Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 268 Reduce Emotional Involvement, Confront Real Events and Emotions

Li Minglu said, "Before and after the change in 'my' work status, there was no negative impact on Lao Xue's work presentation."

When Nan Zhuren said this, the focus was on describing Li Minglu's condition. She avoided using terms like "illness" or "suffering from depression."

When Li Minglu was recounting the story, Nan Zhuren paid close attention to the other person's use of pronouns.

When Li Minglu repeated the sentence with "I" as the subject, his body underwent its first major change during this entire process of "rewriting emotional memories."

His shoulders first rose, then relaxed, swaying slightly as he narrated—he was deeply absorbed in the sentence and earnestly felt and accepted it.

My body is very relaxed.

A smile with upturned corners of the mouth—a relieved smile.

Nan Zhuren was very satisfied with this.

Li Minglu's existing ideas have been consolidated and completed.

"So what do you think Lao Xue was doing while you were browsing the chat history and your whole body was tense? Was he looking at your paintings?"

Li Minglu's tone was somewhat uncertain: "Maybe..."

"So how does he react when he looks at your paintings?"

Nan Zhuren directly established "possibility" as a given fact.

And we will extend from this foundation.

"Hmm...yes, he'll be happy, right? He'll laugh, and then...he'll look forward to my next work?" Li Minglu's tone became even more uncertain.

Nan Zhuren nodded: "[Happy], [Looking forward]."

Nan Zhuren suddenly pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Li Minglu: "We still have plenty of time. Could you simply draw Lao Xue's two expressions on this paper?"

"What was Lao Xue's expression of joy and anticipation after seeing your painting?"

Li Minglu was somewhat taken aback.

Some hesitation.

However, he still took the blank sheet of paper.

When he began to write, his movements were intermittent, as if he had difficulty putting pen to paper.

And he made many small movements, occasionally rubbing the small wooden block on his left bracelet.

But after the first stroke was completed, his painter's instincts triggered his muscle memory, and he began to subconsciously sketch the face of a middle-aged man.

As Li Minglu created this expression, it began to appear on the paper; and as the expression appeared on the paper, Li Minglu's "imagination" seemed to become "reality" in a certain sense.

After a while.

"finished."

Li Minglu breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are you drawing?" Nan Zhuren suddenly asked.

Li Minglu answered matter-of-factly: "Old Xue's expression of [happiness] and [expectation]."

……

If Li Minglu's tone was uncertain when he first expressed these two emotions, then...

At that moment, that uncertainty had transformed into a certainty.

This is the second idea that Nan Zhuren wrote for Li Minglu in the "Reconstruction of the Incident".

[The change in my work status did not have any negative impact on Lao Xue's presentation of the work.] This was the first thought that Li Minglu had vaguely held, which was then solidified by Nan Zhuren.

[When Lao Xue was looking at my work at the same time, he was happy and expectant.] This was the second idea that Nan Zhuren built for Li Minglu from scratch.

That's it.

The third stage of [Emotional Memory Rewriting], [Event Reconstruction], also concludes here.

The next stage is the fourth stage, neural anchoring.

This stage is actually quite simple.

"Now you have a new understanding of this [emotional event]. Can you describe it again in words?"

Li Minglu was quite familiar with this requirement.

He said fluently, "The change in my work status did not have any negative impact on Lao Xue's presentation of the work; and while I was looking at the browsing history and my whole body was tense, Lao Xue was probably reviewing my previous works at the same time, and he was happy and expectant at that moment."

This is the first level of [cognitive anchoring]. As he said this, Li Minglu was simultaneously stroking the small wooden block on his bracelet.

This is the second layer of [tactile differentiation anchoring].

……

Seeing Li Minglu's current state, Nan Zhuren smiled.

It's time for Li Minglu to review this again.

"Okay, now let's go back to this [stone incident]."

Nan Zhuren said, "If we consider the discomfort the children caused you at breakfast as a scale of 10, what scale is the current stone incident?"

Li Minglu began to think.

He pursed his lips, as if preparing to endure something.

But then, he froze.

Li Minglu's tone was somewhat uncertain: "Is it... [Scale 1]?"

The next second, he overturned his own idea, his tone becoming even more uncertain: "Not even [Scale 1]...?"

"You don't even feel uncomfortable anymore?"

Nan Zhuren nodded, spread his hands in front of him, and made a "see?" gesture.

Li Minglu blinked, his face seemingly asking "why?"

Nan Zhuren smiled and said, "Even though you used to think 'I shouldn't think like this, I shouldn't be upset' about the [Stone Incident], you still felt upset every time you thought about it, right?"

Li Minglu nodded repeatedly.

"But I don't think so now."

Li Minglu nodded even faster.

Nan Zhuren began to explain the underlying principles, because further training would be needed, and even Li Minglu would be encouraged to learn this way of thinking.

He had to make Li Minglu understand.

"When you recall this incident, you might describe it in your mind as, 'When I looked at the chat history, I thought that Lao Xue's nice words were just to comfort me, but in reality, I was the one causing trouble for Lao Xue.' This description has too many negative details, and these details will bring negative emotional experiences."

"You will find yourself unable to resist focusing on your emotional experience. This emotion will dilute your rational thinking, causing your correct ideas to vanish in an instant, and leading you to become immersed in negative emotions."

"Our second step, 'deconstructing the details,' is to get you to focus on other neutral details, and then integrate these details to summarize the whole event using a metaphorical term like 'the stone incident.'"

"This way, you can reduce your emotional involvement. It will prevent you from feeling upset as soon as you think about the event."

Li Minglu's eyes widened.

It seems they never expected that their actions would have such a subtle impact on so many things.

"At the same time, your 'real details' regarding the [Stone Incident] were also enriched in the process."

"Including what you mentioned: guilt, and physical tension."

Nan Zhuren explained, "I don't know if you've noticed, but when you were recalling the [Stone Incident], you were immediately overwhelmed by overwhelming [discomfort] as soon as you started thinking about it."

"But actually, what you're recalling isn't the [stone incident], but rather—[pain]!"

"And the discomfort you feel isn't just from the stone incident, but also includes all other events that make you feel uncomfortable!"

Li Minglu's breathing became rapid.

"You seem to only recall the [Stone Incident], but in fact, the [Stone Incident] is just a trigger. The negative emotions you feel are the sum of the [discomfort] emotions brought about by many so-called events."

"And when you experience the unpleasant emotions beyond these stone events, these emotions, in turn, worsen how you feel about the stone events."

"The negative emotions brought to you by the stone incident will become increasingly severe as a result."

Nan Zhuren's voice was soft, yet steady.

"What we just did was extract the [stone incident] from the many [painful experiences] and turn it into an independent [guilt]. Then, we weakened this [guilt], and even eliminated it."

"This is the process and function of the [Emotional Memory Rewriting Method]."

When it comes to this.

Nan Zhuren glanced at Li Minglu's wrist, where he was unconsciously rubbing the small wooden block on the bracelet.

(End of this chapter)