Hello Loren,

In a word there is no past. For that matter, there is no future, not really. There is only now! We do however have a set of perceptions that we may operate out of that we perceive to have been the past, also some may very well have a perceived future that is based on this perceived past.

But none of that really matters when considering change. If you go about making a change that is thorough and ecologically congruent, it doesn't matter where the change is perceived to have occurred, the past, the future, or now, the change will occur. If you effectively change any part of the system, the entire system will also change.

Let us first use the "I must change the past in order for the changes to last" method here. Someone has had an experience where they enter into a particular context and they engage in a less than favorable behavior. They enter into this context, they sort unconsciously for choices to be used in this context, and wind up responding out of some past perception.

So to change this we use the change personal history, or time line therapy, or age regression. All of which, if done effectively, will change the gestalt that was the representation that allowed for the unwanted behavior.

Now, let's say we use a present model to change the unwanted behavior. Unless you have the person in the moment with the behavior at hand, you will again be working out of past perceptions. Even if you interrupt the behavior now, you will, as you go about changing that behavior, still be working with a past perception.

So you sit the person down and say. "I know that you have done this in the past. And it was less than what you had intended for yourself. And as you see your future, you have this knowing that you will probably do it again."

That person, in understanding their own internal world, has tied this thing together. And if you congruently change that perception in the now, in the future, or in the past, the effect will be the same.

Another way of looking at this might be. Take the cause and effect statement. When I go into that context I do this. A set pattern. The pattern can be about anything. It could be about taking tests, about communicating with a loved one, about learning, about driving a car. It doesn't matter what the context is, we are still working with a patterned response to some external marker.

Now, you can change the old response by wiring in a new response. You can do this by working with the original perception when the pattern was first started. Or you can do it by wiring a new response in the now, or you can do this by wiring a new response in the future. If you do it thoroughly and with ecological congruence, the effect will be the same. You will have changed the gestalt, and the person will operate out of the new choices.

Take my nephew, Eddy, for example. When he was only about three months old he was exposed to my playing the drums. He somehow made a connection between my name and the movements I was making when as I was playing these drums. Now, whenever he hears my name he begins beating on whatever is in front of him, as if he were playing the drums.

Since he is now only two and a half years of age the entire affair is quite fun. We say the word, "Carmine," and off he goes. Now, let us say that in about twenty years from now this become a problem. We call him on the phone say the word, "Carmine," and he starts beating his wife. Not a good thing. So we decide to change it. How do we go about making this change? Do we go back into the past? If so how far into the past do we go? Do we find the first event that preceded all other events, the very first time he made that association? How about the second event? The third, the forth, the fifth? Or should we make the change in the future?

It doesn't matter in what perceived reality, past, present or future, we are still making the change in the now! And what really matters is that you wire in a new congruent ecological set of responses. And that you wire these in with precise skill so that the new response will fire off when and where you want the new response to fire off. Add to those new choices and behaviors a recursive loop that is based on improvement, and the point about lasting change becomes moot. Because we now have the focus shifted in a direction that moves toward continued improvement that goes well into the future.

As I stated earlier, there is no past or future. Only the perceptions that we have about those things. If you make a change by which you change any of those perceptions, or if you effectively change any part of the continuum that has allowed for the old pattern to have continued, you will have changed the entire system. And those changes will have occurred in the now, period.

Be Well, Loren

Carmine Baffa