Use the Remarkable Opera Technique With EFT (Article)

By Dr. Patricia Carrington

You may never have heard of the instant defusing properties of the "Opera"
technique, but this method is one of the most effective ways I know to take
the charge off a verbal attack made against you.
You can use it to defuse an unpleasant memory or, you can employ it
right on the spot, by using mental tapping, while the other person is busy
hurling epithets at you. (Note: Mental tapping is done by imagining the
tapping spots and repeating the reminder phrases to yourself in your mind).
In devising the Opera technique, I adapted the NLP (Neurolinguistic
Programming) strategy of "pattern interruption" to create an auditory image
of singing that can be strikingly effective in taking the charge off a
disagreeable situation involving another person's verbal attack against you.
HERES HOW IT WORKS:
If there is someone in your life whose verbal attacks upset you, or if you
have had an exceptionally unpleasant encounter with an acquaintance or
stranger that is still rankling within you, get a piece of paper, sit down, and
write down the exact words they hurled against you as accurately as you
can remember them.
Write everything that they said which you can recall, especially the worst
things they said to you, those words that really hurt you and infuriated you
and which you can't get out of your mind.
Now, reading from this paper, you are to sing (yes, sing!) the words they
directed at you as though you were hearing them sung as the libretto of an
opera, make this "libretto" as exaggerated and "tragic" and forceful as you
possibly can. It should be a wild parody of an operatic scene!
Quite often, when I use this technique with a client, I myself sing the
exaggerated libretto to them. This is really something to hear because I
can't keep a tune very well, but actually being occasionally out of tune only
serves to make the technique even more effective! The shrieks and
gestures and the off key notes make this such an effective parody of the
attack that it becomes easy for the client to create a ridiculous mental
image of their opponents words, sung as though in an opera.
When they can hear this singing in their mind it is very difficult for them to
keep from bursting into laughter. Even the most serious client of mine has
at least smiled faintly when they imagine this because it's really comical to
hear the words you took so seriously being played back to you in this
fashion! It makes the attacker looked ridiculous, and as soon as they do
presto! Their words just don't have the same power over you. The spell has
been broken.
HOW THE LIBRETTO SOUNDS
Here is an example. Suppose someone important to you screams at you:
"you're so selfish!".
Singing this phrase in your mind (or if you are a therapist, singing it to a
client who then imagines it in their own mind) it might come out something
like, "You are soooooooooo (rising high note) self ish! So selfish, so
selfish, so selfish (series of descending notes). I can't s-t-a-n-d (long
drawnout note) it! So selfish! So selfish! (As a series of quick repeats).
When the person listens to this in their mind, it is hard not to enjoy the
ridiculous sounds of the person who was accusing (has accused) them. I
have known it to actually be fun for many people to do.
EFT is extremely important here because it can install this libretto as an
auditory image that you can recall any time that your verbal attacker starts
up again.
The EFT statement I use to help my clients install the libretto as an auditory
image goes something like this:
"Even though (name of person) yells at me (accuses me etc.) I choose to
hear them singing their words as in an opera whenever they start up!
This EFT statements can work wonders to create an automatic habit of
turning your accusers voice into an "operatic joke each time they
commence their unpleasant attack. It can protect you from much distress
and allow you to counter any accusations much more effectively because
they will no longer be painful to you.
SUMMARY:
When you have had an exceptionally unpleasant encounter with
someone, write down the exact words they used in their verbal attack
against you, as accurately as you can remember them.
Sing these words out loud as though you were singing them in the
libretto of an opera, i.e. sing them in as exaggerated and forceful a manner
as possible.
Install this "libretto" as an auditory image by tapping on the FFT Choice
to hear them singing their words in your imagination.
Run this auditory image in your mind whenever the person confronts
you in the future.
I think you'll find this simple device often to be amazingly effective. Use it
whenever you need it!.
With best wishes,
Pa