toaster Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 has anyone had any experience of this? My college counsellor talked to me about it as a way of managing distressing memories. She gave an example of like just say there is a sound in the memory, you work with your counsellor or therapist and in your mind you turn the sound down; colours can be changed; smells can be changed etc. have spent the last 2 weeks of the holidays considering this. I have bad dreams of my past. I have, not what I would call flashbacks, but memories pop up at random times. I push them away, physically shaking my head or whatever. it would be nice to be able to have some level of control over these memories, it could even be seen as a way of sort of changing the past - i know we cant actually change the past but we can change our perception of it i believe... anyway just wondering if anyone has done nlp and did it help and how was the process? or what do others think of the idea? i see my counsellor on thursday, i keep swinging from decisions. i would have to tell her some pretty personal stuff (memories) and thats gonna take some doing... any input mucho appreciato xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natfredricks Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 I heard about this. Some say it is very good. Depends on the counsellor, I suppose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hummm_mabbe Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 Hullo toastey toots I've tried it several times in the past and can't say it particularly did much for me. It doesn't have a very good reputation, but that doesnt mean don't try it. Anything is worth a shot I suppose, I guess I am just saying don't hang your hat on it. As an aside, you didnt ask for advice, so forgive if this isnt what you're after, but it sounds like you are describing intrusive thoughts. Lately for me, again the old mindfulness / allowing has REALLY been helping. I learned that for me, there is the intrusive thought, then a deeply uncomfortable reaction in my body, and then the 'pushing away' (which is half-conscious, half-not) that you describe. That whole loop keeps going round in circles and I dread it coming up. It feels like waiting for an incoming artillery shell all the time. However, oddly I find that VOLUNTARILY thinking about the thing doesnt produce the same bodily response, so the standard CBT 'exposure' exercises don't do much, even though confronting it is important. Have you done this in T in the past? Anyways in terms of lessening the pain of it, what I have been trying is that same mindful allowing - finding out exactly where the pain is in my body and getting used to it, letting it be there, looking right at it. Sometimes the thoughts come up when I am meditating, and its even better then because I can see the whole process play out. You see the thought, the bodily reaction, and the desire to be rid of it. It may be that for you, there are feelings of revulsion, shame and so on, and they make it even harder. I am not sure that intrusive thoughts and memories can be eliminated, but its possible to be comfortable with them. I have personally found that stopping that 'pushing away' reaction is a good place to start - or, if its automatic, letting that be there too. Maybe look to see if its the thought, or your body's physical response (pain, discomfort, revulsion, tension, fear etc) that you are trying to avoid. I know you know all this stuff though, Mc Toastington :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abstract312 Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 about the linguistics related side of the phenomenon....from what I read about NLP, it strives to involve some basic premises in linguistics, particularly in semantics, such as the one that a referring expression cannot be identified with the referent (a referring expression is a label, a lexeme) relating them to the the notions of generative grammar, such as the concept of deep and surface structures which by the way were discussed by Humboldt (he calls them inner and outer forms) as well and should not be solely attributed to Chomsky. However, Neuro Linguistic programming thingy misuses and abuses linguistic premises, the notion of linguistics as a cognitive science and thus the notion of language being mentally represented. It is not precise enough, clear enough, it is not scientific and uses the high sounding technical terms for the sake of sounding scientific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villan Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 i have done a course in this and notwithstanding scientific and other people's opinions of it as a whole, there is certainly, for me anyway, loads of interesting and useful ideas to cherry pick from it... especially the bits about interpersonal relationships and rapport and also the bits about chunking up/down. there were also good sections on self-talk and inner dialogue, some of which have also helped me alot... as far as its use as a therapy tool for what you want it for, i don't really have any experience of this. but i do have a great book at home and if it is something you decide may work for you, i am happy to have a look through for specifics for you if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily-Bee Posted April 16, 2012 Report Share Posted April 16, 2012 NLP when I hear it I already cringe,Im sure there are usefull things in it but in my opinion is mostly crap that doesnt really work. A lot of NLP teachers I find most creepy also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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