a memorable and upbeat name. I then get your permission to
touch your hand and explain that every time I touch your hand with my finger, I
effectively “anchor” that pleasant and positive experience into
your mind. It also enables me (and later, you) to fire that anchor any and every time you experience
painful or distressing or negative thoughts arising from the “traumatic event”.
It’s a “trip to the Cinema” where you maintain a position
of looking at yourself watch yourself on the screen and then run the memory
backwards fast which has effect of scrambling meaning associated with the
memory. It makes the unbearable bearable and makes whatever is on screen
easier to watch because you are not looking directly at screen. This safe and relaxed state helps us in guiding you to reprocess the traumatic memory so that
you can update the meaning that your unconscious mind equates with that
experience in the present time.
(5) CONCLUSION
What I am saying is that NLP is an effective, speedy and low-cost technique in the right conditions which does not re-traumatise you and provides a lasting and effective cure. The "Self-Help Toolkit" and Meditation Exercise are also important elements to recovery.
1. It’s
a technique which is proven to work safely and quickly
2. Self-help
element enables you to “buy into” your own recovery – good for self-esteem
3. It
helps You the sufferer, your family, and the wider community
4. Fewer
sessions = quicker recovery and less cost to You/Mental Health Services
resources
(6) MY NEXT BLOG
My next Blog Post will highlight a Case Study provided by Dr William McDowell PhD (Professor Emeritus & Chair of Counselling at Marshall University in Huntington West Virginia) on a 30-year old Iraq War veteran diagnosed by the US Veterans’ Association as suffering from PTSD - an utterly remarkable testimony to the efficacy of the NLP technique.
