Lvl 2 Mod 4

Question 1

What is the felt sense of the client’s state at the point they are accessing core child emotion?

Answer 1

Can be a dream-like state

Question 2

Three functions of experiments in the accessing stage

Answer 2

1. Deepen into mindfulness
2. Get further clarity on the themes at play
3. Help the client get unstuck

Question 3

Describe an experiment that can be used to help a client have a sense of control over a particular emotion or sensation? (Four parts)

Answer 3

1. Ask the client to intensify the emotion/sensation
2. Ask mindfulness questions
3. Ask client to release/lessen the emotion/sensation
4. Ask mindfulness questions

Question 4

What part of the process is just as important as the actual experiment?

Answer 4

The set-up of the experiment

Question 5

What is the main core organizer focus in developmental injury work vs trauma work

Answer 5

The main focus in developmental injury is relational emotions whereas with trauma it is the body

Question 6

What are two questions we can ask either to ourselves or to the client when we are processing the primary affect?

Answer 6

1. What behavior is it motivating?
2. What unmet need does it hold?

Question 7

What is the hardest part of developmental work?

Answer 7

Getting past the defenses (“peeling them away”) . The client is well trained to employ these to avoid feeling the core pain

Question 8

What are patterned emotions?

Answer 8

Relational emotions which are designed to elicit a specific response

Question 9

What is one question that Laia uses to distinguish a primary or patterned emotion? How does the answer inform her hypothesis?

Answer 9

How do I feel toward the client?

Authenticity, empathy, being connected, they’re not pushing her away are all indicators of a primary emotion

Feeling bored or anxious are signs the client is experiencing a patterned emotion.

Question 10

What is a motivation of client’s exaggerating emotions/malingering? What are two fears that keep this pattern going?

Answer 10

To put a mask on to get attention/get needs met.

Two fears are

1. If you get better you’ll lose the relationship.
2. If you are honest about your real emotions/needs, it won’t be good enough to get attention.

Question 11

If we are not careful to spot the transformation, what two things could happen?

Answer 11

1. We’ll progress into the next wave of pain, as the client tends to go ahead once the pain has lessened
2. The procedural tendencies can dismiss the transformation and thus prevent it from being integrated

Question 12

Why do we try to go for the earliest instance of the developmental injury?

Answer 12

Because changing that first experience is hypothesized to cause domino effect to other later similar experiences

Question 13

6 categories of the ways we can support integration, with an example for each category

Answer 13

1. Through the Body as it is- mindfully study how the body supports the new experience.
2. Through the body doing a Movement, Action, Posture - Find a bodily postural, movement or gesture to anchor the new experience
3. Through Emotions - identify the new ways they relate to a particular emotions
4. Through New Beliefs - identify what they believe about themselves, others and/or the world
5. Through Relationships - Practice new relational body language or actions in therapeutic relationship that support the new experience
6. Into the Future- Reflect and discuss how new experience will affect the future

Question 14

Three examples of ways to integrate a transformation by discussing the future

Answer 14

1. Reflect and discuss how new experience will affect the future
2. Plan ways to integrate new experience in action in daily life.
3. Bring up the challenging or stressful environment they need this new capacity to face

Question 15

What are two things we can say to clients to encourage them to titrate just a little into difficult emotions/beliefs/sensations?

Answer 15

1. Stay with that just 1%
2. Be with that just a little

Question 16

Three important questions we can ask to help get more information on the setting the child is in of a state specific memory?

Answer 16

1. Where is he/she/they ?
2. Is this child alone?
3. What is he/she/they doing?

Question 17

What question can we ask to invite some resources into a moment where we’re processing primary emotions from a childlike state?

Answer 17

How can we resource that child right here right now?

Question 18

What question can we ask part of doing a boundary creation exercise for a child part?

Answer 18

If she was able to create a boundary, what materials would she use?

Question 19

6 examples of physical experiments

Answer 19

1. Finding an object to represent a situation, person or emotion and then using that external representation to study the impact of moving towards, away from and/or setting a boundary
2. Repeating in slow-motion a tension, gesture, posture, movement, gait, etc.
3. Exaggerating a tension, gesture, posture, movement, gait, etc.
4. Doing the opposite of a movement, gesture, or posture
5. Expressing a feeling or belief through movement
6. Sensing or taking on the body of the “child” in a particular memory

Question 20

What are three experiments that can be done within the therapy relationship to explore a client’s relational tendencies

Answer 20

1. Increase/decrease distance between therapist and client
2. Therapist offers a hands or reaches out to the client
3. Client sets a physical boundary with the therapist and optionally, the therapist crosses that boundary

Question 21

What does Laia do to help a client explore how they navigate through different cultural spaces

Answer 21

A physical experiment involving taking on the posture associated with the feelings of navigating that cultural space

Question 22

What type of material is offered as a verbal experiment in the accessing stage? And what is a likely response?

Answer 22

Material that is contrary to the negative core belief of the client
Likely the client will reject them (elicits the procedural pattern)

Question 23

What 4 techniques do we used to stabilize mindfulness

Answer 23

1. Spend time bringing the client into the mindfulness state (don’t jump too early into experiments)
2. Linking COs and stitching to frame
3. Adjust rhythm and pacing as needed – look to find a hypnotizing rhythm
4. Try to include all the core organizers

Question 24

3 Avenues for processing developmental injury/adaptation

Answer 24

1. Studying and befriending adaptive strategies (covered in Mod 3-5)
2. Parts/child states (covered in Mod 5-6)
3. Relationship internal/external, especially in context of therapeutic relationship (covered in Mod 6-7)

Question 25

What are the three types of procedural tendencies that we study when looking at the patterns that emerge in the therapeutic relationship?

Answer 25

1. Attachment patterns
2. Action tendencies
3. Beliefs

Question 26

When working with limiting core beliefs, what are two strategies we can take to help the client get some space outside the belief and to reduce the emotional fuel for maintaining the belief?

Answer 26

1. Increasing awareness in the client that the belief is just a strategy or a part and not core self
2. Work with child state or historical state of primary emotion beneath the strategy

Question 27

What are the two basic things we do when studying an adaptive strategy?

Answer 27

1. Frame and Study with curiosity and compassion how the Strategy is present in different core organizers in the session
2. At some point, find the benefit/cost of the Strategy

Note: Simply making a patterned adaptation explicit can be
transformative

Question 28

What is the final thing Laia does before starting a verbal experiment with a client?

Answer 28

She checks with the client to see if they are ready to hear the verbal experiment

Question 29

What impact do moments of silence do in the session

Answer 29

They can offer space for client to deepen mindfulness

Question 30

What did Laia say when client said “I don’t know why but…” in response to something that came up for her

Answer 30

Let’s trust that

Question 31

What Laia says to help ensure the client is ready to transition to closing phase? (2 things)

Answer 31

Asks the client if there is any other piece that wants to attending to or to be named

Question 32

What is one hypothesis of why clients don’t remember a powerful session afterwards? What’s something we can do to help address this?

Answer 32

They did not have sufficient time integrating post-session.

We can encourage the client to some extra time post-session - time in the car, time walking around, time journaling, etc.

Question 33

What did Laia do when her first probe of “I’m with you” was rejected by the client’s procedural tendency “Who are you?”

Answer 33

She directed the client to a positive resource and once the client found a sense of safety, she repeated the probe.

Question 34

Are sessions ever used to focus on practicing a change and integrating a change? If we do want to use a session in this way, what’s one way to get that started?

Answer 34

Yes, sometimes several sessions are spent integrating it. We can refresh the transformation in the body and work with it from there

Question 35

Are flashbacks an indicator that trauma reprocessing was not complete?

Answer 35

It could be – worth going through slivers of memory to see if there is activation.

It could also not be – it could be due to the client being less resourced at a given moment because dissociative processes can be very hard to permanently break once established.

Question 36

What are two example questions that can be used for increasing awareness in the client that the belief is a strategy and not core self

Answer 36

1. What is this doing for you?
2. Why does it make sense that it appeared in the first place?

Question 37

What two questions can be asked to assess the hidden benefits of an adaptive strategy?

Answer 37

1. Does it mask or block awareness of deeper feelings towards oneself? Feelings towards the other?
2. Does it shut down behavior that may feel relationally risky?