Additional Thoughts on Phase II: Be Gentle!

One of our previous blogs was about "Getting Started" with Phase II. I wanted to share some additional thoughts with you about Phase II. Last week when I was working with a client in Phase II preparation, what resonated with me was how important it is to be particularly gentle with clients during this Phase.

During Phase II we often probe for the underlying Negative Cognition (NC). In my experience, as was the case last week, for many clients this is really the first time that they connect with the underlying NC and it is, at the same time, very revealing and enlightening but also very shocking and disturbing. For example, a client discovers that her need to fix everything and everybody stems from a belief that if she doesn't, she isn't of value or worth. This revelation evokes powerful emotions. Be gentle! Allow them to understand that of course this will be very emotional, calm them, soothe them. Ensure that they have stabilized before the session ends. This is another reason why we encourage you to introduce stabilization skills to your clients as soon as possible.

When I worked with this particular client last week, there is something I didn't do, which I wish I would have. I should have WARNED her that in this Phase, we may be touching upon these shocking underlying beliefs and that they could evoke powerful responses. From now on, any time I think I may be doing any Phase II work, I won't forget to do this. I hope you do the same!