Congratulations: you’ve downloaded the hypnosis you will listen to every day (or more!) for the next two weeks (or more!). The next step is to power up that hypnosis by making your personalised visualisations.
A Mind Movie is a visualisation in the form of imagined moving images – like a movie – which you create to watch inside your mind when you listen to your download.
Phobia Delete Mind Movie
Rational Response Mind Movie
Follow the steps below to create your Phobia Delete Mind Movie.
This shows moving images representing the experience which sparked your phobia of driving or, if you can’t remember this, the worst episode connected to your phobia.
Identify the experience which sparked your driving phobia.
If you can’t remember this, identify the worst experience you’ve had relating to the phobia.
Find somewhere comfortable to relax.
Close your eyes.
Take five deep breaths (inhale through your nose for four or five counts, exhale through your mouth at a slower pace).
Then breathe deeply in a way that is comfortable for you, taking breaths from low down in your abdomen. Place your hand on your stomach to check that it is moving up and down as you breathe.
Create a Mind Movie of imagined moving images representing the experience.
Have the Mind Movie start just before the event happened when everything was fine, then move on to show the experience happening, and then finish when everything is fine again.
The images should be in black and white and grainy in quality (this will make it less distressing to imagine).
Your Mind Movie should be about 30 seconds.
Imagine you have a control board in front of you which allows you to play with your Mind Movie.
Practice pausing it, fast forwarding it, and rewinding it while you watch it.
Driving Phobia After Accident Example
Sophie had a phobia of driving after a bad crash ten years ago left her trapped in the car and injured.
She made a black and white Mind Movie of the crash which started when everything was fine (driving near her family home), moved through to the collision with another car which had pulled out suddenly, and ended when all was fine (the ambulance arrived and cut her out of the car)
Motorway Driving Example
Nabil had a phobia of driving on motorways. He couldn’t recall why the phobia started just that he had always felt panicky when he thought about the high speed of the cars on the motorway and how a small mistake could have fatal consequences.
He made a black and white Mind Movie of the worst incident relating to motorway driving which started when everything was fine (on a slower road about to join the motorway), moved through to his feeling panicked while on the motorway and having to pull over) and ended when all was fine again (he talked himself into coming off the motorway at the next junction)
We are going to use the brain’s “conditioning” function to show your brain how to respond calmly and rationally when you drive.
Our lives contain experiences which, if repeated, trigger an automatic response in our behaviour. In the most famous example, Pavlov, the Russian scientist, rang a bell every time he fed his dogs. After a while, just hearing the bell would trigger his dogs to salivate. An otherwise neutral stimulus like a bell ringing took on a positive meaning for the dogs.
Other examples of classic conditioning might be: standing up when the school bell is rung; or feeling tearful at the sight of a needle because of past painful injections; or a song from the happy moments in the past putting you in a good mood. Put simply, two stimuli are linked together to produce a learned response.
Identify what a “rational response” to the subject of your phobia would look like (so, imagine how someone without a driving phobia would deal with driving).
Find somewhere comfortable to relax.
Close your eyes.
Take five deep breaths (inhale through your nose for four or five counts, exhale through your mouth at a slower pace).
Then breathe deeply in a way that is comfortable for you, taking breaths from low down in your abdomen. Place your hand on your stomach to check that it is moving up and down as you breathe.
Create a Mind Movie of moving images representing this rational reaction.
Don’t forget to include the emotions which go with it (calm, able to cope and in control).
Your Mind Movie should be in full colour and last about 30 seconds.
Imagine you have a control board in front of you which allows you to play with your Mind Movie.
Practice watching yourself on the screen, as well as experiencing it through your own eyes (jump into your body in the movie).
Play your Mind Movie repeatedly.
Work it into your every day activities: e.g. when you brush your teeth, your hair, when you have a hot drink, or take a loo break and so on.
Example:
Sophie made a “Rational Response Mind Movie” showing her getting into the car, calmly turning the engine on, making the necessary safety checks and driving off confidently.
Example:
Nabil made a “Rational Response Mind Movie” showing him getting onto the motorway safely and confidently, and then leaving the motorway in the same way.