Introduction to TWM

Emotional and physical childhood trauma and other negative experiences can be  predisposing factors in the development of mental health problems^[1]and chronic ill health , such as anxiety, depression, addictive behaviours, chronic pain^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}  violence and suicide^[8], in adulthood^{[9] [10]}.  Several authors recognise that these need to be addressed, reconciled and integrated as part of the healing process^{[11] [12] [13]} yet there are only a few interventions, such as The Journey^[14] and Matrix Imprinting^[15] that do this, and they are not generally practised by orthodox therapists. TWM is an effective intervention that can be taught to clients over 3-5 hour-long sessions giving them a toolkit to use afterwards for continuing their healing and supporting themselves at challenging times.

TWM transforms thoughts, feelings and memories that are having a long term effect on health. It is a new body-based complementary therapy that focuses on felt sensations. It steers the client’s attention from their stories and repetitive thought patterns to the feelings in their body. As they explore these feelings they quickly recognise that they are not a proportionate response to their lives now, but stem from early trauma or historic family and cultural beliefs . Guided visualisations explore, question, reconcile and release these responses, leaving the client feeling calm and relieved and with a more objective perspective on their unhealthy patterns.  Clients are encouraged to practise the exercises between sessions and so become increasingly self- supporting, present and purposeful.

The origins of TWM

 TWM has evolved over the last 15 years. It was first developed for people suffering from Fibromyalgia^{[28] [29]}and Irritable Bowel Syndrome,^[30] giving them a fresh perspective on their early experiences and an understanding of how they caused unhealthy emotional responses;  how these have impacted on their emotional and physical health and how they can support their own healing. The method was later shared with people suffering depression, anxiety, shame, personality disorders, low self-esteem, fear, self-harming behaviours and dependency. 

 Phased Model

TWM uses a structured approach based on the phased model described by Rothschildⁱⁱⁱ. Exercises are introduced by the practitioner in a flexible way depending on the current state and needs of the client: some clients will move through all the phases in a single session, others will repeat an exercise several times while those with more serious mental illness that are unable to self- soothe and reliably find a calm and present state of mind will only practise phase 1 and phase 3 exercises.

Phase 1

Teaches the client techniques they can use to stabilise themselves, feel safe, be present and access a wiser perspective of their issues. Because the work is body based, they experience feelings of calmness, safety and trust rather than just having an intellectual understanding that it is possible. This affects their physiology, soothes and relaxes an over vigilant body and settles habitual fear responses.

Mindfulness Meditations

The body scan, breath and other common mindfulness meditations will be shared with the client^[31]. They will be directed to Mindfulness apps and encouraged to practise daily throughout the course of TWM and ideally in the future.

Conscious Writing

The client is asked to write out their thoughts as they arise. They are encouraged to write fast and freely, not censoring or correcting what flows onto the page. They can continue this until they feel emptied out or write for a set period of time. They are then asked to read through what they have written, reflect on how a wise friend might comment on these thoughts and what advice they might give and write out these reflections.

The Empty Chair

The client talks (or writes) about an issue, first telling the story and then describing how it affects them emotionally and how it makes them feel in the body.

They then get up and move to another chair, pick someone they admire, whose wisdom they value and who they think has their best interests at heart and imagine how it feels to be them.

They are asked what advice this ‘wise guide’ would give the person in the chair they have just left.

They then return to their original chair and describe how it feels to receive this advice and what it means to them.

Parts Integration

The client is asked to explore, often using role play, the body posture they adopt and how they feel when they inhabit their ‘capable adult’, ‘ loving parent’, ‘judge’, ‘unhappy child’, ‘playful friend’ and ‘wise guide’. They learn that they are composed of a full team and with practice, it is possible to control which part they inhabit. Some parts may feel very unfamiliar and be difficult to accept with compassion to start with.

They gain an appreciation of how well resourced they are and how, with practice, they can deal with previously challenging situations mindfully, compassionately, confidently and with integrity.

“Shoulds” Exercise

Here the client is guided to recognise how they negatively judge themselves and others and to appreciate that this is unhelpful, makes them feel anxious or frustrated and impacts on their feelings and interactions. They are guided to experience how they feel when they are free of these thoughts and how this positively affects their resilience and their ability to communicate effectively.

Questioning Thoughts

The Questioning Thoughts exercise investigates unconscious and habitual responses that the client has to people or situations. It quickly and directly uncovers a fundamental belief that they have about themselves (for example: I am not safe, I am not worthy, I am unlovable, I can’t cope) which was often formed after an early trauma or other negative experience and allows them to explore it consciously. Once they see that from an objective perspective the belief is not entirely true they are asked to imagine how they would feel and act without it. This allows them to open to a more mindful experience of themselves and recognise that they can be free from habitual unconscious thoughts that are affecting their emotional wellbeing. They are invited to practice the technique frequently at home and they quickly begin to respond to previously challenging situations more consciously and feel calmer and more confident.

The client is guided through a phase 3 exercise after a phase 1 exercise.

Phase 2

The early experiences of some clients may have taught them that they are powerless, unsafe, unworthy and/or have no agency and this evokes emotions of anger, fear, grief and shame.

In stage 2 clients address the memories, conditioning and traumas that taught them this and reframe them reducing the intensity of habitual emotional responses.

The client is guided through a phase 3 exercise after each phase 2 exercise.

Frozen Child

The client is asked to talk about a recent event that affected their emotional equanimity and to notice how it made them feel. In a guided visualisation they are asked to locate this feeling in their body, focus on it, and enquire as to when they first felt it. This usually brings to their attention an unhappy or traumatic memory from childhood which has been driving emotional responses ever since.  The client is then immediately, without any need to talk about the event, guided to inhabit the loving parent archetype, soothe their inner traumatised child and notice how it feels to receive the love and support they needed.

The client then visualises holding the child next to their heart so they will always feel safe in the future.

The Pain Release Process

The client is guided to focus on a sensation, discomfort or other feeling in the body, invited to feel it fully and then to explore what lies deeper. This may bring to their attention an image, sensation or memory normally harboured in the unconscious. Rather than dwelling on this the client is directed back to the physical feeling that this has evoked and asked to explore deeper still. The cycle is continued, often going rapidly through a range of powerful emotions, until they are emptied out and they experience a state of expansiveness, peace, stillness, safety or love. Once in this state of one-ness they naturally have a mindful perspective on their suffering. They gain insight into their habitual emotional responses and what they need to do for themselves in order to achieve a healthier state of being.

The Memory Change (part of The Journey)

The client is asked to visualise a safe place and bring in a wise guide, mentor or other presence that helps them to feel supported. They are then asked to imagine a video screen and to watch at double speed an incident from the past that made them suffer or freeze, they are told that they hold the remote controls and can stop and start the video at will. They are then asked to think about the resources they needed to be safe at that time (these could be fanciful or practical such as having a strong friend with them, a shield or ability to teleport out of the situation). They then replay the memory as it would have gone if they were already in possession of these resources.

The Campfire (part of The Journey)

In a guided visualisation the client imagines sitting at a campfire and inviting in a younger version of themselves who suffered emotional pain in some way. This younger version is given whatever resources they need to feel safe and then invites in the ‘perpetrator’, conveying to them how they felt and what impact it had on them. The ‘perpetrator’ responds and a dialogue continues until the younger version feels heard and is able to gain a more mindful understanding of what happened. They then cut ties with the past and release any unhealthy learning that took place because of it.

Phase 3

Here the client envisages a future where they are free of emotional pain, feel intrinsically safe and have all the resources and parts within them to cope with life. It is pointed out to them that they are already feeling this in the here and now and they are reminded that they have the tools to return to this state at will.

Transactional Analysis and Non-Violent Communication

 Basics of these techniques are taught to the client to facilitate a more empowered communication style.

Future Integration

Clients are guided through a Neurolinguistic Programming meditation to notice how they feel a day, week, month and year ahead and how this is affecting their posture and how they are behaving and communicating now they are free of the issue they have been working with. They usually feel light and empowered and memories of the past are no longer emotionally charged.

The Training

TWM practitioner training is experiential there is more detail here. Trainees work on their own issues and practise the techniques with each other in workshops which alternate with individual supervision sessions spread over several months to a year giving the trainee time for wider reading and integration of the personal healing they undergo. When they are sufficiently competent at using the Method and are able to stay present with clients, offering a safe and open space and mindfully choosing not to fix, collude with or judge them they can begin practising under supervision. They begin to practise independently and can gain their accreditation after guiding a minimum of five clients through 5 sessions, they continue with monthly supervision according to our code of ethics and conduct.

The results

Outcome measures gathered from clients suffering with anxiety, anger, depression, self-harming behaviour and suicidal ideation show that the intervention is highly effective for young people from 16 years and upwards. A paper based on the results from 120 consecutive clients referred by statutory and third sector support services is in prep.

Client stories

1.A client with a lot of physical symptoms and really struggling with mobility and breathing impacting on her mental health and self-esteem.

They really embraced the processes and whilst they admitted being sceptical at the start is regularly engaging in some of the tools.

The practitioner did quite a lot of work on their physical pain and the client is now using the tools and processes to help with this.  In the past few weeks, they have gone from using codeine (analgesia) three times a day to none. They mentioned that the pain in their hand and thumbs is not as bad, and attribute this to using mindfulness meditation techniques and pain release process.

2. Client struggling with suicidal thoughts ( 2 attempts). Self-harming, homeless after a relationship breakdown, depression, anxiety, no social network 

After 5 TWM sessions : “ I realise I am stronger than I ever believe  possible. I hit rock bottom but you have taught me to value ‘me’ and take time/responsibility for me. My life is worth living, I need to concentrate on me, it’s not about giving all yourself to others.”

What helped was ‘’healing the younger me, recognising that the trauma is in the past. I do feel safe now. I use the meditations and breathing to calm me when I am triggered. I have values. I want to research psychology and help others. I never dreamt of having a future. I feel back in my body – not the watcher anymore. I don’t have thoughts of self-harming any more. I am excited about living.”

3. Client Self-harming and alcoholic.

 ‘I have stopped being so hard on myself. It has been a gradual thing. If I do have a bad night I am able to have a different outlook the next day and be in a better mood. I have realised I don’t always have to do something big, but, for instance, get a takeaway instead of buying a bottle of vodka. It is easier to get in a better mindset. I still jump into the pit, but now I have a rope to get myself out. I am not overthinking things but able to enjoy normal things. When you are in a dip you think no one knows what it is like. [TWM practitioners] do know – they aren’t just saying things. You don’t have to get it right straight away, it is like building blocks.

Conclusion

TWM is a much needed complementary therapy that gives clients the means to address and heal the long term effects of complex trauma and PTSD. It is also highly effective at improving the mental health of people suffering anxiety, depression, self-harming behaviours and suicidal ideation. It could be offered to clients while on the waiting list for support from the NHS and may reduce or remove the need for further help.

Philosophy behind TWM

TWM is based on an understanding that we have several levels of mind: the intellectual mind, emotional pain body, unconscious, soul mind and non-personal ‘one mind’.

Those of us who have grown up in a Western culture tend to focus on the intellectual mind. Wed hold the common assumption that, eventually, we will be able to understand everything through logical thought. If we work hard enough we will reach an intellectual understanding of all the great mysteries of the world: the meaning of life, the origin of the universe and the secrets of perfect health. It makes us strive to find the answers to and gain control of all our problems: our fears, our pains and our frustrations and it can be heard in our language: we will ‘tackle’ world poverty, ‘beat’ cancer, ‘wipe out’ malaria, ‘combat’ child abuse and ‘drive up’ literacy levels.

The intellectual mind sees just about everything as a challenge. It believes it must gain understanding and take control of every aspect of our lives, and whenever it believes it is losing its grip it is fearful. And it is not enough that it perceives threat in its present situation, it also looks ahead and anticipates threat that may come to it in the future and looks back and replays threats that either happened or might have happened in the past. It strives to keep us safe by learning from past events, being on guard in the present and anticipating the future.

In reality, the intellectual mind does not have total control over everything, and that includes our own bodies. It cannot always prevent feelings expressed by the pain body and this scares it: if someone close to us dies we feel the pain of the grief in the chest. We can gain some temporary solace from this pain through distracting thoughts:  ’it is my fault, I should have been there’ or ‘it is the doctor’s fault, she should have seen this coming and acted differently’ or by focussing on the pain of others.

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In many cases we begin to relax the defensive behaviour as time passes, we can then release the painful feelings of grief and be restored to balance and health. 

There is, however, some pain that is considered by the unconscious mind to be too painful to ever be felt. It decides it is not safe to revisit the memory and it continues to block it out and distract the thinking mind indefinitely. This often happens with early experiences when we did not have the wisdom or experience to make sense of an event.  For instance, a child experiencing the full wrath of an adult aimed at him feels terrified and helpless. In such cases the unconscious caps off the feelings as a survival measure and it also decides that it will never be safe to revisit the memory and release the emotions so they remain suppressed indefinitely. 

The thinking mind then feels even more isolated, our actions become more informed by fear and we create a cycle of pain.

The unconscious uses this sort of experience as a source of reference in an attempt to ensure that we do not encounter similar pain again, it develops fears, judgements and beliefs such as ‘I must not make people angry or they will annihilate me’, ‘that person is not OK because she has an angry face’ and ‘anger is a frightening emotion and I must never express it’.  Because we never explore the root of these beliefs they remain with us, unchallenged and immovable and no amount of positive affirmation or forgiving thoughts will truly expunge them.

The mind is not in control of this pain but it has learned that it can regain some level of order by suppressing the emotion, by capping it off. This is something that we practice as a culture, so usually it is not a conscious decision but an unconscious one. Once the cap is in place it blocks the free communication between the different levels of consciousness. In effect we become closed off from the heart, our source of love and compassion, and the ground of being, our source of peace and security.

The capped off feeling of terror remains as a dis-ease in the body and any time we experience a feeling that reminds us of it our reactions seem to be out of proportion to the stimulus.  An angry voice that reminds our unconscious of the event that caused us terror as a child will make us feel deeply disturbed and panicky. 

This dis-ease can remain dormant for our whole lives. However, it can sometimes find expression through dreams and flashbacks, such as in post-traumatic stress disorder, or through physical dis-ease. In recent years the link between emotions and physical symptoms has become more widely accepted: the relationship between anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome is well known, and we would probably all agree that our skin can itch when we feel frustrated; our throats can ache when we feel sad, our blood can pump audibly when we are angry, and we can ache with tiredness, feel a sudden stab of fear in our guts and our hearts can burn with hatred. I would take it further and say that most of the physical symptoms we experience in chronic illness are an outlet for suppressed emotions. 

Emotional pain can express and physical symptoms, but it is also true that physical pain can cause emotional symptoms. The two are interlinked and co-dependent. It follows that by releasing pent up feelings we can reduce the intensity of both, and it is surprisingly simple to do this once we have been taught a method.

The Pain Release Technique is a very simple tool that allows us to do just this. By noticing where in the body the pain is felt we can bring our attention to it and invite it to be fully expressed. The initial pain may be physical, such as an aching hip, or emotional, such as resentment felt in the chest. As we bring our awareness to the pain we can become aware of its origin and allow this also to be fully expressed. There follows a discharge of emotion and if we do not resist it but allow it to be fully felt we can remove the blocks that have been put in place by the unconscious and we can reconnect with our heart and our ground of being.

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[13] Carolyn Spring

[14] the Journey

[15] matrix reimprinting

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