In mathematics and physics, phenomena that change with time are often plotted on a graph with time as the horizontal axis. The further to the left on the axis you go, the later time advances.
Clearly, our lives are phenomena that change with time. We can “plot” events of our lives along a “time-line” starting from birth (or conception) at point zero, and subsequent events to the right of point zero, as time increases.
We have a marvelous capability. It’s called memory. We can remember many events that took place in our lives. Some pleasant, some painful, and mostly, the ordinary events of daily life.
But some events, usually negative ones, somehow make an imprint in memory that’s deeper than an everyday event. These events are often described as traumatic. Some of these events may cause phobias. Consider a young child being barked at by a large “friendly” dog. This child may be afraid of dogs for the rest of his/her life.
Or, more to the point of this post, a child may have had a “traumatic” experience in a doctor’s office, and have carried this “negative” imprint of doctors all the way to adulthood.
Similarly, a child may have witnessed a parent suffering from a disease, let’s say, polycystic kidney disease, and didn’t yet have the mental capacity to fully understand and process the parent’s experience. You can easily understand that this child, when later on in life is him/herself diagnosed with PKD, will perceive that diagnosis in a rather negative, probably even a fearful light.
This, and similar experiences which occur early in an individual’s time-line can distort a patient’s perspective of his/her current situation. In effect, the patient is carrying baggage from the past.
Although some aspects of the past experience can be helpful, by and large, the negative baggage is not helpful.
OK. So if you recognize that you have had a somewhat traumatic experience relating to your disease or to the medical professional, it would seem helpful to get rid of the baggage!
The key is simple! The realization may not be easy!
The young person who experienced the traumatic event is not the “you” of today! The younger “you” didn’t have the capacity to process what was going back at that time! The current “you” does!
The suggestion is to play a “mind game” in which the current “you” goes backwards along your time-line to the event and “parent” the younger “you” concerning the traumatic event.
This will disassociate the current “you” from the trauma experienced by the younger “you” in such a way that the current “you” will be much less affected by that early traumatic event.
I know this may be a bit confusing. I know it works. I’ve done it!
Please let me know if you would like further explanation of this NLP “mind game!”
info@innergameofpkd.com is my e-mail address!
And may your time-line be a long one!
Peace and Blessings!
Coach Richie Perl
Certified Professional Coach
Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming
