+44 (0) 790 380 7345 / +356 7927 6611 appointments@marshall-warren.com

Yesterday we left this exciting journey to freedom having just watched a scene from Parent Trap.

Remember yesterday how our pretty, creative, vibrant, positive, life affirminggecko pin up star friend, had just been to see the film Parent Trap?  Not quite.  Bernice had watched the film, Parent Trap, aged eleven, and unbeknown to her, it had made a bigger impact than she could possibly imagine.  She had been guided back in deep relaxation to the source of a fear, a loathing, a terror, and an utter disgust of her phobia of geckos.

Here’s what happened later that day.

“I was so, so relaxed.  ‘I said to my boyfriend, Can I look at some pictures?’ I put the picture of a gecko on the wall of the office where I work.  My colleagues said to me, ‘Don’t turn around Bernice!’  But I said, ‘I put the picture there myself.  ‘What have you done?’ they asked.”

Here’s what happened a day or two later.

“My brother and boyfriend were very, very happy.  ‘Can we open the windows?’ I asked.  There was a small one [i.e. a small gecko], and I said, Can you take it out side?  Just take it outside.  I am still alert, but I am different. I put the picture [of the gecko] on Facebook.  Even when I talk about them it is not the same.  When I parked my car I used to enter the car from the passenger seat.  [Unlike before], I am walking next to the wall” – the wall being where geckos might lurk!”

Remember how Bernice used to feel?

“Even if I saw a picture I used to scratch myself and cry.  I couldn’t control my feelings.”

And now?  Here’s what happened five days later… Bernice thinks this is the best investment she ever made.

“I can’t believe it.  My body is in control.  I wanted to see one, just to see my reaction.  After I saw the gecko at home, I could not recall the feeling of panic.  It is gone.  I just stare at the gecko, and think, ‘Oh, there is a gecko’.  This is the best investment I have ever made.”

Let’s re-cap on how subliminal patterns get set up.

The whole of the mind operates by patterns.  It works with layers of and only the top layer comes into conscious ― patterns, laid over one another awareness.  All of the other layers are kept submerged beneath the level of conscious awareness.  Psycho­logists call this boundary the ʹlimenʹ and when things reach down through this liminal boundary, and affect the subconscious they are called ʹsubliminalʹ.

Bernice observed something that in itself is innoc­uous (to you and I perhaps), but because the pattern it follows happens to resonate with a pattern that is stored in the subconscious (the experience of watching the scene in the film Parent Trap) it triggers an adverse reaction such as a, panic attack, stuttering, or morbid fear of any kind.  That reaction seems to come from nowhere because normally you cannot see through the liminal barrier.

Bravo we found the root of the fear!  Stay focussed and I’ll take you through what happened.

Remember, what is happening is an uncon­scious connection with something embedded in a subliminal layer of patterns.  There is a stored pattern ― the scene in Parent Trap, for one, that the gecko is associated with.  The scene is not something that the young eleven year old can forget.  On the other hand it is not something that the child can fully deal with: she cannot integrate it into her world-view.  As long as this strange event was not integrated into her world-view it stays around like a nagging, distracting aggravation.

As an act of self-protection the mind seals up that complex pattern of gecko, Parent Trap, gecko in the mouth, sticky and disgusting, in the subconscious.  It becomes embedded in a subliminal layer, and stays there for years and decades.  When the grown-up woman sees a gecko the conscious mind has no particular reaction as it knows that the gecko is not danger­ous.  In the subconscious layer, however, the image of the gecko auto­matically registers with the stored pattern.  The memory of disgust, and repulsion that is locked into the association with that gecko in the scene in the film then floats up like an echo through the limen into the conscious mind: and Bernice experienced the immediacy of terror, as if from nowhere, but somehow tied to the harmless gecko.

On the second session, this is what the liberated and free Bernice told her eleven year old self to help her understand and get completely free of the fear of watching the scene in Parent Trap.

“I think it is normal that something like that disgusts you… somehow… the eyes… the face… the fact it is sticky… your reaction is normal.  When you are walking in the street, sometimes they frighten you ― but that is normal.  If one is close to you, you can move to the other side of the room.  My boyfriend will take them outside.  You can get over it.”

Wisdom spoken to the younger self is wisdom indeed.  Self-confidence then strode forward, as Bernice began to discover how confidently free she could be.

Yes.  You can get over phobias.

Do you have fears that confront you, scare the living day lights out of you?  Fears and terrors that take control of your otherwise positive life? 

Interactive hypnotherapy with Deborah Marshall-Warren, can support you in gaining clarity, understanding and freedom to be normal and to get on and live a happy and happier fear-free life?  You’ve read all about it.  Make your phobia your friend.  Contact Deborah on: appointments@marshall-warren.com


The following two tabs change content below.