NLP was ahead of its time. In the 1970s, the metamodel taught us that although we live in the world, we don't interact directly with the world. Instead, we interact through our senses, which filter everything through deletions, distortions, and generalizations.
An example of this might be someone who has a fear of dogs due to a traumatic experience in their childhood. Their mind may have deleted any positive experiences they had with dogs and distorted the memory of the negative experience. This leads them to generalize that all dogs are dangerous. So, when they encounter a neighbor walking a poodle on the other side of the street, their mind might perceive it as a vicious beast and trigger a fear response.
If we haven't met before, I'm Dr. Richard Nongard. Today, I'm talking about memory reconsolidation. Now, fast forward 50 years. We live in an era of brain science, and we have a deep understanding of how memory reconsolidation and neuron reconsolidation work.
When we're recalling an event, an experience, or an emotion, we're actually recalling our last memory of that event, experience, or emotion, which is built on previous experiences. These have been filtered by deletions, distortions, and generalizations. This is why memory isn't particularly accurate. Memory reconsolidation not only changes our interpretations of experiences but literally changes both the functional and compositional nature of the brain. Over time, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities for helping people. We can now actively help people rewire their brains and change old limiting beliefs and patterns.
Memory reconsolidation is a process in our brains where old memories can be changed or updated with new experiences. This is especially important if the old memories are linked to strong emotions like fear, sadness, loss, or grief. By updating these memories, we can reduce their negative impact on our lives.
Here's the crazy part: brain science actually proves it. More than 30 recent peer-reviewed publications, looking at MRIs, have shown changes in brain structure.
Imagine there's a monster under your bed that makes you feel fearful every night. But a scientist discovers a way for that monster to go away forever so you can sleep peacefully and not be afraid anymore. That magical way is called memory reconsolidation. It's like a superpower that our brains have. When we use this superpower, we can change scary or sad memories so they don't bother us anymore.
Therapists and other helpers know how to use this superpower. They help people feel better by showing their brains how to change those scary or sad memories into safe and happy ones. This makes people feel free and happy. It's like getting rid of a monster under the bed for good.
So how does it work? Let's break it down into three simple steps.
First, reactivate the memory. Think of it as opening an old video file on your computer. You need to play the memory in your mind to make it active. For example, if you're afraid of dogs because one bit you when you were younger, you might remember that scary event vividly.
The second step is to create a mismatch experience. You need to create a new experience that doesn't match what you expect based on your old memory. This is like recording a new scene that contradicts the old one. For instance, imagine meeting a friendly, calm dog and realizing that not all dogs are scary. Or you remember feeling positive emotions when you watched a movie about a dog, like the movie Marley and Me with that cute dog.
In the third step, we're updating the memory as part of hypnosis therapy or coaching. Does the change last? When we use this approach, it does. When there's repetition, we know that not only do emotions, beliefs, and perceptions change during therapy, but therapies built on practice, rehearsal, and repetition have the greatest levels of success.
This is because when we repeat new information, behaviors, or perceptions over time, they become new habits. Our brain rewires itself to make the new thought or experience automatic. By consistently updating your memories through actively practicing new behaviors, you can create long-lasting changes in your life. This works in areas where people have repetitive difficulties, such as relationship problems, money blocks, low self-esteem, scarcity thinking, fears and phobias, depression, and anxiety.
This mechanism actually makes therapy work. By updating our memories, we're able to create new positive experiences for ourselves. It helps us overcome negative emotions and perceptions and allows us to grow and evolve as individuals. With therapies like hypnosis, NLP, and life coaching, we can actively update our memories to create a better future self.
So the next time you feel stuck or limited by your old memories, remember that with the right tools and techniques, it's possible to update and create a brighter future for yourself. Embrace change and growth by embracing the ability of your mind.
Why should you try it? If you're feeling stuck or limited by your past experiences, self-hypnosis is a great way to apply memory reconsolidation. One way to do this is to use a future pacing technique. Take a moment to still your mind and imagine yourself in a future situation where you've already overcome your challenges and you're living the life you desire. This helps you rewire the brain and update your memories with positive experiences, even if you haven't had them yet.
By doing this regularly, you incorporate repetition. Techniques in NLP, such as reframing, can help us update our memories. It can change our perspective on past events and create new meanings and emotions associated with them. This allows us to break free from negative patterns of thinking and behavior that might have been holding us back.
Would you like to learn how to make powerful changes in your own life and apply these techniques with others as a coach or hypnotist? Join me this fall for the I-C-B-C-H Professional NLP Practitioner and Life Coach Certification training. This course is entirely online, eight weeks of applied learning with me. It will equip you to make personal transformations in your own life and share these proven brain science strategies with the clients you work with.
Register now to secure your place in the upcoming training at the early bird rate with the link on this page. If you want to learn more about how lasting transformation can be created in hypnosis, psychotherapy, counseling, or life coaching, subscribe and follow me for more updated information.
