Another possible method of streamlining, depending on the kind of strategy you are dealing with, is to have the individual simply practice the component parts of the strategy more and more until they become chunked as an unconscious TOTE. It is also possible to switch the modifiers between the steps in the strategy so that it works more efficiently (i.e., switching a polarity response to a congruent response).

5.2 Redesigning Maladaptive Strategies and Outcomes.

In cases where strategies produce outcomes maladaptive for the contexts in which they occur, the programmer will modify the strategy or design a new one such that a more appropriate outcome is reached.

Phobias are interesting examples of such cases. A phobic response is an outcome of a strategy that was most likely adaptive for the individual at the establishment of the behavioral pattern. The negative kinesthetic response and withdrawal were probably important for the survival of the individual at some time because of other elements in the situation. And even though the quick phobic response will always insure survival, it becomes problematic in contexts where it is unnecessary or unwanted. More appropriate responses, such as uptime and alertness, are more efficient at insuring adaptive outcomes.

Certain phobic responses are established when a very negative outcome, a result of the specific circumstances of an experience, becomes anchored to a certain situation or behavior that is then generalized to later situations or behaviors. Whenever the person is in a similar situation the negative experience is accessed, although there is no actual danger of a reoccurrence of the negative outcome.

One of the authors once worked with a woman who had a phobia of balloons. Using the elicitation procedures described earlier in this book, the author uncovered the following sequence of of representations: The person, a woman in her mid–twenties, would see a balloon externally (V^e); this would trigger a rapid unconscious visual image (V^r) of a scene that occurred when she was a child at a birthday party where a balloon had burst in her face; this would anchor up strong negative visceral feelings (Kⁱ_-) and she would attempt to get away (K ^e) from the balloon she was seeing externally.

Her strategy, then, went: V^e→Vⁱ→Kⁱ_-→K^e.

The remembered visual image of the scene from the past and the negative feelings led to an outcome which, though it may have been appropriate at the party when she was a child, was no longer useful. It was evident to the author that, in order for her to have a more effective strategy, the woman needed a more appropriate and effective test with which to assess her present environment when in the presence of balloons. This would involve the design of a more accurate external visual check.

In place of the visual image of the scene from the past, the author installed, through anchoring and rehearsal (see the next chapter for installation procedures) an internal voice that said, "Look and see if it is going to pop." From this Aⁱ_d step she would then look again externally at the balloon in her immediate environment and the surrounding context to see if there was any chance that the balloon might pop (V^e). If there was, the voice would tell her to step back (K^e) a safe distance (as opposed to running away as she had done earlier) so that it would not pop in her face. If she wasn't sure, the voice would tell her to take one step back and look again more carefully. If she could see there was no chance of the balloon popping, the voice would tell her that it was okay to relax and feel comfortable (Kⁱ).

This strategy contains a new test (V^e), a new set of operations and a new decision point (Aⁱ_d):

After rehearsing and testing the strategy a few times in the presence of the author, the woman was able to completely banish her former phobia of balloons.

5.21 Designing Context Markers and Decision Points.

In some cases, where an older existing outcome and accompanying strategy have become inappropriate for a majority of circumstances, they may still remain effective for some contexts (even though these contexts may be extremely rare). The programmer will then want to leave the individual with the choice of accessing the old strategy as well as the new one. In these cases the programmer will want to install a test or decision point in which some representation serves as a context marker to indicate in which situations which strategy is appropriate. If such a measure is not taken, interference may occur as a result of ambiguities or overlap between the two contexts, which will tend to access both strategies at the same time. The person may not know which strategy to apply and may become immobilized by responding to both strategies simultaneously. Something tells him to do one thing but another looks or feels as if it would be more appropriate.

The representation that serves as a marker may take on any content. It could be a certain threshold of tonality, a particular word or class of words, a positive or negative kinesthetic sensation, or some visual image or distinction picked up in the environment. The purpose of the cue is, as shown below, to differentiate which context is appropriate for which strategy:

As a simple example of this, let's say you are working with a manager who has a strategy, when she sees one of her personnel making a mistake, of telling him (A^e) that that isn't the way the job should be done, after which she shows him how to do it properly (V^e). You design a new strategy which involves her pacing the employee posturally first, then explaining to the employee how she feels about the way the job should be done (Kⁱ→A^e_d), and finally walking him through what she feels to be the appropriate behavior for the task (K^e). The old strategy is still appropriate, of course, for employees whose strategies are more visually oriented. The new strategy will be more effective with kinesthetically oriented personnel. The decision point, then, should involve a test that allows the manager to discriminate between individuals to determine which strategy would be more effective. A quick decision such as this can be readily based on a momentary observation of the body type, voice tonality, predicates and available accessing cues of the employee (V^e/A^e). The strategy that the manager chooses, then, is based on her observations of the employee.

Another example of this involves a situation similar to the phobia example presented earlier. A woman in her mid–thirties with whom one of the authors was working was having many problems with the man she lived with and was experiencing a lot of pain because she had a strong negative emotional response every time he raised his voice at her, even slightly. She would become overwhelmed by feelings of fear and would want to leave the room even though her partner was not at all angry or threatening. She didn't want or understand this response, and didn't know what to do about it.

Upon eliciting her strategy, the author discovered the following sequence for the woman's strategy: She would hear the rising volume of her partner's tonality (A^e_i) and access the sound of her father's voice (Aⁱ_t), which was in many ways similar to that of her partner. This anchor would then access an image of her father (V^r), who had beaten her severely as a child, approaching her with an angry facial expression. This would then reaccess all the feelings of fear and hopelessness that she had experienced as a child.