A Quick Technique For Dealing With Negative Memories

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

This article is devoted to the disclosure of the author's technique of fast work with negative memories (hereinafter MBRV, and as a more euphonious option, you can use the abbreviation in English - MTM (memories therapy method)).

The purpose of the technique: getting rid of a negative emotional reaction to a (traumatic) memory.

The technique consists of a simple algorithm that is applicable both for independent work and for working with another person (client, in the case of psychotherapeutic work).

It makes sense to first consider the operation algorithm itself, and only then proceed to its justification. Thus, the MBRV consists of the following steps:

1. Induction of a state of hypnosis (optional). This step is due to the fact that the hypnotic state can simplify the work with the technique, since it implies the possibility of a faster formation of new conditioned reflexes and reformatting of existing ones. On the other hand, as practice has shown, this step is not fundamental and the MBRV will work fine without it.
2. Creation of a line of memory. By and large, we simply ask the client (from here on we will consider the situation of counseling, however, instead of the client, a person conducting the technique on his own can also act) to recall the situation causing the negative. At the same time, we try not to distort the memory itself, i.e. it is important for us to catch the moment of the beginning of the memory, and not ask the client to remember how the situation actually began. This condition is due to the fact that when creating a line of recollection, we first of all look for a trigger / stimulus that starts the process of remembering, and do not try to somehow influence a real situation that happened in the past.

Another important aspect is how the client remembers the event. In most cases, this will be an internal film presented in a visual modality. But the option is possible when the client represents the situation, for example, within the framework of a static picture. In the latter case, according to the author's assumption, you can ask the client to convert the picture into a film. However, the impact of this transformation has not yet been investigated.

Breakdown of the memory line into segments. For further work, we need to select a number of segments on the line of memory:

• The starting point of the memory, or the trigger from which it starts.
• The stable period (from the starting point to the critical) is the moment in which everything is going normally (as the client imagines), and the events in the memory do not cause a negative emotional response.
• The critical point is the point before the tipping point in the event being played, but as close as possible to it.
• The crisis period is the part of the memory that directly evokes negativity.
• The end point of the event.
• The point of ecology or subsequent life is the point of the actual state (here and now). Here we look at how this memory affected the current state of the client.

2. Creation of an alternative positively emotionally rich ending.

At this stage, we create an alternative segment of memory, which will later be replaced by the crisis period. This ending can be absolutely any, up to the most fantastic, but it is worth adhering to a few rules:

• The alternative ending should elicit a strong positive emotional response (the strength of the positive response in the alternative ending should outweigh the strength of the negative response to the crisis period of the memory (again, according to the client's subjective perceptions)).
• Environmental friendliness (or embedding, in later life). This point assumes that the alternative ending does not materially affect the current state of the client (for example, if a person imagines that he won a million dollars, it is obvious that such a win would affect the entire life of the client and his current state). Thus, the ending can be absolutely any, but it must remain “in the past” (in the case of a million dollars, one can imagine that the money was spent immediately after the win, and in such a way that it had no effect on the current state). This rule is not fundamental, however, as it seems to the author, if the environmental friendliness is taken into account, it will be easier for our psyche to accept a new memory, since it will not come into conflict with the current state.
• Reality. Despite the opportunity to present absolutely fantastic endings, it seems best to come up with endings that are closest to reality. This is due to the fact that the technique allows not only to change the emotional reaction to the memory, but also to gain a positive experience (albeit imaginary). Accordingly, it is better that this experience is relevant to real life (for example, the experience of success with the opposite sex in life is more applicable than the experience of meeting aliens).

3. Living a new memory.

At this stage, the client must relive his memory from start to finish, replacing the critical period with an alternative ending. Here you should also adhere to a number of rules:

• The alternative ending should not be detached from the memory itself. In the client's view, a new memory (i.e., a memory with a modified alternative ending) must be lived in one piece. In most cases, this will happen automatically, but since this technique has not yet been extensively tested, the author decided to foresee possible complications. Different representations of the transition from a real memory to an alternative ending are possible (for example, a visual transition in the form of overflow, etc.). Such options are quite acceptable, the main thing is that there is no absolute gap between the memory and the alternative ending, and that nothing "wedges" between them.
• In the process of living a new memory, the alternative ending should evoke emotion. This point assumes that the alternative ending itself does not necessarily lead to the emergence of positive emotions, it only serves as an additional incentive. The client himself must try to feel the new situation and reproduce the necessary emotions.
• The new memory must be lived associated. This point is in addition to the previous one, since it is an important condition for the appearance of the necessary emotional reactions.

1. Repeat the previous point several times. The number of repetitions here will be determined individually. In most cases, 3 to 10 reps are enough.
2. Living a new memory using accelerations. Thus, the client can scroll through the memory from beginning to end quite a large number of times, while increasing the speed of "scrolling" of the new memory.
3. Replay a new memory in our head 1000 times in an instant. Obviously, this point does not imply doing 1000 real repetitions of the above procedure. The therapist, inviting the client to imagine that he is replaying the memory with a new ending 1000 times in one instant, simply doesn’t simply create an installation for him, which will serve as an additional factor in the operation of the technique.
4. We will find out the result (it is better to use the phrase “try to remember an old memory, what emotions does it evoke now?”, Since this phrase already contains an assumption about changes). There may be several answers:

• Upon successful completion of the technique, recalling the old situation should not cause any emotions at all.
• It is possible that the negative emotional response to the memory has weakened, in which case the technique should be repeated until the negative emotional response disappears completely.
• The situation has not changed. Such a result may be associated with: improper performance of the technique; lack of trust in the therapist; lack of confidence in technology; the inability to apply the technique to this particular client.

In most cases, a certain effect can be noticed immediately. But, the author strongly recommends reworking negative memories the next day after the initial processing, and then increasing the time interval between sessions. With each session, you can also reduce the time spent on individual memories. The time criterion itself is subjective here, i.e. depends on the client's feelings. According to the authors' experience, one session is enough to get the result. Thus, it turns out to use the learning processes to a greater extent.

After working through one memory, you can move on to others: it is recommended to move from more recent to earlier memories.

Having considered the technique itself, one should talk about its scientific justification, as well as compare it with techniques from various directions. The substantiation of the technique includes a number of psychological and physiological laws of the work of our psyche.

Installation effect. The first way to explain the action of MBRV will be a reference to the effect of attitude (the generally accepted concept of attitude is currently considered to be the psychology of attitude, developed by Uznadze [7]). It should be noted right away that the client's attitude plays a role in any direction of psychotherapy and in the application of any psychotherapeutic technique. It is quite possible that the effect of this method is connected precisely with the installation. However, the experience of the author suggests otherwise. At a number of webinars, viewers were asked to do this technique, but no clues about the expected result were given. The viewers themselves had different assumptions about the expected effect (to the point that a new memory will erase the old one, and the performance of the technique itself will turn into self-deception). However, the results for all participants (in the region of 20 people in total) were exactly the same: the old memory no longer caused a negative response, as it was before, it was simply perceived as neutral.

Speaking about the effect of the installation, it should be noted that in this technique it is also used purposefully, for example, when we ask to replay a new situation 1000 times, or when the consultant at the end asks “what has changed?”.

Operant learning. Operant teaching was discovered by B. F. Skinner [6]. It assumes that it depends on reinforcement to reinforce a particular reaction. Skinner talks about behavior in a frequent manner in his work. In contrast, the MBRM also seeks to change our cognitive habits. The counselor helps the client change a specific cognitive response, which is composed of a number of elements. By replacing some of these elements, the sequence itself remains the same, i.e. the same trigger triggers a different reaction. Explaining this in even more detail: under the influence of a certain stimulus, an old memory emerges in the client, which, in turn, also begins with a stimulus / trigger and is realized in a sequential reaction. Despite the change in part of the sequence, the trigger remains the same; accordingly, when a stimulus of the triggering memory occurs, the primary trigger is triggered, which is already associated with another sequence of elements. As a result, instead of a negative one, a person gets a neutral state. The consolidation of new elements of memory occurs due to reinforcement with positive emotions. The neurophysiological substantiation of such a scheme can be found in the works of Pribram, and in particular the TOE model developed by him jointly with other authors [5]

Most of the methods of cognitive-behavioral therapy work according to the same principle (you can familiarize yourself with them, for example, according to the manual by S. V. Kharitonov [8]).

Desensitization. Another learning mechanism, which involves a decrease in sensitivity to a particular stimulus. This mechanism also works in MBRV: firstly, we replay the negative a large number of times, which reduces the sensitivity towards it, and secondly, we weave positive emotions into the experience of the situation, abstracting from the negative. As already mentioned, the MBRM is aimed not at replacing one memory with another, but at destroying the negative emotional charge associated with one or another memory. Accordingly, when playing the alternative ending, the client perfectly understands which memory is “real”. As a result, the two ideas are superimposed on each other, there is an integration of two emotional states, eventually turning into one neutral state. If we give an example from other directions, then first of all it is worth noting the technique of desensitization according to Volpe [2], the technique of desensitization by oculomotor reactions according to Shapiro [9], as well as a large number of techniques from NLP related to the integration of anchors (you can familiarize yourself with them, for example, by book by SA Gorin [4]) (however, the author would like to note his doubts about the substantiation of these NLP techniques, which are given to them by the representatives of NLP themselves).

Imaginary, real and brain. This is another effect on which this technique is based. It is not so easy for the brain to distinguish between imagined events and actual events. In particular, a specialist at Northwestern University, Kenneth Paller, successfully conducted an experiment to replace real memories with imaginary ones. Here we can add the phenomena associated with memory observed in the process of hypnosis, first of all, hypermnesia (this and other phenomena associated with the work of memory in hypnosis can be found, for example, in the book by MN Gordeev [3]). It is worth adding to this the effect of déjà vu, when an individual, under the influence of any circumstances, accepts what is happening now, for what has already happened before. But there is also a fairly everyday example of the substitution of memories, when, during the heyday of psychoanalysis abroad, it coincided with the period of fixing a large number of lawsuits regarding the sexual actions of parents towards children. It has been proven that recent events are associated with the irresponsible work of psychoanalysts, when they, through standard psychoanalytic interpretations, reduced everything to sexual relations in the family. As a result, these interpretations became suggestions for patients, which they readily believed.

Undoubtedly, our brain distinguishes the real from the imaginary, even in view of its structure, which is confirmed in separate studies. However, the above facts directly indicate the possibility of bypassing the protection of our brain and introducing a new memory.

The essence here is clear: there is no contradiction between imaginary and real experience, and accordingly, nothing prevents one from replacing with another. Submodality fine tuning also helps to replace memory with an imaginary event (William James was the first to draw attention to the phenomenon of submodalities [1], pointing out that human experience is encoded in this way; now the phenomenon of submodalities is widely used in NLP). Due to the creation of a situation in which a real memory flows into an imaginary event, the submodalities of the imaginary event automatically adjust to the submodalities of the real (otherwise, during the MBRM, a sharp change in representation would be observed when switching to the alternative ending).

This phenomenon also predetermines another useful result from using IWVR: the client not only gets rid of negative experience, but also gains a positive one. Thus, having worked through a number of memories, the client may well turn from an insecure person into a person full of resources.

It is necessary to talk separately about the correlation of this technique with certain areas of psychotherapy. Many readers can find the similarity of this technique with a number of techniques from neurolinguistic programming (collapse of anchors, changes in personal history, a technique for quickly treating phobias, changing submodalities). The author insists on referring this methodology to the cognitive direction for a number of reasons: MBVR relies primarily on learning processes; the technique involves a sufficient number of repetitions; the technique is aimed at changing cognitive habits.

In the same NLP, more emphasis is placed on the client's attitude, and the techniques are implemented, mainly with the help of suggestion (which is why, every NLP trainer will tell you that for any technique it is necessary to achieve rapport, which in fact implies the achievement of a certain hypnotic state if draw on the work of Milton Erickson, from which the rapport technique was modeled in NLP). The last paragraph expresses the personal opinion of the author, which does not claim to be the ultimate truth.

In any case, MBVR can be used by any therapist, consultant or just a person who wants to change something in his life. Moreover, the author sees broad perspectives for the application of IEEE: application not only to memories, but also to current habits; application to traumatic experience; application in conjunction with other techniques of working with the past (for example, in regression hypnosis).

Unfortunately, the author did not have the opportunity to extensively scientifically test this technique. What can be mentioned here is the personal experience of the author, who applied this technique on himself many years ago, but is still confident in its positive results. Here you can add those people who were invited to apply this technique on themselves at online webinars and live meetings, as mentioned above. More than 20 people have used this technique on themselves, and all have achieved positive changes when trying to recall an unpleasant memory. Of course, these data cannot be considered experimental. Therefore, the author and publish this article in order to give impetus to new research in the field of MBRV. In this area, it is necessary, at a minimum, to investigate: the change in physiological parameters after the use of MBRV, the limits of the use of MBRV (with what and how strong emotions can this technique be used; is it possible to use the technique on people with psychotic disabilities).

I am publishing this article, the author pursues one more goal. Since this technique has helped him personally more than once, he would like other people to be able to help themselves and others with the help of such a simple tool as MBRV.

Bibliographic list:

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3. Gordeev M. N. Hypnosis: A Practical Guide. 3rd ed. - M.: Publishing house of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2005. - 240 p.

4. Gorin S. A. NLP: Bulk Techniques. - M.: Publishing house "KSP +", 2004. - 560 p.

5. Miller D. Plans and structure of behavior / Miller D., Galanter Y., Pribram K. - M.: Book on Demand, 2013. - 239 p.

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7. Uznadze D. N. Installation psychology. - SPb.: Peter, 2001.-- 416 p.

8. Kharitonov S. V. A Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy. - M.: Psychotherapy, 2009.-- 176 p.

9. Shapiro F. Psychotherapy of emotional trauma using eye movements: Basic principles, protocols and procedures. - M.: Independent firm "Class", 1998. - 496 p.