How NLP Removed Scan Anxiety in Cancer Patient... and how she uses NLP now to help others!

The challenge

Tasha has been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in January 2017 and had undergone various treatments and scans. After the initial diagnosis they reviewed the situation and removed the terminal aspect however invasive surgery and chemotherapy was the course of action that was taken. So Tasha had chemotherapy from May to August that year which was successful however Tasha was left feeling tearful and apprehensive at each subsequent scan. Even though she felt positive and was resourceful, she still found herself crying without being able to control the emotion and this was what she wanted to change as it was unhelpful for her.

The effect

Tasha would notice a general lead up to a scan and the surprise element of emotion coming from seemingly nowhere, would knock her off track - it completely floored her for a week previous to the appointment. She felt out of control and wanted to feel more resourceful to enable her to face the scans. Prior to NLP, she had undertaken end of life counselling which helped at the beginning of the treatment however, by the time she had received the 'all-clear' she really needed more support.

Solution

So we had one NLP coaching session for an hour. We did ecology checks around the situation making sure that the positive intention of the old behaviour was understood and that she was safe and any learning was preserved. We then undertook a process using sub-modalities where we changed the internal representation of the unwanted emotion and crying. This is a gentle process which involved connecting to how the person is experiencing the situation internally and then helping them to change it accordingly. We then future paced i.e. helped Tasha think about future situations (scans) where had they happened in the past she would have had the old emotion and notice how things had changed.

Result

Tasha has never cried about a scan since! She has regularly appointments and now she copes really well, feels relaxed and helps other people to do the same. She went on to study NLP and has gained her NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner certification and shares the incredible tools and power of NLP with families, carers and patients as well as using it herself on a daily basis.