Watch your phobias… As movies!
If you don’t like them, just record over them!
We tell the client to imagine they are sitting in a seat in the middle of a cinema, looking at themselves on a small size black & white image, in the middle of the big screen. Being on the outside looking in and disassociating themselves makes it possible to deal with bad memories and not get so upset by them.
We then tell them to picture the scene as a still frame before their bad experience happened. Next we ask them to imagine that they are leaving their body in the cinema seat and are floating into the projection booth. This double disassociation should take all feelings that you associate with the memory away. (It is like if you hear of your friend having been in an accident and being shocked. However, to hear that your friend’s friend has had an accident is really of no real concern as it’s further away from you.)
We then ask them to play the memory and to freeze frame again at the end when they are safe again. Now we guide them back into their memory by asking them to float into the screen, but as soon as they do instead of being black & white it immediately becomes full colour and the size of the whole cinema screen. Then we ask them to run the whole sequence backwards really fast, distorting things. So if there is someone they don’t like they give them goofy teeth and donkey ears, make them wear an orange ballerina’s tutu and Wellington boots! They also add a silly soundtrack like fairground or cartoon music.
By changing all the coding, the memory has also been scrambled. This means that the brain cannot play it back again. Now when the client is in a situation where that memory is usually accessed, they will find that it isn’t there any more. Their phobia program has been fatally corrupted FOREVER.
Below, you will find a detailed step-by-step version of this exercise. To help you experience the full effect, you could record yourself reading the guidance (leaving long pauses between each sentence) and then listen to it back later, with your eyes closed.
Step-by-step cinema therapy
This is a technique where you need to think quickly and clearly. Ensure you are sitting comfortably and there are no distractions. Turn off the TV and unplug the telephone. Have either a cuddly toy, your favourite music at the ready or a photo with a strong and positive memory at hand, something that makes you feel great. This will be your “safety anchor” should you need it, as you will be thinking about the last time you had a severe phobic reaction.
Think back to the event when your phobia began, or about most recent severe phobic reaction you had. Think about the event as if you are watching it through like a movie from the start. See yourself before, during and at the conclusion of the reaction and at the moment you felt safe once more. Mark out of 10 how scared you feel.
Now imagine you are sitting in a cinema. On the screen there is a black and white still picture of you just before you experienced the phobic response.
Imagine that you are floating out of your body and up to the projection room, from where you can see the back of your head as you sit in the cinema looking at the black and white still picture of yourself on the cinema screen. See and feel the projectionists glass as you look down at the back of your head.
Make this black and white still image turn into a movie and watch yourself from just before the phobia experience all the way through until just after it ended. When you get to the time after the whole experience where you began to feel safe, stop the movie and freeze it. Imagine it as a still.
Now see yourself floating out of the projection room, floating through yourself watching the movie and travelling into the still on the screen. Then immediately make the movie full colour and LARGE. Run the movie backwards as quickly as possible in a matter of seconds. You can also add funny music (The Birdie Song or any other ridiculous tune, the theme tune to The Benny Hill Show also works a treat!).
