Avoiding “Workarounds” – Directive and Suggestive Questions

by Sep 10, 2016

Everyone loves a shortcut!

Everyone loves a short-cut or a “workaround.” However, not all shortcuts are equal, and none are allowed in TPM.  In the earlier years of TPM’s development we used to ask some questions –what we then believed to be — “short-cuts” for helping people work past some of the hindrances that caused their sessions to stall out. We now realize some of these workarounds were in fact leading questions and therefore, in violation of the basic principles we practice today.

These leading questions were directive and made suggestive requests for the person to follow. Because we did not understand the concept that we now refer to as a “solution”, we came up with “workarounds” to help deal with such things  as anger stirring up, inner “walls” of resistance standing in the way, memories seemingly blocked, emotions going away, and etc. It was in these places that these misguided questions were unfortunately applied.

Even though there was no damage done, the process was limited and even hindered because of them. However, with the advent of the SOLUTION Box and “De-Solution Tool” —the three questions in the SOLUTION Box— dealing with these types of issues have become much more manageable and all of these “shortcuts” have been long discarded.

 

Out with the Guardian Lie, In with the De-Solution Tool

In earlier editions of the training taught a concept called a “guardian lie.” A guardian lie was understood to be any belief that the person himself had established as a way of protecting himself (a guard) or providing himself a way of escape from a perceived problem (such as feeling what he did not want to feel, remembering a memory he did not want to remember, etc).

So we understood that a ministry sessions would typically stall out because of what the person believed about moving forward. It wasn’t that we didn’t understand this principle, in fact we knew very well that if the belief could be identified and offered up to the Lord, the person would move forward. There were just times that identifying the lie seemed illusive or difficult to do. In these special cases we discovered that if certain suggestive questions were asked, doing so seemed to  help the person move forward in spite of his belief; at least some of the time. The protocol we applied concerning the Guardian Lie was at best hit and miss.

Since, the “guardian lie” is not a core belief, but rather an intellectual conclusion that the person came to, it could be –in some cases– willfully pushed aside or simply pushed through, or sidestepped. Unlike a core-belief that requires the truth from the Holy Spirit to be displaced, a lie of this sort can be willfully pushed past in some cases. Nevertheless, walking around a belief does not have any impact on it and therefore, it remains and will show up over and again until it is resolved.

In the earlier years we sometimes ask leading and suggestive questions such as, “Would you like Jesus to go with you past this wall?” or “Are you willing to choose to push past the wall and choose to go forward?” (like using a battering ram), or “Can you push past your fears and just choose to remember what you are not wanting to remember?” or  “Are you willing to choose with your will to confess your anger and let yourself feel what is behind your anger?” To our initial surprise there were some cases in which the person would choose to walk around the issue at hand and proceeded forward without having to identify and deal with the lie holding the “problem” in place. Even though this practice was inconsistent, it did seem to be helpful in some cases. However, today the three SOLUTION Box questions —the De-Solution Tool— has replaced all such “work-arounds.”

However, walking around the anger, bypassing walls, pushing through, failed to address the reason (lie-belief) hindrance was present in the first place. Walking around the anger left the anger in place, trying harder to remember a memory failed to acknowledge the reason for blocking it out, trying to trigger oneself to reconnect with the emotion that went away did not address the reason for the suppression.

None of these things are practiced today in TPM. Today we have a clear protocol (the SOLUTION Box) for dealing with anger, suppressed emotion, blocked memory, and many other solution behaviors.

 

Concerns with the Using a “Workaround”

There are several problems with using leading questions such as these, even when they appear to be helpful in some cases. First, this method only works sometimes, and when it doesn’t, it can confuse and bewilder the person. When there is an inconsistency in the approach, then there is something wrong.

Secondly, asking a person to do something, put out effort, push through, or walk around something, is a clear indication that a belief is creating the problem. Anytime a person is having to try to make something happen, it is because there is a lie-based belief engaged creating the resistance. When the person is not being hindered by a lie-based belief in the session, things will move along almost effortlessly.  For example, if a person is having to go look for a memory then he is doing something that is hindering the natural process of association. The solution here is to identify the belief that is hindering association from working and receive the Lord’s perspective.

Thirdly, even when the person successfully  pushes past the lie-based belief, the lie remains in place and will continue to show up over and again in later sessions. It makes more sense to deal with each and every lie as they present themselves. With the three questions in the SOLUTION Box we can accomplish this with predictable consistency.

We have today concluded that all lies need to be addressed whenever they appear in a session. There is no hurry to rush past them just to arrive at the core belief. We believe that dealing with the Guardian Lie is as important as getting to the core belief. Today, the term “Guardian Lie” as well as the 2007 application and process for dealing with it, are not a part of the new training. It has been replaced with the De-Solution Tool of the SOLUTION Box. We now encourage that all lies, whether core belief or solution beliefs (guardian lies), be dealt with as they are encountered. Priority is not given one over the other. A lie is a lie.

 

Using Jesus’ name in your question does not make it more effective.

One more point, placing the name of Jesus in the question mentioned above was a form of suggestive visualization and guided imagery. By asking something like, “Can you see Jesus?” or “Would you allow Jesus to walk with you past the wall in front of you?” or “Would you like Jesus to do something for you so that you can move forward?” etc.  Adding Jesus’ name to what we are doing is a misuse of it. I fully understand that we are to do all that we do in the name of Jesus, however, it is a misuse to try to use His name to maneuver through a ministry session.

First, using the name of Jesus in this fashion is to suggest a visual image in the person’s imagination that the person did not come up with on his own. It also presupposes that this imagery (Jesus leading him around the wall, driving out demons, making something happen) lined up with what Jesus had desired for him. It also views the wall or other “hindrance” as an obstacle that is keeping the person from moving forward, as opposed to the person’s own solution to their not wanting to move forward.

Asking if the person wanted to go with Jesus, assumed that Jesus was wanting him to bypass dealing with the belief that the wall represented. The problem here is, the wall/hindrance was the person’s own creation coming from his belief that caused him to resist moving forward. If we ask this type of question we are implying that we know what God wants for the person in the moment. God desires that we deal with the lie that is laying in the path as opposed to walking around it.

 

Why did using this practice sometimes work?

The reason that this question may sometimes “work” is because some people can muster up enough determination to push through such resistance and override their own self-created defenses. Since the “guardian” lie is not core belief, but rather an intellectual solution, a person can step around it in some cases. Nevertheless, walking around the belief that is causing the resistance leaves the lie in place. The person may indeed walk around his wall, but the lie remains, ready to surface at “… a more opportune time.” The new TPM training has a much better option with the SOLUTION Box. The three questions found therein can help identify the lie that is producing the inner wall or any other solution and displace it so that it is not a problem later on.

We encourage people not to create new questions or augment or trim down the TPM process. Avoid using any and all “workarounds.” All lies should be addressed as they are encountered and not sidestepped. If a ministry facilitator is having difficulty applying any of the TPM protocol, we encourage these facilitators to take stock of why they may be having a difficulty and seek further training.

The new TPM process is successfully being used by untold numbers of people all around the world. TPM in general has passed through over twenty years of refinement and has been continually revised and improved. If you find yourself struggling with application, you are encouraged to seek out additional training, review the materials available and always feel free to ask your questions.

 

Review of the Solution Box/De-Solution Tool in this Context

Person: “I sense a wall in front of me not letting me move forward. I am trying to push past it but I can’t do it.”
Facilitator: “I am not asking you to try to push past it or do anything with it, however, (first question in the SOLUTION Box) if you were to consider or think about allowing this wall to be removed do you sense any resistance or hesitancy in it being removed?”
Person: “Yes. That thought scares me.”
Facilitator: “What do you believe might happen if the wall was gone that causes you to resist or hesitate moving forward? (Second SOLUTION Box question)
Person: “If the wall was not there I would have to remember what happened to me and I do not want to do that?”
Facilitator: So then, how is the wall serving you? Or “What is the wall doing for you?” or “What is the wall accomplishing for you?” (Third question of the Solution Box.)
Person: “The wall keeps me from knowing what happened to me?” (The belief holding the wall in place.)

The answer to the third question places you in the BELIEF Box. You are now ready to ask the BELIEF Box question. “Not that it is true, but does it feel true that the wall keeps you from knowing what happened to you?”

Follow TPM protocol on to the TRUTH Box and TRANSFORMATION Box.