Stop that thought!
Terence Watts – Creator of BWRT®
Many clients ask me how BWRT® works – here is the answer from its creator, Terence Watts, MCGI.
“After my post on the science of BWRT, somebody asked me “But just how do you stop the impulse in its tracks? What brain processes let you do that?”
So, back to that lizard brain/reptilian complex and a bit more science now…
There are many things that can make the lizard brain/reptilian complex send a ‘wait’ response to the amygdala; it scans our entire environment 24/7 for threat and it’s been doing it for millions upon millions of years, so it’s had plenty of practice! If our ancient ancestors heard a rustle in the bushes, they would stay fixated on that one thing waiting to find out what it was. In other words, waiting for information. That total fixation process led to survival, and so became an automatic brain response to anything unknown.
BWRT® Building Better Brains
We certainly don’t have to think about it:
* It happens when we encounter something we don’t recognise (especially if we have a feeling it might be something unpleasant) and we immediately focus our whole attention on it so totally that we can think of nothing else until we recognise it. Then that’s new information and we can take action if needed.
* It happens if there’s an unusual noise in the house in the middle of night, when we’re immediately wide awake to give our full attention to listening. We can think of nothing else until we’ve worked out what it is, then that’s the new information and we can react as is relevant.
* If the car in front of us on the motorway skids violently we immediately fix our total conscious attention on it until it either crashes or resolves the skid. Then that’s the new information and we can deal appropriately with what’s happening.
There has to be something that COULD be a potential risk in order to alert the lizard brain. That ‘fixation’ is where the brain is waiting for more information and it’s a completely natural process. So, in a BWRT session, the client thinks of the problem, we trigger that ‘wait state’ (though without the feeling of risk) and the client introduces the idea of how they want to feel instead. Then that’s the new information to be taken on board.
Of course, that’s not the entire therapy – but it is the part where we stop the impulse in its tracks and begin to create the change the client wants.”
– Terence Watts, Wednesday 5th January 2023 –
To book your free consultation email hello@essexmindcoach.co.uk.