To see the different innovations, simply click on them at the bottom of the page.

 

NEURO-SEMANTIC GOLD MEDAL CONTEST

 

Because Neuro-Semantics is about Actualizing Excellence and because Neuro-Semantic NLP is centered in modeling, creativity and innovation has to be at the heart of our focus.  That’s why one of the Self-Actualization Workshops is Unleashing Creativity and Innovation and prior to that “The Developer’s Training.”  Now we have another process for encouraging ongoing creativity.  So with this post we are announcing a Contest that we will run in 2012 and each year thereafter.

The contest is for the pattern, model, book, or product that contributes the most to Neuro-Semantics.

 

CONTEST FACTORS:

Prerequisites and Rules for Entering:

1) You are a currently licensed Neuro-Semantic Trainer or Meta-Coach.

2) The pattern, model, book, or product is based on the basic Neuro-Semantic premises.

3) It makes a contribution to Neuro-Semantics as a model or to the branding of Neuro-Semantics as a field and community.

4) Contributions exclude anything created by L. Michael Hall.

 

Rules and Processes:

1) Submissions of a pattern, model, book, or product are to be sent during the year under consideration (from Jan. through Dec.).

2) Submissions are to be sent to L. Michael Hall, if it passes the prerequisites, he will pass it on to the Leadership Team for their evaluation.

3) The Leadership Team will vote on the three most significant contributions to the field of Neuro-Semantics in January of the following year.

4) If any member of the Leadership Team is presenting a possible contribution in the contest, that person will not be allowed to cast a vote that year.

5) Winners will be announced Feb. 1 of the following year.

6) Criteria:

a) Innovation: New, different, pioneering new area.

b) Contribution: Makes a difference to a group of people.

c) Expansiveness: How extensive is the use of the contribution?

d) Creative: How creative is the contribution?  Is it new? Different?

e) Practical: Is it practical?  User-friendly?  To whom?

 

Winners of the Contest:

1) Of the contributions, three will be selected as the contributions that have made the most significant contributions.

2) For the first prize, the person will receive a Gold Medal Certificate and $1,000 USD. Second prize, Silver Medal Certificate and $500 USD.  Third prize, Bronze Meta Certificate and $250.

3) Each of the top three will be recognized as Neuro-Semantic Contributors and their names put on the website as a Contributor.

 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D

 

We began an Innovations Contest in the field of Neuro-Semantics in 2012.  Because we have so many very creative people in this field — and because we want to avoid the lack of support for Innovation in the field of NLP — the leadership team decided in 2011 that we would run a contest and support, recognize, and honor those who are expanding this field.

 

In 2013 we had 6 people who had introduced innovations into Neuro-Semantics:

1)   Sue Anderson’s book on bullying, Unbullyable                                         — Australia

2)   Dina Marais website program on Self-Coaching, www.coachingself.com —  South Africa

3)   Tim Goodenough’s pattern: Super Charging Your Lightning Rod Movie         — South Africa

4)   Patrik Fordell’s presentation of  The System of Neuro-Semantics          — Sweden

5)   Jason Chor Hang Kong’ s  Self-Actualizing Peak Safety Performance in a Large Scale Project

n  Hong Kong

6)   Hossam Aldin Nabil’s pattern: Living in the Present                                           — Egypt

 

The challenge for the leadership team was to pick among them— and as a result every single one got many votes for each of the positions, first, second and third!   So lots of very valuable contributions and innovations.  For the patterns— Tim’s, Patrik’s, and Hossam’s — we will put those on the website.  All were really well done and very difficult to choose among.  And that’s what we want!

 

It’s now my pleasure to announce that the top three in 2013 are these:

 

1)   Sue Anderson’s book, Unbullyable

2)   Patrik Fordell       — The System of Neuro-Semantics

3)   Tim Goodenough  —  Super Charging Your Lightning Rod Movie

 

And with that the 2014 Innovation Contest begins!

2013

[learn_more caption=”Tim Goodenough”]

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[learn_more caption=”Self Actualising Peak Safety Performance”]

Self Actualizing Peak Safety Performance_ 2013 Innovation Contest (1)

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[learn_more caption=”Meta-Stating Living in the Present”]

 

By Hossam Aldin Nabil Fahmy

 

Introduction:

Living in the present is crucial to enjoy and lead a successful life. However, many live their lives thinking most of the times about their negative experiences in the past or worried about their future. To be in the “zone”, in flow with what you are doing and experiencing a peak performance as Dr. L. Michael Hall described it, you have to be present with all your resources to the one activity you are experiencing or doing at the moment.

So, living in the present is an important frame that one should hold in mind to access the genius state which is an intense state of focus and engagement to one activity you are dealing with like reading or playing music.

An example of healthy ratios mostly living in the present and partially living in the past and future:

Time Line	Thinking percentage	Purpose
Past	10%	Learning lessons and good memories
Present	70%	Enjoying life, in the “Zone” with peak performance
Future	20%	Planning

 

Distinctions:

• ·         Human Beings can spend their mental-emotional energy living in the past, present, and future.  Recognizing where you are “living” enables you to change it.
• ·         Changing the sub-modalities of how the past,  present,  and future are represented in the time line, enables someone to change the mental-emotional energy invested in each.
• ·         In someone’s timeline,  mental and emotional energy invested in:
  • §  the past is for learning the lessons from our own experience.
  • §  the present is for being present and engaged with all our mental and emotional resources to the one thing we are experiencing at the moment.
  • §  the future is for planning.

Elicitation Questions:

How much of your mental-emotional energy  invested in the past, present,  and future?

 

The Pattern:

 

1)      Identify mental-emotional energy  invested in the past, present and future.

How much of your mental-emotional energy  invested in the past,  present, and future?

2)      Decide on what to change

So, if you were to be present and engaged to what you are experiencing like reading for example, how much will you allocate of your mental-emotional energy to the present?

How much will you allocate for the past so that you can use it as a reference for some good lessons and as internal resources?

How much will you allocate for the future to use it for planning?

3)      Elicit your timeline 

How do you represent your time line?

Where is the past and where is the future?

Think about an experience that happened in the past. Where does the thought comes from?

Think about an experience you are planning for. Where does the thought comes from?

4)      Represent your mental-emotional energy about past, present, and future

Now if you were to represent your mental-emotional energy about past, present, and future, how will it look like? For example, some would represent them as coins or others would say they are like balloons or bubbles. How would you like to represent them?

5)      Reallocating mental-emotional energy percentage in the past, present and future.

Now, how will you re-allocate your mental-emotional energy in your timeline so that you spend most of the time in the present during performing a certain task?

How much you will allocate now to the past, present, and future?

6)      Quality check.

How is that for you? So as you imagine moving forward in life with this in mind, what is changing? What does it mean to you to live this way?

Does it serve you well? Do you want to keep it?

7)      Meta-stating living in the present with empowering resources

What resources would you like to hold in mind to support you living in the present when you are performing or engaging in an activity? (Menu List: creative thinking, self-esteem,  focus, clarity…etc)

8)      Future pace and install

 

 

v  Many thanks for Dr. L. Michael Hall for his valuable feedback and support in writing this pattern.

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[learn_more caption=”Bullying Solutions for Parents and Children”]

From: L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Book Review —

 

 

Unbullyable:

 

Bullying Solutions for Parents and Children

 

By Sue Anderson

 

 

 

 

The new book, Unbullyable (2013) by Sue Anderson is truly “a new sensational approach” to an old problem.  Why?   Why is it new and why is it sensational as an approach for enabling children to handle the experience of bullying and parents to understand and help their children?

 

It is new because this is the very first book that uses the foundational models and patterns of NLP for addressing this subject.  So true to the NLP Communication Model, Sue Anderson first of all works out a detailed definition of the “bullying” experience so that it is precise and specific.  An example is the change of terminology from “victim” to target.”  After all, “Targets can move.  Targets can be missed.”  (p. 15).  She then focuses on the “beliefs” that comprise the situation (chapters 2 and 3).

“One of the great things about your beliefs is that they are yours to change any time you choose.” (p. 55)

 

It is sensational in that Sue here invites us to see a child’s power in the bullying experience, a facet that has been ignored up until now (p. 24).  She explicitly asserts this: “Your child is not powerless, helpless, or hopeless.” (p. 15).  She then enables both parents and children to experience this.  What’s sensational is that by recognizing this, you enable a person to discover the areas of control that the victim actually has.  And those areas of control puts control into that person’s hands— control over what he or she can do.  It stops the traumatizing process of defining oneself as a helpless victim.  Then children will not be an “easy victim.”   And, of course, this leads to the new sensational experience of beingunbullyable (29).

 

This is a thoroughly Neuro-Semantic book.  It is filled with many Neuro-Semantic patterns and it operates from a very strong Neuro-Semantic perspective about the critical importance of meaning.  Sue has taken many of the most fundamental Neuro-Semantic patterns and customized their application to the experience of being bullied.

The Meta-Yes Belief Change Pattern (chapter 3)

Meta-Stating Self-Esteem /Self-Confidence (chapter 6)

Meta-Stating Ownership of One’s Powers (chapter 7)

Meta-Stating an Unbullyable State (chapter 8)

Meta-Stating Troubling Emotions (chapter 9)

Meta-Stating your Unbullyable Mental Movie (chapter 10)

Meta-Stating the Thinking Patterns (cognitive distortions) (chapter 11)

 

As a Licensed Meta-Coach, Sue Anderson has been working with children, parents, and teachers as a Coach and so writes from a wealth of experience.   And as a Coach, she devotes a full chapter in describing how to have life-changing Conversations with a child about bullying (chapter 5).  She models out the distinctions in the experience in the first chapter to clearly define what “bullying” is.  This highlights the role of meaning:

“If your child believes he can be bullied, he is bullyable…  The point here is that success or failure of the bullying attempt is ultimately determined by the meaning your child gives it.” (p. 23)

 

From her modeling of the experience of “bullying,” Sue Anderson adds three critical pieces and uses those pieces to empower anyone in that experience.

“Can you see how your child’s thoughts about power, beliefs, and states make up half of the bullying experience?  In other words, instead of having no control over the bullying experience, your child has influence over three of the six components.” (p. 26)

 

The subject of bullying has never been modeled out with the detail that Sue brings to it (pp. 28-29).  Yet even more important than that, the inspiration she brings through many, many stories of people who have changed their thoughts, beliefs, and meanings about bullying and thereby changed their experience.

“The effectiveness of the bullying experience is determined by the meaning your child gives the behavior.” (p. 27)

 

This is a book about not just dealing with the hurtful behaviors of being bullied.  It is about so much more than just coping with it— it is a book about becoming unbullyable.  And that is both new and sensational!

 

If you are a parent or a teacher who deals with children that are bullied— you absolutely have to have this book.  It will put into your hands very practical and very effective processes for turning things around.  I highly recommend this book by Sue Anderson.

 

 

 

How can you get a copy?

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[learn_more caption=”The System in Neuro_Semantics v1.1″]

The System in Neuro_Semantics v1.1

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2012

 

[learn_more caption=”The MBI technique – Tim Goodenough”]

The MBI technique – Tim Goodenough

Introduction

In 2012 the book, Raising Talent: How to fast-track potential into performance (Penguin) written by Tim Goodenough with Michael Cooper was released.  The book’s focus was to integrate cutting edge talent development theory with Neuro-Semantic techniques and principles to create a powerful How-to book for anyone looking to develop their talent or the talent of others.  Two of the key patterns of the book were The Lightning Rod Pattern and the MBI Technique. Even though the focus of this article is the MBI technique, it is important to understand the principles of the Lightning Rod technique to use the MBI Technique effectively.

 

Meaning is mapped at multiple levels

 

From Alfred Korzybski’s book Science and Sanity, Dr L. Michael Hall articulated the distinction that we human beings map meaning at three different levels. The neurological level (the body), the representation level (the movies we create) and the conceptual level (the meanings we hold of the movies we make.) In effect, this means that we can hold beliefs, including limiting beliefs, on 1, 2 or 3 distinct levels – each of which may have their own sub/meta-levels. As such it is important to have a pattern to not only release limiting beliefs at whatever level(s) they may be, but also have a technique to discover those limiting beliefs pro-actively so that you can effectively prepare for a critical meeting, life goal, presentation, key life moment, pressure situation or final.

 

The discovery of limiting beliefs technique is called the Lightning Rod Technique and the releasing limiting beliefs at whatever level you may find them is called The MBI (Mind Body Integration) Technique.

 

The Lightning Rod Technique is based on the principle that extreme scenarios reveal beliefs and the more vivid, exaggerated and/or meaningful the scenario is the more we go into state. When we go into state we can discover our beliefs related to the scenario.

 

Conceptually many people can identify with being scared of heights, however if you were to imagine standing on the top of a rickety iron tower that smells of rust and decay and that is creaking in the wind, the same wind that you can feel on your face and that this wobbly structure is 20 stories tall and the platform you are standing on is starting to give, and whilst you feel the weight of your feet slipping  you can just make out the people on the ground looking up at you with fearful eyes …

 

If this scenario got you into state, you can use the state indicators (breathing, tension, anxiety etc) and other behaviours, to find the frames and beliefs that got you into state and review if they serve you.  So whilst using this technique might be useful for “negative” events, it can be much more useful in revealing any beliefs that might interfere or limit extremely positive events or the development of trained ability or performance in pursuit of related positive goals.  Discovering if you have any limiting beliefs about being a millionaire may be the first step to moving towards a more positive bank balance. Discovering if you have limiting beliefs about long-term success may be the first step to closing today’s big deal.  The Inner Game of beliefs needs to combine with the Outer Game of performance to get High Performance, this technique focuses on the Inner Game, developing the Outer Game is up to you.

 

This technique is especially useful in routing out old and subtle, yet still powerful limiting beliefs that ‘quietly’ sabotage your goals and intentions as they haven’t been fully identified or dealt with.

 

Life Lighting Rod themes: Some options to consider using with the MBI technique

• Seeing 10 million on your bank account statement.
• Celebrating your thirtieth wedding anniversary and you are more in love than ever.
• Spending a day where your opinion is respected both at home and at work and you feel valued and are intellectually and emotionally engaged and fulfilled.
• Going on an amazing date with George Clooney/Jennifer Aniston.
• Being the model on a photo shoot for the cover of Shape magazine or Men’s Health (or whatever magazine works for you).
• Going for a full medical check-up and the doctor is amazed with the shape and health of your body and can’t believe you are the age you have on your patient records.
• Handling a highly charged confrontation with love, calmness and elegance
• Experiencing a sense of unconditional worth and love from yourself around the person/people/scenario who/which triggers you experiencing less than that

 

 

Elicitation Questions:

What is something significant that you are working or moving towards that you feel is just not getting the progress or momentum you would like?  What would be an “Absurdly” positive movie that can be used to identify any limiting beliefs related to this?

What is an area in your life that you really want to be more successful with, but just can’t seem to get beyond a certain “invisible barrier” or limitation? What would be an “Absurdly” positive movie that can be used to identify any limiting beliefs related to this?

What big goal do you have that you feel you aren’t 100% mentally aligned with? What would be an “Absurdly” positive movie that can be used to identify any limiting beliefs related to this?

What do you really want, but feel you don’t deserve it – and that you are now ready to deserve? What would be an “Absurdly” positive movie that can be used to identify any limiting beliefs related to this?

 

Distinction to note:

Removing limiting beliefs won’t suddenly give you that performance necessarily, unless you have already developed that trained ability (performance); it will just remove the mental barriers that are limiting the development or performance of your current ability in the context of the movie you created.

 

The Mind-Body Integration (MBI) technique

 

Pattern

1. Create the detailed 5 to 10 second HD quality mental movie of the “absurdly” positive “Lightning Rod” performance you are looking to experience and include all your senses to make it as real and as vivid as possible.  Most people who do this exercise prefer to see it from their own eyes as it is more powerful; however some prefer creating the movie as if they were watching themselves on TV, in 3^rd person. This allows them to more easily ‘step into’ the movie in Step 3, and with that they are able to more easily get body feedback. Use whatever style works best for you. If there is any form of resistance or discomfort whilst creating and imagining your movie go to Step 4 to review and possibly release the obstacles and then return to Step 1 to continue creating the HD movie.
2. Supercharge your movie (also know as climbing the meaning ladder), by focusing on the highlight of the movie and answering the question, ‘So what does that mean to me?’ as many times as possible. Be sure that your meanings are all positively stated. If you find an answer like I am not going to be scared anymore, then convert it to a positive, if you aren’t scared then what are you? –  make sure there are no Not’s in your answers.
3. In your mind step fully into the picture of yourself that is represented in the movie and ask your body for feedback ; how does your body feel in this movie? If there is no resistance or discomfort jump to step 6. If you are viewing this from 1^st person, theoretically you should be viewing this movie from your own eyes already, and if you have been doing this, go inside and give yourself full permission to get feedback from your body  and notice what your body is telling you as you connect with it fully in your movie. If you have been viewing this from 3^rd person, literally step into your body in the movie in your mind and then ask your body for feedback.
4. If there is some form of resistance or discomfort, focus on that part of your body/mind where the resistance and/or discomfort is and ask yourself the question, ‘What is that about?’ An example of this resistance or discomfort might be stomach tension, shallow breathing, back tension, stiffness, heaviness, a tight chest, etc The resistance may be in the form of something in your mind, a word, a hesitation, a memory, a thought, a feeling. Give your mind or body time to give you feedback; sometimes it’s in the form of a theme, a word, a feeling, a sentence, a memory or another sensation elsewhere in your body. Notice what your body is telling you; if you need to, speak out loud the story of what you are experiencing. Once you have the initial feedback, focus on that feedback and ask the discovery question, ‘So what does that mean to me?’ again and again, referring to the previous answer until you have run out of answers. Write your answers on a piece of paper, starting at the bottom. Occasionally your body feedback will hold no significance, if for example you are a bit sick the pain in your chest may be from the sickness and nothing more. If you battle to find any meanings or any info, ask yourself the question whilst focusing on your body feedback, “Is this significant or important for this exercise?” and your body will give you feedback about that, if it is not significant, tell yourself in your mind, “Ok so this is other information.” and go to step 3.

 

1. Review your answers (from Step 4) and focus on the top/highest or CEO meaning in the stack and if you don’t want to keep it say to yourself, ‘I give myself full permission to let *this* go fully and completely’. *This* is the CEO meaning that is not working for you. If you can feel a shift, or feel it letting go then go to Step 3, else if there is some resistance, discomfort or if something is stopping you, go to step 4.If you do want to keep your CEO meaning and body feedback go inside and let your body know that this is a positive indicator (eg butterflies in the tummy can be a sign of healthy and positive nerves), you do this by focusing on your body feedback and telling yourself, “This is a positive for me” then go to Step 3.  Maybe you only want to keep part of what you discovered, and release the rest. Make that distinction in your mind about giving yourself full permission to let go part of it, and then say yes to the rest. For example saying yes to desire to be the best, and letting go of hyper self criticism.  Another way to let go of something is to use the feeling of letting go about it. Remember the last time you were carrying a lot of heavy shopping bags and what it felt like to let them go, and use that feeling to let go what you don’t want.Once you have released any unuseful CEO meanings, go to Step 3 to see if any other obstacles or objections have emerged.

 

1. If you have gone through more than one stack of obstacles/obstruction and now the latest stack of obstructions/obstacles is now clear, use this time to see if you can give yourself permission to let go those obstructions that were in the previous stacks that were discovered through the process. Make sure you have cleared all the obstacle stacks before going on to the next step.

 

1. Focus on how your body holds the positive meanings of this performance: are your arms and legs relaxed or do they have some tension? Do you have energy? Where? What are your shoulders like? Your jaw? Your stomach? Your focus? Your hands? Your legs? Your breathing? Your vision? Your sense of coordination? Notice any other part of your body that holds important information for your performance and then plug all this info into your movie and notice how the movie shifts. In what way is the movie different? Better? Once you have played your movie again with this extra body detail, supercharge your movie again by asking ‘So what does this mean to me?’ until you run out of answers. You may have exactly the same meanings, and that is okay. It is important to integrate the body’s positive indicators (neurological) with the new movie details (representational) and then reinforce the (conceptual) meanings.

 

Troubleshooting

 

1. What if I can’t create the positive movie I want?This could be because your visual skills aren’t well developed. Try adding the feeling and the sounds of your movie first and then add in the pictures.  This could also be because your mind literally doesn’t believe you can have or experience some or all of what is in your movie, or perhaps for you it is unsafe to imagine it.  Either way try putting the sentence, “I give myself full permission to fully visualise what I want” or “I give myself full permission to safely visualise and experience X in just the way I want” (Where X is the part of your movie you can’t picture, or doesn’t play the way you want it to) into Step 4 of the pattern

 

 

1. What if my meanings I discover keep on coming up as negative whenever I ask, “so what does that mean to me?”It is likely that when exploring objections and blocks that, those meanings may be negative, however when you supercharge your movie, if you discover any negative meanings attached to your positive movie, evaluate them after discovering the CEO level meaning that is holding the negatives in place, and if you don’t want that CEO level meaning use step 5 to let it go, then supercharge your movie with positives again to test; it will either be positively integrated or you may find another set of negative meanings held in place by another CEO level meaning. Continue this process until your mindset is fully supportive of your movie.
2. What if I don’t get any feedback from my body/ What if I can’t get any answers from my body when I ask the question, “So what is *that* about?”If you are struggling to get body feedback the first step is to try a different camera view in Step 1. If you tried viewing the movie from your own eyes (1^st person) and you didn’t get any feedback, change to 3^rd person view and try again. Or if you tried the 3^rd person view and got no feedback, change to the 1^st person view.If you are still struggling to get body feedback it may be because you don’t have permission to connect with your body. To work on this try the following statement, “I give myself full permission to connect with my body and to safely hear what it has to say to me,” and work with whatever emerges. This absence of body feedback may be the result of some trauma, and if so it is strongly advised to see a psychologist or mental health professional.

 

Advanced

1. What if I do this whole exercise and I can’t shift important things in my mindset, in fact it feels like I may be stuck in a loop?
   There are four possible reasons for this type of stuckness.
   1. Unspecified Verb. We often say things to ourselves and other like, “I just want to be heard.” Or “I just want to be noticed.”  “I have this voice inside my head.” If the mindset is holding meanings like this, to explore them more fully we need to get more detail, more specifics, and then use the discovery questions to understand things better. When you are exploring a meaning stack, as soon as you discover an unspecified verb, ask the question to find the specified verb, and when you have that answer, carry on using the discovery question, ask “So what does that mean to you?” as many times as you can. Example:” “I just want to be heard.” – “Heard by who?” – “So what does that mean to you?”  “I just want to be noticed”, “Noticed by whom?” – “So what does that mean to you?” “I have this voice inside my head”, “whose voice is it and what is it saying?” – “So what does that mean to you?”
   2. Cognitive Distortions. Cognitive distortions are when our mental filters that we use to make sense of things and create meaning about things in our personal lives create distorted experiences, thoughts, beliefs, decisions and emotions. Even just one cognitive distortion can create limitations and negativity, often people have more than one cognitive distortion operating in different contexts of their lives. Examples of cognitive distortions is the style of all-or-nothing thinking (I have everything or I have nothing), awfulising, which is the style of imagining the worst possible scenario and making it even worse by referring to it as awful, without actually defining what awful is.  These patterns can be subtle to pick up, especially if you are trying to discover your own patterns. What is recommend is that you read this brief article on Cognitive Distortions by Dr L Michael Hall at www.coachingunity.co.za./cogdistort.pdf, and then review your stacks of meaning that you have written down to see if you can find any that are limiting you, the article includes some tips and strategies to step out of the distortion.
   3. Needing to understand to let go. This was my personal (TG) limitation for a long while, I wouldn’t be able to let go of something negative until I had analysed it and understood it, which was very hard to do for the negatives that were created from my childhood as I literally didn’t have movies, or memories for many of them. When I explored why I was doing that, I discovered the hidden benefit that was locking this limiting style in place. I believed that if I fully understood a negative, from all angles, then it would give me ‘insurance’ that I never needed to go there/experience that again, and until I did have that full and deep understanding, I had a fear that this negative would return. Not useful and not true.  Sometimes letting go of a negative is just about unlearning something that is not true and doesn’t work for you.  If you are struggling with this use the statement “I give myself full permission to let go of negatives that are holding me back without having to fully understand them, negatives don’t need to be understood to be let go of completely.” If there is any resistance or objection to this statement go to Step 4 in the MBI technique
   4. Patience. If you are impatient, frustrated or aggressive with yourself you will not get the same results that you could using these techniques. Take your time, don’t rush anything, be patient and treat yourself well when you are working in this space. If you are still struggling to make progress, i.e. your blocks/obstacles are bigger than the skill levels you have developed so far to shift them, consult a local Meta-Coach.

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[learn_more caption=”Meta Stating a New Semantic Reaction/ Behavior toward an Event”]

Meta Stating a New Semantic Reaction/ Behavior toward an Event

 

 

Hossam Aldin Nabil Fahmy

Hossam.meta.coach@gmail.com

31/10/2012

 

Description:

 

I came across this pattern by coincidence as I was thinking to apply the swish pattern in NLP with a client who had a bad habit and wanted to change it to a new one. As I started the pattern with him, a thought stroke my mind. Would the swish pattern really change this habit effectively? What if I strip out the meanings from the old habit and install them in the new one or to choose suited applicable meanings for the new habit.

With the spirit of curiosity and passion to see if this would work, I suggested for the client to elicit a picture for the old and the new habit. The old one was at the left and was bigger than the new one. The new one was at the right and smaller.

I told my client imagine as if we are pulling out a ball of meaning from the old habit to let this picture shrink or weaken, what would it be?. Then, he answered back it would be “x” meaning. I replied what if we bring this meaning “x” to the new behavior’s picture. Does it fit? Or we need to change the meaning or may be divided to several meanings as it goes to the new picture. Then, my client would apply the new meanings to the new picture.

We kept repeating the pattern of stripping out meanings from the old one and enriching the new picture with appealing and positive meanings until at some point the old picture became like a skeleton then fade out eventually.

Finally, I applied to him the new picture with its enriching meanings after checking the ecology.

After we finished, my client described the process as a transformational experience to him.

The swish pattern works on the sub-modalities in a meta level by editing the movie of the mind to alter a change in a behavior. This pattern works on both the movie of the mind as a representation and the meanings as they resonate inside the neurology of the client.

I also used this pattern with a client who had negative semantic reactions when dealing with a person in her stomach and faster heart beats. After receiving her feedback, she explained that the negative semantic reactions are no longer triggered when dealing with the person.

I think this pattern would also function more effectively than the like/ dislike pattern in NLP because in this pattern we work on editing the movie of the mind and changing the meanings that resonate in the some.

Distinctions:

1. The sub-modalities of a representation as in VAK of an outcome gets richer as we enrich more meanings (semantics) to it and vise versa.
2. You can alter a new semantic reaction to an experience by changing the meanings associated with it or reframing these meanings.
3. Sub-modalities which work on meta levels in NLP when used with meanings (semantics) to alter change in behavior or semantic reaction, create a powerful robust change or a transformation in human behavior.

 

Caveats:

 

• The coach or therapist should establish good rapport with the client to run this pattern smoothly.

 

Elicitation questions:

 

• How would you like to respond or behave toward this event, person or thing? What is your desired semantic reaction when this happens?

 

The Pattern:

     1.  Identify the old behavior to be changed and have a VAK representation of it

What is the old behavior that you would like to alter? Do you have a picture for it? Elicit the sub-modalities of the picture in terms of VAK (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)

2.  Identify the new behavior or habit and have a VAK representation of it.

What is the new behavior or habit that you would like to have? Do you have a picture for it? Elicit the sub-modalities of the picture in terms of VAK (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)

3.  Check the ecology

Would this change in behavior or habit serve your life? How will it enhance the quality of your life? What is your intention behind this change?

4.  Strip out the meanings from the old behavior.

Now what meaning (idea, value, importance, pleasure, intention, understanding, decision,…etc.) that we can take off from the old behavior’s picture that would weaken it …and notice how this could make the picture smaller, fader, darker or more distant.

 

 

5.  Enrich the new behavior with appealing or positive meanings.

Could we put this meaning (the one stripped out from the old behavior)  into the new picture of the new behavior and makes it richer in terms of its VAK or maybe what other meaning(s) you would like to enrich it with?

6. Repeat Step 4 and 5 until the old behavior’s picture disappear or fade out.

 

 

7.  Future pace and Install.        

So as you imagine yourself from this moment forward with these new meanings, how do you see yourself behave toward this event? Are you satisfied with this outcome? Do you want to keep these frames of mind? Are you completely aligned with it?

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[learn_more caption=”De-Creating/ Transforming Un-resourceful Parts Pattern”]

De-Creating/ Transforming Un-resourceful Parts Pattern

 

“So just as important as it is to create rich meaning and embody it in our neurology is the converse ability, to identify toxic meaning, suspend them and release them from our bodies.” L. Michael Hall (“Unleashed” p. 88)

 

Description:

 

Because our meanings manifest in our neurology or soma (our bodies), we could experience dis-ease in our bodies in different forms like high blood pressure, headache, or chest pain when theses meanings are negative. The negative or toxic meanings we hold in our minds could then create physical ailments. Also, when we have negative frames of mind, these frames could prevent us from applying resourceful positive frames into ourselves.

The purpose of this pattern is to de-create or transform un-resourceful frames of mind to resourceful ones. I came across this pattern for the first time when I was trying to apply positive intention frames that was elicited from my client using the intentionality pattern.  The negative frames that were embodied in her neurology prevented her from applying the positive intentions. So, this pattern could actually be applied as a pattern inside of another pattern when an objection or a dragon (a negative thought or feeling) appears as we are trying to apply positive meanings or frames of mind.

In addition, this pattern could be used in therapy. Because of the fact that we digest meanings into our bodies and when theses meanings are negative then they could create physical ailments. High blood pressure, headache and chest pain are some of the common signs of negative meanings embodied in a human body. For example, one of my clients who I tested this pattern with was having a headache. For her that headache was a representation of problems. After using this pattern the headache was gone. Of course, not all physical ailments could be solved this way, but because meanings are embodied in our soma, in many cases this pattern could have a cure effect.

Distinctions:

• Meanings are embodied in our body
• We need to de-create or transform negative meanings or frames of mind to install positive resourceful frames.
• When you turn negative thoughts or feelings against yourself, physical ailment could arise in different forms.

Caveats:

 

• The coach or therapist should establish good rapport with the client to run this pattern smoothly with no objection.

 

Elicitation questions:

 

• When you apply this resourceful frame of mind, do you have any objections? Does this frame settle well inside you?
• What is it that prevents you from applying the resourceful state to yourself?
• What part of your body feels dis-ease or uncomfortable?

 

The Pattern:

     1.  Identify an Interference.

As you think of applying a resourceful state to self, does anything (thought or feeling) prevent you from doing so? What is that thing preventing you from applying the resourceful state? Do you feel it in your body? Where in your body?

2.  Examine the interference.

What if you can bring out that thing that is limiting you and examine it from an observer state. How does it look like? (Let the client describe the sub-modalities of it).

3.  Check the ecology. Does this thing or any part of it serve your life?

Is there a positive intention behind this? If so, what?  What does it seek to do for you that’s positive? Can this be transformed? How would you like to transform it so it works for you?

4.  Qualify the part.

What would you like to meta-states this part with to make it more resourceful for you?

Give a menu list according to the context. Menu: esteem, self confidence, courage, power, etc.

5.  Apply

Invite the client to apply the resourceful part to him/ her self. You may notice the semantic reaction when the client do so (Change in his/ her gestures or a relief of pain from the body).

6.  Check if the client can now apply the first resourceful state.

Can you now apply to yourself the first resourceful state or there is still any part of you that is stopping you? If the answer is yes, repeat the steps from 1 to 5 again.

7.  Future pace and apply.

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[learn_more caption=”Meta State “Release Set Back/ Flash- Back” Pattern”]

Meta State Release Set Back – Flash-Back Pattern

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[learn_more caption=”Meta-Movie Mind Pattern”]

Meta-Movie Mind Pattern

Alan Fayter

We have different levels of meaning that affect and drive our experience. This pattern brings a sense of control and ownership to the different levels and aligns them more congruently. We systematically move up through the levels of mind making changes, commission a new movie at producer level – YES! (executive decision); then move back down through the levels and ground the changes in state and action.

The pattern can be run ‘formally’ – explaining the process and metaphor to the client; or conversationally by just holding the structure in mind as you coach, identifying relevant aspects of the clients experience as you go; i.e. ‘sub’ modalities at the editorial level, cognitive distortions and meta-model violations and decision and choice at the writer/director and producer levels.

 

The Pattern

 

1) Think of a current problematic or challenging situation.

Elicitation question:

What is a current situation or context that you frequently experience that doesn’t serve you well? A situation at work, school, a sports situation, etc where you are not acting or responding at your best?

 

2) Notice how that runs as a movie in your mind with you as the Actor.

Is it black & white or colour; are you in it or watching it at a distance, what is your role?

What characters are there?

What are they doing, saying, etc. in what tone, pitch and volume?

Really explore it and notice what exactly it is about it that makes this a problem?

What cognitive distortions are present in your own internal dialogue?

What else do you notice?

 

3) Imagine you are now the Editor.

Step back, notice and start to edit how it looks and sounds. Play with changing the colours (brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc); the sounds (volume, tone, pitch, rhythm, etc), until it feels more comfortable or manageable. Change the camera angle, foreground or background different aspects, change the focus of attention.

 

4) Imagine you are the movie Writer/Director.

Step right back from that movie and as the writer/director change the story.

Decide to change the narrative (cognitive distortions), the outcome and storyline into something more useful and empowering.

Direct each of the characters (perceptual positions/social panorama) and give them the resources they need.

Give the lead character (you) all of the power, resources and strength they need.

 

5) Now imagine you are the Producer.

As the producer you have the power to choose whether to commission this new movie or the old one.

Does the old one serve you? [NO!]

Do you want that old movie to be constantly running? [NO!]

Make an executive decision to run the new empowering storyline.

Will that be ok? [YES!]

Do you want that? [YES!]

Will this new movie empower your life? [YES!]

 

6) Bringing this executive decision power with you, step back through and align it with the Writer/Director, Editor and Actor. Notice how it’s different.

As the writer/director will you resolve to change the movie, to keep it on track? [YES!]

As the editor, will you resolve to keep the picture, lighting and sound systems congruent with the new outcome? [YES!]

As the lead actor, what new things will you be saying and doing (sensory specific behaviours)?

 

7) Future pace.

In the days, weeks and months ahead what will let you know you are running/acting in this new movie?

What new understandings, realisations and opportunities are there for the future now (sensory specific)?

 

8) Check the ecology.

Is this ok, will it empower you and make your life better?

If so, good. If not, go back and change it some more.

 

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