Reframe Panic and Stress

by Katherine Zimmerman, PhD, CHT

In my private practice I have found several starting points with clients that are very effective. One of my standard approaches with a new client is to reframe their issue. It might be stress, panic, negative emotions or even physical pain. A reframe is simply looking at the problem from a different perspective. It's natural to reframe experiences for our friends and family. For example, here's one that I found recently: "Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired."

Reframes aren't limited to the initial session. I almost always end a session by reframing and anchoring the good feelings generated during the session. Clients report that they carry the symbol arising from their reframe and use it often between sessions. It helps to keep them on track.

In the following case history, "Kate" is experiencing an incredible amount of stress in her life. Although this isn't her initial session, this process will give her a high degree of relief. As you will see, Kate is quite imaginative in her descriptions and the process doesn't flow as easily as it often does. These are the clients that we learn the most from.

Kate's session began with capturing the safe and secure feeling that she had experienced in her grandma's backyard. Kate imagined a miniature version of one of those trees from her that familiar backyard. She placed the symbol – a miniature willow tree – in her stomach so that she could have a constant source of safety within.

As that tree settles in Kate feels some panic and reports that she always seems to live in a panic – afraid – on the edge. With some direction, Kate can imagine being the tree and enjoys relief from the panic. The tree branches feel loose with a big trunk and roots that go down into the ground. However, when I ask what the roots feel like she doesn't like her roots at all. I direct her to gather up all of Kate's roots and suggest that she might even want to call in a group to carry them away. Once she had cleared out her old roots she brings in new roots from her tree.

Most of her panic has been relieved at this point but there is still a little left. Kate describes is clear, long and skinny, light weight with a smooth surface on the outside. I ask Kate to imagine this shape can talk, like an animated character. I inquire as to what message it might have.

Rather than reporting what the shape has to say, Kate tells me that, "It's mean." I suggest that she let that shape know that she's in charge and instruct it to stop being mean. However, Kate simply wants to get rid of it. Initially, she wants to kill it but then decides first to just throw it in the garbage can. Very quickly, though, she changes her mind and thinks about drowning it in the ocean.

I remind her that it's a light weight shape and ask if she thinks it might float. She weighs it down, puts it on a big slingshot and sends it way out so it can't wash back up to shore.

Without the shape Kate feels a sense of comfort. As we explore this comfort it is represented as a blue that she can breathe in. It travels everywhere in her body. I ask Kate to imagine being the tree again. But we're not done yet. Kate is finding it hard to be the tree as it involves letting her guard down which she hasn't done for a very long time.

She's not willing to let her guard down with her husband or family but finally agrees that it feels okay to let her guard down with a new woman friend. I ask her to create a circle of friends but Kate is still afraid to let her guard down. She realizes that she can draw energy from her family for support and feel safe to let your guard down a little bit.

When she imagines herself as the willow tree she feels more solid, so now she imagines what would it be like to be the tree and be with your women friends and discovers that "nobody is scared. Everybody is comfortable. Happy with themselves. Kind of funny because I'm a tree."

Kate, as the tree, goes to work. It's so real for her that she finds it hard to walk in the door as the tree. I ask her if the branches get in the way? She says that the tree doesn't want to go in. We settle on taking the essence of the tree to work with her. The feeling of the tree that is inside of her. It's much calmer, she tells me, having tree essence at work. At the end of the day her energy isn't all bunched up.

She's concerned that it's a lot to put on the tree when I suggest that she take that essence of tree throughout every part of her life. So we check with the tree. It is willing to be present and available for Kate every day as part of a support team.

At this point I think that we've come to the end and finish with some positive programming so that the tree, in whatever form it takes, its essence, its trunk, its branches, its roots, and making a permanent positive shift in how she experiences her personal and professional life. It affects her health in a positive way. "Every part of your body relaxing, calming down. As that tree's energy flows throughout your branches, flows into every cell, into the space between cells, feeling secure, comforted, safe. In every part of your life, letting things simply roll on by you and you relax into experiencing life with essence of tree living there within you. Everything becomes so much easier and you deserve that."

At the end of every session I ask, "Is there anything else you need right now to feel complete with your process?" If I've been thorough, not much comes up at this point. However, this client reports feeling guilty about throwing the roots away earlier.

Time for another reframe. Kate describes the guilt as a bleary shape and tells it, "I'm done with you, guilt," and sends it on it's way. She feels better now but doesn't think that she deserves to be guilt free. And yet agrees that everyone else in her life does deserve this freedom. I ask Kate to borrow their ability to deserve what they want in life and try it on. Like putting on someone else's clothes. When she does she tells me that it feels like they know what they want. She agrees to keep some of this for herself and wraps that feeling around her, letting it become a part of her. I tell her that very soon it is very natural for her to know what she wants and to feel deserving.

This client has more work to accomplish to clear out her very dysfunctional childhood issues but we have made another meaningful change for her in this session.

(c) Copyright 2010 Katherine Zimmerman, California Hypnotherapy Academy.

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