The advantages of Time Based Techniques for NLP Practitioners
Throughout my time as a Master Practitioner of NLP, I have worked with a wide variety of clients with varying life challenges to solve. Time Based Techniques have been a critical part of success within every client session, it is my favourite technique of the whole NLP collection. I am aware that Time-based Techniques is not included in every NLP Practitioner Course, therefore I wanted to share some insights into the advantages of Time Based Techniques for NLP Practitioners.
My colleagues were often amazed by the speed and success that can be achieved using Time Based Techniques. When they came back from the practical exercise, I saw a room full of light faces and bright energy. One trapped memory can be the root of the clients’ patterns of behaviour. The beauty of time based techniques is that it directs the unconscious mind straight to the most meaningful memories, where you can cause enlightening and therefore transformational change.
Once memories are informed and enlightened with the knowledge they need, they can be filed cleanly in the system and the rest of the library can be re-adjusted accordingly. Memories are extremely important for our development. Wikipedia defines it in the following way:
It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action
Read more about the importance of memory in their full description here Before I elaborate on the power of Time Based Techniques, you might like to see what some of our delegates say about it. You can watch a video on this within our article here
Or find out more information about the technique in our article here
The advantages of Time Based Techniques for NLP Practitioners
- No root cause needed – work with any memory that the subconscious mind chooses.
Works conversationally – you do not have to stop to set up a technique, you use TBT conversationally!
Work inside the modality the client is displaying – your client will show you they have triggered the memory already whilst talking, use the modality (VAKOG) they are in to travel to that memory.
Hit all the emotions in one trip inside the timeline – with Time Based Techniques, you will use your NLP skills combined with TBT to release all the different emotions inside one ‘trip’ and then generalise those releases throughout the whole nervous system.
Full engagement with the unconscious mind (it bypasses the unnecessary story or conscious analysis).
Law of least effort – this work can be extremely quick. I have seen clients visit only one memory and accomplish a significant change in as little as 15 minutes. Time Line Therapy can also get quick results, yet there is no set up needed for the client, therefore reducing all that unnecessary time.
No limits to where the client can travel to. Access to problems that originated early in life – even during birth or before. The technique can find roots and patterns that the client would not be consciously aware of at all.
Possible to access the emotions. We were taught that emotions are ok and the client is welcome to experience emotion during the session. Terry showed us how to be ok with emotions and how to handle them appropriately during the session
Is clearing up the past important? We have written an article to answer this question here
The process of Time Based Techniques
The process of the technique is to use language to transport the client back (conversationally) to memories that when accessed, will allow the problem to disappear. There is a very clear structure to the technique and combined with sensory awareness, rapport and The Now State, the results are truly magical.
When you are creating a safe space for your client and you ask Meta Model questions with appropriate curiosity, you will stumble across an emotion, decision or limiting belief. The art and elegance of this technique is when you have your sensory awareness glasses on, you can find the key to enrich your client. Once you see the change in the physiology and you know that you have stumbled across an issue, you can use it as an access key. This is the first and most important step of Time Based Techniques. The success of the technique is dependent on the use of the access key.
Using the access key, you can ask the unconscious mind to take the client back to any memory which when accessed will trigger the re-evaluation of the memory. There are some beautiful language patterns within Time Based Techniques, which literally makes a contract to release the issue and any residual emotions within them. The exact language you use depends on the issue you’re working on. Once the clients’ unconscious mind takes them back to the memory, you can steer the unconscious mind to use various NLP techniques to either update, learn, re-evaluate in the ‘now’ or view from many other perceptual positions to gain understanding (enough to let it go).
The work on the memory may include perceptual positions inside the memory, submodality shifts, reframing, time evaluation or simply finding the learnings required to move forward. Once the work has been done, you ask the clients’ unconscious mind if the memory is now complete.Then you steer the unconscious mind to take the client to any other memories that are important to travel to in order to let go of the old issue. This is also a great advantage of TBT. Doing multiple memories that are importantly linked allows all the emotions and decisions to be assessed and clear the whole gestalt on that lineage.
You can clear up several memories or just one. Once the unconscious mind has visited all relevant memories, you then ask the clients’ unconscious mind to generalise the learnings across all the memories throughout their entire timeline and make all the arrangements for the learnings to integrate into the system. You complete the technique by letting them know that they can come back to now and open their eyes only once the arrangements and changes have been completed. That is also a nice contract to make with the client. They can’t open their eyes until the work is completed!
Example of Time Based Techniques
I was working with a client that had been smoking for 14 years, even throughout pregnancy when she really didn’t want to. She had tried CBT, counselling, hypnosis and patches and nothing had succeeded in helping her quit. I knew that submodality interventions would not work for this client on their own. She calculated that she had spent £46,000 on smoking and her pre-session diaries reflected several triggers.
She didn’t believe she could change, her family didn’t believe she could give up. She had lost faith. I used Time Based Techniques and it took her back to a memory with her family where she made the decision that smoking was an important part of life. The memory was when she was six years old and it was full of unresolved emotion.
I used perceptual positions inside the memory, submodalities and updated the memory with learnings. There were three other linked memories which we also worked on. Her session was under two hours and she has not smoked since. Not one cigarette. She is still in touch updating me on how much money she has saved and how much happier and healthier she feels.
I know that if I had done the other work and not cleaned up those memories, the triggers would have been too much for her. The change may not have been long lasting. This is because the memories were linked to values which have a deeper and more profound impact. They are what attract or repel us. If that memory was not enlightened, it would still be in her system attracting her to cigarettes. And the beautiful way of working like this was the ease and flow of not having to have my client do anything but talk to me. I could calculate when to apply the access trigger and we could simply ‘chat’ until her subconscious mind was engaged to the level where I knew where to ‘tap’.
I have since had four clients through her recommendation, all within a three month timeframe. Time Based Techniques are one of the reasons I loved working with NLP World. I know not everyone has the time or money to take NLP courses, yet Terry Elston does have an excellent online Time Based Techniques course
The advantages of Time Based Techniques for NLP Practitioners was written by Natalie Rea, Master Practitioner of NLP