Dismantling Beliefs Technique
Dismantling Beliefs (DB) is a more intricate and demanding procedure than the Replacing Beliefs (RB). You will need to find a concrete situation which is the source of a belief or at least the first event exposing the belief that you are able to recall. The idea is to change the meaning of that event.
Here is the complete DB procedure:
“Marco,” as we’ll call him, decided to dedicate as much time as was needed to complete the whole Comprehensive Goal Achievement Process (described in "Coherence"). As a part of that process, Marco did the DB technique on the belief “I never finish my ventures”:
1. Find the source: the specific situation in the past that caused the belief.
Marco recalled a situation from his childhood in which he was nine years old, and had started saving up money for a newly invented device called “micro-vision,” which he had a huge desire for. After a few months, though, when his allowance savings were still not enough to buy it, he gave up. From that point on, he believed he wouldn’t be able to finish important endeavors at all. All his later experiences had been, essentially, supportive to this belief and only strengthened it more and more as time passed.
2. Find at least one proof in your life that shows you that this belief is not true, or at least not totally true.
He vividly evoked a concrete memory of the day he graduated from college. Finishing school had been a big task successfully done, although there had been a lot of obstacles along the path. It was a great success in his life which had proved to him he was able to finish an important project.
He also brought to mind two more events at his job, where he had effectively finished very complex projects, without any real problems at all.
3. Find at least one alternative meaning of the original situation. Watch the situation from the alternative perspective. Notice that you can freely choose the meaning of that situation.
arco had difficulty finding an alternative meaning for the original negative situation. In fact, his pre-assumption that it was a negative situation was in this step an obstacle in itself. Sensing this, he did the DTI on his negative attitude toward the situation from the past.
Soon after, a more positive take on it all became clear to him. Because he had stopped saving his money for the micro-vision, he had been able to spend it on other, smaller items such as ice cream, toys, chocolate and (above all) the numerous sci-fi comic strips that had ignited his sci-fi passion in the first place. That one ‘failure’ had, in fact, enabled him to afford other, happy moments which had been invaluable to his healthy childhood.
The original situation wasn’t bad after all. It had simply re-oriented him toward making new decisions which also made him happy.
4. Do the DTI+ on the original situation; use the alternative meaning from step 3 for the MH part of the DTI+.
He revived the original situation again, though it had already become blurry and dim due to frequent re-experiencing. He felt the Temporary I while experiencing the negative meaning of that mind content and did the DTI.
After several seconds of pure emptiness, he re-evoked the alternative meaning and said to himself the MH statement: “I feel that this situation was very positive for me because I was redirecting my money into many things that were actually more important and beneficial to me at that time. I am a person who always finishes his ventures.” He consciously felt this statement from his Heart. It was a very successful DTI+ procedure.
5. State the original belief to yourself and see if there is still any emotional reaction.
Marco stated aloud to himself his original belief. There was no emotional reaction this time. It wasn’t true to him anymore.
Here is the complete DB procedure:
- Find the source: the specific situation in the past that caused the belief.
- Find at least one proof in your life that shows you that this belief is not true, or at least not totally true.
- Find at least one alternative meaning of the original situation. Watch the situation from the alternative perspective. Notice that you can freely choose the meaning of that situation.
- Do the DTI+ on the original situation; use the alternative meaning for the MH part of the DTI+.
- State the original belief to yourself and see if there is still any emotional reaction.
“Marco,” as we’ll call him, decided to dedicate as much time as was needed to complete the whole Comprehensive Goal Achievement Process (described in "Coherence"). As a part of that process, Marco did the DB technique on the belief “I never finish my ventures”:
1. Find the source: the specific situation in the past that caused the belief.
Marco recalled a situation from his childhood in which he was nine years old, and had started saving up money for a newly invented device called “micro-vision,” which he had a huge desire for. After a few months, though, when his allowance savings were still not enough to buy it, he gave up. From that point on, he believed he wouldn’t be able to finish important endeavors at all. All his later experiences had been, essentially, supportive to this belief and only strengthened it more and more as time passed.
2. Find at least one proof in your life that shows you that this belief is not true, or at least not totally true.
He vividly evoked a concrete memory of the day he graduated from college. Finishing school had been a big task successfully done, although there had been a lot of obstacles along the path. It was a great success in his life which had proved to him he was able to finish an important project.
He also brought to mind two more events at his job, where he had effectively finished very complex projects, without any real problems at all.
3. Find at least one alternative meaning of the original situation. Watch the situation from the alternative perspective. Notice that you can freely choose the meaning of that situation.
arco had difficulty finding an alternative meaning for the original negative situation. In fact, his pre-assumption that it was a negative situation was in this step an obstacle in itself. Sensing this, he did the DTI on his negative attitude toward the situation from the past.
Soon after, a more positive take on it all became clear to him. Because he had stopped saving his money for the micro-vision, he had been able to spend it on other, smaller items such as ice cream, toys, chocolate and (above all) the numerous sci-fi comic strips that had ignited his sci-fi passion in the first place. That one ‘failure’ had, in fact, enabled him to afford other, happy moments which had been invaluable to his healthy childhood.
The original situation wasn’t bad after all. It had simply re-oriented him toward making new decisions which also made him happy.
4. Do the DTI+ on the original situation; use the alternative meaning from step 3 for the MH part of the DTI+.
He revived the original situation again, though it had already become blurry and dim due to frequent re-experiencing. He felt the Temporary I while experiencing the negative meaning of that mind content and did the DTI.
After several seconds of pure emptiness, he re-evoked the alternative meaning and said to himself the MH statement: “I feel that this situation was very positive for me because I was redirecting my money into many things that were actually more important and beneficial to me at that time. I am a person who always finishes his ventures.” He consciously felt this statement from his Heart. It was a very successful DTI+ procedure.
5. State the original belief to yourself and see if there is still any emotional reaction.
Marco stated aloud to himself his original belief. There was no emotional reaction this time. It wasn’t true to him anymore.
