TOP©: Potential Optimisation Techniques
The method was developed in the 1990s by Dr Édith Perreaut-Pierre, a former military doctor, at the request of the French air force, to help pilots and operational personnel manage stress in conflict situations.
So this isn’t a generic wellness discipline. It was tested and refined with fighter pilots and highly specialised units such as GIGN, RAID and special forces, before gradually being passed on to civilian society (elite sport, public services, and businesses).
What is TOP© actually based on?
The method rests on 4 pillars: breathing, multisensory representations (or mental imagery), inner dialogue and relaxation. Depending on the goal, two, three or all four pillars are used together.
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Breathing: this is the entry point. It’s the only parameter of the autonomic nervous system you can consciously influence. By changing its rhythm, you send a direct signal to the brain to calm or, conversely, energise the body. It’s the first technique we work on, and the one that needs to become automatic.
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Mental imagery: mentally living through a situation before it happens. The brain struggles to distinguish an action actually experienced from one intensely imagined, which allows you to prepare a response before you’re even in the real situation.
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Inner dialogue: what you say to yourself in the moment. Under stress, this inner voice often becomes negative or paralysing (“I’m not going to make it”, “it’s too much”). Working on inner dialogue means taking back control of that voice so it serves action instead of blocking it.
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Relaxation: not a loss of control, but the opposite — a state of calm achieved through conscious control of physical and mental tension, freeing up unnecessary strain and keeping your resources available for what matters.
Does it come from sport or the military?
Both, but in this order: first the military, then sport and civilian life. The method spread through the police, healthcare workers, firefighters, emergency services, and businesses.
What’s the value for conflict management?
TOP© is useful on several levels:
- For learning technique
- For regulating emotion
- For fighting decision-making stress
- For recovering, reconditioning
Can it be learned quickly?
The first pillar, yes: a few breathing exercises are enough to get a measurable effect, provided you repeat them until they become a reflex. The other pillars require more practice.
In our 2-day courses, the goal isn’t to make you an expert in TOP©, but to give you 2 or 3 tools you can use immediately when facing stress — breathing above all, which is the foundation everything else builds on.
Who can benefit from it?
Anyone exposed to sudden, intense pressure: healthcare staff facing an aggressive patient, security agents, police officers, but also managers in crisis situations, or simply anyone who wants to better manage their everyday stress.
Who teaches it in your courses?
I’m a certified TOP© practitioner. I integrate these techniques directly into my courses, weaving them together with the practical aspects of managing violence, so that both reinforce each other: the technical gesture, and the mental state that allows you to execute it at the right moment.
See also: