How Time Line Therapy® Works

So, what actually happens when someone comes to me for Time Line Therapy®?

We begin by listing all the negative emotions that are causing a problem for the person today. We look at the emotions one at a time, starting with the anger category, and then work through the other negative emotions that are present.

The specific words the person uses to describe their feelings are significant. For example, someone might tell me they are angry, but when I ask them to describe their strongest experience of that emotion, they might say they feel “pissed off.” That is the emotion we would work with. I am interested in the person's actual experience rather than putting everyone into the same box.

I explain what we are going to do, and then guide the person through their time line to work with that emotion. Your unconscious mind immediately becomes involved as I ask questions to pinpoint the root. It is amazing how you can come up with the answers, even when you think you do not know or remember.

A specific negative emotion is usually a recurring theme in a person’s life. In Time Line Therapy®, this group of connected experiences is called a gestalt. There was a first time you experienced that emotion, and then there were probably many more times when you felt it again.

I like to compare it to a line of dominoes standing on end. Each time you experienced that same negative emotion is like another domino in the line. When we find the root, it is like knocking down the first domino. Once that first domino falls, the rest of the dominoes fall, too. In the same way, when we release the emotion at its root, the other times you felt that emotion are released as well.

Once we have found the root, I guide the person through the process of releasing the negative emotion. One of the most important things about this work is that they do not have to relive the painful experience. They can remain above their time line, observing rather than being trapped inside the event.

When we complete the process, we test the result. This is one of my favorite parts because we do not simply assume the emotion is gone. We check. And they test more as they go about their daily life, to make sure it has disappeared.

During our time together, we work through the other negative emotions on our list, one at a time.

There is another important part of Time Line Therapy®. Our experiences can lead us to make decisions about ourselves and the world around us. These are called limiting decisions. A child who is rejected might decide, “I am not good enough.” Someone who has experienced repeated failure might decide, “I can’t do anything right.” Someone who has been criticized a lot might decide, “I have to be perfect to be loved.” These decisions may have made sense to us at the time, especially when we were young. Years later, however, they can still influence the way we think, feel, and make choices.

With Time Line Therapy®, we do not simply try to get rid of the limiting decision. We change it to something the person wants instead. If someone has carried the decision “I am not good enough,” we create a new decision that supports how they want to see themselves. We use this technique to look toward the future and create a new direction based on what the person wants rather than what happened in the past.

I find this process incredible. Fast, easy, and effective. After all these years, I still love watching someone realize that an emotion they have carried for years can be gone that easily.