Transformation through NLP

PTSD: Using NLP to treat it:

What is PTSD?

A person relives a horrible experience. It flows from the memory as if the person were actually there again. It can take hours to get over the terror and feelings of pain and guilt at the loss of friends. This is the nature of memories associated with PTSD. These nightmares and flashbacks, at the moment they are experienced, are just as real to the person as the original experience. In simple terms, they regularly relive the trauma as if it were happening for the first time.

The NLP technique takes a traumatic memory and alters it using several simple exercises like visualizing it as a black-and-white movie. This “revised” memory takes the place of the original memory. The technical name for the change is reconsolidation. Recent neurological research into reconsolidation proves that this altered memory is strong and lasting. 

In 2014 a small grant from the State of New York set in motion an NLP pre-pilot study of 30 veterans with a PTSD diagnosis. The goal was to eliminate the disturbing symptoms of PTSD in fewer than five sessions. Results of the study were so promising they were published in the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health. Of the 26 veterans who completed the program, 25 scored below the VA’s diagnostic criteria for PTSD by the end of treatment and at two- and six-week follow-up evaluations. The RTM Protocol had permanently and completely eliminated all their PTSD symptoms in five sessions or less. Here are some testimonials from veterans who have completed the process:

Client 3032 (9/21/15). “I used to sit in the dark all day and go over and over the trauma. After treatment with the RTM Protocol, my wife says I am a lot happier. Another friend I have known for six years and see every Sunday says I look and sound so much happier. I feel more alive. No more daymares and nightmares…and the nightmares I have had for the past 40 years have stopped.”

Client 3024 (8/25/15): “After three treatments I feel different. I have stopped carrying around the duffel bag of misery. I no longer have a recurring nightmare I have been having for the past 30 years. I feel more positive and feel like my future is in my hands in whichever direction I take. I’ve noticed if I put out good vibes and self-confidence, it is reciprocated. I’m not going to sit still and feel depressed anymore. I just got a new job and I attribute this to the work I did with the RTM Protocol.”

Client 3011 (8/25/15) “I notice a difference in myself. I was sitting around depressed and apathetic and angry about events in Iraq. Instead of having terrible flashbacks, I now think of the event as just a memory. I feel more enjoyment of life and am starting my own business. I have started a golf program… something I would have never done prior to the treatment.”

Our Becoming shall be utilizing the NLP method The Theatre Technique as explained in the publication The Healing Pool  'Treating PTSD with NLP' by this ventures Founder William Hanley.

The early research on the Theatre Technique protocol is extremely promising. It shows that up to 96% of those who complete the treatment in the first three studies (96%, 94%, 96%), have improved so much that there they no longer test positive for the PTSD diagnosis. The nightmares disappear, the anger goes away, family and friends start telling them that they are fun to be around again.

At its core, the Theatre Technique protocol is a brief reimaging process with the following main steps:

1. The therapist asks the client to imagine s/he is sitting in a movie theatre watching a black-and-white still picture of themselves before the traumatic experience began.

2. Next, the client is asked to imagine watching them self, watching the black and white movie of the traumatic experience, from a safe position (“dissociated”) behind the self, sitting in the movie theatre.

3. After the black and white movie is completed comfortably, the client is asked to watch the movie rewind itself in color, in two seconds, backwards.

4. Both visualizations are repeated until they are completely comfortable. 

5. When both visualizations are completed, the client is asked questions about their trauma that would previously trigger uncomfortable feelings related to the traumatic memory. When the client is comfortable talking about the traumatic experience and shows no sign of fear or agitation, the first stage is complete.

6. For the next step, the client is invited to invent and mentally visualize themselves walking through several alternate, nontraumatizing versions of the memory.

7. After practicing the new scenarios, the client is again asked to retell the trauma narrative, and previous memory triggers are probed. When traumatic feelings cannot be aroused and the narrative can be told without significant tension or fear, the procedure is completed.