If you’re someone who lives in peace and joy most days, this post may not be for you. But if you’re stuck in emotional loops you can’t name—read on.
Are you tired of doing all the “right things” (therapy, self-help, journaling), you’re not broken. You’re running on an emotional autopilot you can’t see, the one that’s been steering your life since childhood. Until you uncover it, you’ll keep cycling through the same unwanted patterns.
That’s where Imperative Self Analysis (ISA) comes in.
ISA isn’t another mindset hack or years-long therapy process. It’s a streamlined method to identify the 5–7 emotions that quietly dominate your daily life and uncover the hidden command that drives them.
Start by downloading the Emotional States Menu (PDF) https://clintmatheny.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Emotional-States-Menu-.pdf and tracking your emotions for a week. This simple step opens the door to the deeper work that can shift your emotional life in just a single session.
This is a brief 5- minute video introduction:
Until you spend the time to complete the Emotional Checklist PDF, chances are you’re not fully aware of the 5–7 emotions you experience most days of the week.
They’re not random. They’re part of a hidden emotional autopilot that’s been running since childhood, silently shaping your reactions, relationships, and sense of self-worth.
If Freud introduced the unconscious, ISA names the commands that run it.
Through Imperative Self Analysis (ISA), you’ll uncover the core emotional command behind your struggles — and learn how to finally shut it off.
If you’re ready for deep, lasting emotional change, this is where it begins.
This is Imperative Self Analysis (ISA): the fastest way I know to permanently shift the emotional patterns that have been steering your life without your permission. As you know, your emotions drive your behaviors.
We each operate with a personal emotional palette—5 to 7 core emotional states that quietly shape our daily experience. These aren’t fleeting moods; they’re the baseline tones that color nearly every thought, reaction, and interaction, unless something truly out of the ordinary is happening. The first step is simple but powerful: become aware of your emotional palette.
Discover Your Imperative Self
Imperative Self Analysis (ISA) streamlines the therapeutic process, removing the necessityi for drawn-out, fragmented sessions that target undesirable emotions. It’s designed to pinpoint the underlying issues swiftly, facilitating profound and positive changes in one’s emotional life within a single session.
Developed in 1986 by therapist Leslie Cameron (pictured above), this model emerged from her search for clarity around two persistent clinical puzzles:
1. Why do two people, exposed to the same event, often experience completely different emotional responses?
2. Why do some clients repeatedly return to therapy to process the same unresolved, unresourceful emotion without achieving lasting healing?
In 1986, Leslie Cameron convened a group of ten therapists to collaboratively explore the emotional puzzles she had posed. After weeks of vigorous brainstorming and dialogue, one participant asked a question that cracked something open: “Could it be in the “Virtual Question?”. A few weeks later, they completed the model, which is known as the Imperative Self Analysis (ISA).
ISA mirrors the profound transformation typically associated with years of psychoanalysis, yet accomplishes significant alterations in your emotional landscape through focused sessions, without the need for long-term commitment or substantial financial investment.
What is the Imperative Self?
It’s your emotional autopilot—a subconscious program formed in childhood that shapes how you feel, react, and engage with the world.
It influences:
- Your reactions in conflict
- Your motivation (or lack of it)
- Your relationships
- Your self-worth
- Your triggers and emotional habits
And it operates in the background—until you bring it into the light.
ISA is a powerful, streamlined approach to therapy that helps you:
- Identify your unique emotional “palette” (your 5–7 core emotions)
- Pinpoint your subconscious Filter (the lens you see life through)
- Reveal your Virtual Question (the silent belief shaping your choices)
- Understand your Primary Obsessions (your 3 or more central emotional themes)
Most clients feel a shift in just the first 2-3 hour session—no years of talk therapy required.
ISA may be right for you if:
- You’re emotionally intelligent—but still stuck in patterns
- You want real transformation, not just surface-level mindset tricks
- You’re ready to stop reacting from old programming—and start living by design
Your Emotional Palette: A Window Into the Self
We each have a core set of 5–7 emotions we feel almost daily. These aren’t random reactions—they’re the colors we paint our lives with.
Start by identifying yours. Download the Emotional States Menu (PDF) and check off emotions you feel each day for a week. Many clients print out 6–7 copies and review one each night. You’ll begin to see your emotional pattern take shape.
Download: Emotional States Menu
Where It All Began
Nearly every person carries a hidden emotional injury from early childhood — not always a trauma in the clinical sense, but a moment of emotional overwhelm between the ages of 3 and 8. This early imprint forms the foundation of our Imperative Self map: a default pattern of emotional reactions and beliefs that quietly drives much of our adult behavior.
Whether we call it a core wound, developmental shock, or subconscious script, recognizing this map may be the key to breaking free from the emotional patterns we unconsciously repeat.
ISA helps you map that early experience—and gives you a chance to update it.
Streamlined, Profound Therapy
When clients come to me with multiple emotional challenges, ISA is my go-to method. Why? Because it cuts through the noise.
Significant breakthroughs often occur in the first 2–3 hour session. You’ll walk away with a 40-word (or fewer) “Map” that reflects how you see the world—based on your own childhood programming.
What to Expect in a Session
- I’ll guide you through your emotional patterns without judgment.
- You can say “pass” to any question.
- You’ll leave with new clarity about how your emotions drive your choices.
- In many cases, the entire ISA process takes under three hours.
Will ISA Work for Everyone?
Not always. A few factors can affect results:
- Medications: Antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, or SSRIs may influence how emotions are accessed.
- Self-Presentation: Some clients filter or mask emotions—often without realizing it.
ISA requires honesty and openness to reveal your true emotional patterns.
Trauma—Handled with Care
My methods are designed to be non-retraumatizing. I don’t ask clients to relive or describe painful events in detail. Kleenex tissues are seldom used during these sessions.
Instead, we work from your emotional strengths—before the trauma—to build a new foundation. You don’t have to consciously revisit the trauma for transformation to occur.
For examples, see: https://clintmatheny.com/?s=Back
Cost:
- Initial Session: $600 USD (2–3 hours)
- Follow-up Sessions: $150/hour
- Sliding Scale available upon request.
Guarantee:
After thirty-six years of refining this powerful process, I stand behind it completely. If, after ten sessions, your core emotional patterns remain unchanged on the assessment PDF, I’ll refund your full payment—no more questions asked.
Take the First Step
Start Here:Download: the Emotional States Menu
Track your emotions for a week.
Then contact me for a free Zoom consultation to see if we’re a good fit.
Clint77090@Gmail.Com
What You Might Be Thinking – If ISA is the best thing since sliced bread, why isn’t it a leading psychotherapy model? I believe there are five reasons for this:
- The ISA training was costly and required a significant time commitment, spanning over 24 days across several 6 weekends, with additional travel for some participants.
- The interventions to change the IS map were inadequate until the mid 1990s ( Clean Language) and required even more mostly trainings.
- Marketing a therapy model that promises significant changes in personality traits within a few sessions is challenging. The prevailing belief is that therapy should be a lengthy process. Leslie’s innovative approach was ahead of its time.
- Therapists often have established practices and may be reluctant to step outside their comfort zones to learn new methodologies.
- Successful ISA therapy often leads to the resolution of clients’ issues in a few sessions, resulting in a shorter duration of therapy and, consequently, a shorter revenue stream.
Comments
Bill (Age 65)
I realize that my life will not be without ‘glitches’ here and there – whose isn’t? But it is true that when I look through the list of emotions I presented prior to the ISA session, I cannot find them in a chronic way – if at all.
When people ask me about how I am now after the session with you, I find it extremely hard to articulate exactly in which way(s) I feel different – but there’s no doubt that in some way, it’s if I’ve been ‘born again’.
2. Robin IS Map until June 2021:
These were my most common emotions I experienced from childhood until late May 2021. I am 32 years old. I did the ISA and 5 sessions with Clint for a total of 6 hours of therapy:
Anxiety
Fear
Inadequate
Concern
Frustration
Longing
Anticipation
These are my most common emotions I now experienced daily during the past fifteen months as of September 2022:
Purposeful
Creative
Hopeful
Capable
Acceptance
Connected
Inspired
It is pretty crazy to see the difference in now compared to May 2021! I’m so happy I no longer feel those things! Can’t thank you enough for being part of my healing journey!
3. This was 63 year old Bobbie’s Imperative Self Map elicited in December 2021;
Imperative Self Analysis (The Map)
Filter
Ways I Should Be
Virtual Question/or Statement
What Should I Be Doing?
Obsessions
Be Accepted By Others
in order to:
Accept Myself
in order to:
Be Free
in order to:
Be One With All
12/31/2021 Emotions:
- Anger
- Overwhelmed
- Anxious
- Judgmental
- Frustrated
04/04/2024 Emotions after a total of 4 hours of therapy:
- Gratitude
- Awe
- Happiness
- Delight
- Curiosity
- Patience
When she emailed me with the above later emotional list, she wrote, “ I was kind of surprised that they are all so positive and yet it’s so”
To understand why she was surprised:
https://clintmatheny.com/why-im-easy-to-forget
4. Sixty- five year old female I will call as Rebecca’s Imperative Self Map:
*Most recent feedback from a text on January 12, 2025 (Total of 3 hours of therapy including the IS elicitation):
From her text message:
Clint77090@gmail.com