With people who have anxiety, I almost always use FW 2.0 in this way, very early in knowing them. The majority of people can regulate anxiety with this brief intervention with the following steps:
- Identify a Scared feeling verbally, then think of something that causes anxiety.
- Identify the opposite feeling to Scared on FW 2.0: which are PEACEFUL feelings.
- Then, the person is asked to think of a time they felt wanted, cared about, loved, or a place they find Peaceful. Note that Peaceful feelings include loving, sentimental, and nurturing feelings; hence, the question asks a person to pick any memory involving these feelings.
- The person then recounts the Peaceful memory, especially by describing what the senses are experiencing in the memory – many would describe this as a mindfulness practice. So, the person describes what they see, hear, taste, smell, touch, and any other bodily sensation they notice when focusing on the memory.
- After recounting this Peaceful memory, the person is asked to “remeasure” the bodily sensation. If it is the chest, the person notes a change in that sensation.
- It is then pointed out to the person that in 30 seconds, they could identify, measure, and regulate their anxiety using FW 2.0 and memory.
I am always impressed by how well this short FW 2.0 intervention often works. People who have chronically anxious and Scared feelings usually think that they are entirely uncontrollable. So once they figure out that Scared feelings are changeable, it is like a whole new world opens up for that person. This short FW 2.0 intervention usually assures that they will continue with therapy if they are in a clinical setting or to keep learning more if they are self-directing anxiety regulation.
Steps for Treating Anxiety with FW 2.0