We need to have a closer look at home tape usage. Can it be improved?
We need to have a closer look at home tape usage. Can it be improved?
My name is Eugene Irvin.
We need to have a look at designing home tapes to see if they can be improved.
I can provide what I think is a good start. However, it is only meant as a starting point, one to be debated, discussed, criticised, new ideas presented.
I would not present this issue unless I thought I may be able to contribute some information that makes one think a bit more deeply as to what you are really trying to achieve.
There are three links that cover the home tape involvement.
The terms resources and innate abilities have the same meaning in these links.
The first is to understand why you want to use home tapes. This link gives 10 uses for home tapes. I am sure there are many more for readers to contribute. It just seems apparent to know all the reasons why you want to use home tapes if you truly want the best tape design.
This link consists of 10 uses for home tapes. There are the contents and the expanded contents underneath.
LINK: Home tapes-Uses for
The second part is a collection of 9 questions that might be asked when designing a home tape for a person you have seen in the clinic. I am keen to see what questions have been missed.
The link consists of 9 questions. There are the contents and the expanded contents underneath.
LINK: Home Tapes-How to design home tapes for people who are seeing/ have seen a therapist:
The third part is a collection of 3 questions that might be asked when designing a home tape without having met the person. I am keen to see what questions have been missed. There are the contents and the expanded contents underneath.
LINK: Home Tapes-How to design home tapes without having met the client
Thank you
LINK: Home Tapes – uses for
- Facilitates home practice by person of what has been done in the clinic.
- Multiple home tapes for the same goal: Use different scenarios/ themes. Choosing the tapes the best chance for success.
- Home tapes mirror the clients strengths and weaknesses with their resources.
- Determining the differences between clinic and real life responses to the home tape suggestions?
- Practising backup techniques.
- Testing the boundaries of whatever is being trialled away from a clinic and by the person themselves.
- Assess the long term value of home tapes.
- Assessing how effective home tape preparation in sessions has been.
- Home tapes to practise the control of different parameters.
- Persons accept Over-learning techniques by therapists because this enhances chances of home tape success
1. Home tapes facilitate practising what has been learnt with the therapist. Can be done at any time and in
the comfort of the person’s own home.
2. A number of home tapes may be made with the same goal. Even though the goal is the same, one might
change things such as scenarios, the themes used. Feedback from the person may enable comparison
between the different home tapes.
3. Home tapes can be specifically designed to mirror the person’s strengths and weaknesses of their
resources. The strengths and weaknesses include the parameters connected with the resources.
The weak resources may be presented in a way where they are still of value to the client. There will be a
video on how weak resources might be used that will provide some ideas.
4. Determining the differences between clinic and real life responses to the home tape suggestions? This
can indicate the strategies being used in the clinic which are being satisfactorily transferred for home
tape use outside the clinic. It is easy to assume the strong resources will be transferred and the weaker
resources may not. This is only an assumption and if not correct, a lot of time and effort can be wasted
by the therapist in future sessions.
5. Practising backup strategies. Home tape(s) have been designed which the client can use to practise
backup strategies. This may be a separate tape to the normal one(s) the client is using. There will be a
video on Backup Strategies in a future video.
6. Home tapes to test the boundaries of whatever is being trialled away from a clinic. Let’s see what the
Home tapes can do when the person is away from the clinic and the therapist.
7. Long term value of home tapes. The home tapes need to be used for a ‘reasonable’ period of time. Using
home tapes for a short time may give a false result and not be connected with the effectiveness of the
home tape over longer periods of time. You need to determine what happens with a person using their
home tapes over a longer period of time.
For example:
Evaluating stress control home tapes over a long period of time may give a totally different result to
when the home tapes have been used for stress control over, say just a couple weeks.
8. Assessing how effective the transfer strategies are when therapists go from clinic to the person using
home tapes at home?
If effective then the therapist may be having the correct approach to home tapes with this person. If not,
then the therapist needs to re-evaluate their strategies for conditioning the person to use the home
tapes.
9. Home tapes are used to practise the control of one or more parameters.
For example:
‘Onsite time control’ is a parameter and it is a rapid onset time’ that is being tested on the home tapes.
An example would be a home tape where relaxing visual images are practised where the goal is for them
to occur rapidly when suggested on the home tape. There will be a video on the uses of the different
parameters, one of which is the ‘onset time’ of a resource.
10. Over-learning techniques. It is explained to people that home use of tapes, especially over a long period
of time, is prone to failing, unless an over-learning type of approach is used. Anything less than very well
designed and repetitive type training means effective use of home tapes may be compromised.
LINK: Home Tapes – How to design home tapes for clients who are seeing/ have seen a therapist:
1: What is an essential component for the main ingredients of a home tape?
2: Do we have to understand much about the components on the home tapes, such as the imagination modalities used?
3: Do we need to prepare the person for possible part or total failure/ disappointments with their home tapes?
Do we need to prepare the person if they are less than satisfied with their home tapes?
Do we need to prepare the person in case of relapse where their home tapes no longer seem to be satisfactory?
4: How does a therapist assess a person’s home tapes?
What questions should be asked by the therapist to clarify how to improve a person’s home tapes?
5: What questions about the person’s resources should the therapist ask the client before the home tapes are made?
6: How can long term usage by the person with their home tapes be designed into the sessions?
7: How can we keep the person motivated to continue with the home tapes?
How can we reduce the chances for the client to lose interest in the tapes?
8. :How many home tapes should the person be given?
QUESTION 1:
What is an essential component for the main ingredients of a home tape?
Answer:
The resources in a home tape need a high degree of certainty of occurrence, i.e., a high reliability level that the resources will in fact occur when required. Using components on the home tape which may or may not occur, that is, are unreliable, may have negative impacts with the client when they use home tapes. A degree of confidence that what is suggested on the home tapes will in fact reliably occur is a core principle. If the basics may or may not occur, then all other suggestions on the tape may be compromised.
QUESTION 2:
Do we have to understand much about the components on the home tapes, such as the imagination modalities used?
Answer:
Understand the boundaries of the resource. Exceeding boundaries of a resource can have all types of negative impacts re the client and their confidence and usage of home tapes. Underestimating or overestimating a resources characteristics may mean lost opportunities or outright part or total failure with the resulting clients loss of confidence with the home tape usage. This can occur if what is suggested on the home tapes is not occurring at all or not in the form it is suggested.
QUESTION 3:
Do we need to prepare the person for possible part or total failure/ disappointments with their home tapes?
Do we need to prepare the person if they are less than satisfied with their home tapes?
Do we need to prepare the person in case of relapse where their home tapes no longer seem to be satisfactory?
Answer:
Listed below are some approaches the therapist uses with the person when reframing part successes/ failures the person has when using a home tape. The wording is only a guide to the idea that is being presented.
“Successes/ part successes/ failures/ disappointments with home tapes are learning experiences. It is only when you do not learn from either the positive or negative results that it is a failure.”
“It is all about learning how not to do things with home tape design. You only learn how to improve by learning what not to do.”
Be casual about there being a partial success/failure with the clients home tapes. “Well, that did not achieve the results we wanted. Now we know that…[we need to look at things in a different way].”
“If home tape results range from being partially successful to failing, it is not a final failure; it is simply the way things are. The trick is to know how we can use strengths rather than wasting time on peoples weaknesses. This is the big difference with this model. We expect results that may not be 100% as desired. Every person is different.”
“We are more aware of the limitations that a specific type of home tape can give you if failures/ disappointments occur.”
“It is part of the process of elimination in home tape design. Science, research and learning are all just processes of elimination. It is when people continuously make the same mistake that it is wrong. We are simply using a process of elimination in getting the best home tape design for you.”
QUESTION 4:
How does a therapist assess a person’s home tapes?
What questions should be asked by the therapist to clarify how to improve a person’s home tapes?
Answer:
Sample of questions: The following are in no particular order. There are a multitude of variations as to how these questions may be answered. The following questions assist the therapist in at least understanding where improvements or modifications might be made.
- Did you believe the logic of what you were listening to on the home tape?
- Were the (specify resources) the same strength as in the clinic?
- Were the (specify parameter-resources) the same strength as in the clinic?
- What differences do you have between the clinic and the home tapes?
- What differences did you find between the different home tape sessions? Was the first use of the home tapes the same as the others?
- Do you know why the home tape was [successful-partially successful-partially unsuccessful-a failure]?
QUESTION 5:
What questions about the person’s resources should the therapist ask the client before the home tapes are made?
Answer:
Asking the client which resources/ parameter-resources do they:
- Feel confident?
- Feel comfortable with it?
- Feel they can rely on different scenarios.
- Think has the most practical value for them.
QUESTION 6:
How can long term usage by the person with their home tapes be designed into the sessions?
Answer:
The file `Longer time interval control-hours/days/weeks/months of resources’ presents ideas as to how long term usage of resources by the client can be achieved or improved. There is a strong interconnection between long term resource usage and long term home tape usage. For example: Over-learning principles means the home tapes may act as strong cues to maintain an over-learned resource response.
QUESTION 7:
How can we keep the person motivated to continue with the home tapes?
How can we reduce the chances for the client to lose interest in the tapes?
Answer:
Practise the different types of Motivation in the sessions. Determine which ones of those motivational approaches appear to have a greater impact on the person’s interest/ motivation to continue with the sessions. Incorporate those strategies into the home tape.
LINK: Motivation for a person to stay with sessions.
QUESTION 8:
How many home tapes should the person be given?
Should there be more than one home tape given to the client?
Answer:
People can lose interest and get bored listening to the one home tape over and over again.
If you give the person more than one home tape, then there needs to be differences between the two.
QUESTION 9:
Why is over-learning an important component when contemplating making home tapes for people?
Answer:
Home tapes have a high failure rate. People lose motivation, lose interest, are aware of what is on the tape and turn off, and a host of other reasons. One way to reduce the chances for both short and long term failure with home tapes is for the person to `over-learn’ key components that will be used on the tapes. This means that even if the person has negative thoughts or feelings with their tapes, there may still be positive benefits for the person as the responses occur more automatically and require little conscious effort when listened to on the tapes.
LINK: Home Tapes – How to design home tapes without having met the client
1: Can you design visual, auditory, smell, taste and other imagination modalities, without inadvertently leaving out modality divisions that might be of practical value.
2: How would you design the second home tape?
3: Should there just be one home tape or more than one tape?
Why not have a few different home tape designs?
QUESTION 1:
Can you design visual, auditory, smell, taste and other imagination modalities, without inadvertently leaving out modality divisions that might be of practical value.
Answer:
Imagination modalities have a number of divisions. Each of these divisions may have different practical usages. It is impossible to know at the start with a person which divisions of a modality may be stronger, weaker or nonexistent. A blanket approach, i.e., incorporating many modalities and submodalities, with the home tape construction and then knowing what questions to ask the person afterwards to correctly assess the results.
The therapist may ask the person directly or the person may answer a checklist of questions to provide the required information.
QUESTION 2:
How would you design the second home tape?
Answer:
Assess the person’s checklist report provided after the person has had some experience using the first home tape(s). The home tape report may have been the result of one use or numerous uses of the one tape or more than one tape if so provided by the therapist to the person.
The checklist the person fills out includes questions about the imagination modalities and divisions of those modalities achieved, parameters connected to the modalities, clients acceptance of different types of logic presented and numerous other issues. All these questions have as their core goal, `Can this checklist help the therapist to more effectively design the next home tapes that are made up for the person?’
QUESTION 3:
Should there just be one home tape or more than one tape?
Why not have a few different home tape designs?
Answer:
Assume the therapist has no idea how the person will respond. Give the person two or more home tapes to try out. Each home tape will have differences with components such as themes, modality divisions, parameters used, length of tape, types of logic being used, level of authoritarian- non-authoritarian direction and so on. The number of ways these components might be combined would be figuratively speaking `endless.’
Stay Questioning
Questions, comments or requests? Feel free to reach out, I’d love to hear from you.
