Confidence – Case Study

Please note: the following video was filmed in front of a live class. As the lighting conditions were poor, the video isn’t particularly good quality. However, it is clear enough to glean all the relevant information you need.

EXERCISE: watch the video below and make notes on what procedures and techniques are being used. When you have finished, read my synopsis below and compare it with your notes.

Sarah, though intelligent, had confidence issues when taking exams. The smell of the exam room and the act of pulling out her chair from beneath the desk seem to trigger nerves and a lack of confidence. Our aim was to change the negative psychological strategy driving this reaction for something which would restore confidence.

Before the session, Sarah told me she enjoyed the Native American tradition. So I utilised the elements and some power animals (wolf and owl) in the script. I also asked Sarah to tell me of a time she felt extremely confident. She told me she felt extremely proud and confident when she received her honours degree at Chester cathedral. I also asked Sarah what her favourite smell was, this was to be used to counteract the smell of the exam room, which acted as a trigger for her nerves.

As usual, this session starts off with a diaphragmatic breathing induction, followed by a progressive relaxation deepener. The deepener also includes metaphor as it refers to a waterfall of light, cascading through the client, washing away all negativity and leaving her feeling clear and refreshed. I also do some ego stroking, remind my client of her attributes and achievements. Next I used a relaxed scene deepener to prepare my client for change-work.

During the change work segment (intervention), I utilised the power animals owl and wolf. I encouraged Sarah to take on the attributes of these two creatures, the wisdom and insight of the owl and the ‘teacher’ attributes of the wolf. This part of the script would appeal to Sarah’s interest in the Native American tradition, giving it personal meaning.

In this section, I also educated Sarah as to where her negative self-image and lack of confidence had originated. Her negative self-perception had resulted from internalising negative opinions of people who had played an influential role in her past. But let’s remember:

People who cast aspersions on others, don’t define the other, they define themselves

My aim here was to enable Sarah to repel the negative messages she had internalised in the past, and foster the nurturing side of her psyche.

As Sarah imagined walking into the classroom, I had her to imagine the smell of her husband’s aftershave; her favourite smell, this was to divert her attention from the exam room smell, which acted as an olfactory (smell) anchor to trigger her nerves.

In addition, I used the act of pulling out her chair as an anchor to activate the wise attributes of the owl and the intelligence of the wolf within her psyche. In the past, the act of pulling out her chair acted as an anchor (or a trigger) to activate her nerves and lack of confidence. So here we were installing a new psychological strategy which was to be activated by the act of pulling out the chair the anchor). I emphasised this procedure in order to install it in Sarah’s unconscious mind.

Next I regressed Sarah to the time when she received her honours degree. I had her imagine reliving this event and feeling the confidence brimming within her. When imagining it, I had her to turn up all the submodalities (sound, pictures etc) in order that the experience would peak in her mind. The next step was to suggest that next time she pulled the chair out in the exam room, her mind would be transported back to the time she received her degree, and the feelings she experienced back then would come flooding back. I encouraged her to make a connection or association between the act of pulling out the exam chair, to the powerful feelings of confidence she experienced during her degree ceremony. I reiterated this connection a number of times to embed it in her unconscious.

I continued by encouraging Sarah to release the psyche saboteur; all those negative messages she had accumulated over the years. By doing this, she would clear space to allow in positivity and confidence.

Toward the end of the session I used the Swish Pattern, to make a connection between turning over the exam paper and the feelings of confidence Sarah experienced a her degree ceremony.

Finally, I closed the session in the way in which you have become accustomed.

OUTCOME: Sarah texted me after her next exam to say she felt like the most confident person in the room! Needless to say, she passed with flying colours.