Chapter 5

IV. Second stage - Recycled Emotions (for very advanced focusers only) (cont.)

Recycled emotions G - The provocations

Professor Eugene T. Gendlin and a group of associates at the University of Chicago discovered focusing many years ago. After developing the General Sensate Focusing Technique, I learned that "I had invented the wheel for the second time". The idea of verbal provocations as a means of arousing felt sensations to focus on was adopted from him and from publications of the Focusing Institute. The following section explains in brief the version of the "Provocative Assault" method used by me and my trainees.

Though it is stressed very often in this book that the felt sensations and the focusing on them are non verbal processes, I do not have any prejudice against verbal processes. In daily life, "some of my best friends" communicate with me verbally. I think verbally in private from time to time, and even use words in focusing training sessions for various purposes. As long as one does not forget that focusing and the felt sensations are mainly a non verbal process of the right half (hemisphere) of the brain, the use of verbal processes can be of no harm and even of great help.

Verbal provocations built to suit the content of a problematic aspect of one's life, recited to oneself sub vocally, can always bring up a related felt sensation on which one can focus. The self-provoking verbal approach is a most potent tactic to arouse "sleeping" maladaptive trash-programs, related to the specific problem or domain one is interested in at the time, and force them to create felt sensations to focus on.

Therefore it is most helpful when one is working on a project. It is very helpful when one is too impatient to wait for a suitable felt sensation to appear spontaneously. It is still helpful when one wants to change for a while the sensations and topic one is working on at the time.

The common provocation consists a few words or a short sentence with a false content that one can recite silently to oneself. The following are samples of various kinds of provocations: "I am never afraid", for exaggerations; "I am never late" for absurdities; "I am omnipotent" for the status emotions; "I am going to win the big prize in the lottery" for the distortion of probabilities; "she/he is coming" for wishful thinking or dread of facts; etc.

The most prominent on the list are the verbal exclamations that describe the target topic, such as: "I am afraid of ...." or the paradoxical negation sayings like "I am not afraid of..." and vice versa. When one is "hunting" for a felt sensation related to a specific content, the negative sayings "I am not...", "I do not...", "I never...", etc.

A single recitation of one of these, followed by concentrated focusing, is usually the fastest and most "elegant" way of "fishing" for the right felt sensation. When one recites these exclamations to oneself silently, it is less embarrassing and works even better than when reciting them aloud.

It seems that the decentralization of the subsystems of the brain enable one subsystem to con, cheat, taunt, ridicule, etc. another subsystem. It works just as it works among kids who annoy each other this way. The provocations use the same old processes discovered by Abraham and later by Ellis (R.E.T.), which causes much trouble for those who repeat negative sayings to themselves. However, the provocation tactic is not restricted to negatives, and is based on a single recitation followed by focusing on the felt sensations.

The ability of the provocations to arouse trash-programs which works at
the time subliminally is dependant on the program more than on the
provocation. Thus, one cannot guess in advance what will be the
intensity of the emerging felt sensation. Therefore, when
using it for the first time on a topic or a problem,
be ready with all the emergency tactics to trim
too intense felt sensations. Do not use this
tactic when very exited or too troubled.

V. Synthetic emotions or "remedy before disaster"

Frequently, we are uneasy before an encounter with the unknown or the partly known, especially if the results have significance for our future. Sometimes, as a result of the activities of trash-programs even insignificant situations have the ability to affect us. Many times the results of the rehearsals are damaging; we feel worse before, we perform badly when the future becomes the present and we often feel very badly afterwards.

Many times, rehearsing before a meeting costs people their sleep. Often, the conscientious plans one makes soon deteriorate into worries, self-torture, obsessions and other unpleasant things. These activities are the results of trash-programs which work inside and outside of the focused awareness. These activities are the root of many bad and irrelevant programs. They are the main contributing factor to all "negative hypotheses which tend to fulfill themselves".

Sometimes though, the preceding uneasiness and the functioning in the real situation are improved when we rehearse things in advance. Many people - or perhaps everyone - profit from time to time from these rehearsals. When people rehearse, they usually conduct imaginary dialogues or even plot a whole series of scenarios in advance. The rehearsals of many are so much like the real thing that they are like filmstrips.

Nearly all of us can and do accompany our verbal worries about the future with imaginary films or video clips, or at least with slides and emotional "background music". The memory of the "artificial experiences" lessens the feelings of uncertainty and indecision before and during the actual situation.

As a result of these rehearsals, the artificial memories allow us to become better organized emotionally, but they also result in a new group of prejudices. Whenever the sensate focusing is integrated into these rehearsals, the damage and dangers that would otherwise occur can be restricted and the gains greatly increased. This is especially so for emotionally loaded interpersonal meetings.

When focusing on different alternative steps in the development of the future encounter, one can trigger off in advance a lot of trash-programs that are potentially damaging to the outcome of the expected encounter. This focusing will then update in advance the trash-programs involved and remove their intrusive effect.

In focusing this way, one can adhere to naturalistic scenarios; one can include highly improbable scenes to ensure against their unprepared occurrence, as they could cause a lot of damage; one can even include impossible exaggerations of possible scenes in order to immunize oneself against the real occurrences.

For instance, before walking at night through a dubious area, we can imagine a fire-spitting dragon attacking us. After a few short focusings, the scene ceases to arouse strong feelings as the trash-programs involved have been updated and improved. If one persists for too long, the scene could even become boring. After these deliberations, it is improbable that the encounter with an unexpected wailing cat during a night trip will cause little more than a small and/or brief increase in the blood pressure and pulse.

This synthetic "remedy before trouble" is most helpful when activated before meetings, interviews, or other encounters the main details of which are known in advance.

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