The Doorway Technique for Problem Solving and Stress Reduction

I just submitted the following article to SelfGrowth.com, one of the oldest and most comprehensive sites dedicated to self-improvement. Two weeks ago they published my blog post, "Treasure Is Everywhere." The Doorway Technique is a problem solving and stress reduction method I developed four or five years ago. At first I thought I'd sell it as an eBook, but then decided to share it for free. It works well as a complement to my Magic Number Technique. Anyway, here's the article. I hope you enjoy it:

"The Doorway Technique, based on the idea that obstacles can be seen as doorways if viewed in the right way, is a simple and powerful stress-reduction, emotional-release and problem-solving tool. After a particularly stressful day at work a few years ago, I sat on my bed and did cathartic writing to release some pent up emotions. I can’t remember what problem I was trying to overcome, but I know that I wasn’t satisfied with the “catharsis.” I felt that I had only taken the process so far; the unresolved predicament would still be there tomorrow, and I would have to face the stress all over again. Within a few minutes, I developed a more comprehensive process, cobbled together from various self-help techniques I had experimented with and read about over the years.  

I tested it right away and not only felt relief from the worry; I also came up with a list of actions to resolve the problem and performed them the next day. Like a reframing process, I viewed the problem from a different angle that shifted it to a series of benefits or opportunities, thus sapping it of its negative power and allowing me to see clearly some of the solutions. I was also compelled to take action immediately to resolve it. I was amazed, but also a little skeptical about the effectiveness of the technique, thinking that maybe this particular problem had been small and easy to resolve all along (forgetting just how insurmountable it had seemed earlier that day). For the next two months or so, I continued using the technique and continued having good results, to the point where I realized that I was no longer waking up dreading each day.  

Unfortunately, as I’ve done with other successful techniques throughout my life, I was distracted by the hecticness of my life into forgetting to use the technique regularly. And then I forgot about it altogether--until a financial problem years later brought it back to my attention. I’d been learning about the Law of Attraction and The Secret, and had read a lot of criticism about how they didn’t seem to work for some people. Supporters of the LoA suggested that erroneous subconscious beliefs were the problem. The beliefs needed to be changed or cleared away by emotional release methods like EFT. That got me thinking about cathartic writing, and then I remembered my then-unnamed Doorway Technique. I decided to use it on my financial problem.  

The process took about an hour and a half, and in that time I went from being stuck, anxious and fatalistic to being motivated, active and optimistic. I even had revelations about a “poverty consciousness” that had been holding me back all my life, with its spiderweb of emotions, beliefs and behaviors permeating just about everything I did. The emotional release steps were especially revealing. I had no idea how much anger about my “poverty” had been walled up inside me, until it poured out of me in a deluge.  

In a nutshell, this is how the Technique works: You write about the problem in several ways. First you describe the problem in clear, truthful, objective terms (that is, without being emotional about it). This is followed by an emotional, subjective response to the problem, writing all that you feel about the problem and the people involved, including yourself. Here you hold nothing back. Once you feel that you have released everything and don’t need to unload anymore (you feel calm instead of upset), you symbolically purge both the problem and your emotional “rantings” by tearing the pages to shreds and throwing them in the trash. That’s often where cathartic writing ends, but this technique goes on to transform the problem into a source of treasure and wisdom leading ultimately to resolution. The final steps take the process full circle and resolve or diminish the problem through action.  

Here are the seven steps:  

1. Objectively and unemotionally describe the problem.  

2. Write down your emotional response to the problem, releasing your anger, fear, grief, sadness, guilt, etc., until you feel that you have unloaded everything.  

3. Symbolically “release” the problem and your emotions regarding it by tearing up the pages and throwing them away.  

4. Look at the problem as a source of treasure and wisdom, and list all of the good aspects of the problem.  

5. Describe subjectively and objectively, in the present tense, what your situation is like with the problem fully resolved.  

6. List all of the actions you can think of that can help resolve or ease the problem. 7. Circle the actions you can take right away (or at least the next day), and then go ahead and take those actions.  

As you can see, understanding and reframing the problem, releasing pent up emotions, and overcoming stuckness are all written into the Technique.  

Now I will expand on each step a little bit: In step one, it’s important that you describe the problem as factually as possible, as if you’re an unbiased witness to someone else having the problem. This can help you see who or what was responsible for it as well as understand its full scope and nature. From this vantage point, you may see that the problem isn’t really a problem at all, but a challenge or a temporary setback. Or else you might discover that the problem is a symptom of a deeper problem. This goes a long way toward helping you discover its solution.  

The only thing I need to mention about step two is that you don’t censor what comes out of you onto the paper. You’re going to destroy the paper anyway, so swear, despair, weep and rant to your heart’s content. The more you write, the closer you get to your true emotions. The closer you get to your true emotions, the more will come up.  

For step three, it’s good to tear the pages into tiny pieces so that no one else can read or glean what you’ve written. I also recommend that you tear up the page with your step one writings as well, because you’re symbolically getting rid of the problem. Your aren’t ignoring it, because the next four steps are all about transforming the problem into something positive.  

Step four is probably the hardest, because we’ve been trained to see problems as “failures” or “disasters” instead of opportunities for growth. One of the first things I write down about a problem is that it forced me to realize that something was wrong, like an alarm bell. An alarm may be loud, scary and annoying, but it can save your life. I’m often surprised by the nuggets of treasure that arise from my problems. I’ll use my aforementioned “poverty consciousness” as an example. All in all, I came up with a list of twenty-one positive aspects to the problem (many more than I expected), but I’ll only mention five of them here:  

1. Being poor forced me to be resourceful and creative  

2. It helped me cut back on unhealthy luxuries, like drinking pop and eating desserts 3. It forced me to face my fears and my inner demons  

4. It made me appreciative of even the smallest things  

5. It coaxed me into reviving the Doorway Technique  

You can see how such a list of gifts can deflate both the problem and your stress.  Reduce your stress, and it’s easier for you to come up with solutions and take action.  

In step five I mentioned both subjective and objective description of your situation without the problem, because positive emotion can reinforce the reprogramming of your subconscious mind, and objective description makes it more real in your imagination.  

Step six is pretty self-explanatory. In my example, I wrote down both tough and easy actions, about fourteen of them. At the time I’d been putting off doing my taxes (a tough action), even though I had a possible refund coming. So I wrote that down. I also listed, “Give money to charity” (an easy action), realizing that wealth isn’t about hoarding money, but about receiving and giving it with a sense of the natural flow of abundance.  

In the final step, circle all of the actions that you can take right away, including both easy and tough ones. If the tough ones are too tough, it’s good to at least start small to get you moving in a positive direction. Once you’re moving, it’s easier to tackle the harder tasks. In my case, I found it suddenly easy to make a few phone calls to banks and an insurance company that I’d been putting off, and also to do my taxes.  

If you decide to try out the Doorway Technique, I hope you have great success with it. Of course, I hope you have great success regardless of whether or not you use the technique!"