Rapid Reduction Technique Achieves Vaildation from University Study

Are you suffering from flashbacks or traumatic memories? This may help you to get past them.

I never thought this would happen but last week a doctoral student defended her dissertation on Rapid Reduction Technique RRT at Carlos Albizu University. She was successful at her defending her doctoral study. So we have a new Ph.D. in the world. Hurray!

In the doctoral student's 2 year clinical study on Rapid Reduction Technique - RRT, she proved that the RRT method for relieving flashbacks and traumatic memories is real as well as other Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. She proved that RRT is effective and valid. 

So after 12 years of success with survivors with traumatic memory and flashbacks, RRT has been independently proven that RRT works. According to the study "RRT alleviates PTSD "re-experiencing symptoms and disconnects the associated triggers.” The study also showed that RRT alleviated the depression and anxiety associated with experiencing abusive, combat or traumatic life events.

This is a major breakthrough for working with traumatic memories and flashbacks. I have been waiting for years for an independent source to prove the benefits of Rapid Reduction Technique - RRT, so it would get the recognition it deserves. I never thought this day would come.

I could not wait, I knew RRT could do better so I updated it to RRT 2.0 and even though the original RRT takes 5 minutes. RRT 2.0 takes longer but it helps more on a deeper level with alleviating core beliefs also. Personally I have had deep faith in RRT through watching it help thousands over the past 17 years.

Video on Rapid Reduction Technique

If you like this Blog then please SUBSCRIBE and make a comment.

Click here to contact me for more information on Rapid Reduction Technique - RRT.

         Coach Bill

What are "Persecutor Alters in a D.I.D System?"

I receive many questions on the subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder, known as D.I.D. from survivors of serve abuse and who are suffering from Complex PTSD. In all my years of working with D.I.D. clients, it is this type of alters that are feared the most and are the most misunderstood.

"Persecutor Alters" are the most feared, resistant and rejected by the host as well as the professionals that work with this population.

"Persecutor Alters" referred to or viewed two different ways.

1. If the person experienced ritual abused then persecutor alter(s) is "demon(s)" put into the victim by suggestion through brainwashing and torture over an extended period of time. The victim is put into a high degree of suggestibility by deprivation of sleep, food and drugged. The victim perceives that these persecutor alters are one of their own alters but are in fact a mirror image of one or more alters in the host system. These “mirror images or persecutor alters” have no eyes and are not a part of host’s Soul. This type of symbolic representations or persecutor alters generally create constant crisis and chaos for the victim internally and in his or her external life. Persecutor alters adhere strictly to the rules, beliefs, behavior and values that the abuser or group set forth by force. The victim was made to verbally promise to adhere to for the rest of his or her life at penalty of death. Persecutor alters sabotage the victim all the time.

2. The second way persecutor alters are viewed is that they are a “resistant alter(s)” that abide completely by the rules, behaviors, beliefs, expectations, and /or values of their abuser. These types of alters tend to not believe or accept the “host system” because no one helped or saved them. This type had been singled out from the other alters and were put through intense emotional excitement to make sure that the rules, behaviors, beliefs, expectations, and /or values of the abuser would embed into the subconscious. These alters are unknowingly affectionately attached and completely loyal to the abuser. Persecutor alter(s) is unable or willing to attach to the host system or authentically view the reality. They are stuck in the past and in a toxic relationship. Crisis and chaos is the only life they know.

          Coach Bill

2 Tips on Overcoming PTSD

Want to eliminate PTSD symptoms?

Post traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) cannot be ignored. Millions of people work around with the aftereffects of abuse, catastrophic events, combat and trauma. And survivors believe they can do nothing about them. But it takes more than just a wish to get rid of them. Just ignoring them will not make them disappear either.

PTSD is real and silent epidemic in modern society ravaged by wars.

How to heal successfully from PTSD is to face its symptoms. Don't be afraid and find a way to covert your survival experience to positive. 

Respond to your PTSD symptoms by viewing them as a recording of an event that "happened, but not now happening". Is that possible? Will that help me to make closure? 

Mindset Shift


One major way to taking away the power and overwhelming influence of PTSD symptoms is to change your mindset toward them. Shift your attitude of PTSD from negative to positive. Positiveness can be found in the worse of situations. Start with being grateful you are alive and the natural strength that got you through it all.

2 Tips on Overcoming PTSD

Tip #1 

What you are experiencing is a normal mind, body and spirit response to experiencing life threatening situations.

Tip #2 

Post traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) is an innate gift and a natural defense mechanism. Nothing to be afraid of.

View a flashback as a blessing and learn a skill that will help you to dissipate the intensity, make closure, eliminate the connected emotional charge, facilitate mental order and move it to proper storage. 

Takeaway

No athletic ever won a gold medal without gaining more skills. 

Faith in the strength that you display to survive the traumatic event will help you to overcome the symptoms.  
As long as you acquire a new skill and work your faith you will be successful. Remember recovery from PTSD symptoms is long distances run not a sprint. There is a proven skill that will stop re-experiencing.

Want to see a skill that can help you make the mindset shift. 

Visit my website and click here for a free eBook.

          Coach Bill

PTSD & Thought Addiction: Powerful Relationship

"Thought Addiction is a real addiction and can devastate your life."

Do things happen in the present which causes you to be triggered into a flashback of a past traumatic experience(s)? 

Do you find yourself unable to get free from the residual self-judging and negative thoughts that go along the with PTSD? 

If your answer is "yes" to either or both then read on.

Trapped in the Past?

After having a traumatic flashback episode it seems as though you become trapped within a negative thought pattern or a constant disturbing thought loop. Seems you never connect the two together. The flashback and the thought looping. That is very common with survivors of abuse and trauma.

Negative Thoughts Your Inner Voice

The aftereffect of a  PTSD episode for many survivors is the influx strong negative intrusive thoughts. The resulting influx of thoughts is a consequence of surfacing buried core beliefs from your subconscious. These afterthoughts such as “It was my fault”, "I caused it to happen”, “I do not deserve better”, "I should be punished" or “I am not worthy of anything better” invades your mind.

Mental Havoc Abounds

Traumatic thought or set of thoughts can wreak havoc on every aspect of your life. These types of thoughts originate from embedded core beliefs that form at the time of the traumatic event and quickly surface due to the triggering effect of the flashback. These thoughts can also produce a re-traumatization on top of the primary trauma memory, adding a secondary PTSD symptoms. The thought can remain prominent in your daily thoughts for months. Traumatic thoughts can disrupt your functioning and cause you to isolate and withdraw. You can become addicted to a thought or set of thoughts called thought addiction (TA). TA can spiral you into other addictions as an attempt of trying to quiet your mind and stop the thoughts from always looping.

On one hand, the looping thoughts cause you to self-limit and sabotage yourself as well as self-defeating thoughts set in. On the other hand, constant looping thought to get you out of your body and numbs out your emotions kicked up from the experienced flashback. The more you concentrate on a thought it is for an emotion to break through. Soon control is lost and the thought takes over. The more one attempts ignore the thought or thoughts the more you focus on them the stronger they become.

An example is when you attempt to ignore a thought, the more you think of it the more intense it becomes and harder it is to stop it. Another everyday example is when a song gets stuck in your head, the more you attempt to stop it the more it plays.

Takeaway

Why hold on to a negative thought or set of thoughts that do not serve you at all? There is hope in unblocking a thought addiction, regain clarity of thought and power of positive thinking. 

Click o this link to take an assessment to find out if you have a thought addiction.

For more information click on this link: Unblocking a Thought Addiction. It is time to make a positive change in your life.

         Coach Bill

3 Powerful Core Beliefs that Make or Break You & Your Life

I wanted to share the results of the survey I conducted on Facebook. I wanted to know if our first thoughts after an overwhelming events was powerful enough to be a barrier to success.

Survey Question

The question was “When doubt surfaces due to current overwhelming situations or extreme stress in your life, what do you think first?” 

I wanted to know the first thought that surfaced when a person was faced with stressful or overwhelming life events. I wanted to compare it to other surveys and what I was noticing in people I have been coaching. I though this knowledge was very important to increase understanding of why some people experience barriers when attempting to be successful in their life.

First Thoughts

The people who participated had three choices: 

     1. “I am not good enough”; 

     2. “I do not deserve to___” or 

     3.  “I do not measure up”. 

Results

First Place

The results were very interesting. The number one choice reported was by the individuals who participated was “I am not good enough”. 

This thought is actually a core belief formed about self. This core belief statement was found to be the #1 in many other surveys as well as the number one reported by people I coach. 
This core belief rooted in their subconscious mind is a reflection of his or her self-perceived weaknesses, lack of performance, feelings of failure or perceived skills level they feel they are lacking. 

Runner Up

The second most common reported was “I do not measure up to ____”. This one reflects that under stress people tend to compare themselves with others. 

Third Place

The last reported was “I do not deserve to ____”. This rooted core belief tends to reflect the issue of permission or the right to heal old wounds, be rewarded or succeed.

Take Away

The good news is that all three responses are normal and all can be shifted. Shifting to a positive belief will remove the barrier to personal growth or success.

For more information visit my website and click here for free eBook

       

New Perspective for Healing DID

One of my passions is to deeply understand the world of DID systems. Not only do I believe that the formation of DID is a normal response to overwhelming life threatening events, but also DID is a powerful defensive process against repetitive abuse and trauma as well as the need to survive.

For decades this "alternative world" of Dissociative Identity Disorder was painted in negative light. For 18 years, I have been looking to develop a method to help individuals with DID systems change their mindset to have a more cohesive life without crisis, chaos, separateness, strife and constant episodes of terror. I developed a positive method from my life coaching practice with DID clients. 

New Perspective 

The method is "muse shifting" or shifting the thoughts and beliefs of a DID system toward the idea that formation of a DID system is natural reaction to live and not pathological. The method changes the conflictual dynamics of a system to support muses. Muses have been a huge inspiration for poets, writers and artists dating back to pre- Greek and Roman times. Why shouldn't the parts of a system become inspirational instead of advocacy. This method is called System Unification Method or SUM for short.

In reference to DID systems, musing is facilitating a massive shifting of the system's mindset from protective compartmentalization to collective and unified inspiration. Through musing a system (or as one of my clients called her system her "troops") stops focusing on possible threats and turns all energy toward being the inspirational and creative energy for the whole to develop new life skills. Under this new mindset everyday is a blank canvas on which the muses can create a new painting or response to life. Life then becomes art or experience and not something to avoid.

Increase Cooperation through Unification

This musing method has been embraced by many DID client's and their systems. The positive acceptance of musing quickly demonstrates a mindset shifts and dramatic results in acceptance, cooperation, and communication. No matter where you are on the dissociative continuum. Healing is possible.

Take Away

Dissociative Identity Disorder need to seen as a normal and natural survival response to experiencing multiple threatening situations of abuse and trauma. The ability to compartmentalize in a victim's mind can be compared to the creation of "roles" (wife, husband, policeman, fireman...) in an average person. It is time that DID is normalized rather than being feared. 

Go to my website for more information. 

                                             

Dr. Bill's New Social Video Show on Facebook

The question for my 1st social video show aired over Facebook was “What is your Personal Philosophy?” You can watch http://bit.ly/gN1d1M and learn more about my theory for personal growth and healing. I have gotten very good response from the viewers of the show. I plan on doing more episodes and I asked people interested in seeing more to suggest topics they would like me to talk about. Participate and send me suggestions at tollefsonenterprises@gmail.com for what you want to hear on "Transforming with Dr. Bill"

I will be co-hosting an internet radio show "Renew Your Life Radio Show with Dr. Lisa Palmer" in Boca Raton, FL on Saturday night March 12th at 6 pm. You can hear the show locally in South Florida on WWNN 1470 AM radio or anywhere on www.BlogTalkRadio.com

Negative Thinking is Very Common

Do negative thoughts enter and consume your mind often? Do your thoughts leave you feeling negative about yourself? 

Possible reasons for negative thoughts if you are a survivor of abuse, combat or trauma experiences or just experienced hurtful situations. 

Negative thinking generally can be a result of your daily life. Events in your daily life can remind your subconscious of past traumatic situations.  

Negative thoughts can be a side effect of PTSD symptoms surfacing after a latency period. 

Elements of Memory

To deal on a daily basis with traumatic memories or flashbacks, you first have to understand the elements of memory and what gets attached to them. Memory has three compartments: content (what you saw), associated emotions (what you felt) and audio (sounds you heard or not). Separate from the memory in another part of the brain, a core belief about yourself forms in your subconscious mind and attaches to each memory recorded. Meaning an embedded core belief will surface each time along with a memory when that memory is triggered.

That being said, let’s look at how negative thoughts are routed into your thinking.

2 ways on how negative thoughts get into your mind: 

Route #1 is when negative thoughts surface as the result of a current situation stimulating a visual memory of a previous event. The memory would then cause an associated core belief to surface and be released from your subconscious mind into your conscious mind. You are not always aware that a core belief has surfaced or why. Then the surfacing core belief directly influences the content of your thinking unknowingly to you.  A negative core belief would generate negative thinking.

For example: Something happens and a core belief is released such as “I am not good enough”, “I don’t deserve anything” or I am not worthy of any one”.  The core belief then silently influences how you think like; “no one will ever like or love me” “I am not good enough to be successful and so on. Yet the thoughts seem like they come out of nowhere or you think you are just negative toward yourself.

Route #2 is when the current event stimulates the audio portion of a memory and releases the direct statement recording into your brain, like “You will never be any good at anything” in the voice of the person who said it. So you think you are bad, no good or negative because someone else says so.

Understand that both routes of delivery are extremely dis-empowering and self-defeating as well as generate influential content for negative thoughts. The sad thing is you have no idea where your negative thinking came from. 

Both routes heavily influence you and run quietly in the running in the background. Each route causes you to think in negative ways and as a result you think you are going crazy or just simply hate yourself. You know nothing going on or happening in the moment to cause you to think so the negative about yourself, so you must be crazy. But be assured that you are not crazy. Nothing happens in your mind unless it has be written as a result of your life experiences

TakeAway

The positive thing is once you learn and understand the reasons why you are thinking negatively today, you won't feel like you are crazy anymore. 

Another positive thing is that it is possible to make a shift from negative thinking to positive thinking. It is also possible to neutralizing the influence negative thoughts have on you, so the thoughts no longer dis-empower you or causes self-sabotaging thinking. 

Shifting negative thoughts can be as easy as changing your negative core beliefs. Once your core beliefs are changed to positive then the content your mind generates to your thinking process will be positive.

Check out the possibilities at my website and click here to download a free eBook as a gift.

    Coach Bill                                    

Follow Me on Twitter

Hey to all my Followers!!!!!

Guess what? I am on Twitter now. If you would like to follow me or tweet me, my username is @DrBillLifeCoach

I am real excited about being on Twitter.com. This is a platform for my Life Coaching practice. I want everyone to know that Life Coaching is so powerful. I can help anyone to achieve their full potential, gain happiness and accomplishing success in his or her life. 

To learn more by going to my new Life and Post Trauma Coaching website also at http://www.drbilltollefson.com/drbilltollefson/ 

7 Tips on Reducing the Effects of Secondary Trauma

In this modern age of technology, you are bombarded by images of traumatic events from around the world in real time. Events in Egypt, Chilean Mine Accident, Iraq War, Afghanistan War and 9/11 are streamed right onto your computer or into your living room. 

Whether you are aware of it or not subconsciously you are being deeply affected. These images and reporting produce strong emotions and alter your perceptions. The in result is your thinking is affected. You have thoughts like “why am I feelings such strong emotions when the event does not affect or involved me?" "All I was doing was watching what happened.”

Another issue is if you are have personally experienced an abusive or traumatic life event in your childhood and the memory of it has been buried, viewing a present catastrophic event live on TV can trigger images from your past buried in your subconscious to surface into your conscious mind. So now your perceptions, emotions, thoughts, behaviors and reactions are being generated by your past traumatic events not your present. So it is important that you learn about Secondary Post-traumatic Stress (PTS).

2 Types of Post-traumatic Stress

There are two types of Post-traumatic Stress. 

Type one is primary PTS where you are traumatized by an act that happens directly to you. 

Type two is secondary PTS where you are traumatized by witnessing the traumatic act that happens to someone else. Secondary symptoms have powerful effect on your subconscious and could cause you to be dysfunctional without you knowing why. You question your symptoms and why they are happening because you never had any direct abuse or trauma that happening to you that you can remember.

Secondary Post-traumatic Stress is a aftereffect of witnessing a life threatening event that happens to someone else. The resulting symptoms are indistinguishable from exposure to primary trauma experiences (when it directly happens to you).The results of experiencing Secondary Post-traumatic Stress symptoms is a normal response to witnessing an overwhelming painful emotional experience. 

The symptoms that might be felt from experiencing secondary exposure to terrorizing images maybe anxiety, fear and uncertainty, dissociative reactions, flashbacks, feeling of emptiness, feeling of loss, detachment from yourself, hypervigilance (heightened awareness), hypersensitivity, being hyper emotional, impulsive, a need to isolate and of course depressed moods. You may also experience poor sleeping and eating patterns. 

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms from past primary trauma events, your PTSD may very well be increased disproportionately higher by secondary exposure. It is important to know that what you are experiencing is a normal reaction. Understand that for every action (witnessing a traumatic event) there is an equal and opposite reaction (aftereffects). These aforementioned symptoms are the equal and opposite reaction.

Secondary Exposure can be trigger Old Buried Primary Traumas 

Another factor that may occur as a result of the secondary exposure to witnessing a current traumatic events that happens to another person. Your reaction to the event may trigger other past buried memories of primary traumatic exposure that have remained inactive deep within you without you being conscious of it. If you are experiencing some or all of the symptoms listed above, then it might be the result of too much exposure to live traumatic media coverage (fires, robberies, tornadoes, floods...) and causing past recollections to surface.

It becomes so important for your physical health and emotional well being that you accept that what you are feeling is normal response to what you saw. Give yourself permission to experience your strong sympathetic feelings for what the other person went through. 

7 Tips on how to reduce the horrible aftereffects of 
    witnessing abuse or trauma that happened to another 
    person and not to you:

1. Reduce exposure to the media.

2. Recognize that what is happening is not and did not happen 
    to you in the moment.

3. Resume normal activities.

4. Monitor your emotional reactions.

5. Nurture yourself. (Do not judge or second guess your emotions).

6. Give yourself permission to go through the grief. Witnessing 
    loss cause grief reactions for others.

7. Talk to another person about your feelings and reactions to 
    these ghastly events you witnessed as a way to appropriately
    vent, validate and normalize your emotions.

Click here for more information on secondary trauma

                                            

                       Coach Bill

Are Flashbacks Haunting You?

Have you ever reacted to something you did not want to do but found yourself doing it anyway? Probably you were triggered into a flashback. Flashbacks of past abusive or traumatic situations can be so frightening because you have no control. Understand you had no control when the original situation which occurred and your mind was not able to process the situation at that time due to the overwhelming fear of dying and the extreme hurt and pain. Your mind protects you like that.

But plain and simple a flashback is just a message from your subconscious that it is time to mentally process an old traumatic recollection that had been stored in a dissociative area. Your subconscious deems you strong enough now to handle what happened. Unfortunately you get very scared because you did not get the message.  

Looking for a way to make friends with your old recollections? Can you control flashbacks? Well there is a way. It is possible to reduce the influence of a flashback quickly and safely? 

Everyone is influenced by past life experiences one way or another. Your past memories influence and drive you to feel, think and behave in certain ways without your permission. It seems as though there are triggers everywhere and almost impossible to avoid.

Types of Flashbacks

There are 4 types of flashbacks a person can experience after a  traumatic event. These flashbacks may occur within in 30 day, months  or years later.

1. Emotional

2. Organ

3. Physical 

4. Mental

5. Visual

 Rapid Reduction Technique 

Can you let go of the “old” and make room to accept “new” into your life. Is it possible to break the emotional upheaval flashbacks and claim your past? Yes, there is a way  - Rapid Reduction Technique® 2.0, know as RRT® 2.0. Rapid Reduction Technique® 2.0  is an enhancement to the original RRT® that has been so successful for memory restructuring for so many survivors with PTSD for more than 14 years. 

Now RRT® 2.0 works for anyone. You do not have to be a survivor of abuse, trauma or combat to rip the benefits. Your memory influences your success, performance and how you function daily. Not only does RRT® 2.0 decrease the intensity of a recollection and disconnect the trigger, this new updated method assists in uncovering the root cause behind unwanted memories which is core beliefs. Core beliefs form behind each memory you record. Core beliefs can be dis-empowering,  shift your mindset, increase resistance, and change your core values as well as cause confusion in your life. 

RRT® 2.0 takes longer than the original RRT® but the benefits of RRT® 2.0 are worth so much more. RRT® 2.0 frees you from past barriers that impede you from achieving future intentions and success. RRT 2.0 also rids you of the connected core belief which at times does more damage than the traumatic memory. In one session, you become freed from old unwanted memory. 

Take Away

So strive to improve your life, eliminate the influenced your past has on your present, your thoughts, your feelings and your behavior. Do not remain a slave to unwanted memories when there a quick way to break the chains.

More Information

For more information visit my website or http://www.drbilltollefson.com/drbilltollefson/ or 

watch the video on RRT at http://drbilltollefson.hubpages.com/hub/HealingTraumaticFlashbacks  

        Coach Bill

Exciting News

I would like to share some exciting news. Last September I enrolled in a training course to increase my coaching skills with Dr. Patrick Wanis, Ph.D., Celebrity Life Coach. Dr. Wanis has been on Fox News, CNN, Dr. Phil Show and Oprah as well as many radio shows. He has written books and offers DVDs on his techniques. The course was on Subconscious Rapid Transformation Technique or SRTT. He only accepted 17 students in the country for the course.
The training course was 7 weeks long with a field practicum reviewed and supervised personally by him. I benefited and gained a lot of knowledge from Dr. Wanis’s teaching and mentoring. I learned in depth how to work with the subconscious or emotional mind. I felt the experience was well worth the hard work, assignments, time and study.
I am proud to announce that today I received my certification. Out of the 17 students who enrolled, I was 1 of 5 who completed the certification process. Subconscious Rapid Transformation Technique is for individuals who would like to learn why they have been stuck in their life and not having the life they are seeking.
I am now one of 5 certified by Dr. Wanis in the country to conduct SRTT. SRTT is a very powerful healing and transformational tool that I can add to my coaching practice to mentor survivors of abuse and trauma seeking to heal from overwhelming past life events.

Invisible is NOT the Answer to Safety After Abuse

In my many years of helping others I have heard the statement “I just want to disappear” over and over again. Many people who are depressed and anxious express such a statement when he or she feel that their thoughts or emotions are out of control. This is very common for individuals with PTSD also. Many survivors think that “disappearing” is the only way to become and stay safe. 

Just disappearing is not the answer. Many who experience crisis or failed relationships in his or her life want to hide to become invisible. He or she reverts to cutting ties with family, friends or support systems, sinking into addictions, isolating or withdrawing. Diluted thinking breeds this type of negative thinking and it comes from the feeling of being empty, alone; such as “if I am invisible, no one will see me and I will not be hurt”. This diluted thinking does the reverse and in fact my end up making him or her more unsafe.

The more we are unseen and alone, the more doubt enters the mind. This leads to self-judgment, self-defeating and self-sabotaging thoughts. These thoughts lead to feeling of weakness or a feeling of being “less than”. If others perceive that he or she is weak then there is a good chance they will be hurt again so they think they have to be invisible.

What is the answer?

Invisibility is not the answer to safety. To be honest it is the opposite behavior that keeps him or her safe. Go against the first instinct to run and hide. Become more social and increase your social contacts, being more with family and friends as well as establish a strong support system.

Working these suggestions will generate different thoughts pattern and change your mindset. Then the manifestation of strength will happen. Really it is what is given off to others is what keep him or her safe.

Click here to learn more and download a free Book on the home page.

         Coach Bill