Museum Protocol: Case Study Esly Regina Carvalho, Ph.D. This
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Museum Protocol: Case Study Esly Regina Carvalho, Ph.D. This session happened several years ago with a person who had been assaulted seven times. Since we didn’t have a lot of time, I decided to use the Museum Protocol to see if we could give Isabella1 some quick relief. Isabella: I am always scared of being mugged. I’ve been through seven assaults! Today when I stop the car at a light, I look sideways. I’m scared. I check the windows and when the light turns green, I move forward in a hurry. Therapist: I would like for you to pretend we are going to an Art Museum, but instead of the usual paintings hangings on the walls you see the pictures of these Experiences that you have gone through. Can you describe the first one for me? First picture: I was driving down a main highway. All of a sudden, a man stuck his arm into my car window and pulled at my watch. Four men appeared, telling me to get out of my car. I froze. Therapist: When you think about this picture, what expression best describes what you think about yourself now, that is negative, false and irrational? P: I’m afraid of dying… hmmm, I am in danger. T: OK, let’s go with, I am in danger. When you think about this scene, what expression best describes what you would like to think about yourself that is positive? P: I don’t want to be exposed to these assaults. I am safe. T: OK, let’s use I am safe as your Positive Cognition. When you think about this scene, on a scale of 1 to 7, where 7 is completely true and 1 is completely false, how true to you feel these positive words, I am safe, are now? P: It’s a 4. T: When you think about this scene and the negative words, I am in danger, what feelings come up for you now?”] P: I feel fear, a lot of fear. T: When you think about this scene, how much disturbance to you feel now, on a scale of 0 to 10, where zero is no disturbance and ten is the worst you can imagine? P: I think it’s a 10! T: Where do you feel this in your body? P: In my chest. T: OK, so let’s go back to this first scene that is now projected onto the wall of the Museum. Look at this scene, think about the negative words, I am in danger, observe where you feel this in your body – and follow the movements. (BLs = bilateral movements, in this case we were using eye movements.) Take a deep breath, let it out. And now? P: I feel a tightness in my chest. 1 Not her real name. We thank her for authorizing us to tell her story as well as the colleague who took copious notes during the session. www.plazacounselingservices.com * Esly Regina Carvalho, Ph.D. * Museum Protocol© T: Let’s go with that. (BLs) P: I’m still afraid. T: Let’s go with that. (BLs) P: I’m still afraid. T: What could you do with this picture for it to be different? (Here the therapist is using a solution- based cognitive interweave©, an interweave developed by this therapist.) P: I could remodel, reformulate, change the paint. T: Let’s go with that. (BLs) And now? P: Maybe if I had kept the window closed this wouldn’t have happened. (BLs) P: I think I was distracted. (BLs) P: Pure distraction. Maybe I was irresponsible. And it was irresponsibility and distraction because the children were in the car. (BLs) T: And you think you have a crystal ball? (BLs) P: That’s true… but I still don’t feel safe. If I have to go out at night, I go by taxi, because I am afraid. T: Is that fear or prudence? Think about that. (BLs) P: That’s true, it could be prudence. T: When you look at the picture now, has anything changed? P: Yes, I think I was distracted. Am I trying to expose myself to these assaults? I’m asking myself. T: Ask yourself and follow the movements. (BLs) P: I think I was too trusting. I never thought something like this could happen. (BLs) P: I want to lose this fear. (BLs) P: Nothing happened. (BLs) T: Going back to the first picture and using the scale of 0 to 10 where zero is no disturbance and 10 is the most you can imagine, how much disturbance to you feel now? P: I think it only went down to a seven. T: It doesn’t seem to go down, right? [Since there were several such Experiences, the therapist thinks that perhaps this disturbance connected to the first experience won’t go down until other experiences have been resolved.] T: So, let’s go to the second picture. Give me a few details about the second experience, and let’s see it projected on the wall of the museum. P: It was about 6 p.m. and I was going home from the university. I stopped at the light, and looked down for an instant, and when I looked up this big man had a gun pointing at me. He asked me for everything I had. When the light turned green, I took off, but my body felt absolute terror. I was so frightened. T: And when you look at this scene, and think about these words, I am in danger, how much disturbance to you feel now? P: Ah, it’s a 10. T: Look at this picture and think about the words, I am in danger, feel this in your body and follow the movements. (BLs) Take a deep breath. And now? P: The worst could have happened. I was able to break free. T: Let’s go with that. (BLs) Take a deep breath. And now? P: It’s over. It happened. It’s over and I am alive. (BLs) I still have the idea that it is dangerous to go out at a night, especially a woman by herself. T: Is that fear or prudence? (This is another cognitive interweave that offers a reality check to the client. Losing the fear does not mean losing prudence or good sense, because there really are www.plazacounselingservices.com * Esly Regina Carvalho, Ph.D. * Museum Protocol© dangerous situations that therapy will never resolve. This lady really did live in a very dangerous city.) P: People say that I’m crazy to keep looking around. T: Let’s go with that. (BLs) And now? P: No, no it’s not craziness. (BLs) T: And now? P: When I look at all of this, I think it could have been much worse! I came out of this alive! He didn’t take my car or my documents. T: Going back to the first picture and using the scale of 0 to 10 where zero is no disturbance and 10 is the most you can imagine, how much disturbance to you feel now? P: I think it’s a five. T: Think about this five. (BLs) And now? P: No, no, it’s not being crazy. (BLs) P: I don’t think it’s going to go down further right now. T: Let’s go to the next picture. An observation from the therapist: The therapist chose to continue with the next Picture for several reasons: 1) in spite of the fact that the patient said the level of disturbance didn’t go down, the truth was that it had gone from a 10 to a 5. She had also had several positive insights. A therapist suspected that the level of disturbance might not go down completely until all of the pictures had been cleared. She also had one eye on the clock, aware that she was probably going to have to finish with an incomplete session. She therefore wanted to get the processing going on some more networks to see if the reprocessing might continue while the patient slept that night, since they were going to continue the next morning. She thought this might help with the desensitization processing. Third picture T: So, let’s go to the third picture. Give me a few of the details of the third experience, and let’s see it projected on the museum wall. P: I was coming home from work, really tired. I think I had forgotten I had a package wrapped in bubble paper. When the thief reached in to get my purse in the back seat, the bubble paper made a noise. I was so frightened I just put it in reverse and took off. The car ran over the thief’s foot! T: And when you look at this scene, and think about these words, I am in danger, how much disturbance to you feel now? P: Ah, it’s a ten. T: Look at this picture and think about the words, I am in danger, feel this in your body and follow the movements. (BLs) Take a deep breath. And now? P: I had this thought: Wow! I’m becoming a specialist in getting out of getting these mugging situations! T: That’s true! Let’s go with that. (BLs) Take a deep breath. And now? P: That’s it… I can get free. T: That’s true. (BLs) Take a deep breath. And now? P: I am becoming a specialist in these situations.