Processing the Past

Working with the past in Phase 2 of the system is one of the key directions that deserves priority attention at this stage. At least until the main emotional charge associated with past events is significantly reduced.

This is not about erasing the past or “forgetting.” Events do not disappear, but they gradually lose the ability to automatically trigger emotional reactions. In practical terms, it looks like this: the past begins to be perceived as neutral archival information — “it happened, and that’s it,” without internal tension, replaying, or emotional residue.

With regular and consistent work, such a state can largely be achieved in about 2 months, and after 3–4 months the past, as a rule, stops noticeably affecting the current state. The timeframe, of course, is individual and depends on the intensity of work, the tools used, and the overall condition of the nervous system.

It should be understood that the past, in one form or another, is touched upon in almost any automatic protocol. Nevertheless, at this stage it is recommended to deliberately begin with processing the most significant episodes and key people. Part of this work is done manually, part with the help of automation. In any case, the starting point is compiling lists.

Compiling Lists

Work with the past begins with writing down charged episodes from your life.

Take any convenient medium — notes on your phone, a file on your computer, or a regular notebook — and start recording events that come to mind. No analysis, no evaluation of “how important this is,” no attempt to build a hierarchy. Just record whatever comes up.

At the start, only a few episodes may come to mind — this is normal. As you continue working, memory will gradually “defrost,” and access to the past will become easier. Many events are initially inaccessible precisely because of their painfulness, but later they become workable. Do not try to pull everything out at once — recall what comes naturally.

Write briefly, in the form of markers, not full stories. For example:

• “father beat me on my birthday in 7th grade”
• “mother slapped me in front of everyone at a meeting”
• “boys took my money when I was 8”
• “my breast slipped out during PE in my second year”

The subconscious does not need detailed descriptions. All the details are already stored. We only need labels for the episodes — “tags” that will later be used to initiate processing.

Whenever possible, group episodes around specific people. If several events are associated with one person, record them together. This is important because after processing the episodes themselves, we will separately work with the image of the person as such, removing any residual charge.

Some Context

Those familiar with the idea of “recapitulation” from practices of working with the past may recognize the approach of compiling lists. In the TS system, a similar logic is used — but without rituals, without “retrieving energy,” and without metaphysics. We do not “relive” the past — we label the material and remove the charge from it.

What Exactly to Write Down

Your task is to record as many charged episodes as possible, primarily:

• those related to parents;
• painful ones;
• those that cause discomfort when recalled.

By “charge” here we mean any residual “not okay” feeling: tension, shame, anger, sadness, irritation. If an episode can be recalled without any reaction, most likely its charge is already minimal.

Important: there is no need to relive episodes, immerse yourself in feelings, or deliberately try to “feel” something. It is enough to record the fact and set it aside for further work.

On average, practitioners write down from 100 to 300 episodes. In reality, there are more, but minor and insignificant ones are often not recalled — and that is not a problem, they will be processed later by automation.

It is best to start with the most “heavy” and painful episodes. Processing them gives noticeable relief and significantly increases motivation. Over time, smaller and smaller things will begin to appear in the list — like “a bus conductor was rude” or “I didn’t get my change.” At some point, it will become clear that the material is practically exhausted. This is a normal signal that manual work with the past can be completed and handed over to automation.

Sometimes, after several months, deep, foundational incidents (most often from childhood) surface that were previously inaccessible. In this case, it makes sense to return to manual processing in a targeted way.

Episodes can be processed either as they appear or later from the list — there is no single correct method, choose what is more convenient for you.

If Nothing Comes to Mind

Sometimes people encounter a situation where “nothing comes to mind at all.” This may cause confusion and the false conclusion that there is nothing to work with.

Theoretically, this is possible — as a result of already achieved acceptance and internal wholeness. But in that case, life is usually experienced as quite satisfactory, without a constant background of internal tension. If that describes you, the logical question is: why are you here at all? Go live your life.

In practice, however, the reason is usually the opposite. If there are no memories, and life is far from a state of calm clarity, it means the past was too painful, and the psyche has simply blocked access to it. Suppression and “sealing off” of memories is a normal protective mechanism.

For such people, the work is more difficult, especially at the beginning, and they more often experience stronger swings. In this case, the standard strategy may not be suitable. Then it is necessary to immediately reduce the pace to a minimum: work only with automations, neutralize 2–3 polarities per day, and work with emotions only when there is a clear signal from the system. Any forcing will be met with strong internal resistance and will multiply the timeframe. This is not “it doesn’t work” — this is the system indicating that you have taken on a load that is too heavy for your current state.

Usually, after the initial “stupor,” the process still starts, and then the lists begin to fill quite easily.