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ekman
11 Posts |
 Posted - 07/22/2006 : 13:26:28
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| I just read someone's post that says that Fred Amir suggests punishing the pain? Something like that..... what does he recommend? |
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Tunza
New Zealand
198 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2006 : 17:35:15
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I haven't got the book in front of me but one example I can remember of Amir's is that he would clean the bathroom (a chore he hated) if his pain returned.
Tunza |
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Singer_Artist
USA
1516 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2006 : 11:16:13
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Hiya,
He also recommends to reward the Unconscious inner child with ice cream..But..I am trying to eat healthy so that doesn't work well for me...the only example i heard of punishing the pain was cleaning the bathroom, like sited..
~Karen |
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lilykins
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2006 : 12:36:45
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| I used Amir's techniques to cure myself of TMS. I would talk to my inner child, like it was a child. I would offer to reward it if it didn't cause pain for a certain thing. Like, I would always have pain when I went shopping. So I would say, "If you don't cause pain while I'm shopping, I'll read my book for an hour tonight" (something my inner child loves to do but I don't always make time for). I didn't set unrealistic goals; just small at first, then up to a day (then make it a really good reward, like an ice cream sundae). When the pain would start, I would take a moment to remind my inner child of the deal we had, and the pain would most often go away. If it didn't, I didn't give myself the reward. If it did, I always made time for the promised reward. I never actually used punishment, like cleaning the bathroom; just reward or no reward. This technique, together with resuming normal activities and learning mindfullness techniques (noticing but not judging or responding emotionally to the pain) cured my TMS symptoms. |
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ekman
11 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2006 : 16:27:18
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| Wow lilykins - that is awesome. How long had you had pain? What type? How long did it take to cure? |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2006 : 13:03:05
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I used Amir's method as a supplement to get rid of some of my more persistent pain. The idea is to punish or reward the inner child (unconscious) using methods appropriate to its psychology as a small child.
I mainly used food for reward, in several cases an orange and also ice cream sandwiches. He uses ice cream a lot as an example, but the orange worked really well for me -- it doesn't matter if it is "healthy" food as long as you like it and it is a treat of some kind. The important thing, I found' was the buildup I gave it as a reward, imagining how yummy and special it would be, how good it would smell, how nice to get the juice all over my hands, and how happy I would be to eat it. It sounds kind of funny but those are the things that the unconscious wants -- remember, it is a little kid! Without the buildup it was not effective, even if it was an ice cream. I did it for one morning at first, then one afternoon, then 2/3 day, then a whole day, and that was the end of the process. That worked to eliminate my pain at work. Once you triumph over it, the lack of pain reinforces itself and becomes its own reward, so it's no longer necessary to have an external one.
I did also use the punishment, when reward would not work. I was having back pain sitting on the train to and from work. In the morning one day, I tried reward, which did not work. So I said to my inner child on the train home "All right, if you will not give me back pain on the way home, I will give you a nice dessert, fruit and cream, and watch a TV show. If you do, I will go home, eat dinner but no dessert, and clean the stove (which was a chore that needed to be done, and I-conscious don't mind doing it but I know my inner child does) and no TV show. I had pain so I cleaned the stove. After that I didn't get that pain anymore! (But just the threat did not work; I had to show I was serious.)
This only took a few days, but I was already mostly well by then, so the time is shorter than normal.
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Wherever you go, there you are. |
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lilykins
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2006 : 19:37:36
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Hi, eckman!
I had back pain, sometimes nasty, since I was around 18 (I'm 31 now). I was diagnosed with herniated discs and the neurosurgeons wanted to do a fusion when I was 27. I didn't allow it then, trying everything I could to get well and eventually did, I thought from chiro and acupuncture. I was OK for a couple of years and then I got bad sciatica. This time, chiropractic didn't work, neither did acupuncture. Looking back now, I realize I probably got better before because I was in talk therapy at the same time as the acupuncture/ chiro. Thank goodness, during this episode of sciatica, which had lasted about 9 months and was steadily worsening, I found Dr. Sarno. I saw myself and believed in it right away but the pain did not immediately get better, though I stopped taking meds and it didn't really get much worse. I started increasing physical activity and it improved a little more, then stopped improving. I journaled, and that helped me keep my faith in the TMS diagnosis. Then I read Amir and started using the rewards and I finished getting better. I know longer need to use rewards; I just tell my child that I hear it, but don't need the pain, and move on, and the pain goes away.
Armchairlinguist, I really liked your description, too; I did the same thing about imagining the reward in as much detail as I could.
Eckman, hang in there and I'm sorry this was so long, but hope it helps! |
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Punish the Pain
