Past Projection vs. Memory Rescripting
Why Can't I Lose Weight?
Do Demons Cause Negative Thoughts!
Featuring Our Beloved Dr. Matthew May
The answers to today's questions are brief and were written prior to the show. Listen to the podcast for a more in-depth discussion of each question.
Here are the questions for today's podcast.
- Rhonda asks: What's the difference between Past Projection and Memory Rescripting?
- Slash asks: How do I overcome my resistance to losing weight?
- Constantina asks: Do negative thoughts come from demons?
And here are the answers!
- Rhonda asks: What's the difference between Past Projection and Memory Rescripting?
I would love to learn more about Memory Rescripting, since I really don't see much difference between that and Past Projection, but maybe I am just dense. So if we could talk about that on the next Ask David, that would be great.
Thanks, Rhonda
David's reply
I use the term, Time Travel, and you can project yourself into the future or the past, hence Future or Past Projection. If you want a patient to travel into the past, there are a great many things you can do that might be helpful. You can do "Forgiveness Training," developed by Jaimie Galindo. Essentially, the patient talks to someone, like a parent, who abused them in some way, telling the parent how hurt they felt, and how they needed the parent's love. Or you can do Cognitive Flooding, simply "watching" some traumatic event to experience the anxiety until it wears out and loses its power to upset you. And there are many more techniques you can use to explore past experiences with a patient.
Memory Rescripting is like Cognitive Flooding—you have the patient close their eyes and vividly re-experience something traumatic, like the babysitter abusing them. Then, at the height of the feelings of anxiety, anger, and helplessness, you can tell the patient that they can be like a movie director, and change the scene so there is a different outcome. For example, the patient may want to enter the scene as a powerful adult and punish the perpetrator.
This is not some standard procedure, as every patient will be completely different. Often, they will want to do something violent to the perpetrator, so this procedure can be anxiety provoking for the therapist!
I have only used it on a couple occasions, but had good results with it both times. I am not a strong believer that patients "must" go into the past to "work through" a prior traumatic experience, so I don't have that much need for it. But it is a good technique to have in your toolbox.
- Slash asks: How do I overcome my resistance to losing weight?
Dear Dr. Burns,
I recently listened to your podcast episode on Habits and Addictions, and it really resonated with me. I've been going to the gym regularly, but I'm struggling with my eating habits — I tend to eat too much, and my weight hasn't been decreasing.
What I've realized is that I may be experiencing what you describe as outcome resistance. A part of me feels that if I lose weight and become thin and attractive, I might still not take action in areas like dating — so then I ask myself, "Why should I even bother with weight reduction?"
I'm finding it difficult to overcome this resistance, even though I want to be healthier. Could you please share some guidance or strategies to work through this kind of resistance?
Thank you for all the wonderful work you do. Your podcasts have been truly insightful and helpful.
Warm regards,
Slash
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