Stage #2 The 1 Word Technique Michael Norman International & www.panicfree.tv
THE 1 WORD TECHNIQUE This is a very simple, and very powerful way of deliberately stripping away the ability of a habitual thought to be anxiety-provoking. For example: with Panic False Alarms people typically have anxious internal dialogue that gives them a fearful interpretation of certain body sensations. For example: Is this a heart attack? Is this dangerous? PART 1: KNOWING WHERE TO TAP There are just two parts to The 1 Word Technique. The first part is to set things up by finding out exactly where to tap. To do this, look in your False Alarm Log, and look at your answers to this question: What did I just think or say to myself that made me feel anxious or panicky? What things did I think or tell myself that made the anxiety worse, or made the panic escalate? Here are some examples from other clients: Oh f*ck, is this a heart attack? I m going to die, it s not my time yet! What if this isn t a panic attack? What if this time it s real? What s wrong something is wrong am I ok? I want you to choose just ONE thought / sentence from your False Alarm Log to start a sentence you said to yourself that made you feel anxious or panicky, made the anxiety worse, or made the panic escalate. This is going to be the thought we tap. (Later, you can repeat this process with other sentences, but we only want you to use one sentence at a time).
PART 2: THE 1 WORD TECHNIQUE 1) ONE SENTENCE: Choose just ONE thought/sentence from your False Alarm Log that has been anxiety provoking when you ve said it to yourself in the past (e.g. Oh f*ck, is this a heart attack? ). 2) TEST: When you say that sentence to yourself, is it anxiety-provoking? If it is, that means we re tapping in the right place. 3) NEUTRAL: Put that thought aside and shake your body out to get into a more neutral state. 4) FIRST WORD BACKWARDS: See and say JUST the first word of that sentence to yourself as you watch that SINGLE word moving very, very slowly backwards across your mental screen (e.g. Oh ). 5) NEXT WORD EVEN SLOWER: After that first word has disappeared off the left of your mental screen, allow the next word to follow the same path, but this time even MORE SLOWLY as it moves backwards across that mental screen. See and say ONLY that word, because again, this is The 1 Word Technique only one word at a time (e.g. f*ck). 6) EACH SUBSEQUENT WORD MOVES EVEN SLOWER & SLOWER: As you watch each word one word at a time make sure that as the sentence progresses, each subsequent word moves even more slowly than the last. (This is so your brain learns that the whole sentence is only getting slower and slower as time moves on). 7) FAST REWIND: Once you ve watched every word from that sentence move, one by one, off the left of your mental screen, allow each word to VERY QUICKLY rewind from left to right starting from the LAST word all the back to the very FIRST word, back at the beginning. Allow the rewind to happen very, very fast. (Please see the video if you need clarification, and you can certainly do it even faster than the video if you can. Let the rewind happen without much thought.) 8) TEST: Once you re done, open your eyes (if they were closed), look around, and shake your body a little bit so that you fully come back into the room. Then say that very same sentence to yourself the way you used to and try to see if you can get any of that old anxious feeling back. How differently does it feel now? 9) REPEAT: Repeat this process a few times with each sentence UNTIL you notice that the sentence has lost all the power it had to make you anxious in any way. Once you ve done this, and you ve noticed that that sentence has lost all it s power, you can repeat this entire process with the next sentence in your False Alarm Log.
Split Any Emotionally Powerful Words VARIATIONS If any word makes you anxious just by itself (e.g. die or panic ), split it into TWO separate words so it completely loses its meaning. For example: Panic > Pa.. Nic Die > D (might sound like dah ).. ie (might sound like eeee ) Please see the video for a visual example of this. Auditory Only You can do The 1 Word Technique without any visualizations if you find that easier. Simple SAY each word out loud as slowly AS IF it really was moving backwards across your mental screen. For the rewind, do your best impression of how that sentence would sound if it was played in rewind, at lightning speed (like listening to an old tape in rewind). Move Your Head You can also move your head as you watch that one word moving across your mental screen from far right to left (in the same way you might when watching someone walk slowly past). Then move your head back at normal speed to the right to get the next word. There are a number of reasons this can be VERY useful, but a big one is that it helps your brain separate each word out even more fully. Word Size & Distance If you feel that you need more distance from the words, literally see them further away from you. Allow yourself to have all the distance you need, whilst still being able to see them. You can also make the words a lot smaller if that helps. Additionally, it can be very powerful to allow those words to be small, insignificant AND below you (e.g. ankle level) so you re HUGE in comparison, towering over them.
Space In Between You can also pay MORE attention to all the space in between the letters than to the actual letters themselves. This can further increase your awareness of the vast space not only between each word, but between even the letters. Colour Your Words You can change the appearance of the words in any way you d like. You could allow them to be rainbow coloured, black & white, dim, sparkly, or anything else you can imagine that makes them less serious, less impactful and easier to laugh at. Change The Font You can make the words any font you want. You could choose a very thin, fragilelooking font to make the words even less powerful. Change Voice Qualities While I don t often use this variation, if you still feel anxious saying a sentence, you can change the tone of voice you use. For example, you could say it in a sleepy voice. You could also say it in a funny cartoon character s voice. Or my favourite, you could say it in the voice of someone you could NEVER EVER believe (e.g. the least credible, least believable politician you know!). Touch / Movement Some people find this process easier if they physically imagine touching the word as it moves past them very slowly. Feel its shape, texture, the roundness of certain letters, the holes in the letters etc. Pay particular attention not only to all the space between and inside the letters, but the vast space between words. Pretending & Acting As If If you find visualising difficult you have three options. First, you could do the Auditory Only version (above). Second you could touch the words (also above). Or third, you could just PRETEND and act AS IF you re seeing one word at a time.