How to dismantle the threat response?

[Keith]

I'm a big fan of Phillip J Eby's writings. He seems to have a lot of insight into how the mind works. I've been plugging the article at Backpedalling Your Brain (dirtSimple.org) a lot lately, because it strongly feels like Truth to me - but I don't know how to put it into practical effect.

Phillip has a very 'upselling' model (he takes the position that people will value it more if they pay for it, which has some merit) and his keen insights tend to be followed by a big empty space re: application.

So I was hoping someone here could help me - how do you mentally 'deprogram' things that are perceived by your subconscious as threats that are holding you back? Phillip (and his testimonials) imply that it's a quick process, not one of extended affirmations etc. He also indicates that positive affirmations only really work once you've "deleted" negative "programs" that would block their absorption. It sounds like deleting particular emotional associations.

Does anyone here have an idea about what he's talking about and how to do it?

Thanks.

P.S. The Multiple Self (dirtSimple.org) is also pertinent.

[PJE]

Originally Posted by Keith

So I was hoping someone here could help me - how do you mentally 'deprogram' things that are perceived by your subconscious as threats that are holding you back? Phillip (and his testimonials) imply that it's a quick process, not one of extended affirmations etc.

Insofar as there's an "it", "it" is a quick process for each block -- not a one-time deal that turns you into me or Steve Pavlina overnight, unless you only have one more block than he or I do. ;-)

However, it's not really an "it" because I teach multiple methods, and there are probably other methods that could be applied to the same end result, if you know what to apply it to.

For example, I've recently been experimenting with the "releasing" technique of the Sedona method, but haven't yet confirmed whether it has any permanent effect. I only teach methods that require a single application to a target block, as there are plenty enough of those that there's no point (IMO) in messing with ones that take time and practice.

Why? Because if you can switch off the threat response, then you'll be naturally more able to use the "standard" self-help techniques that require discipline to further your growth. Frankly, huge segments of what's taught as self-help or personal development (including much of Steve Pavlina's recommendations) are only really usable or accessible to people who aren't stuck in threat-response land. (Which he would probably describe as a lower level of consciousness.)

What I do is teach people to aggressively raise their consciousness by removing mental associations that keep them stuck at the threat-response levels.

Originally Posted by Keith

He also indicates that positive affirmations only really work once you've "deleted" negative "programs" that would block their absorption. It sounds like deleting particular emotional associations.

Yes, to both. Positive programming is useless if every time you think it, your brain responds back with something negative. All you're doing is practicing having a negative response to it! So, unless you delete the association, you're wasting your time.

Now, the forms of association vary considerably, as they can be routed through a belief, a judgment, or a reinforced behavior pattern, as well as simple emotional conditioning. (Which is why I teach more than one technique.)

Originally Posted by Keith

Does anyone here have an idea about what he's talking about and how to do it?

If you look through my 2006 archives, I've actually shared links to background on some of the techniques I teach. Really, I don't think any of the techniques I teach can't be found in some form, somewhere free online; they are all derived from other methodologies such as NLP. The value I add is in identifying ones that work for the specific application, putting them together into a system, and providing hands-on training, especially with respect to seeing which beliefs or responses are actually problematic for you.

Techniques themselves are a dime a dozen, and you can find plenty of techniques for deactivating a harmful response out there. What isn't out there, for the most part, is a good understanding of how these things fit together, or what they should be applied to. That's what my work is intended to address.

--PJE

[Keith]

Thanks. I'm going back through the 2006 archives right now...

[Brutha]

A nlp swish might be a technique you are looking for.

[ProjectX]

Originally Posted by Brutha

A nlp swish might be a technique you are looking for.

Are you talking about tapping?

Free Videos - Tapping.com

[MagicalRealist]

Originally Posted by Keith

So I was hoping someone here could help me - how do you mentally 'deprogram' things that are perceived by your subconscious as threats that are holding you back?

I don't have time to read Eby's stuff right now, but I'll tell you what works for me. And it is a quick process, especially once you get used to using it.

The key is learning to recognize when you're acting from those subconscious "programs." I do it by paying attention to my emotions and my "gut feelings." If I'm about to enter a situtation and I feel nervous, I don't dismiss it--I acknowledge that nervousness. Then I stop and try to figure out what the message is behind it. Why am I nervous? And it's inevitably because my subconscious is telling me something like, "These people aren't going to accept you because you're totally uncool," or "You might lose everything in this deal, and will die broke," or "Your art is too weird and people will laugh at it."

The subconscious doesn't analyze. Once certain messages are programmed into it, they don't evolve unless they are forced to--either by hard experience or conscious effort. The subconscious is perfectly content to keep sending out the same familiar messages, wrong and limiting and self-defeating as they may be.

If you got bullied a lot at school, your subconscious will keep telling you to expect bullying and rejection long after your school days are over. If you've grown up with no contact with people of a certain race or culture--save the negative portrayals of them on TV and in movies--you'll expect the worst from real, live members of those groups when you finally do encounter them. If your parents had negative, defeatist subconscious attitudes toward money, and you grew up seeing those in action, you'll probably end up with those same attitudes.

I was the kid who was bullied in school, and got no help whatsoever from teachers or even my parents. So my subconscious told me to expect rejection, harassment and persecution. It told me that authority figures didn't care and couldn't be trusted or relied upon, so I had to fight all my battles on my own--and that there would always be battles. These subconscious patterns, needless to say, didn't help me as a young adult.

The way I got past those ideas (and many others) was to pay attention to what I was feeling and look for the subconscious idea behind it. Sometimes I'd be unaccountably angry or belligerent--then realize that my subconscious was telling me to expect a fight, even when there was no outward evidence that such a thing was going to happen. I'd get all in a lather just walking in the door of my bank when there was something wrong on my statement, or if I had to return a piece of clothing to a store--my subconscious told me, "You're going to meet with resistance! Stand your ground!"

Simply becoming aware of those subconscious messages and the responses they provoke is a huge step. Because in that moment of awareness, I can say, "No, that's wrong--I don't need to fight anymore," or "No, that's wrong--I'm funny and interesting, and if I go talk to people they will see that and like me," or "No, that's wrong--most people really are trustworthy and decent," or "No, that's wrong--I probably won't lose my shirt on this deal, and if I do I can always find a way to make more money. I'll be fine."

By bringing those subconscious messages into conscious awareness, I can expose them for the self-defeating programming they are, then make a conscious decision to replace them with something better. I boldfaced that because from my experience that's really all there is to it.

[PJE]

Originally Posted by MagicalRealist

Simply becoming aware of those subconscious messages and the responses they provoke is a huge step. Because in that moment of awareness, I can say, "No, that's wrong--I don't need to fight anymore," or "No, that's wrong--I'm funny and interesting, and if I go talk to people they will see that and like me," or "No, that's wrong--most people really are trustworthy and decent," or "No, that's wrong--I probably won't lose my shirt on this deal, and if I do I can always find a way to make more money. I'll be fine."

By bringing those subconscious messages into conscious awareness, I can expose them for the self-defeating programming they are, then make a conscious decision to replace them with something better. I boldfaced that because from my experience that's really all there is to it.

All quite true, of course. Except that not *all* of those messages are immediately susceptible to such an approach to change.

For example, you might find that you still believe something negative, even if you don't think you should. (i.e., even if you don't consciously believe it, you still feel -- and act -- as if it were true.

For many people, a simple conscious attempt like you're describing results in a new feeling - one of incongruity, self-deception, and alienation. Because when they say something like, "I'm funny and interesting", they feel like they're lying.

So, my work is aimed at that kind of person and problem, even though identifying the "messages" (as you call them) is a common first step regardless.

[PJE]

Originally Posted by ProjectX

Are you talking about tapping?

Heavens, no.

Now, I'm pretty sure it would *work*, mind you -- for a certain class of problems. The complexity alone would see to that. Heck, one guy has proved you can actually use a keychain "Simon" game to do the same thing as EFT, EMDR, and even the NLP phobia cure. Then there's Grinder's alphabet game. Or... well, you get the point. There are jillions of these methods out there. I prefer to use ones that are easy to learn, teach, and use, though.

Of course, that's just for disrupting a first-order conditioned emotion link -- second-order judgments, beliefs, subsystems, etc. are pretty much unaffected by these simple link-disruption techniques.

All that having been said, tapping.com actually looks like a pretty decent site. You could certainly do a lot worse.