How does TIR work?
With TIR there is no ticking clock, no leather couch, no advice or comment. Those who practice TIR love it because it is natural. And every session comes to a natural conclusion.
When something painful happens in a person’s life, often the response is to “block” it, or repress it.
TIR is what is known as a regressive desensitisation procedure. This means a person looks back over the fearful issue a number of times, so gradually the memory loses its impact. By repeating the upsetting incident the person reduces the emotional stress and integrates the experience by bringing meaning to it. Soon the person will not be bothered by it at all. Whether a session takes 30 minutes or 3 hours, there will be no pressure to stop until this “end point” is reached. Those who undergo TIR can expect to leave a session feeling happy and positive.
With TIR there is no burn out; no secondary traumatisation; no “therapy dependency”. Clients make continuous progress until the need for help stops.
TIR doesn’t judge a problem. It can help anyone. However it is not suitable for those with currently on-going dependency on alcohol or drugs, or those with conditions that prevent focus on mental imagery.
There are two types of TIR – Basic TIR and Thematic TIR.
BASIC TIR – Known Traumatic Incidents
Basic TIR is used for incidents where the trauma is known to have happened, like a car accident, the painful end of a relationship, a medical procedure, the loss of a loved one, a combat-related incident, the loss of a job or a failure in business or in school, receiving a frightening diagnosis, etc.
In Basic TIR, we work on a past traumatic incident until all of the force, pain, and resistance is gone. We reach an end point. Sometimes there will be an earlier incident that is hooked into the first one by some similarity in content. Such earlier incidents may be something we haven’t thought of in years. The “viewer” and “facilitator” work through it until the pain is gone. Sometimes, along the way, an earlier incident may be discovered and this too will be addressed until the person reaches an “end point”
THEMATIC TIR – Unwanted Feelings
THEMATIC TIR is used for unwanted feelings, emotions, sensations, attitudes, or pains where the viewer is not aware of the incidents that underlie them. Feelings such as anxiety, depression, sadness, fear, or phobias where the cause cannot be pinpointed.
Thematic TIR works by addressing the common “theme” or feeling to trace down through a number of incidents until the force and resistance is reduced from all of them and an end point occurs.
Thematic TIR can also help with psychosomatic illnesses, aches and pains.