PHOBIAS AND NLP by Patricia O'Reilly

As human's we have a unique ability to do one trial learning. Difficult as it may be to believe sometimes, especially when we keep butting our heads against a wall. Because of this unique ability it is possible that from one occurence of an extremely unpleasant experience we can generalize that all such experiences will have the same paralizing result. It also must be remembered that safety is an issue here and that somehow this response, at least originally, was a way to keep us safe. And while it may no longer be the most appropiate response, the original purpose has to be honoured.

When someone comes to me to deal with an intense negative reaction, I start by making sure they understand the two points above. This awareness sets the frame from which to begin. It is always important to me that you be as safe and comfortable as possible. In working with someone with an intense negative reaction, the next step involves helping the person to be as resourceful as possible. Then separating out the painful experience and assisting the person to bring positive resourceful qualities that they would like to have into the experience.

It's very important to work with the person to make sure their own personal safety is still protected and check to ensure that as they move out into the world they have the resources needed to deal with the situations they will face.

Because NLP deals with the process rather than the content it can get results very quickly.

Dealing with phobias is one of the areas in which NLP excels. The process is relatively quick, usually two visits, unless there are other resulting issues that must be dealt with as well. There are also times where a person has more than one phobia (or a cluster) and sometimes dealing with the first one will also relieve others. For those people with agoraphobia, this technique will give partial relief and there are other tools which can be helpful.