1. © Forensic Brain Rewiring ™
GENVIÈV MARTIN BERNARD, DESS, BCH
Forensic & Clinical Research Center
Forensic Brain Rewiring ™
A Passion For Human Potential ™
Clinical Case Files
Procrastination
Senior corporate executive overturns paralyzing procrastination
in a single session after struggling with it for years
The clinical case study below demonstrates how we were able to correctly and permanently address, regress
and release the root cause responsible for years of debilitating procrastination. Recovering his freedom from
the weight of an imprint that paralyzed his potential enabled the senior executive to fuel his performance,
recover his drive and dramatically enhance his results.
Adult Onset
In my office, the fifty year-old explained he had been a high-achiever since childhood. His reputation as a
problem-solver, go-getter and winner allowed him to quickly rise to the top of the corporate ladder.
His success in the high-tech industry came to an abrupt halt with the dot-com burst. As the market crashed,
high-tech corporations began reporting unprecedented losses. Silicon billionaires had to let go of their
million-dollar estates and many found themselves out of work. Compounding the loss of their lifestyles, some
faced disintegrating marriages. Eventually, they had to find a way to reinvent themselves.
The then forty year-old had to let go of everything and move out
of state to accept a new position. He hoped this would mark the
start of a new chapter. His marriage, however, did not survive
the changes and the unexpected divorce left him even further
affected.
Having lost everything, shaken by fear and financial setbacks,
parachuted to a new environment and deserted by his spouse, he
began struggling with depression and symptoms of post-
traumatic stress.
For the first time in his life, he found himself unable to accomplish what he had always performed effortlessly.
Procrastination began to plague him, slowing his progress even further. Trying to muscle his way through it
created increasing anxiety. Dread and fear built within, prompting him to turn to just about anything his mind
could find to escape the tasks at hand. He would find himself checking his e-mail, following up on text
messages, surfing the web, checking the weather, doing house chores, anything and everything to avoid facing
the work he needed to tackle. For the first time in his life, he was beginning to lose ground.

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"I suddenly have a block with work projects," he explained. "A fear of taking action. I've never had this problem
before. I always got things done, no matter what stood in the way. I was known as a problem solver. I always got
work because everyone knew I got things done. Now all of a sudden, after this series of setbacks, I am plagued by
constant procrastination. I let everything pile up until it becomes overwhelming. It's almost as if I am in fear of
negative consequences from getting the work done. Yet, I'm very aware the more I procrastinate, the more I
amplify the potential for negative consequences. I cannot find a way to control this."
Root Cause
This is a typical example of an adult-life trauma suddenly triggering brain malfunctioning. Time and again,
people tell me they stopped functioning following an adult-life trauma and believe the recent event to be the
cause of their issues. While adult adversity certainly acts as a trigger, we find that the root causes for current
malfunctioning of the mind typically go back much beyond adult life, and are almost always rooted in early-
life events.
When there are no early-life fracture underneath the surface, we might be brought to our knees by adult
adversity, but we eventually push ourselves back up to normal functioning. When we don't, when post-
traumatic sequels remain and resist, it is usually the sign they have retriggered life-long wounds that were
lying dormant beneath the surface.
I often compare this to the San Andreas fault extending through California. You
may travel over the surface and have the impression the earth is solid and
stable. However, deep below the surface, lies a fracture, a fragility, a
vulnerability. Since the fault is the tectonic boundary between different earth
plates, when plates shift, where other areas will flex, stretch, bend and adjust
without much damage, when the shift happens to hit an existing fracture,
everything collapses, prompting considerable damage. The same applies to
our emotional fabric.
Early-life wounds leave fractures, fragilities, vulnerabilities lying dormant below the surface of our otherwise
well-functioning coping mechanisms. We cope, we compensate (often over-compensating), and continue
functioning to the best of our abilities. However, left unaddressed, the wounds remain. When an adult-life
shift, traumatic event, or shock happens to hit a specific area of vulnerability, the mind suddenly stops
functioning seamlessly. We develop glitches, malfunctioning, issues or symptoms often referred to as post-
traumatic stress.
I am often asked: "how are you going to find the root cause for this? I certainly don't know what it is!" "Well," I
respond, "your mind will tell us."
Anytime our mind malfunctions, resists, or glitches, it knows exactly why it is doing so. Whenever something
shakes us, threatens us at some level, our mind takes a snapshot of it. We may think we forget the event, our
mind doesn't. It is stored in our database of potential threats. Later on in life, when we encounter events
bearing some degree of resemblance to these earlier snapshots, our mind reacts based on the original trauma,
with the original response of that time, based on the age we were at that time. The resulting sabotaging
mechanism simply is an attempt from our mind to protect us against something it fears as a potential
threat. The power of regression to cause lies in its ability to bring the current malfunctioning back to its
original root cause, to finally address, resolve and release it.
Methodology
In a state of hypnosis, we brought the executive back to the situation triggering his current struggle: sitting at
his desk, in situation, attempting to focus on a project. Instantly, he began experiencing the symptoms he had
described: tightness in his throat, pressure in his temples, a sensation of heaviness spreading across his
forehead, as an impending sense of dread and anxiety took a hold of him.

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Reconnecting with the negative emotions gives us a direct pathway to their original cause. Interestingly the
initial sensitizing cause for his sense of dread and fear of taking action brought us back to an experience he
had at 3 years old. A toddler full of energy, action oriented and adventurous, he momentarily escaped the
watchful eye of his parents and managed to climb up to one of the windowsills. His parents didn't notice his
whereabouts until he was leaning against the window. Chaos instantly exploded when the high-pitch screams
of his mother tore through the silence. In the blink of an eye, his father bolted through the door and leaped
toward him, grabbing him so abruptly both of them lost their balance and nearly fell. Wide-eyed and puzzled,
the toddler remained stunned as his father and mother both yelled at him simultaneously, overcome by their
sudden fright for his safety.
In my chair in the office, it is now the 3 year-old speaking to me: "I am so scared... I have never seen my mom
and dad so mad at me... They are yelling at me... I must have done something very wrong... I shouldn't have
climbed the window... They had told me not to climb the window... I feel guilty... The fear and anger I sense in
them are terrifying..."
Here again, we have all of the components for a lifelong imprint gathered: repetitions, strong emotions and
authority figures. Analyzing the origin of imprints at the subconscious level of the mind enables us to finally
understand, address and release the negative programming left behind by traumatic events. Free of the
limitations of the past, self-image and potential are restored.
In situation, we are now able to bring the adult self to the rescue of the 3 year-old. Removing the toddler from
the situation charged with intense emotions, we are able to explain to the child the reaction he witnessed and
experienced at that moment was a reflection of the panic felt by both his parents when they realized he was in
imminent danger. A reflection of their own guilt, likely, for having lost sight of him for a moment. Being able
to bring this understanding and comfort to the 3 year-old also enables us to clarify that while his actions, at
that specific moment in time, could have indeed endangered him, they also reflected his positive energy and
adventurous spirit. And that while, at 3 years old, we are not always able to assess our safety in the most
efficient manner, the adult self of today certainly is. The key here being to make the mind aware that today,
the adult is perfectly capable of taking all appropriate measures to best ensure his safety. In fact, today his
very ability to take action is what best promotes his safety, security, success and wellness.
Projected back in his original example situation, the executive returned to his adult age indicates: "I now feel
very good at the idea of tackling my project. I feel very calm. I no longer feel anything holding me back. I now
realize the block I experienced was due to a paralyzing fear of the reactions of others, a fear of them becoming
angry. There is no more justification for this fear in my life of today."
Once out of hypnosis, he exclaims: "Wow! I had no idea I still remembered that event! I had forgotten how mad
my father was that day. I hadn't thought about this since it happened. I certainly never realized how much it had
affected me!"
Result
A week later, coming back for his follow-up visit, he beamed: "The problem is
completely resolved. The change is miraculous. And it's not just the
procrastination that dissolved, but my attitude, the way I've been interacting
with my family and others around me, everything has changed. My wife even
asked me if I was the same person!"
Uncovering and addressing the root cause of a problem of this nature
enables us to disconnect its hold on our subconscious mind. Understanding
how and where the imprint took place enables us to shift our perspective of
the initial sensitizing event, resolve it and recover our truth, strength and
peace of mind.