(…continued from previous post…)
Another main point in addressing therapy-specific programming (or any kind of programming) is, that you and your therapist should be in full and complete agreement as to the fact that you are going to approach it as programming (not as resistance, transference, or absolute truth that should be believed and acted on).
The therapist, if not part of the initial analysis of triggers, likely behavior, and thought patterns, should be fully apprised of this information so that they know what to look for – they might recognize emerging patterns more quickly or be able to add things to look for.
You should also have a crisis plan in place ahead of time. This is not as likely to be needed when addressing this type of programming, but it is always best to stay on the safe side. Even the most basic programming will have protections in place to prevent it from being tampered with or destroyed. The programmers would prefer that their work remain intact, and they have devised all manner of things (from pressure-sensitive bombs to “mind traps” that will set some internal effect into motion to hiding the programming under some innocuous structure, and many many more) to discourage or deflect any attempts at undoing their work.
Approaching the therapy-specific programming with the kind of alter-inclusive approach I’ve described elsewhere will increase the odds of finding pitfalls ahead of time instead of by walking into them. It is also a good way to develop some familiarity and experience with the approach. Be sure to ask the alters you know, or the ones you meet along the way, about traps and other protective devices. If the chain of information appears to dead-end, ask specifically whether anyone knows about other worlds, alters from other worlds, and connections between worlds. If the alter who could provide this information is not yet cooperative, take the time to get to know them and include them in your group. The more alters your group has working together, the stronger the group is.
Each pitfall, trap, trigger, and program has at least one alter who knows about it and/or maintains it – and that someone also knows how to circumvent, defuse, and/or remove what they are currently protecting. Listen to them – get to know them for themselves, apart from the goal you want to reach or the information you want them to give you. Consider whether you would be friendly with or trusting of someone who only wanted to pump you for information – would you want to be helpful in that situation? Alters should never be used in this way. It’s worth the time and effort to build genuine relationships with them – whether or not you end up being best friends, everyone in the group should work toward a place of mutual respect. Our alters will be with us literally for the rest of our lives, so there’s no point in starting off on a bad foot or allowing animosity to fester and disrupt the entire system when we can do something to prevent that from happening – and your group needs to be able to work together if addressing the programming is going to be effective.
(… to be continued, again. My next post will have some examples which might hopefully make it clearer.)
