This post reminds me of the desensitization technique. I am not an NLP expert, but I read about the technique in an NLP book, and it was very simple. It involved imagining watching yourself watching a movie of the experience, and then changing the details – colours, sounds etc.
The technique is described here: http://www.hypnosis.edu/aha/articles/nlp-phobia.asp

Maybe telling the story about a lion and mentally watching a movie fulfill the same kind of function?