This is an excellent book because it introduces CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and RET (Rational Emotive Therapy) terms and concepts and how they interact with NLP, especially in the context of giving up alcohol. I remember my embarrassment many years ago when I was first starting to get rapid, good results with NLP to be talking with a cognitive behavioral therapist, and having to ask "what is that again?" He looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about.

It's important as an NLP practitioner who wishes to operate as a therapist, to have some knowledge of other therapies if they wish to be able to interact articulate with other professionals. It also shows you know what you're talking about. You'll also appreciate how these concepts interact. You'll begin to see some of the overlap between NLP and CBT. Many people believe CBT to be the best type of therapy (those not familiar with NLP) because it's one of the few, if not sometimes referred to as the only (although RET does too), type of therapeutic intervention that deals with the present, as opposed to something like the Freudian model that tends to focus on the past.

The author Byron Lewis wrote the classic 'magic demystified'. This won't offer as much new knowledge of NLP as it will broaden your knowledge of many therapeutic concepts, and clear the mystery surrounding what happens at Alcoholics Anonymous. It doesn't discuss some newer patterns such as the threshold pattern.


quote from NLP volume I page 5 "NLP differs from other models of behaiovur as model-makers. it is what we call a meta-model, a model of the modeling process itself."

CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy assumes a person's thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) affect their behaviour, irrational belief and underlying assumption are interchangeable pg 147

the dysfunction originates within what the cogniitve behaviorists call the clients schema this is persons core belief system pg 30

Controversy is marijuana addictive pg 53
most professionals feel marijuana is addictive pg 68

can we think both ways?
chemicals > thoughts
thoughts > chemicals

Dilts "if somebody is ready to change, all you have to do is blow and they change."

Ditls model spirituality is highest, will change the levels beneath it, they are identity, beliefs and values, capabilities, behaviors and environment (authors note: remember we discussed some of the validity in this in our whispering in the wind summary). I personally think increasing ones capabilities does not necessarily change their behaviors. Someone may love god (spiritual) but still feel they're bad person (identity) This also presuppose that a change in environment may not make a change in identity which is very often not true)


Social Learning Theory Model
Based in large part on the work of Bandua, proposes addiction is learned behaviour, believes the clients learns negative behavior's through modeling behaviors, copying the patterns of influential people, family members, media, social pressure to "drink like a man" Also proposes the addict uses as a means of coping with problems in life

Loss of control issue
does not mean doing crazy things while under the influence, the problem is anti social behavior

Denial is called the addicts first obstacle to recovery Addict uses addiction as relief from the addiction iteslf. Addict will say doesn't have all the symptoms of having an addiction.

Prochaska and DiClemente (1982) have developed a change process of six steps

precontemplation pg 59
Client is unaware of problem, maybe result of denial
contemplation
Client is aware something is amiss Internal dissonance can happen a t this stage, a conflict between the sober and the addicted self.
internal dissonance

determination
Decision is made to change. Often after a tragic event (authors note: they hit threshold as Bandler would say, or satiation as Robbins would say)
fourth action step
Therapist joins with client, goals and strategies are formed.


(authors note: it could be explained dissatisfaction > action, after a period of contemplation slowly getting more dissatisfied before hitting a threshold)

One benefits of AA is that it deals with the tremendous guilt around addiction

AA were strongly influenced by ab popular christrian movement of the time called oxford group

Both founders had alcohol problems, one lost money in the stock market crash, the other lost his physician practice due to his drinking

Ninety meeting in ninety days, so like not losing motivation after a motivational seminar It takes real lifestyle changes to make changes required by the twelve steps.

The fact that each step is stated in present tense implys that the step has already been taken. Rigorous honesty is a part of the steps

THE TWELVE STEPS
OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

Sense of loneliness often pervades peoples life. People admit they are powerless and the addiction is unmanageable. The addict admits defeat

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Addict admits insanity of disease, confirms devastation of addiction.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Individual starts to evolve, the identity begins to shift, requires the individual to give up old attitudes and patterns that have cause pain, and adopt new ones Moves addict to make differences in their beliefs and values

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Asks participants to record their strengths and weaknesses, a contemplation step, many individuals find this overwhelming at first. The individual begins to take responsibility at this step. They are encouraged to explore the concepts of pride and humility, critical to changing beliefs system that have developed of a self absorbed lifestyle

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Begins to break down barriers of self abuse.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

Therapists find it important at this step to work on secondary gain, using things such as the 6 step reframe

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Addict is beginning to take action to change

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Often find addicts have lied and cheated, have regularly abused others, moving away from an external locus of control towards accepting responsibility. It begins to shift from denial and stops blame form putting the finer at those who "took advantage" of the competition

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Must take responsibility for his past actions. Make direct amends, making restitution is an action step. If addict stole property it must be returned. Material things are often easier to repair than emotions transgressions (Authors note: A competent therapist would give the client communication skills at this step)

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Learn new skills, like after yelling at someone saying something like "I'm sorry, I yelled at you, I I'm working on changing, next time I'll do X instead"



11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

People often start recording the previous says thoughts and actions An addict may write a journal.. People often experience a mini spiritual crisis at this point, how do I know the higher power is talking to me?

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.


Rational Recovery
founded in 1986 by Jack Trimpey, an approach based on RET

Shortened version, note this is heavily deleted, and distorted (authors note: I've done my best to be 100% congruent with the authors intentions)

1. I admit I have become chemically dependant

different focus than Dependant on alcohol

2.I accept to get better I will have to abstain from alcohol

3. I accept I will benefit from outside help
Rather than a higher power i will turn to human help

4. I have the capacity to learn

5. Relying on an outside force such as god, is dependence on an outside force, exactly what I'm trying to break

6. I let go of the need to be perfect

7. I place a high value on my own self interest

8. I will show others my recovery plan

9. I will learn to separate from the recovery group over time

10. I realize there are no perfect solutions to life problems11. Now certain of my worth I deal with the uncertainty of life

Nominalizations this is the nounifying of verbs. Cognitively it changes our perceptions of ongoing processes into static unchanging things. pg 126

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOVURAL TERMINOLOGY (authors note: I recommend you make mental pictrues to remember these)

"thinking errors" associated with emotional distress

Dichotomous thinking
black or white thinking no in between

overgeneralization
similar to universal quantifiers taking one experience and generalizing it through whole life

selective abstraction
selective focus selects only aspects of a situation or event

fortune telling
self fulfilling prophecy

Cataztrophizing
blowing our of proportion negative event

emotional reasoning
mistaking emotions for reality


beliefs are testable and challengable Albert Ellis

RATIONAL EMOTIVE THEARPAY
Typical things an RET may do during a session

1. Reality testing
are these statements true?

2. Future Pacing
Show the client they are exaggerating a consequence, have the client anticipate the consequences of the behaviors

3. Evaluating
Examine and list the advantages and disadvantages of certain beliefs

4. Reframing
Help the client perceive positive outcomes

5. labeling
Put labels on irrational process

6 Depersonalzing
7. Accepting responsibility
Remove tendency to self blame

8 Creating alternatives
Find new behaviours

9. Exaggerating
Show how foolish a belief is, or deomonstrate a paradox within it

10 Visualizing
Develop more positive thoughts

11. polarized Role play
have the client argue for belief while therapist argues the opposite

12. making positive affirmations
pg 136

Five questions of RBT

1. Is my thinking here factual?
2. Will my thinking here best help protect my life and health?
3. Will my thinking here best help me achieve my short ream and long term goals?
4. Will my thinking here best help me avoid my undesirable conflicts with others?
5. Will my thinking here best help feel the emotions I want to feel?

Abstinence anxiety pg 152
Anxiety when trying to abstain when triggers or stimulus are around (authors note: the client needs tools to break the pattern here, and radically change their state)

RET irrational beliefs which cause low frustration tolerance (LFT)

Common irrational beliefs:
A beliefs about capabilities
b Beliefs about causes (cause-effect)
C Beliefs about self (identity)

A beliefs about capabilities

I can't stand not using
I can't function without using it
Iim not strong enough to resist it
I can't stand the bad feeling (deprivation) when I want to use

b Beliefs about cause (cause-effect)
I have to use, in order to go on with life, because using makes my life bearable
I shouldn't' abstain, because it feels too good to use
I shouldn't' abstain because it cause me so much pain

C Beliefs about self (identity)
I am a horribly deprived person if I can't use
I have to use compensate for my difficult life
I must use to fit in with my friends
I'm an alchie (or druggie)

Syntax of RET Event > Thought > Emotion > Action (authors note: this is comparable with thinking in NLP and is profound, although simplistic, change the thought, change the emotion, change the action)

The Excitment Imperatice Strategy
Criminal activity is often associated with this disorder pg 161
Beliefs such as can't stand being bored, drugs an alcohol make an instant party, it's cool to use, I must have excitment in my life (authors note: this is the drive for uncertainty or fun)

Nine disputation strategies of RET

Dispute
Dispute irrational thought, show how it distorts reality
Test
Show if the belief was true what they could deduce about the world, then help the client test these deductions (authors note: this is a new strategy for testing beliefs, ie. if this belief were true then x and y would be happening and it's not)
Negative Orientation
Link irrational belief to negative events
Direct Effects
link pain by showing how it's impacted their life

Repetition of steps 1-4

Replacement
Replace better belief
Ecological check
Make sure they have no objections to the new belief
Test
Make sure the new belief enriches their life
Future Pace

Dilts liken a belief to be made of VAK pg 167
Sort the representations of the belief, break up synethsasia.
Identify positive intentions

Therapist can use physical timelines pg 189
Find positive intentions in others intentions in the traumatic experience
Build a new experience with made up resources (authors note: take note here, we scratch up the memory, then we install a new fake one with the resources they'd need)

Identify imprint formed beliefs, early trauma clients make certain generalizations about themselves and others. Eventually lead to belief systems that support a negative self image. The therapist will encourage the client to become a ware of the generalization that was made there pg 190

II Re framing the intentions
Challenge the belief, opens client to possibility of alternative ways of thinking
Define positive intentions
Provide needed resources




Leslie Cameron Bandler (now Leslie Lebeau) 1985:

Make a future self image
visualize as if looking in a mirror Make submodalities as real as possible
Associate into the image
Create two parrael futures, one that they want, and one that they don't (authors note: this may be where the Dickens pattrern comes from)
Create new behaviors in the presentpg198

It can be argued a poor self image is a precursor to addictive behavior 204