Your role in the process "How-To" tips from Tim

1. Calibrate. First we identify the present state. "What's it like for you when
you're in the presence of the allergen?" Watch for the person's body language, e
ye accessing cues, breathing, skin tone, muscle tension and so on So you can ide
ntify the state. You will want to see this state looking different (and more res
ourceful) when you test at the end of the process .
2. Explain the mistake of the immune system. Explain that the person's immune sy
stem has made a mistake about something being dangerous when it really isn't. Th
e immune system has marked out something as harmful, that is not harmful in and
of itself. Let the person know that it can be retrained rather quickly.
3. Check for ecology/secondary gain. Ask, Is there any good reason you can think
of for having this response? What would the person's life be like without this? C
ould there be any negative consequences to eliminating the reaction? If any ecol
ogy issues surface, use other NLP techniques to deal with these issues before pr
oceeding.
Here is an example of an ecology problem: The woman who reacted to the eyeglasses
had friends who were allergic to things, too. So she did a Tupperware-like part
y for allergies. Suzi and I used this opportunity to test the process further. W
e worked with person after person. One woman who was on the verge of changing st
arted acting hesitant about making a change. Suzi asked, What s going on? This woman
was unconsciously trying to self-induce an asthmatic reaction. She wasn t sure if
she want to be free of asthma. Her grandfather had invented a sort of inhaler t
hat helped her. The inhaler was commercially successful for her family. But not
only that, Grandpa had invented it for her. It represented his love and caring t
o her. Now, do you see some ecology problems? What would it mean if she no longe
r needed to use it?
So we had to do a little reframing. What would her grandfather really want for h
er no longer having asthmatic reactions or having to use the device? (She said, a
fter thinking about it, He wanted me well.) Even if the process worked for her, a
nd no longer needed her grandfather s invention, the device was still valuable for
lots of other people.
4. Find an appropriate counter example resource. There are two types of counter ex
amples that can be used as resources: a. A time when the person was in the prese
nce of the allergen and had a resourceful response, or b. Something similar to t
he allergen to which the person has no allergic response.
5. So the fifth step is to see self with the allergen through the glass.
Participant: I m still concerned about Step Five. They are seeing themselves with
the counter example?
Tim: She is seeing herself being okay, her best self, with the counter example,
while you are holding the anchor. Then you let go of that still holding the anch
or. She then sees herself exposed to the agent and still being okay. Just like s
he was with the counter example.
6. Introduce the allergen. As the person is watching herself over there behind t
he Plexiglas," have her see herself in the presence of the problem agent, the th
ing that used to create the problem. At this point, wait until you see a physiol
ogical shift. It's like the immune system says, "All right, I've got it... I've
learned a new response."
Participant: Is Step Six looking through the glass as well?
Tim: Yes.
Participant: And do you hold the anchor?
Tim: I am holding the anchor throughout the whole process all the way through the
future pace.
7. Re-associate. Drop the Plexiglas and bring the person back into her body. Hav
e her imagine she is in the presence of the allergen as you continue to hold the
resource anchor. Have her associate into being fully present with whatever the a
llergen was. Finally, you drop the Plexiglas.
Participant: Do you drop the anchor as well?
Tim: Nope. You hold the anchor all the way. This is what makes it work. You want
to hold that state stable all the way through the future pace.
8. Future pace. Have her then imagine a time in the future when she will be in t
he presence of whatever it was that she was reacting to. (Now Tim drops the anch
or.)
9. Test. If you can actually test safely on the spot, do that. If not, re-calibr
ate

Can you do this by yourself or do you have to have somebody s help? If you want to
work on something by yourself, use a space anchor. I just put a piece of paper
down. Once I have counter example, I step into the space marked by the paper and
really imagine myself with the counter example. Then, I step out to make sure I
had a positive example. Then I step back on the floor anchor, look through the
Plexiglas, and do the process all from there. But it is always better to work wi
th another person. One plus one equals more than two.

First Demonstration
Tim (to Sandy): All right, so what are you allergic to in addition to lilies?
Sandy: Grasses, trees, molds, everything, but lilies really trigger me.
Tim: Okay, so lilies might be a good place to start?
Sandy: Yes.
Tim: But are there certain plants that you are okay with?
Sandy: Roses.
Tim: So, do you like roses?
Sandy: I do.
Tim: Do you like the smell?
Sandy: Yes.
Tim: So have you have reached down and smelled a rose?
Sandy: Many times.
Tim: And you like that?
Sandy: Yeah.
Tim: So we are just going to anchor that. Image you are smelling that rose. You
know what that is like. And when you smell a rose your body knows exactly how to
deal with it in an effective way, doesn t it?
Sandy: Yes.
Tim: (Tim anchors the state of smelling a rose.) Okay, excellent. And just kind
of let that go.
(To Group): So I just anchored that. And I want to just test the anchor. (Tim le
ts go of the anchor, then reactivates it.) There it is. Can you all see it? So I
want to make sure that the anchor is there.
(To Sandy): So now what I would like you to do is imagine from the floor to the
ceiling that there is a big thick piece of Plexiglas, like they have at the shar
k tank at the aquarium. And we can look through it way out there into the distan
ce and you can see Sandy out there with a rose, smelling a rose and enjoying it
and having her immune system function exactly perfect with that. Do you have a s
ense of that? So her immune system knows just how to be perfect with that rose.
You can enjoy it. Be with a beautiful object in nature, right?
(To Group): That looks good, does not it?
(To Sandy): So let that go, still looking through the Plexiglas over there. Let
that picture go and in the same place see yourself over there smelling a lily wi
th the same ability and quality. Keep doing it. Seeing yourself way over there w
ith this fully present to you.
(To Group): How does she look?
(To Sandy): There you go, that looks different now, doesn t it? Now image coming b
ack into your body, kachunk. Let the Plexiglas go.
Sandy: Okay.
Tim: So imagine that I m holding a lily and you can smell it. How is that?
(To Group): It looks really different.
(To Sandy): Okay, so when is the next time you might be around a lily? Got a sen
se of that? So imagine taking this with you. In the past, how long would it take
before a symptom came on with this?
Sandy: It was immediate.
Tim: So immediate and what happens?
Sandy: My eyes would itch, my nose would run, I would start sneezing, the roof o
f my mouth would itch, I would get congested.
Tim: Okay. And the longer you were around it the worse it got.
Sandy: I couldn t breathe, like being able to take a deep breath. No way.
Tim: Okay, so get a sense of being with the rose again. Do you have a sense of t
hat?
Sandy: Yeah.
Tim: Lovely. Okay, one more time. See yourself way out there with the rose and y
ou are fine, through the Plexiglas. Then being with the lily. There, that looks
different, doesn t it? So imagine being your body. One more time, image I m holding
that lily and take a little whiff of it. Is it safe and appropriate to test it g
ently? Yes?
Sandy: Yes. Do I smell the lily? Do I get to smell the rose first? Okay, alright
.
Tim: Okay. Don t overdo it. You always want to test it gently at first.
Sandy: Do I get to smell the rose too?
Tim: Yeah.
Sandy: Oh good.
Tim: So what is happening? (to group): Now she is going to be snorting the lilie
s.
Sandy: Well, I m breathing just fine. I m able to breathe deeply.
Tim: And in the past you said that your reaction would have been pretty immediat
e right?
Sandy: Yeah, yeah.
Tim: Well, thank your immune system. And just drop inside and ask your immune sy
stem to generalize this to all the pollens and grasses and molds because they ar
e just a mistake as well. And give yourself a sense of appreciation because your
immune system is a remarkable thing. Every little macrophage can go, I get it. T
hat s just debris. Okay, lovely. Good work.
Sandy: Thank you.

Second Demonstration
Tim: So, Charles had kind of a general allergy. He wasn t clear; it was something
in the air, right?
Charles: I know dust does it. I don t know what else does it.
Tim: Okay, well, let s do it with dust. Dust is really a common one. And it s usuall
y not just the dust. It s the tiny mites in the dust that are microscopic. So, you
are allergic to dust. So, what s it like if there is a lot of dust floating aroun
d here? I want to calibrate it a little bit.
Charles: It is at maximum when I vacuum because the filter is not perfect, it le
ts some dust out and I end up smelling the dust.
Tim: So, image there is a bunch of dust in the air because you have been vacuumi
ng.
Charles: Yeah, then I have to wipe my nose a lot.
Tim: Imagine doing it now. Get a sense of it. We want to calibrate it. Okay.
(To Group): See the tension around here (pointing to Charles s face). His color ch
anges. You can start to get some of it by imagining.
(To Charles): So let it go.
(To Group): That is usually a good sign, by the way, that this process will work
. So, we have identified the present state. We have calibrated it. This reaction
is going to be your final test for whether or not the processed worked, so you
will want to calibrate at the beginning. We will always, always, always do that.
(To Charles): Is there any good reason for this dust allergy?
Charles: I don t think so.
Tim: Does it get you out of housework?
Charles: No, it doesn t get me out of housework. I have to do it anyway.
Tim: Then you d have to suffer anyway, right?
Charles: I suffer anyway.
Tim: So, drop inside and just check. Is there any part of it that is for any goo
d reason you can think of?
Charles: I don t think so.
Tim (to Group): If we have any ecology problem, it will come up later anyway, bu
t it is often useful just to ask. Sometimes people will suddenly get an understa
nding. Ah well, it keeps me from having to do something. One guy who was allergic
to dust was a professor at Stanford. He gave a lot of lectures to high-powered p
eople. And sometimes he d get this allergy. Then he could use it as an excuse if h
e didn t perform as well as he wanted to. He would say something like this: Well, I
had this allergy. Otherwise I would have been great. So we wanted to find anothe
r way to deal with that.
(To Charles): So what s a counter example? What is something similar, in your mind
, to dust? Something that you are stay fine around? You could either choose a ti
me when you were okay around it or something similar.
Charles: I don t think there is a time when I am okay around it. Most kinds of pol
len are okay for me.
Tim: Pollen?
Charles: Maybe there is some stuff I am allergic to but I smell flowers without
repercussions.
Tim: Okay, so if somebody gave you a rose, you could smell it all day and it wou
ld be fine right?
Charles: I never had a flower that I smelled and felt anything.
Tim: Okay. And, of course, pollen has little particulates and stuff, same as dus
t, right? Probably has little organisms in it too. You wouldn t believe how much b
acteria is running around in your body right now. And there are all these little
organisms everywhere.
Charles: They are supposed to be there. It keeps other organisms away.
Tim: So, let s use pollen. As per your model of the world, those are pretty simila
r, right? Some other possibilities with dust would be road dust. Have you ever t
ried taking a walk or a hike in the hills?
Charles: I get allergic from that as well.
Tim: From that as well? Because sometimes people can be around dust up on a trai
l. How about flour? You may sift flour. Flour that you make bread out of.
Charles: I m not allergic to that.
Tim: Somebody could be making bread or something and you can be around that kind
of flour.
(To Group): So, that would be another one. If he couldn t think of a counter examp
le, I could start thinking of what it might be like. What s another thing that s sim
ilar?
(To Charles): I think pollen is a good one. And I guess you said roses are fine.
Most people are familiar with smelling roses, right? So, imagine you have a ros
e here. And you smell it. And your body knows just how to deal with that, doesn t
it? So, you are fine with it. You can just enjoy the rose; enjoy your life.
Imagine one more time, you re smelling the rose. Kind of memorize that response. A
nd I m asking your unconscious to do that as well. Imagine there is a piece of Ple
xiglas from the floor to the ceiling, which is really thick. Look way out there. F
ind a blank space there and little up. Then look out there and see Charles, smel
ling the rose through that glass and being just like you the kind of you that you wa
nt to be being absolutely fine. How does that look?
Exactly where that is, let it go and replace it by seeing yourself around the du
st and maybe in your living room there is a vacuum going and over there. But you
have this ability here being just the way you want to be. Okay.
(To Group): That looks good doesn t it? Did you all see the little shift? Like a l
ittle relaxation?
(To Charles): So now let the Plexiglas go. Imagine that now you are in your livi
ng room and vacuuming over there and there is some dust over there. Now go ahead
and think about that. Do you see the little specks, with light shinning on?
Charles: No, I don t see that. They are microscopic.
Tim: Okay. My dust is bigger than that.
Charles: My vacuum sort of has a filter that takes the large parts out.
Tim: Just image the little particulates are coming in but you have this ability.
(To Group): When I say this ability, I am just holding the anchor a little bit mor
e.
(To Charles): Just kind of let go of the vacuum but imagine those little particu
lates are around. How are you now?
Charles: I m okay.
Tim: That looks good, doesn t it? It looks really different. So you will be able t
o test this over the next few days?
Charles: Probably, next weekend.
Tim: So, imagine it s next Saturday. You are vacuuming your house.
Charles: Sunday.
Tim: Okay, it s Sunday and you are vacuuming. There are those little particulates.
How is that? And you have to agree that you will vacuum your house on Sunday.
Charles: It s due anyway.
Tim: So let s imagine it s a year from now and you have been vacuuming safely for a
year. Those little particulates are no more problem. And you can look back in ti
me and you can look all the way back to when you let go of that.
We will want a report back when we see you next.

Questions and Answers

Does this work with autoimmune diseases? Autoimmune illnesses are usually confli
cts. One part of you is fighting another part. So, I would start by integrating
conflicts.
Will this process work if my problem is stress induced? It definitely might.
Does this work with food allergies? Sure. It also works with bee stings. It work
s with medicines. It works with almost anything. We are working with the process
, how you react, not specific content.
Does this work with something like eczema? It can. You just need to know what yo
u are allergic to. I worked with a little boy who was seven years old. He had ec
zema. I just had him imagine going down deep like he was going down into an elev
ator, deep inside of himself. Then I had him ask himself what it was? He came up
with two things: salt water and orange juice. His mother had given him orange j
uice practically everyday of his life. So we worked with that. And his eczema we
nt away.
What would be a good counter example for cigarette smoke? Fireplace smoke, campf
ire smoke, incense, sometimes cigars. Some people crave cigarettes but not cigar
s.
How about chocolate? If somebody is a chocoholic, what would be a good counter e
xample? Intuitively, some people go for some kind of food that they think is dis
gusting. Instead choose something that you are okay with that is similar to choc
olate. Some people are allergic to chocolate but not divinity. Or they can eat c
aramels but not chocolates. If you are okay with peanuts, peanut butter s texture
is similar to chocolate.
If you are allergic to milk, what would be a good counter example? What is like
milk? Rice Dream? Soy milk? The counter example, in the person s mind, has to be r
ight.
What if you have a problem like eczema and you can t think of a counter example be
cause you don t know where it comes from? For this process to work, you need to kn
ow what you are allergic to, or at least have a general idea about it. You typic
ally need an idea of context to help create change.