Pattern Interrupts
By Joe Donahue
Good stuff..pattern interrupts! I use them all the time at school It helps also, to know something about the person's likes, dislikes or habits as referral 'anchors'. Mentioning them incongruously ( Are those Adidas?) (That is a great chain....where'd you buy it?) can cause a pause in the emotional state. What you don't want is rapport with the current emotional state's activity but you do want deeper rapport with the unconscious.
An effective technique( sometimes) is to appear to give permission to the 'fight' just before it begins to 'happen'. Timing is obviously important. " Is this a fight? Hold on for a minute while I check my watch ( looking in an exaggerated manner at my watch.) How much time do you need to fight? One minute? 5 minutes? Hold on until I say ...ready..."( usually, at this moment, the arousal rate has already dropped precipitously as the combatants view me as 'crazy!) The hypnotic command to 'Hold On' is repeated at least twice. My watch becomes an anchor for their senses. Acting congruently is important here. While the interventions are incongruent with the heightened anger state of the participants they are congruent to the intevenor's exaggerated perceptual assessment. In short ...being 'crazy' can help when the timing an need is impending. Later you can select out the presenting conditions.
This strategy can work with many overt emotional states but make sure it does no harm.
Joe Donahue