| Lately I've been asked a fair amount to help with providing NLP-related solutions to 'curing' addictions. My initial stance has always been that it would be far more effective to have someone else apply the 'therapy' as it were, to you. However talking to a friend in a PM he reminded me of a powerful method I used to help a friend quit smoking a few years ago.
And it's powerful. Yes.
It's something that Derren Brown also used in his early days and combined NLP with traditional psychology (anchors/classical conditioning and aversion therapy, to be specific); in fact it's nothing particularly different from traditional psychological therapies, but I'm going to stack and compound a few techniques here to give you an effective combo.
Still, I would maintain that the best thing you can do to stop any addiction is have the genuine will to stop it. That's half the way there. This is why it's so much easier to hypnotize someone who has given you consent or agreement on some level (often subconscious).
In any case, here we go:
1. Introspection
2. Catch the cusp
3. Replace the anchor using Swish techniques
4. Use an active and/or negative anchor
5. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
1. Introspection
OK, let's do this...so you're reading these words, right now, relax, be comfortable, and answer the following questions:
SET 1
1. What are you going to quit?
2. What about this habit makes you feel bad?
3. How much time and money do you spend on this habit?
4. What could you do instead with this time and money?
5. How much better would that be?
SET 2
1. If there was one thing (anything) that makes you want to do this habit, what is it?
2. Focus on this one thing. Perhaps it is a feeling or thought, an image or an action, or something completely different. Now, go inside yourself and imagine. As you read this, you are sitting down in a dark, empty cinema theatre. You are still focusing on this one thing that makes you want to do this habit. You are sitting on the third row from the front; but now, imagine yourself at the top, looking down on a smaller, black and white version of yourself sitting towards the bottom, three rows from the front. That version of you is focusing on that one thing that makes you want to do this habit. Watch him; is he still, moving, happy, sad?
3. If you had a magic wand, and you can somehow remove that one thing for that person sitting three rows from the front, what would you do in order to remove or subdue it?
4. Relax and remember, now. What is one method that you can do to help remove or subdue the habit that you just stated in question 3?
5. Is there any situation at all in which you can imagine yourself using that method?
6. Can you imagine yourself in a new world, where you are rid of this habit?
SET 3
1. If (hypothetically) there was a future version of yourself without this habit, can you imagine him now?
2. What does he look like? Is he smiling? How do you think he feels?
3. What is he doing now? Is he going somewhere or doing something?
4. Now imagine going to meet him. He looks down to you and greets you. What do you think he thinks of you? How do you feel about meeting him?
5. Now put yourself in his shoes. How does he feel about meeting you? What does he think of you?
6. Now stay in his head. You are him. Look down upon your old self, and thank him, then ask him to leave. What are you going to do next in your new self?
2. Catch the cusp
OK, great, now that you have looked at yourself, you can really learn more about how to progress. Catch the cusp. What I mean by this is, in the past, just before you were going to do this habit, what did you feel or do? Did you get a sensation, an image, a feeling, a thought, did you do an action? Remember this. Effectively, this was your natural 'anchor', to some extent, for when you would do this habit.
3. Replace the anchor using Swish techniques
Now, you are going to create a serious. Powerful method. A seriously powerful method, to replace this anchor. Because this anchor caused you to want to do this habit. Answer this, now, if you didn't feel the need to do this habit, would you do it? No. So, if you were to remove this need, would the habit be gone? Yes. And how would this feel?
Freedom is a great feeling with sunny skies.
OK.
Go back to the feeling, thoughts, image or actions just before you would do this habit.
Let us say it is an image. What you are going to do, is rapidly reduce this image down to something small and insignificant, whilst at the same time, rapidly replace it with a strong, colourful image of something else.
Essentially, you are replacing the anchor with one more beneficial to you.
You are going to modify the 'submodalities' of the image. So, for example, if just before you would smoke, you imagined a picture of a cigarette - you now do the following:
- COLOUR: Turn the picture black and white
- SOUND: There is no sound anymore
- SIZE: Reduce the picture to make it so small until it doesn't even exist anymore
- LIGHT: Turn the picture gradually from light to complete darkness
- DISTANCE: Move the cigarette further away from you until it is so far away
- STYLE: Render it into a comic/microsoft paint picture, so the detail is lost
All of this is done in the space of 3-5 seconds. You will need to practice this and learn and memorize it. First try with one or two, then add as you go along. You don't have to do them all, use the ones that work best for you and that you can imagine at the same time. You can even make up your own, but these are my suggested submodalities.
If you had a feeling or sound or action instead of an image, apply similar techniques. For an action, for instance, make it slower/freeze it, make it smaller, darker, further away. For a sound, reduce the volume, distort it into a goofy voice, etc.
Now that you have reduced your old anchor for the habit/addiction, replace it with your new anchor or image. Replace it by doing all the submodality shifts you did earlier, but in the opposite direction. So rather than making the image darker, make it lighter. Rather then making it black and white, add vibrant sparkling colour, etc. You may ask, what image or anchor should I replace it with? We will come onto that in the next section, though essentially it is your choice.
I'm going to compound this with a perspective shift. You don't have to add this, though if your imagination can handle it, it will only give you more power.
When you are reducing the old anchor, imagine yourself sitting in an empty movie theatre again. It is dark and all you can see is the huuge, wide screen - on this screen is your old image or anchor. Perform all the submodality shifts on this screen, rather than in your head, for the old anchor. When you are replacing it with the new image or anchor, however, bring the image of the cinema screen into your head rapidly, so you are once again viewing the image as you would normally. This is not easy to imagine so the less visual amongst you can skip it out.
With the new image/anchor, I want you to include as many senses as you can. Make the anchor big and bouncy, larger than life. Taste it, feel it, live it.
4. Use an active and/or negative anchor
So, you are replacing this old image or anchor that you get on the cusp, just before you are about to do this habit or addiction. What do you replace it with?
The one I used with my friend, and that Derren Brown has also used in the past among with many others, is any form of severe negative idea.
This could be deemed to be unethical, so I would add that you should do this at your own risk or discomfort. But hey, you asked for power, I am giving you one of the most effective methods that will ACTUALLY work.
Vomiting. Being sick. This is the one I used. If you replace the anchor with one of vomiting, everytime you think of doing the habit, instead, you will think of vomiting. The feeling is so strong that you will associate smoking, for example, with the feeling of vomiting. In time you will feel disgusted about smoking and, not only will you give it up, but you will actively avoid it.
If you have a fear, say of spiders, you could use this too. For example, every time you think of smoking, replace the anchor with a giant tarantula slithering up your neck.
You must make sure that the anchor is active, for added effect. That is, don't make it just an image. Add the image, which is good for the swish, then LIVE it; as I said, feel the spider crawling up your neck, or actively make yourself vomit/feel vomiting. Taste it! Some old psychological therapies (and this is still used in some parts) actually give you a vomiting pill. Now that'll associate it alright! It's widely acknowledged that such an extreme method is unethical and has its harms, but the point is, it's downright effective; it fucking works. But you're not going to take a pill. You're just going to live the anchor.
I would compound this finally, with a positive and engaging activity. For example, call a friend or go and do a chore, some work, or play a sport. This will take your mind off and keep you busy.
5. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
I'm telling you now, that EVERYONE always underestimates the power of repetition. Repetition is SO important. EVERY TIME you would get this craving, this image or anchor just before you want to do this habit, YOU FIRE OFF THE PROCESS you have learned here. The process will take a small bit of practice to become familiar with so you can do it automatically, but you must fire it EVERY TIME. REPEAT IT. Repetition = power.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Final thoughts
This is the method I would recommend if you were to try and give up an addiction using psychological/NLP-related tactics, by yourself. It's pretty powerful so make sure you do exactly as I say and don't miss out parts. You can combine these with affirmations in the morning and at night, and perhaps some self-hypnosis too; but, if you've got his far, stop. And congratulate yourself. You don't need to spend too much time, you will get there, it's just a matter of time. Because you want to give up the addiction, and that is half way there.
Much love,
Rafiel
|
CHAT
