chapters

Bill's Clients

We are not limited to the formats presented below, and I am open to any ideas you have for forms and methods that may improve the effectiveness of our collaboration.

Prior to each session

Formal sessions are opportunities us to collaborate directly.  We have limited time and much to do, so I recommend you invest some effort to prepare for each session.

Follow through during the Inter-Session Interval [ISI]

Most of my clients are articulate individuals who find it easier to perform well during sessions than between them [during the ISI].  My office—and probably my presence—is likely to evoke a psychological state that is incompatible with lapsing. People assume that they will always experience things the way the do now [see the Soul Illusion] and so they underestimate what it takes to act in accord with their current intentions when they are confronted with local conditions that provoke a less resourceful psychological state

When you are in my office, I trust that you are sincere when you say you will do what it takes to achieve the outcome you say you want. However, It looks different than it feels. From my perspective of having accompanied many individuals through this passage, please trust me on this: When you are in a high-risk situation your experience will be different than you now imagine. No matter how sincere you are when you decide to change your ways, motivation is state-dependent so it is temporary. During the critical moments of a relapse crisis, the motivation that drives your behavior and thoughts will be different than it is now, but feel just as sincere.

Consider the difficulty of your task. Your success depends upon how you perform in extremely difficult circumstances. During the crisis you may want the pleasure or relief of using the incentive, and at that critical moment your cognitive resources will be depleted, otherwise occupied, or asleep at the wheel, leaving the puppy in control.

If I were with you during the high-risk situation, perhaps I could bring you down from the pathogenic trance that was promoting relapse. (Of course, it would not be a high-risk situation if I was there to help you through it).




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