What is Time Line Therapy™?

Time Line Therapy™ (TLT) is a powerful therapeutic process that has evolved from hypnosis and NLP, developed by Tad James, PhD in the 1980s. It was developed by applying a therapeutic process to the concept that we linearly store our memories in an internal memory storage system. 

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TLT provides one of the most powerful processes and techniques for personal change and growth by facilitating the elimination of the painful emotions attached to memories or events in the past. TLT also focuses on what we can learn from those events and use what we learn as a resource for the future.

Time Line Therapy™ techniques and practical processes produce long-lasting transformation much quicker than what is currently called "brief therapy", with a minimum of discomfort to the client. Some examples of painful emotions include anger, rage, sadness, hurt, regret, fear, guilt, and remorse.

TLT also enables you to clear limiting beliefs that can leave you stuck in the past and stop you from creating what you want in your life. Both unwanted negative emotions and limiting beliefs influence every area of our lives. 


How can Time Line Therapy™ help me?

One of the many advantages of TLT is that it enables you to release and clear gestalts or (chains) of an emotion rather than one at a time as most other emotional release techniques do. For example, if you have anger issues, TLT facilitates the release and clearing of all anger from the past and not just the anger attached to a particular event. In other words, anger is released from its roots.

I believe that this is one of the main reasons why you're able to get the result you want so quickly and experience lasting results. Some people get confused that the memories of painful events are cleared. It is only the negative emotions attached to the memories that are cleared in TLT. Memories are our history and it is not ecological or appropriate to clear them.

Some examples of limiting beliefs are, “I don’t deserve it”, or “I am just not good enough”. Many clients with emotional issues get the result they want in or around six hours, rather than months and years.

Where more complex conditions such as PTSD, trauma, or physiological conditions are also involved, it may take a while longer. One of the main advantages of Time Line Therapy™ is that instead of talking about the problem week after week you get to do something about it. TLT is usually used in conjunction with clinical hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and together they provide a powerful therapeutic model.

It's important to note, that TLT should not be confused with what is called Time Line, which is also a technique based on NLP and is very different from TLT.

Why is it important to release negative emotions attached to the past?

Mind-body medicine and PNI (psychoneuroimmunology) studies explain the effects of unresolved negative emotions and how they affect physical health and can lead to the development of symptoms and illness in the physical body. Also, the point of how we perceive stress and respond to it is influenced by unresolved emotional issues and can also influence the intensity of the stressful experience.

Many people find relaxation, meditation, and yoga useful to deal with stress, and often feel better in the short term. Clients who practice them tell me, that the unresolved painful emotions tend to counteract the benefits in the long term.

Time Line Therapy™ is most effective with anxiety and stress-based conditions such as exam nerves, performance anxiety, and panic.

Clearing the negative emotions and limiting decisions from the past is likely to significantly enhance the practise of these techniques in maintaining mind-body health.

NLP Time Line Therapy™

TLT is relatively unknown in the UK, and one of the reasons may be that the training of practitioners requires a high level of awareness of both hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming as the processes use both. A practitioner membership also requires hypnosis and NLP at the practitioner level. Some of the conditions dealt with in therapy are quite complex and your safety and comfort are paramount. The practitioner must be confident in the use of the processes involved.

As a practitioner of TLT requires a high level of competency, it is not something a therapist could learn over a weekend or two unless they have a sound knowledge of both hypnosis and NLP. As an example, TLT processes use NLP reframing extensively. Time Line Therapy™ is the registered trademark of Tad James and is exclusively licensed by the Time Line Therapy™ Association.


Find a Time Line Therapy™ practitioner near you

To find a qualified, experienced TLT practitioner, use our search tool to find a professional near you or who offers online sessions.

While there are no laws currently requiring a specific level of training for individuals to practice hypnotherapy, practitioners can choose to register with professional bodies. Each professional body has a certain set of criteria (often including a minimum number of hours of training and keeping up their skills) to gain and maintain membership.

TLT™ practitioners are required to have qualifications in both hypnotherapy and NLP to be able to practice with clients. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Hypnotherapy Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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