Steve Andreas – PTSD Full Training

After a brief introduction to the training, and to the key distinction between recalling amemory by being inside it or as an outside observerPurchase Steve Andreas – PTSD Full Training courses at here with PRICE $325 $48 Steve Andreas – PTSD Full TrainingVideo 1:DemonstrationA demo of the “movie theater” method for distancing from the events in a traumatic memory.After a brief introduction to the training, and to the key distinction between recalling amemory by being inside it or as an outside observer, I invite Shelley to the front of the roomto work with me using the “movie theater” method for distancing from the events in a traumaticmemory. This method is also called the NLP phobia cure, or Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories.Shelly is a local resident who had been in 8 car accidents in which she was rear-ended.In a brief phone conversation I learned that as a result she has frequent flashbacks,and also chronic headache pain. When I want to observe her nonverbal behavior during aflashback, I ask her, “If you had a flashback now, what would I see? Think about one of the worst ones.”Although that is a precise description of what I want, the way it was worded asked Shelley toimagine how she looked from my point of view, rather than simply thinking of a flashback so thatI could observe her response.Realizing my mistake, I shifted to simply asking her to remember a flashback. “What if you wereto have a flashback right now? It’s heavy traffic, it’s icy and snowy,” so that I could see herresponse. Although Shelley confirmed that she felt terrified, that her life flashed before her eyes,and that she would score her feelings as 10 out of a possible 10, her visible responses to relivingan accident were relatively subtle.This method is also demonstrated with an Iraq vet in the program Releasing PTSD: The Client Sessions.3-month follow-up:“I haven’t had ANY flashbacks of the car accidents that I can remember since you worked with me.YAY!! If I deliberately think of one of the accidents, it just doesn’t have the impact that it used to have.”Video 2 – The Phobic Core of PTSD: DiscussionThis question and answer segment of the training immediately followsthe demonstration of the process used with the phobic core of PTSD,and focuses on the movie theater process, aka the RTM method or V/K dissociation.The second phase of the protocol, Creating Alternative Memories, isdiscussed in the third segment, which follows this one.Video 3 – Creating Alternative MemoriesThis segment begins with a repetition of the demonstration of this process,which is also included in the complete demonstration of the process used withthe phobic core of PTSD. If you would like to skip this demonstration, fast-forwardapproximately 6 ½ minutes to reach the discussion segment.This process creates an alternative to a traumatic memory in which the outcome isimproved by the client doing something different that is a realistic possibilitywithin the situation — relaxing, taking some protective action, saying something different,foreknowledge of possibility, a different attitude, or some other behavioral response tothe traumatic event that is within the client’s control. It is absolutely essential tonot alter external events, or any physical injuries that resulted from those eventsbecause that is magical thinking that will conflict with reality.If a truck rear-ends your car, and you suffered a broken bone or other injury,it is imperative not to try to change those in your new alternative memory.However, it is OK if your change in behavior results in a change in the behavior ofothers in a way that improves the outcome. This process can also be useful in othercontexts to program a more useful response to a situation that might occur again in the future.3-month follow-up:“I haven’t had ANY flashbacks of the car accidents that I can remember since youworked with me. YAY!! If I deliberately think of one of the accidents, it just doesn’thave the impact that it used to have.”Video 4 – Pain ControlI spoke to Shelley on the phone about being a demonstration subjectfor PTSD a few days before the seminar, to be sure that her experiencewas appropriate for the process. At that time she mentioned that shehad frontal headache pain as a result of closed head injuries in twoof her 8 car accidents, which I assume is the same as, or similar to,mild or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her headache was alwayspresent, so it certainly qualified as chronic.In this segment, recorded about an hour or so after using the PTSDprotocol, we work to alter her pain in a variety of ways.3-month follow-up:“I had a headache that day & the pain did lessen somewhat.I’m NOT having headaches EVERY day (which is AWESOME & I’m VERY grateful)but I’m taking 3 tylenol extra strength painkillers daily the rest of thetime IF I have a headache — which generally occurs the second I get up.”I hadn’t made clear to Sherrie that while the movie theater and alternativememory reruns are usually interventions that are effective after doing themin one session, pain control methods often have to be practiced repeatedlywhenever necessary so that they become more automatic.Since she doesn’t have headaches every day now, that is an indication thatwith some practice it may be possible to lessen them even more, and perhapseven eliminate them. She is going to practice doing the methods, and I willcheck in with her later.Video 5 – Eye Movement IntegrationA useful alternative method for working with PTSD is to use eyemovements to spontaneously alter a memory. The most widely-knownand researched version of this process is Eye Movement Desensitizationand Reprocessing (EMDR), developed by Francine Shapiro. In this sessionI demonstrate and discuss a somewhat different, but closely relatedmethod, Eye Movement Integration Therapy (EMIT) developed by Conniraeand Steve Andreas.The demonstration I attempted with a participant in the group soonresulted in very strong feelings of aversion to any eye movements inthe left half of her visual field. (In some 20 years of using thisprocess in trainings and with clients, this is the first time this hashappened.) After some attempts to proceed, and after learning that thisseemed to be related to unresolved grief over a special friend’s deathmany years earlier, I decided to stop the demonstration. I explained tothe group that I didn’t want to force her, and wanted to know more beforeproceeding.In the days that followed, I talked with her several times, and madesome suggestions for things she could try on her own to explore thisfurther. On the fourth day of the training, she described what she haddiscovered, providing us with at least some understanding of what wasgoing on. This section is included here, where it is directly relevantto the discussion about my decision to stop the process. For a sample ofhow an EMIT session usually goes, see the excerpts from my 1993demonstration with a Vietnam Veteran.Andrew T. Austin has developed a streamlined version of EMIT, IntegralEye Movement Therapy (IEMT), which can be easily integrated with othertherapeutic approaches. I did not demonstrate this method; Austin demonstratesthis method clearly in a YouTube video.Video 6 – Eye Movement Integration:Further DiscussionFurther discussion after the exercise is followedby a report from Michelle on her continued exploration ofher experience recorded on the last day of the training.3-month follow-up:No change.Video 7 – The Decision Destroyer: DemonstrationThe morning of the second day begins with almost 18 minutes of a variety ofquestions from the previous day’s training. The demonstration begins at about 17:30.In this process, we build a life-changing experience that occursbefore a traumatic period or event, so that it prepares them for whathappens later, making it easier to deal with. This process is particularly useful forabuse or other difficulties that occurred repeatedly over a period of time (in contrast to a single event).This new life-changing experience has four important criteria:It occurs at a specific time and place before the traumatic event orperiod.The content is chosen by the client, and may be positive or negative whenit happened, but is positive in its results when remembered.It has lots and lots of detail, to make it as similar as possible toother remembered experiences in the client’s life.When the memory is complete, it is represented in the same submodalitiesas a positive imprint experience in the client’s life.When this memory is complete, the client is asked to bring the memory with themas they travel rapidly up through time to the present, allowing the memory tochange all relevant subsequent events, and then to see themselves traveling on into the future with this memory as a part of them.3-month follow-up:“The anxiety that I felt about financial issues used to keep me awake at night;sometimes I would get a racing heart in the middle of the night.Since going through the treatment I have not experienced even mild anxiety and thathas generalized into other areas; I still have everyday mild concerns, but it doesn’thave a hold on me anymore and I don’t experience the physical component of feeling anxious.My husband and daughter have both noticed a big difference. I really feel like a different (and happier) person;so many things that used to have a ‘hook’ on me are simply gone.”Video 8 – The Decision Destroyer:DiscussionFollowing the demonstration, there is considerablediscussion of the many different elements in this process,and how they all contribute to maximizing its effectiveness.Video 9 – Personal BoundariesWe all have an internal mental personal boundary that protects us fromunwanted intrusions from others. Our boundaries are learned and createdunconsciously, and few of us have examined them to find out how well theyfunction. By experimenting with alternatives, in the contexts in which weneed protection, we can discover improvements, and these improvements willresult in spontaneous changes in our experience in the real world.For instance, someone who has spent a lot of time in a very dangerous situationlike war will usually develop a boundary that results in a lightning fastresponse to any threat, which is entirely appropriate in that context.When they return to civilian life, this hair-trigger boundary is no longerfunctional, and this may result in frequent episodes of rage and violencethat are “all out of proportion” to the triggers.The handout also explores how to identify and change any internal boundariesinside the body. We did not have time to demonstrate this in the training,but the instructions are clear, and more discussion can be found in the book,Transforming Yourself, chapter 13. (This method is also demonstrated with anIraq vet in the program Releasing PTSD: The Client Sessions.)Follow-up:Soon after the demonstration, Ronit reported confirmation of a change in herresponse to someone she had difficulties with. Three months later, she reported,“The boundaries process really helped, it’s an inner anchor now, that I carry with me.”Video 10 – Resolving GriefDon was part of a march protesting the Ku Klux Klan in GreensboroNorth Carolina in 1979 when the Klan appeared and started shootingprotestors. Don was shot, and several of his friends were killed.He had previously used the movie theater process on the incident asa whole, but he hadn’t resolved the grief over the loss of his friends,so I took him through the grief resolution process.Although this was successful, Don was still haunted by the image ofone of his friends, Sandy, with a hole in her forehead, lying dead ina pool of blood. So we used the movie theater process again on thisimage. This example highlights how someone’s experience can be a mixtureof different aspects, and the importance of teasing them apart so thateach can be resolved using the appropriate process.(The Resolving Grief method is also demonstrated with an Iraq vetin the program Releasing PTSD: The Client Sessions.)3-month follow-up:“When I think of Sandy now I see her see her life-size and animated,in her kitchen cooking dinner and talking with my wife and me. There isno sadness in that picture, just a warm and pleasant memory.“Before working with Steve, I had dealt with that incident by wallingit off, keeping in a place where I didn’t have to think about it. Now I canrecall it and talk about it without experiencing that terrible sadness, notonly around Sandy but also the other four who were killed that day (actually,I was closer to a couple of them than I was to Sandy). Steve had me take thatpicture that I was seeing, make it dim and black-and-white, move it far away,and ‘stick it there with Velcro.’ It has remained there; I can still see it ifI want to, but if I do it doesn’t bother me.”Video 11 – Resolving Anxiety:Spinning FeelingsThis method, originally discovered by Richard Bandler,is very useful for anxiety, or any other strong feeling,making it useful as part of reaching a wide variety of changework outcomes. It is one of the simplest and most dependable processes.(This method is also demonstrated with anger and rage with an Iraq vet in theprogram Releasing PTSD: The Client Sessions.)3-month follow-up with Jane:“The changes we made to release anxiety are still inplace and working well. If that feeling does come up,I continue to see the sparkling blue spiral and calm down immediately.”After the demonstration with Jane, I used the same methodwith a career army veteran who had not slept well for theprevious 22 years; he would stay awake for 3 or 4 days andfinally get so exhausted he would fall into a fitful sleep,and sometimes wake up in a sweat, imagining someone at thefoot of his bed. Sometimes he would be awake for longer andtake an Ambien. Although he would go into a deep sleep, hiswife said that he would yell and scream all night.Since he did not want to appear on video, we recorded hissession on audio only, and recorded his report the following day,in which he said that he had used the method twice and slept well, gettingup to go to the bathroom once at 3:20 and then going back to sleep for the rest of the night.3-month follow-up with vet:Normal deep sleep lasted until about two weeks after the training,when he was faced with two stressful emergencies; his mother washospitalized with heart issues, and a son-in-law was diagnosed witha brain tumor. He reports that “my brain is going a hundred miles anhour; it’s all scatter, all kinds of issues coming together and it’shard to have deep sleep. I am using meds and self-medicating when I get really tired.”That is what I call “overwhelm” and is typical of many people who havedifficulty sleeping. I have a blog post on “overcoming overwhelm” thatoffers some methods for this. In conjunction with the slowing tempo method for anxiety,I think that will probably take care of it. I will be following up withhim to find out what we can do so that he can sleep well again.Video 12 – Transforming a Troublesome Internal VoiceInternal critical voices aretriggers for all sorts of problems,from low self-esteem to depression and addictions,and are also a main feature of Schizophrenia. Mostpeople try to avoid listening to a voice, or try toshut up the “chattering monkey mind,” but that isseldom useful, and seldom lasting.In contrast, if you listen to the voice carefully andlearn more about it, you can make friends with it andtransform it into a supportive ally. The processdemonstrated here is a comprehensive way to accomplishthis. (This method is also demonstrated with an Iraq vetin the program Releasing PTSD: The Client Sessions.)3-month follow-up:“I have noticed a big change in what used to be aninner critical voice.  I feel much more self-acceptingand self-loving. I have especially noticed that my bodyimage has changed and for the first time since I can rememberI have an inner peace about my body exactly as it is.I really feel like a different (and happier) person;so many things that used to have a ‘hook’ on me are simply gone.”Video 13: Resolving Anxiety Temp ShiftVideo 14 – Clarifying Relationships: Aligning Perceptual PositionsAligning Perceptual Positions is a process forsorting out our experience and clarifying relationships.There are three fundamental viewpoints that we cantake in any interaction with someone else. We can bein Self position, looking out of our own eyes, we cantake an objective Observer position, as if viewing bothourselves and the other person from an outside point ofview, or we can take the position of the Other person weare relating to. Each of these positions is valuable in different ways.In Self position, we are fully aware of our own needs,in Observer position we can dispassionately learn how weappear from the outside, and in Other position we can becomemuch more aware of what someone else’s experience is. If wecan shift positions quickly, we can reap the informationthat we get from each one, and have a balanced response towhatever is going on at the moment.Although each of us can naturally take all three differentpositions, we may be unbalanced in how much time we use each one.If we spend too much time in Self position, we may become arrogantand insensitive. If we spend too much time in Observer position, wemay lose touch with feelings, and become robotic. And if we spend toomuch time in Other position, we may become over involved with the otherperson’s feelings and needs, and lose touch with our own — what has sometimesbeen called co-dependent or enmeshed with someone else.Even worse, we may become somewhat mixed up, for instanceincluding others’ feelings in self position, becoming judgmental in observerposition, or hearing a self voice in other position. When our experience iseven a little bit scrambled in this way, it becomes very hard to resolveconflicts and disagreements or deal with everyday events.Aligning Perceptual Positions is a process for sorting out our experiencein order to clarify who is who, and clarifying relationships.3-Month Follow-up“After the procedure, I find that I am more likely to step back and viewmy interactions with others from observer position. I am less likely to getembroiled in my own stuff when interacting with others and the distortions,as I described in the session, are fewer.  Along with the lack of distortions,or comparative lack, I am more likely to imagine encountering people eye to eye.Although I have had few interactions with my brother, his image is no longerinflated and I am more likely to remember that that’s just who he is. Thanksfor a great experience.”iconAligning Perceptual PositionsVideo 15 – Forgiveness: Resolving AngerThe process for resolving anger is much the same asfor resolving grief. When the image of what provokesanger is moved into the location of an experience offorgiveness, the person will have a full-body experienceof forgiveness. However, since most people have many — andsometimes very strong — objections to doing this, the majortask is to satisfy these objections.Anger is a response that protects from a repetition of theharm that was done. Objections always involve the need forsome kind of protection if they were to give up the anger.Objections are always some variation on consequences(“If I forgave him, then he could hurt me again.”) ormeaning (“If I forgave her, that would mean that I’m awimp, or that I condone what she did.”)Sometimes it is very difficult to satisfy these objections,and sometimes it may be impossible, but it has to be doneif someone is to reach forgiveness. For a detailed articleabout the process, including how to satisfy objections, youcan read this free article on forgiveness.Video 16 – Resolving Shame: DiscussionI had scheduled a woman who had shame aboutchildhood sexual abuse as a demonstration subject.We had talked briefly on the phone, where I had madeit clear that we would be working in front of thegroup and that we would be videotaped. However, itsoon became apparent that she hadn’t anticipatedhow being publicly observed like this would elicitthe very shame we would be working with.(Afterward someone told me how appalled shelooked when she entered the room at the back,even before coming up to the front to work with me.)I worked with her for about 23 minutes, before agreeing toher second request to stop, realizing that the public contextmade it impossible to continue. I have demonstrated the shameprocess publicly before without difficulty, but in this caseher feelings were too intense. She had not signed a releaseform, so I can’t include this portion of the video record.As an alternative, there is a video on YouTube of excerptsfrom a public demonstration and a free article on my websitehas a verbatim transcript of a session with long-term follow-up.The video from which this transcript was made is also available.After this, I discussed what had happened with the group.Video 17 – Resolving GuiltGuilt results from violating your own values in a way that harms someone else. (In contrast, regret is when you violate your own values in a way that harms yourself.)When you make a mistake, it is important to notice it, so that you can take corrective action to avoid harming others in the future. However many people get stuck in the bad feelings and dwell on the past, instead of learning from it so that they can do better next time.Resolving guilt can also be described as self-forgiveness. Realizing that any moment in time everyone always makes the best choice available to them (no matter how badly that choice turns out) can build a foundation of balance and acceptance to commit to taking corrective action in the future.During this session there was mention of The Brooklyn Project, a detailed program developed by Rick Gray for working with drug and alcohol abuse. To receive a free copy of this program, email [email protected].Video 18 – Balancing RegretWhenever you choose between alternatives, there is anopportunity to regret the choice not made, so it isimpossible to live without regret. And no matter howsatisfying a choice turns out to be, you can always imaginehow a different choice might have been even more wonderful.Some people torment themselves with regret, while others areusually comfortable with the results of their choices.Regret can be about something that you did do, or aboutsomething that you didn’t do. Regret about what you did dois usually very specific, because the consequences are known.However, regret about what you didn’t do is more likely to beless specific, because the consequences are much more uncertain and speculative.Whenever you choose one alternative, you have to forego another,so every regret is actually about both what you did do and didn’t do.Even when we focus on one, the other is always in the shadow of our attention.Attending to the consequences of both what you did do and didn’t do brings balance.3-month follow up:“The decision process was a good process, but I had other issuesI needed to solve before I could follow through. Thanks for everything,I really enjoyed the seminar.” Purchase Steve Andreas – PTSD Full Training courses at here with PRICE $325 $48