Spider phobia

[Jesse JacobsPSTEC User]

Hello,

I was referred to your PSTEC system and the click tracks by a woman who said your PSTEC work completely changed her life and allowed her to let go of her pain from a terrible injury.

I have a spider phobia. Specifically tarantulas, but any insects that just look big. I have no major issue with regular size ones smaller than a quarter. This is mostly encountered in media, museums, pet stores, or in my mind which is where it is the worst.

This started when I was 4 and my dad and I were watching tv and a tarantula crawled across someones face and my dad jumped in fear. I have had this phobia since.

I started the first free click track today. Afterwards I looked at an image. I felt fear. So I did the click track again. Then I didn’t look at the image. Afterwards I was instructed “No need to look at pictures … just remember or imagine as you run the tracks”

Here are my questions:

How and when do you test the reduction of the phobia?
I went and found the TV episode that caused this fear when I was 4. Is it best to watch it or not watch it and when?
When I should look at spider pictures and / or watch this childhood tv episode that caused the fear?
How often do you do them daily?
Anything I am not considering?

Thank you!

[Paul McCabePSTEC Pro and Forum Moderator]

Hi Jesse,

Thank you for your post.

For eliminating a spider phobia, there are various PSTEC tracks available. However, I appreciate you are using the Free Click Track.

I would recommend the following:

– pay attention to how you know you have the phobia. For example, what reactions do you have when you think of spiders? What physical sensations (e.g. sweaty palms, racing heart), thoughts etc. show up?

These are your cues and you can actively engage with these while running the Click Tracks. When they are no longer present, it'll be evidence the issue is being resolved and then completely resolved. You'll then not feel any fear when you hear the word “spider”, see a spider, view a picture/movie of a spider etc.

– Rate the feeling from 0-10 before and after each play of the Click Track. You may well have started at a 10, then gotten down to a 5, for example. Keep going until you get to a 0 or 1. Complete resolution can be achieved with just one play of the Click Track, or it may require several plays/rounds. So, if I write “CT to a 0 or 1” that means….keep going 

– some people feel embarrassed about having a phobia. If you feel any embarrassment about people finding out, imagine telling someone who does not know, try to feel the embarrassment and run a separate Click Track on this. Click Track that down to 0 or 1

– CT the causal memory down to 0 or 1. Just try to hold onto the fear while thinking of it.

–  CT any other “evidence” you have about spiders being scary, dangerous etc. See if anything else comes to mind. Even just the concept of “spider” can be CTed. You may wish to make a written note of anything else which comes to mind.

– Separately CT the imagined scenario of seeing a spider, insects
or even a lot of spiders crawling into your room, having to hold them etc. Make it as vivid and scary as possible. You can add a tarantula into this mix. Try to hold onto the fear while running the CT and CT that down to 0 or 1.

You can test the reduction by checking the original “proofs” you had of the phobia and see if they are gone or just feel different. Every time you run the CT, the fear will either go down or completely disappear. This happens once you hit the tipping point.

You can watch the video and look at the pictures when you feel ready to do so. Equally, on a conceptual level, you don't have to do this at all or ever. Someone may have, for instance, a dog phobia and the cause of this was that they were badly bitten when they were 4 years old. They would not have to go back and pet said dog to know the phobia is gone.

However, to be thorough, you can certainly take this approach.

There is no set rule to how often you use the Click Tracks. Some people use them a couple of times for an issue that has been bothering them; other people use the PSTEC suite of tools every day to resolve all manner of issues and to change how life shows up for them and, indeed, how they show up for life 

Hope that helps, Jesse. Please do keep us updated and we are always happy to help in any way we can.

Best Regards,

Paul

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Paul McCabe – PSTEC Master Practitioner

http://www.lifestyleforchange.com

Please contact me anytime if you want any assistance in utilising PSTEC to help you live a life of tremendous freedom & possibility.

Recreate yourself with PSTEC.

Skype, Zoom, in-person & phone sessions available…

[Jesse JacobsPSTEC User]

Hi Paul,

Thank you so much for your detailed instruction. I will keep you posted. I have done 2 sessions so far. I really appreciate it!

Jesse

[Paul McCabePSTEC Pro and Forum Moderator]

Hi Jesse,

That's a pleasure.

I look forward to reading about your progress.

Take care,

Paul

---

Paul McCabe – PSTEC Master Practitioner

http://www.lifestyleforchange.com

Please contact me anytime if you want any assistance in utilising PSTEC to help you live a life of tremendous freedom & possibility.

Recreate yourself with PSTEC.

Skype, Zoom, in-person & phone sessions available…

[Jesse JacobsPSTEC User]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your reply. Let me tell you my experience thus far.
I have done the PSTEC the first click track four times now. The first session was intense. As I have gone on some of the original memories of when I was young such as when I first became afraid of spiders from watching a TV show, that seems to get much less of a response.

Next in my second session, I was noticing that I was not getting as much of a reaction going through all my memories of seeing a tarantula from the first event, at the zoo, in a pet store etc. I just went through every memory I could think of. So I decided to increase the amplitude and visualized one crawling on me as I did the click track.  That was scary! I was shaking. But I stayed with it.

I believe I was following these instructions:

– Separately CT the imagined scenario of seeing a spider, insects
or even a lot of spiders crawling into your room, having to hold them etc. Make it as vivid and scary as possible. You can add a tarantula into this mix. Try to hold onto the fear while running the CT and CT that down to 0 or 1.

One thing to note is I have a very excellent imagination, I do visual work for a living and a lot my job is using my imagination. So I have noticed that the idea of one crawling on me has been slipping into my mind throughout the day. I wonder if my imagination is shutting out the click track. And I wonder if this is escalating the fear more, or if this is part of the process and to proceed?

In the next two sessions, I decided not to visualize a new imagined spider in such close proximity.  Again I noticed the reaction to the memories from all the times I could think of being afraid of a tarantula in real life were less intense, which is good!

Questions: Is there a risk of creating new imagined memories and new fears by working so hard during the click track to imagine a tarantula so close? And therefore new neural connections? Or is the idea just to keep running the click track and increasing and increasing the fear using imagination until the fear is just totally gone and the association is totally neutral?

Also I started to try click track 2 and realized everything was switched. I got totally confused and went to click track one. How often should I switch?

All that being said I think this is working! Take that spider phobia!

Thanks Paul, I think this could be amazing!

Jesse

[Paul McCabePSTEC Pro and Forum Moderator]

Hi Jesse,

Thank you very much for the update.

It looks like you are making great progress and I really appreciate you sharing that.

If your imagination seems to be going into overdrive, that is a good thing in this instance. Keep at it until you know for sure the fear is gone or at a level with which you are very comfortable.

There really is no risk of creating new memories, but imagined future outcomes are treated the same way as memories. You imagine something happening and then you clear it. You are simply neutralising the emotional impact of these.

Many times we have an idea about how something will go and then it does not happen that way, or even at all. As you know, our imaginations create all sorts of scenarios for us. You are simply leveraging that and using it to clear what bothers you.

When you use the tracks this way, you are dealing with the past, the present and the future, so that is a very thorough way of neutralising the fear.

I hope that helps. Please update the thread with any more progress you have made and any questions you have.

All the best,

Paul 

---

Paul McCabe – PSTEC Master Practitioner

http://www.lifestyleforchange.com

Please contact me anytime if you want any assistance in utilising PSTEC to help you live a life of tremendous freedom & possibility.

Recreate yourself with PSTEC.

Skype, Zoom, in-person & phone sessions available…

[Jesse JacobsPSTEC User]

Hi Paul,

Ok then it is definitely working. Because I had had to work much harder  just after the second time. I thought of it on my shoulder and face. Then I made giant ones!

I know there is an evolutionary biological fear of big insects. There is a reason they put giant spiders in Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and King Kong to scare people.

Honestly I think the greatest fear is just all in my mind. For some reason I make giant spiders the size of the ones in those films. I thought of one as big as a room. But its just a thought. It's all an illusion. Like when you were afraid of the dark as a child.

Ok I will proceed scaring myself until I'm done being sacred and there is nothing to be sacred of! Ha!

One question when do you switch between the click tracks?

Paul this is great, thank you!

Jesse

[Brian TuckerPSTEC User]

if the spiders on movies/tv scare you put on a scene and CT while you watch it.

[Paul McCabePSTEC Pro and Forum Moderator]

Hi Jesse,

That's an absolute pleasure.

Thank you for your commitment.

You are spot on. The greatest fear tends to be imagined and most of what we fear rarely comes to fruition. And even if it did, we can empower ourselves to deal with it.

There is no “hard and fast rule” about when you switch tracks, but you could alternate between CT1 and CT2 each time, or do a few of one and then a few of another for variety.

Hope that helps.

All the best,

Paul 

---

Paul McCabe – PSTEC Master Practitioner

http://www.lifestyleforchange.com

Please contact me anytime if you want any assistance in utilising PSTEC to help you live a life of tremendous freedom & possibility.

Recreate yourself with PSTEC.

Skype, Zoom, in-person & phone sessions available…

[Jesse JacobsPSTEC User]

Hi Paul,

I am at 0 memories or imagined fears!

I meant to write you sooner but I was traveling. I wanted to document my progress because I was amazed at how well it is working. I also want to share my experience so anybody who is reading this will realize how effective PSTEC is. I am a real person who has had a phobia of tarantulas my whole life since I was four. So anybody who is reading this, this is absolutely working.

After 10 days I am at 0 for memories or imagined fears. For anyone with a spider phobia (or any other fears) here is what I did so far:

PART 1: Memories or imagined fears

Day 0: I listened to the initial instruction of the explanation of the program. It sounded very good. So I tried it.

Day 1: I went to the park and sat on a bench. I wanted somewhere beautiful neutral and safe. I sat calmly for a bit just to get settled. Then I started the click track.  I was really scared when I started but I just stayed with it. I went through the original memories from when I was 4. My dad was afraid of tarantulas. And this was passed to me. I also went through every time in my life I saw a tarantula and it scared me, mostly Zoo and pet store. As I did it it reduced.

Day 2: The next day the original memories were still there but faded so I had to work harder to be afraid. So I imagined one crawling up my arm. That was scary! I was shaking. But I stayed with it.

Day 3 & 4: In the next two sessions, I decided not to visualize a new imagined spider in such close proximity. Because I was scared from the day before.  All the original memories of being afraid of a tarantula in real life were less intense, which is good!

Day 5-8: Now the real memories were all faded. I could think of them but all the fear was drained out. I was trying to be afraid but got no reaction. So then I started again on the imagined fears! And I have a great imagination, so that can be used for good and also can be scary. I imagined a tarantula crawling up my shoulder, on my face, a bunch crawling up my arm, a giant movie sized tarantula standing in front of me. I even imagined I was sitting on a gigantic movie sized tarantula while in the grass. I imagined a tarantula covering the globe. Ha!  These are scary images, and the fears just gradually went dim and faded out. Also I should point out that some of the instructions are so absurdly wonderful I just began laughing at all it. I often would laugh out loud towards the end of each track.

Day 9: Back in town. Read Paul’s instruction. Switched to second click track which changes the tapping cues up. I worked really hard going over all the original memories, 0. I worked at all imagined fears, and was at 1-2. I was working really hard to conjure it. Over recent days as I did it I also noticed my body each time getting more and more relaxed. My hands at the beginning were slamming on my thighs. But now I was lightly tapping. Breathing calmly. Just felt good.

Day 10: Today. I went to the park. I did click track 2. I went through every memory. I went through all the imagine fears. Tarantulas everywhere, Tarantulas on my back. Boo! Meh. 0.

What’s next? Media?

PART 2:  Photos

Brian wrote (Thank you Brian) ‘if the spiders on movies/tv scare you put on a scene and CT while you watch it.’

Here was my plan.

1. Work with 1 big tarantula image on my iPad. Go to the park and do the click track with my eyes open looking at that image. I assume at the end since my eyes were already open then I just open and close my eyes as instructed at the end.
2. See how that goes. Then add more images.

How does that sound? Paul, can you give me any more specific instructions about the next step.

This system is truly life changing. I am so excited about it. After I finish each time I am so energized and relieved and proud. I seriously sound like a infomercial testimonial. After I am done I would be happy to make one. After I clear this fear I have other things I want to work on.

You all should be proud and feel really good about how you are helping people!

Anyway thank you. I must tell you I am so so grateful. 
Jesse

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