Pattern Interruption means deliberately doing something differently within an established pattern so that the usual sequence is disrupted and another response becomes possible.

We already do this throughout everyday life. You take a different route because of roadworks, move an appointment because something unexpected happens, put your phone in another room when you need to concentrate, change how you explain something when someone doesn't understand, or stop what you are doing because your body tells you that you need a rest. Something interrupts what would normally happen next, and you adapt.

This is useful because unhelpful patterns can become familiar and increasingly automatic through repetition. The same trigger can lead to the same thoughts, feelings, behaviours or ways of relating, which in turn make the familiar outcome more likely. Pattern Interruption introduces a deliberate change somewhere within that sequence.

There is a useful mind-body principle behind this. Repeated experiences strengthen the neural pathways and associations involved in familiar responses, while attention, learning and repeated practice allow alternative responses to become better established. An interruption therefore does more than stop you doing something. It gives your mind-body system a new instruction about what happens next.

The first interruption begins the job. Repeating and developing the alternative helps finish it. What initially requires conscious effort can, with practice, become an increasingly familiar way of thinking, behaving, feeling or relating.

In terms of the Cliff Edge, Pattern Interruption is the moment you recognise where the familiar sequence is taking you and do something different before you go over the edge.

Cracks in the Dam

Here's a useful analogy. Pattern Interruption is like creating cracks in the foundation of what seems like an impenetrable dam.

Your unhelpful patterns may have been reinforced over many years, becoming so familiar that changing them can feel like trying to demolish a dam with your bare hands. But you don't have to bring the whole structure down at once.

Each time you interrupt a pattern, for example, by changing how you act, when you respond, what you focus on or something else within the familiar sequence, you create a crack in the dam. At first, it may seem insignificant, such as noticing a familiar reaction before acting on it, pausing before speaking, or doing something differently, even though part of you wants to respond in the usual way. 

Water begins to find its way through. 

Each subsequent interruption can widen an existing crack or create another one. The old pattern is no longer being allowed to run uninterrupted from beginning to end, while the alternative response gets another opportunity to establish itself. The cracks spread, more water gets through, and the dam becomes progressively weaker. Eventually, the dam is fatally undermined, and the force of the water washes it away.

Pattern Interruption does not demolish the dam overnight. Each interruption weakens the old pattern while giving the new one another opportunity to flow.

Types of Pattern Interruption

Patterns can be interrupted in several ways. Each approach changes something within the familiar sequence, for example, when or where it happens, the order in which things happen, the circumstances surrounding it or the resources available to you. The aim is to disrupt the unhelpful pattern and create an opportunity for a more helpful response.

A note of guidance: The examples that follow are personal to the individuals concerned. What worked for them may not be appropriate for you. Your task is to notice the principle of Pattern Interruption being used and consider how you could apply that principle to your own patterns and circumstances.

Pattern Interruption is an ongoing process. Keep a record of the interruptions you try, and pay attention to what happens next. Look for evidence that the familiar sequence is changing, even slightly, and that a more helpful alternative is beginning to establish itself.

What did you interrupt? Identify where you intervened in the pattern and what you changed. Did you alter the timing, location, order, context or resources involved? What did you do differently from usual?

What happened next? Notice whether changing one part of the pattern affected what followed. Did you think, behave, feel or relate differently? Did the familiar sequence continue, weaken or stop altogether?

Which interruptions made the biggest difference? Compare what you have tried. Some interruptions may have little effect, while others may change several parts of the pattern. What seems worth repeating, developing or using more consistently?

What is your mind-body system telling you? Look for signs that the alternative response is becoming more established. Does it require less conscious effort? Are you noticing the unhelpful pattern earlier? Is the pull to respond in the familiar way becoming weaker? Are you receiving different emotional messages from your Emotional Self?

What needs adjusting? If an interruption isn't helping, treat that as useful information rather than a reason to abandon the process. Could you interrupt the pattern earlier, change a different part of the sequence, introduce another resource or try a different approach?

What needs repeating? When an interruption helps, use it again. Repetition gives your mind-body system further experience of the alternative and helps what initially feels unfamiliar become increasingly familiar.

Pattern Interruption works persistently until the weight of the old gives way to the flow of the new. Keep noticing. Keep experimenting. Keep adjusting.

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