Source: Richard Bandler & John Grinder

Access the negatively-coded memory after establishing an exit cue.

Ugly TDS

Go to your earliest related memory, then break state.

List your present resources.

Anchor these resources.

Create your “emotritional” anchors salad.

Take a break.

Savor some inner peace.

Future pace.

Test.

Modify negatively coded memories so that you can realize your potential unfettered by such memories. It works especially well for a person or a situation that pushes your buttons, that is, that you have an unresourceful reaction to. Before you use the pattern, remember that it might need some modification to fit your unique needs and abilities. We cannot stress enough how important it is that you approach this pattern flexibly.

Step 1: Access the negatively coded memory after establishing an exit cue. #

You will need to create an exit cue that will allow you to stop the pattern for some reason. Put a special object (a real object) in front of you, where it does not normally go. If you suddenly need to stop the process, grab the object to trigger the “return to previous state” cue. Anchor a more or less neutral state to this object. Access the negatively coded past experience using all rep systems and from the first (associated) position. Use a unique gesture to anchor the state associated with this experience.

Step 2: Ugly TDS. #

As you’ll recall, TDS (trance-derivational search) occurs every time you go inside your mind and search for meaning or for memories. This can lead to a trance. An “Ugly TDS” occurs when you perform a TDS inside a TDS. For example, while you’re searching for meaning for that negatively-coded experience, you anchor that feeling and do another TDS for another memory that provides a similar emotional reaction. Then you do it again, collecting more and more related negatively-coded experiences. That’s why it’s called “ugly” TDS. To make it easier, you can write them down and mark each with the approximate age you were at the time of that experience. While you’re doing the Ugly TDS, keep adding those to your anchor. Continue until the ugly TDS becomes slow and it is difficult to find more related memories.

Step 3: Return to your most recent related memory, then break state. #

Stop the search and, in your mind, go directly to the earliest memory. Since you have your age written down for each one, it’s easy. Stay there. Now break your ugly TDS state. Since it involves TDS, it is best to do it actively, by getting up and shaking it off, among other things.

Step 4: Make a list of your current resources. #

Now we’ll group some positive parts of your current identity that you’ve chosen to keep. Ask yourself, “What kind of resources do I have today that I wish I had back then, so that the whole experience would have been different and to my advantage?” As an adult, or “the older version of yourself,” you have plenty of resources available. How about forgiveness, patience, resilience, self-defense, sarcasm, devotion, procrastination, inner strength, or other resources you keep deep inside? Small or big, it does not matter; any resource that can help you should be listed.

Step 5: Anchor these resources. #

An anchor for each of these resource states Fully feel them, and then establish a new anchor for all of them together. Choose a gesture that is very different from the one you used for the negatively-coded experience anchor.

Step 6: Create your “emotritional” anchor salad. #

“Emotritional is a nickname we gave to the emotional resources that nourish you. Take the negatively coded experienceanchor and the new anchor (the collection of current resources), and collapse them at the same time. While you do that, let the first negatively coded experience enter your mind, and take all of the resources that you’ve anchored (the second anchor) and drop them on that memory. With all of these resources available, how would the experience have looked back then? Change the content in whatever way is useful to you. Once you’re done with the first memory, go faster. Move on to other memories. It doesn’t matter in which order you proceed. It may help you to avoid doing them in chronological order, however. If you find the pattern confusing, bear in mind that confusion can actually enhance its effectiveness. 7.Take a break. Break the state completely in whatever way you find appropriate. You may feel tired at this point, but maintain your alertness for a while to make sure that the pattern takes effect. This would be a good time to eat something or drink some cold water. Distract yourself from what’s going on around you.

Step 8: Savor inner peace. #

Inner peace is completed when you forgive and forget. Now that you have completed this pattern, check to see if there is any “hidden treasure” that you might find disturbing if it is not processed properly now. Calmly think about that previously negatively coded memory. From an objective frame of mind, ask yourself if it means more than a learning experience to you when you look at it. If not, then you have most likely completed the pattern effectively. If you find that there is still a negative charge, you can make that the target of this pattern or another appropriate pattern in the future.

Step 9: The Future PaceThis step brings the good from the past into your future. #

Future Pace for an event that is likely to happen. Trigger your resource anchor, and mentally rehearse the event several times. For each mental rehearsal, have a different turn of events take place, in order to future pace the situation from several angles. This will prepare you to respond effectively and flexibly. For each version, handle it in your imagination so that it is to your advantage. Being able to spontaneously respond to the ghosts of your past is a liberating and empowering feeling. Most people find that, having followed this pattern, their new responses are quite spontaneous yet effective.

Step 10: Test. #

In the coming days and weeks, notice if you have more peace of mind regarding issues related to this memory, or if you experience more freedom to think about the things that really matter to you, and less about negative things from the past. You can add a piece to this pattern when it concerns a person that pushes your client’s buttons. Help your client understand the intent of the other party. This helps your client feel a sharper distinction between their reality and that of the other person. Many of the people who come to an NLP practitioner have difficulty with this particular skill–the skill of being very clear on where they leave off and other people begin. This leads to many of the problems that people use NLP for. One of them is certainly the negative reactions they experience because they cannot tolerate other people thinking or saying negative things about them. When working with a client, you can provide some instructions that help them do the pattern. Remember to say words like those I used when firing off the two anchors. Take the resource state (as you fire the positive anchor) into the negative state (as you fire the negative anchor)…and notice how it has changed now. And when you test the anchors, notice any changes in your client’s physiology that can alert you to changes in their state.