“John” came to me because he wanted to drastically cut back on his marijuana use. He views marijuana as a medicine and has been using it for much of his life. I asked him what he would like in terms of his marijuana use, and he said that he would like to smoke it only on weekends and for creative endeavors.
He confessed that he felt that he was addicted to pot. John said that he smoked it several times every day. He used marijuana to get in touch with his body. He smoked it before he works (he is a handyman); he uses it before he writes poetry; he smokes before he spins fire and works out.
After talking with John for a while, it seemed clear that he felt marijuana helped him connect with his spirit, to meditate and to breathe. He liked the feeling of being a cool dude, and his inner teenager wasn’t sure if he would be cool without pot.
He seemed to enjoy it so much I asked him why he would want to cut back. He replied that he would soon be starting an inside job, and he wanted to be clean when he goes to work. He also complained that his lungs hurt and in the morning he sometimes wheezed. John also complained about his penchant for getting speedy on strong coffee and then mellowing out with a joint, then repeating the cycle again and again.
I asked him if he had any marijuana on him, and he pulled out a small stash. I asked him to smell it and get his get his craving to spike. The intensity was only a 3 or 4 out of 10. Since I hadn’t known what the session would be about, I hadn’t been able to ask him from refraining for the day, at least until after our session.
Because he had smoked some pot a couple of hours before his session, I realized I had my work cut out for me.
His first set phrases were Even though:
.....I have been smoking marijuana most of my life, I deeply and completely love and accept myself
.....Marijuana helps me drop into my body…
.....I don’t know if I can go without marijuana for a day…
He tapped for several rounds and when he stopped I had him smell the pot and his craving went up to a 5-6. I asked if he had any insights and he said that he really identified with marijuana.
The next set of rounds we used “being cool” as a reminder phrase. After tapping, he smelled the marijuana again, and I had him imagine inhaling the smoke into his lungs, then watch the smoke curl up, and then the immediate gratification of dropping into his self (these were all things he had told me). His intensity had gone up to an 8. Had I gone too far? Was it getting close to the time in which he was going to smoke his evening joint? When I asked him about it, he answered truthfully that it was….
Some of the final set-phrases we used were, Even though:
.....My inner teenager wants to smoke pot whenever I want, there is another part of me that wants to be in control of this situation, and I deeply and completely love and accept myself, and I forgive myself for letting marijuana be in control of me
.....I am the Ganja King…
.....I am not sure of who I will be without marijuana controlling me…
His reminder phrase was Ganja King. After a couple of rounds I had him tap and bitch about his fears of life without marijuana.
After an hour and a half session, his intensity was a 6. He needed to be on his way. I told him that it looks like we would have more to work on.
The next morning he called to tell me that he had gone dancing and he did not smoke marijuana! He assured me that he felt in his body without marijuana. Today, when I went to the market I saw John again (two days after our session). He still had not used any marijuana since our session. He smiled from ear to ear as he thanked me profusely for my help.
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