NLP Alters Food Allergies—Among Other Things

Pam Round
SOMETIMES IN LIFE, profound changes occur in such a way that it’s almost as if nothing happened at all.
Take my life-long allergy to oranges, for example. It disappeared in 10 minutes flat.

I can’t say that I understand how it went away. Sometimes I think it must be lurking in the wings, waiting for its cue to "Enter stage left." And, given the way in which it exited my life, this is potentially not so far from the truth.

My "Orange Allergy Drama" began when I was a baby in the spring of 1965 and it continued its run until the spring of 1999, when the players involved finally said "Enough!" And who could blame them? A 34-year show featuring itching and unsightly skin eruptions deserves a timely demise. The only suspense surrounded when I, "Miss Anti-Orange," would next discover, via an itch attack, that I had eaten something with orange in it by mistake.

My culinary existence included hiding from all the foods out there that contained even a trace of the juice of this beautiful fruit. I was constantly surprised by restaurant dishes whose descriptions never even hinted they would contain oranges–soups, salad dressings, sauces, pastries, desserts, and more–when all of a sudden, I had a reaction in the middle of a meal.

The final curtain call on this production occurred while I attended a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) session on health and beliefs during month five of Choices’ NLP "Master Programmer Training" in Seattle. I volunteered to be a class demo for trainer Tim Hallbom’s allergy cure called a "Counter Example Pattern."

This is a deceptively simple visualization procedure with a script that reads as follows:

Enter Director, Tim Hallbom and Miss Anti-Orange.

TIM: So, Miss Anti-Orange, you have an allergic response to a food that you’d like to replace with a more appropriate behavior?

Miss A-O: Yes, I’m allergic to oranges, and I’d really love to be able to eat them.

TIM: Well, you can eat them, once your immune system recognizes that it is overreacting to oranges and understands it can choose to respond differently.

MISS A-O: That sounds great. What do you want me to do?

TIM: Start by telling me what happens when you eat oranges.

MISS A-O: Well, I itch–sometimes for hours afterwards–and then break out in zits a couple days later.

At this point, Tim checks to make sure that MISS A-O would not suffer any ill effects from getting over her allergy. His goal is to make sure this allergy is not serving a useful purpose that could not be accomplished by any other means. Then he explains the unnecessary allergic response her immune system is having to oranges and begins the programming process.

TIM: OK, now I’d like you to think of a food similar to oranges that doesn’t cause any negative side effects.

MISS A-O: Oh, that’s easy–grapefruit. I eat them almost every day and feel great.

TIM: What’s it like for you to eat a grapefruit? Go within yourself and feel those sensations in every part of your body…listen to what you are saying to yourself… notice how your body is responding.

Once MISS A-O is fully feeling these sensations (known as being "associated" in NLP language), Tim "anchors" them with a firm pressure on her shoulder. (Anchors are an NLP method of injecting resourceful emotional states into the neurology).

TIM: Now I’d like you to visualize an imaginary plexiglass wall in front of you and see yourself sitting on the other side of it in an environment of your choosing.

MISS A-O: Ooh! I see myself sitting beside a pool on a sunny day. It’s beautiful.

While continuing to hold the anchor, Tim has Miss Anti-Orange visualize herself eating a grapefruit. Next, while still holding the shoulder anchor, he has her take down the plexiglass, step into her "real" body, and eat an orange with the "grapefruit" response. Then he "future tests" her response (more NLP terminology) by having her imagine eating oranges on several occasions in the future. She gets no allergic response.

Later that day, half excited and half afraid, I ate part of a small orange. And shock of all shocks: I didn’t itch. I waited several days, but no skin eruptions occurred. I kept trying oranges every few days. No problem. Now it’s been several months and I can really, truly eat oranges.

So, I’m wondering, was this magic? Was I tricked? In the end, I don’t think it matters anyway since I got what I wanted. I must say that each time I eat an orange I go through at least a few moments of doubt and fear. But then I see that picture of myself–the former Miss Anti-Orange–sitting by that pool in the sun, and I relax back into that space and feeling. And sure enough, when I eat the orange, nothing happens.

For me, this experience was a lesson in possibility, because if it was possible to get over my allergy to oranges, then I can do almost anything. I have other food allergies as well, specifically to beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, and almonds. These other allergies didn’t start until late in my teens, before I left for college, and I believe I will address them over time as well.

The founders of NLP discovered that we are randomly "programmed" by every event that occurs in our lives, especially in early childhood. In other words, we unconsciously write programs that run our behavior into adulthood. In this way, "experience becomes biology."

I grew up in a family in which the world-at-large was viewed as a hostile place and where harsh judgements were made about eating the "wrong foods." My childhood experience of my parent’s view of the world must have created a program of endlessly looping allergic responses. But today, I am consciously rewriting these programs one at a time using NLP.