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FEAR OF INJECTIONS
Hi there. I'm a failry new hypnotherapist and would like to have help in treatment for fear of needles.
I plan to use Parts Reframe, a general metaphor and then future pacing at the end. I always like to include some sort of set/standard script; perhaps with direct suggestions.
I would appreciated some help.
Thank you.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on -
Or, you could help your client tap into calming resources, anchor them and then use a quick phobia cure to banish that fear. I would wait to find out what your client's expectations of his experience with you are before deciding on exact techniques; keep your tool box open and ready!
Best wishes,
Kelley
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Permalink Reply by Jim Sloan on -
Thanks Kelley. Do you have any preferred phobia cure in mind? I mean...rewind ..or client sees a successful and painfree procedure on a screen? People seem to use different versions of quick phobia cure. For this particular phobia can you share with me how you would go about it? I know the client had a painful experience as a 6 year old child. Hope you can help.
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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on
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Hi Jim,
This is the method I generally use:
1. Give subject a remote control and have him see an image of self in B/W just before the response
2. Change a submodality (add color, movement, etc.) to elicit the response. Find the one that will create a reaction.
3. Calibrate level of phobic response (1-10)
4. Insert subject into movie theatre, looking at the original B/W "paused" freeze frame of himself on the screen
5. Float subject up into projection room, behind glass window
6. Start the movie; B/W (Notice subject is watching himself watch himself.)
7. At the end of the movie, add the submodality of color, sound or music, movement, etc.
8. Insert subject back into himself in the audience.
9. Play movie backwards, now with added submodality
10. Play forwards, calibrate response
11. Repeat, if necessary, adding different submodalities, until emotions are neutral. (I have rarely had to do this)
12. Test for phobic reaction with future pacing
I just used this approach for a diver who developed panic attacks at even the thought of going into the water; a terrible obstacle to his career. It was unnecessary to to go searching for the root cause (he believed it was stress related to his current schedule) and this phobia cure did the job in changing his reaction. While testing it in a future progression, I took care to have him notice positive aspects of the diving experience as he had told me he doesn't particularly enjoy it, it was just a means to make money.
Perhaps your client can find something interesting or delightful in the setting; you might even have him turn up his humor-meter a bit and have a giggle or two! As your client is aware of a connection between his past childhood experience and this trouble, engaging that child part of him will help make the changework.
:) Kelley
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Permalink Reply by Jim Sloan on
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Thanks Kelley for taking the time to give me that detailed reply. That is the format that I have used. I wonder ...what should the actual content of the film be? Should it be a painless and successful injection experience or the clients past , painful experience?
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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on
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Hi Jim,
The film needs to be of the "negative" experience. Let the client create the content, based on his most recent experience of the phobic reaction. Perhaps it was the last time he received an injection. If he can't recall it, he can base it on what he thinks it will be like. Most likely, though, all he has to do to feel the reaction is bring up the trigger imagery. Remember, the subconscious doesn't differentiate between real and imagined!
PS ~ You will provide the painless and successful experience when you future-pace him!
Jim Sloan said:Thanks Kelley for taking the time to give me that detailed reply. That is the format that I have used. I wonder ...what should the actual content of the film be? Should it be a painless and successful injection experience or the clients past , painful experience?
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Permalink Reply by Aino / Akpolarmom on -
I think using the FPC movie theater approach is a great tool. Kelley's version is a good representation of the different ways you can do it. I would add a talk to the Sub Conscious along the lines of " This was a useful reaction when you were 6 you are now no longer needing that 6 years old responds as you are a grown person...etc So... just as you could leave a lot of things in the past and learn new things you can also leave this now un-usefull reaction in the past and learn that you can feel comfortable and totally at peace while having a ____ (insert the clients words of why they want to overcome the fear ei having a blood test , taking insulin, vaccinations etc ) and confidently allow yourself to remain calm and relaxed as you no longer need the responds a 6 year old needed ... " You get the idea make your own that feels comfortable to you, and watch his reactions as you talk to him... don't just read a script, reemphasize the parts that get a reaction etc.
If you think it will keep his attention I have heard people giving the client a curiosity, a need to actually watch the injection and chuckle at it, as they discover that it is not painful. The other way is to double insure them by teaching them a 'glove anesthesia' that they can apply to the site before having the procedure. let us know how it all worked out !
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Permalink Reply by Marc Carlin on -
Hi Jim,
There are a number of ways that you can address this problem and the ways mentioned so far are definitely workable solutions.
I recently worked with a young woman that recently became pregnant and she had developed a fear of needles, according to her it happened in her early twenties. I did a number of things to help her get over her fear, and one of the tools that I gave her that she really loved, was the ability to turn off the slightest bit of pain from the needle prick. [That's the pinch caused by the needle, not the nurse ;-) ]. This was something that she really loved doing and since she had to subject herself to quite a number of blood tests in just one sitting, it really helped her to feel relaxed and confident that she could get through the ordeal without any worry or concern.
I'm really not sure which of the techniques I used worked to get her over her fear, but I do know that she was really excited at having the ability to control her own experience of pain.
Marc
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Permalink Reply by Jim Sloan on
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Hi marc,
Would that be similar to developing a Magic Spot on both of the forearms, where pain acnt be felt?
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Permalink Reply by John Cleesattel on -
Kelley,
This is a really good breakdown of the FPC. I have found it is very effective if you have the subject start the movie someplace where they are comfortable and safe, and after encountering the fear event, ending up comfortable and safe again. The only reason I bring it up is that when I forget to include that part, I don't get total removal of the fear. When I do include it, the fear is always gone.
Just my two cents
John
Kelley Woods said:Hi Jim,
This is the method I generally use:
1. Give subject a remote control and have him see an image of self in B/W just before the response
2. Change a submodality (add color, movement, etc.) to elicit the response. Find the one that will create a reaction.
3. Calibrate level of phobic response (1-10)
4. Insert subject into movie theatre, looking at the original B/W "paused" freeze frame of himself on the screen
5. Float subject up into projection room, behind glass window
6. Start the movie; B/W (Notice subject is watching himself watch himself.)
7. At the end of the movie, add the submodality of color, sound or music, movement, etc.
8. Insert subject back into himself in the audience.
9. Play movie backwards, now with added submodality
10. Play forwards, calibrate response
11. Repeat, if necessary, adding different submodalities, until emotions are neutral. (I have rarely had to do this)
12. Test for phobic reaction with future pacing
I just used this approach for a diver who developed panic attacks at even the thought of going into the water; a terrible obstacle to his career. It was unnecessary to to go searching for the root cause (he believed it was stress related to his current schedule) and this phobia cure did the job in changing his reaction. While testing it in a future progression, I took care to have him notice positive aspects of the diving experience as he had told me he doesn't particularly enjoy it, it was just a means to make money.
Perhaps your client can find something interesting or delightful in the setting; you might even have him turn up his humor-meter a bit and have a giggle or two! As your client is aware of a connection between his past childhood experience and this trouble, engaging that child part of him will help make the changework.
:) Kelley
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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on
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Thank you, John. That's a great tip and easy to include! I'll make sure to add it to the process...
John Cleesattel said:Kelley,
This is a really good breakdown of the FPC. I have found it is very effective if you have the subject start the movie someplace where they are comfortable and safe, and after encountering the fear event, ending up comfortable and safe again. The only reason I bring it up is that when I forget to include that part, I don't get total removal of the fear. When I do include it, the fear is always gone.
Just my two cents
John
Kelley Woods said:Hi Jim,
This is the method I generally use:
1. Give subject a remote control and have him see an image of self in B/W just before the response
2. Change a submodality (add color, movement, etc.) to elicit the response. Find the one that will create a reaction.
3. Calibrate level of phobic response (1-10)
4. Insert subject into movie theatre, looking at the original B/W "paused" freeze frame of himself on the screen
5. Float subject up into projection room, behind glass window
6. Start the movie; B/W (Notice subject is watching himself watch himself.)
7. At the end of the movie, add the submodality of color, sound or music, movement, etc.
8. Insert subject back into himself in the audience.
9. Play movie backwards, now with added submodality
10. Play forwards, calibrate response
11. Repeat, if necessary, adding different submodalities, until emotions are neutral. (I have rarely had to do this)
12. Test for phobic reaction with future pacing
I just used this approach for a diver who developed panic attacks at even the thought of going into the water; a terrible obstacle to his career. It was unnecessary to to go searching for the root cause (he believed it was stress related to his current schedule) and this phobia cure did the job in changing his reaction. While testing it in a future progression, I took care to have him notice positive aspects of the diving experience as he had told me he doesn't particularly enjoy it, it was just a means to make money.
Perhaps your client can find something interesting or delightful in the setting; you might even have him turn up his humor-meter a bit and have a giggle or two! As your client is aware of a connection between his past childhood experience and this trouble, engaging that child part of him will help make the changework.
:) Kelley
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Permalink Reply by Adrian Tannock on -
Hiya,
I use this technique more than any other - I find it just works ...
Here's an article detailing how I use it. I pretty much follow Kelley's steps, but dispense with the cinema imagery (I find it superfluous) and instead go for CCTV imagery instead (CCTV handily is comprised of the "submodalities" you're looking to impose on the memory: black & white / dissociated and small).
http://adriantannock.com/2008/01/18/freedom-from-the-past-part-2/
The key is repetition. Understand that what you're trying to do is re-process the content of the situationally accessible memory (SAM) of a traumatic or sensitising event(s), in order to stop the amygdala from activating the fear response.
This basically means you've got to get into the emotional content of the experience. So at first, as a person plays the memory forwards & backwards, it'll keep 'pulling them in' (from 3rd person to 1st person), becoming colour, new details remembered, etc... This means they're going from a visualised remembrance (verbally accessible memory) into the problematic, traumatic memory. After a few repetitions of the VK Dissociation process, it'll pull them in less / stay black & white / get smaller, grainier... This means you're making progress in dealing with the somatic content of the memory, and the incident is becoming desensitised.
Do that for the full array of sensitising events, and standard phobias disappear - the amygdala is no longer involved.
Here's a (straightforward) document that talks about the various memories implicated in PTSD (which has relevance for phobic responses):
http://www.med.uio.no/ipsy/ssff/konferanser/presentasjoner5nasjonal...
Cheers,
ADrian
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