The Trauma Cure – Common Mistakes In NLP
I am but a lowly Practitioner. I cannot claim the kudos a NLP trainer would.
Used to dissociate from traumatic event or a phobia the Trauma Cure, or Phobia Cure is the technique that I have found to be misused more than any other. Given my lowly status how can I be sure I’m right about this? Simple. I’m self taught.
I have years of practice behind be sifting through forums and picking the brains of the trainers within them, patiently piecing together all the information gleaned from books. Not an easy way to learn I assure you.
One of the first things I learnt were the top mistakes made by NLP Practitioners. The number one mistake was failing to match what was going on in the brain of the client. This can otherwise be stated as matching a technique to an event.
What does this have to do with the trauma cure? For some reason we have people certified in NLP who come out believing the trauma cure to be a panacea. This is deeply disturbing to me.
When a bored housewife (I happen to know one who blithely stated that if a rape victim still had issues after being taken through the trauma cure there had to be something else wrong with them . . . . ) takes up therapy after eighteen to thirty six days of training they will imagine what it would be like going through events that they have no training or experience. Imagining what is going on in the clients mind. BAD PRACTICE.
Not that I object to members of the public taking up NLP because that is a good thing. We need more.
I object strongly to them doing a shoddy job and placing the blame on a client. Ultimately this can cause NLP to lose credibility.
Another area in which the trauma cure is commonly misused is when a client has an anxiety.
A good example is fear of flying. If there is a sudden emotional reaction to the thought of a flight, the trauma cure would be a good idea.
On the other hand if the level of distress increased as the time to go on an airplane drew ever closer another technique would be more useful. Yes, I am aware change can still occur when using a process incorrectly. Still.
I have also witnessed a Practitioner using the trauma cure as a process to remove all the negative events from someones entire life in one hit. He would begin by rewinding events to the time of conception.
Unbeknown to his clients (there were many some famous sports people and politicians as he worked full time) the trauma cure isn’t designed to be used this way. Although NLP is very resilient and you can make mistakes and get fantastic results I question the value of his work.
Hopefully this raises awareness of the use of this technique. Be very suspicious of anyone who touts the trauma cure as a cure for all that ailes you.
Blessings,
Tags: NLP, techniques, trauma cure
I am not familiar with the Trauma Cure… what is it in layman’s terms please?
Seize the Day,
Rob
Emergency Preparedness For the 21st Century Family
In response to blaming the patient: I have found that taking total and complete responsibility for our own lives brings a significant level of peace of mind.
Martin O’Connor
http://www.smallbusinessdesigncenter.com
One of the presuppostions of NLP is that “The meanign of your communication is the response you get.” I would take this to mean that if your “cure” failed to produce the results you were looking for then you never affected a cure. It is the fault of the practitioner and not the client/patient.
As an aside, I am also unfamiliar with the Trama Cure. What specifically is the technique?
Steve Chambers
Business to Business Sales Trainer
Trauma cure, condensed version: Start with a picture of how you were before the traumatic event happened. Imagine you are watching yourself in the picture, then disassociate further by watching yourself…watching yourself looking at the picture. This is the double dissassociation.
The picture is actually a movie still of a really old black and white movie. The colours are faded. Run the movie really fast forward in time making certain you are watching the imagined you, watching the movie.
Associate into the end still of the movie, in other words you are inside the end of the movie. Change it to a colour movie. Run it backwards really really fast with you inside.
Repeat. Possibly repeat again.
This is the essense of the truma cure. If you aren’t used to NLP may take a bit to get your head around. Because there are lots of egos jockeying for position you may have heard it refered to as something else like the VK dissassociation technique or God knows what else. I’ve seen it presented as “new” information with different lingo which means you could pay money for something you are already familiar with and don’t need. Dress it up anyway you want. Make it a television screen and run the movie the same way, it is the same technique.
K
You may be self-taught, but you’re certainly a teacher of mine! Thanks.
Greg Dougall, Philanthropist-in-Training
I have studied this some what but no means an expert. Moving beyound trauma has to be a want to for the person involved or the time is wasted in my opinion.
Vicki http://www.bridal-threads.com
The success of the “phobia cure” (in my meager experience) is very dependent on the relationship between the therapist and client. Although the actual process itself can be quick, the “set-up” which includes building rapport and trust, developing the client’s ability to visualise, developing their ability to dissociate, and more…, can take several sessions. Richard Bandler (the NLP guru)may be able to do all this in 20 mins – but this is very misleading to aspiring practitioners. The other factor which is vital is that the practitioner really cares, and isn’t just going through the motions.
It is absolutely the practitioner’s responsibility to continue until they get a result. If that particular technique doesn’t work for a client then they should use another technique e.g. desensitisation, and if that doesn’t work…etc etc.
http://www.martin-wright.com
The main point of any situation is the person has to want to be cured, and have no fear of being cured.
Robert Martin
http://www.carbuyinghq.com
Thanks for opening my eyes to this. I find that after using a “cure” that doesn’t work on someone with trauma and then claiming it must be that they have more issues appalling. I agree — BAD PRACTICE.
MissMentor
Hi Keri,
First, your being a practitioner who apprenticed herself sagely to others appears to be a very sound way to have learned. I am only familiar with NLP to an extent. I have gleaned bits and pieces over the years. Indeed, it sounds like there was no cure at all. I would be very interested in your writing perhaps a longer article or series of blog posts like over one week delineating it more specifically. The topic sounds very interesting.
Happy Dating and Relationships,
April Braswell
Single Baby Boomer Dating Success Expert
My first thought upon reading this post was, “what is the trauma cure”? Thank you for your description of it. I have read about this technique, but it wasn’t called the trauma cure. I think it was called VK disassociation, and if I’m not mistaken, I heard it used by Tony Robbins on an audio series he did.
Health, Fitness for Working People — Darryl Pace
It comes down to working with trained, skilled, and qualified people.
Basically they need to know what they are doing because there is too much at stake.
Jennifer Battaglino
The Harwood Center – Tinnitus, Chronic Illness, Fears, and Anxiety
Never heard of Trauma cure but it sounds similar to stimulus desensitization.
Lisa McLellan
Child Care Expert,
Babysitting Services, Babysitting Tips, Babysitters, Nannies
Thank you Keri this was very informative
Jose Escalante
http://www.joseescalante.com
Keri,
Your blog post & comment reminds me the “Witness Consciousness” concept. We are NEITHER our personalities NOR our bodies. We practice Witness Consciousness so that we can disassociate with our physical bodies and get back to our true Self. We are THE witness of whatever happens.
John Ho
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion
Learning fantastic new ideas every day. Thanks Keri!
Dangers of Fasting, Katie