Consultation
The Feels
In session, you may experience feelings or sensations which may be uncomfortable at times as you come into contact with something that has “charge” or memories that are hard or difficult for you to look at.
It is common for people to begin feeling tired, experience headaches, feel ill, cold, hot, or have some physical sensation or discomfort. This means we are coming in contact with the hardest part of what you are looking at. By staying with it just a little while longer, these feelings of unease should go away. Please always let me know if they do not subside.
Unblocking
I would like to introduce you to a technique called unblocking and explain how it works.
Unblocking consists of a list of questions that address mental and emotional “blocks” we may have on a given subject. Throughout this process, we will make sure each new question makes sense to you before I ask. I’ll be asking you each one of these questions a number of times, until you feel that one is complete or have no further answers for the given question. Thereafter, we will move on to the next question.
As many questions as needed will be used to take the subject being addressed to an end point. Which is to say, of course, that you’ll feel a shift in how you perceive the topic and will feel satisfied about it. As long as you are still interested in working on a topic, we will stay with it.
You will find that these questions are phrased a bit oddly. This is not how we normally speak to each other. The wording is deliberately designed to be as global and inclusive as possible. For instance, if we happen to be addressing the topic of apples, the first unblocking question would be: “concerning apples, has anything been suppressed?”
That means suppressed or squashed down by yourself, by someone else, by circumstances, by society, or other parties. You will see that we are addressing all the possible flows of causation in one question this way.
When asked these questions, you can just respond with whatever comes to mind — even if you don’t immediately see how it fits as an answer. I will acknowledge your response and ask you the same question again. This is not to imply that there is anything wrong with your first answer, but rather to present a fresh opportunity to view the subject being addressed through the lens of that particular unblocking question.
This repetitive type of technique is called “unlayering” as looking at something several times allows for us to peel layers from it, like peeling an onion. As we take a fresh look at something over and over, we see new things about it. The variety of unblocking questions gives us different angles from which to view the same subject.
Unblocking is not used for topics that seem fairly light and insignificant to you, the client. It is best used for topics that really engage your interest and seem very fruitful to address.
Basic TIR
You may be used to the idea that a therapist or practitioner tells you what your problems are and gives you interpretations, advice, or reassurance. I am not going to do that, as I operate under a strict set of rules which are designed to empower you. My role as a facilitator supports the work you need to do in reviewing your life experiences and in integrating them so they can be a source of information and personal growth from which to draw upon in creating your future.
Our sessions will have no fixed length. After we have a few sessions, we will have a better idea of what an average viewing session time is for you. Our goal for each session is to release emotional charge on the issue being addressed, ending at a point where you feel better about that issue. A session usually lasts between 60-90 minutes but can last longer, or may be shorter.
I will not bring up outside of a session anything that is said or done during your sessions with you or with anyone else. The only exception is consultation with a technical director/ supervisor, who is also bound by rules of confidentiality. I never use your name, only a number reference, which I will code your file with for this purpose. It may be difficult for others to understand your insights and realizations. Therefore, they may make comments that negate to some degree the progress you have made. For this reason, I recommend that you avoid sharing the contents of your sessions with others.
TIR sessions require you to be alert and to have the energy to do the work. So, get a good night’s sleep, eat a light meal, and do not drink alcohol within 24 hours preceding a session. Avoid taking medication such as aspirin, sleeping pills etc. that is not required. Always let me know if you have taken anything of this sort that you haven’t already told me about, or if you are feeling tired.
The TIR technique consists of a series of instructions to help you locate and review one past traumatic incident at a time, bringing forth memories, so that the full incident can be reviewed and the emotional charge associated with it can be released once and for all. This may sound painful, but viewers often report that the process of doing it is actually liberating rather than distressing. It is easier to spend the time going through an incident and fully facing it than it is to spend energy holding off the incident or the painful feelings coming from it. We will be going through an incident as many times as necessary to fully discharge that event, or series of events that we are addressing. This repetition is a key factor in the success of the TIR technique.
As you go through an incident a number of times, you may find that your perception of it changes, sometimes substantially. This is a normal phenomenon that comes out as a result of the painful charge in the incident being reduced as you view it. Sometimes you may experience unpleasant feelings or emotions as a result of going through a traumatic incident. This is both normal and a sign that you are contacting the incident well.
I will go over the TIR instructions with you so that you know what to expect, and to answer any questions that you might have. Many people find it easier to go through incidents during TIR with their eyes closed. You may close your eyes at any time during the sessions if you like.