NLP

Practitioner
Course
Module 3 – Representational Systems
and Sub-Modalities
Contents
Module 3 - Representational Systems and Submodalities ................ 3
Representational Systems ................................................................................................................. 3
Sensory-Specific Phrases.................................................................................................................... 6
Eye Accessing Cues................................................................................................................................ 9
Primary and Lead Representational Systems ...................................................................... 14
Characteristics of Primary Rep Systems .....................................................................................17
Submodalities ......................................................................................................................................... 18
“Mapping Across” Submodalities ................................................................................................. 24
Key Elements in Submodality Change .........................................................................................25
Submodalities Belief Change Script ..............................................................................................26
THE COMPASSION FORMULA ...........................................................................................................27
Influencing Submodalities with Language ............................................................................. 28
Using Submodalities ........................................................................................................................... 29
The Swish Pattern ................................................................................................................................ 30
Swish Pattern Exercises .....................................................................................................................34
Eliminating Fears -The Fast Fear Relief Technique .................................................................35
The Visual Squash Exercise with Regression .............................................................................38
Visual Squash – Revised ....................................................................................................................39
Future pacing.......................................................................................................................................... 42

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Module 3 - Representational
Systems and Submodalities
Representational Systems
One method we can use to identify the preferred representational
systems of other people is to listen carefully to the words that they use
when describing their experience of the world.

In particular, we are listening for a certain class of words known as

predicates and certain groupings of words known as predicate phrases.

This is another area of NLP in which your sensory acuity is particularly

useful.

In traditional English grammar a sentence is divided into two main parts:

1. The subject

2. The predicate - that which is written or said about the subject

Here's a few examples for clarity - the predicate is underlined in each

example:

John kicked the football

Sarah listened to the rhythm of the rain beating against the window pane

He saw for the first time what had been right in front of his eyes all along

Notice that the predicates in the above sentences can be associated with
certain particular representational systems - kicked (kinesthetic),
listened...rhythm...beating (auditory), saw......right in front of his eyes
(visual).

There are five sensory channels we use to represent our experience -

visual, auditory (hearing), kinesthetic (emotions, touch and bodily
sensations), taste and smell. In addition, we can make sense of our
experience in words, which is our inner dialog or self-talk, also called
auditory digital.

All of our memories, imagination and current experience are made up of

elements of these six ‘representational systems’. When information reaches
our brains, it is given meaning and forms a subjective experience of the
world – this is our representation and perception. Although we use all of

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the representational systems, we tend to have a preference, just like
there are people who prefer certain types of food.

Statistics suggest that in a developed country, around 60% of people are

predominantly visual with 20% Auditory and 20% Kinesthetic. It is worth
bearing this statistic in mind when creating marketing or advertising
material.

You can listen out for the dominant sensory words (called predicates) in
what a person is saying and use words from the same representational
system when you reply. If you use visual words to a ‘visual’ person, it’s
easier for them to understand because they don’t have to translate from
another system. This is another way to gain rapport, because you will
sound more like the other person.

During normal conversation people will use a mixture of predicate

phrases, but they will tend to favor predicate phrases from one of their
representational systems - V, K, A or Ad. The one that they favor is an
indicator of their preferred representational system.

To illustrate, here are some examples of predicate phrases that you might
hear and be able to use to identify another person's preferred
representational system:

Visual
That looks good to me!
Let's get a bird's eye view, look at the big picture first and then we
can focus in on the detail
He was a sight for sore eyes
The clarity of his presentation style revealed brilliant insight and
really cleared the fog
Auditory
That sounds great, it's music to my ears!
Lend me your ear for a moment and I'm sure what I have to say
will really resonate with you
Take a moment to really tune in to the words I'm using and you'll
get the idea loud and clear
Kinesthetic
It's been a pretty bumpy ride but now I finally feel that I've made it
Just the thought of it makes the hairs stand up on the back of my
neck
This should go smooth and steady, like a walk in the park
I really want to get a handle on this and ensure I've grasped the
concepts

4
Auditory digital
If you could just describe it in a little more detail I'm sure I could
make sense of it
I need to process what we've just experienced in order to fully
make sense of it
If you're sensitive to the changes in another person you'll gain a
distinct appreciation of their individual thought processes

See below the table of predicates used in the predominant systems.

Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Auditory digital

Be all ears Catch on Change
Be heard Concrete Conceive
Deaf Feel Consider
Dissonance Grasp Decide
Harmonize Hard Distinct
Hear Scrape Experience
Listen Slip Insensitive
Make Music Tap into Know
Question Throw out Learn
Resonate Touch Motivate
Rings a bell Turn around Perceive
Silence Unfeeling Process
Sound(s) Sense
Tune in Think
Unheard of Understand

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Sensory-Specific Phrases
Whereas the previous table featured words from each of the sensory
systems, the table below represents phrases that can be categorized into
each sense.

Visual Auditory Kinesthetic Auditory digital

Appears to me Afterthought All washed up A particular way
Bird’s eye view Call on Boils down to Can you comprehend
Catch a glimpse Clearly expressed Come to grips with Change your mind
Clear as day Describe in detail Control yourself Consider both sides
Clearly defined Earful Cool, calm, collected Consider your options
Dim view Give an account of Firm foundations Decide what works
Get an eyeful Give me your ear Get a handle of Deem it correct
Get perspective of Grant an audience Get a load of this Discern the answer
Hazy idea Heard voices Get hold of Distinctly differently
In light of Hidden message Get in touch with Experience the best
In person Hold your tongue Get the drift of Gain knowledge of
In view of Idle talk Hand in hand Get them motivated
Looks like Inquire into Hang in there Get to know them
Make a scene Keynote speaker Heated argument Give me your opinion
Make it out Loud and Clear Hold it! I sense I know
Mental image Manner of speaking Hold on! I suppose I can
Mental picture Pay attention Hot head I think you’re right
Mind’s eye Power of speech Keep your shirt on I understand Know
Naked eye Purrs like a kitten Know-how the details Know
Paint a picture Rings a bell Lay your cards out what it’s about Know
Scope it out State your purpose Pain in the neck what’s wrong Learn
See to it To tell the truth Pull some strings about yourself Learn
Showing off Tongue-tied Sharp as a tack what to do Make your
Sight for sore eyes Unheard of Slipped my mind mind up Perceive the
Staring off into space Utterly Smooth operator truth Practice till
Take a peek Voiced an opinion Start from scratch perfect Process this
Tunnel vision Well informed Stiff upper lip Sensitive subject
Under your nose Within hearing Too much of a hassle
Up front Word for word Underhanded

You may sometimes hear phrases or words with an olfactory (smell) or

gustatory (taste) connection like, that puts a bad taste in my mouth or
that smells fishy. When creating rapport, simply match these expressions
when they occur and consider them as the kinesthetic rep system.

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Representational Systems Preference Test

For each of the following statements, place a number next to each phrase.
Use this system to record your preferences:

4 = Best describes you

3 = Next best description
2 = Next best
1 = Least descriptive of you

1. I find it easiest to:

___ find the perfect balance and tone settings on a stereo
___ identify the most relevant points in an argument ___
select the most comfortable seating ___ choose colors that
go with each other

2. I base my important decisions on:

___ gut instinct
___ whether it sounds right
___ what looks like the best way
___ reviewing the issues and formulating a plan that makes sense

3.
___ I am very aware of noises and sounds
___ I am very skilled at integrating new information
___ I am very sensitive to how well clothes fit when I try them on
___ it matters to me how a room looks and how the colors go together

4. I most easily express the way I am by:

___ how I dress and present myself
___ sharing my feelings
___ the words I say
___ how the tone of my voice sounds

5. In a discussion, I am most often influenced by:

___ whether the other person's voice tone resonates with me
___ if I can see what they are saying ___ whether their
argument is logical ___ how I feel about them as a person

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Scoring Your Representational Preferences
Step One:
Copy your answers from the test to the lines below:

1.___A 2.___K 3.___A 4.___V 5.___A

___Ad ___A ___Ad ___K ___V
___K ___V ___K ___Ad ___Ad
___V ___Ad ___V ___A ___K

Step Two:
Add the numbers associated with each letter.
There will be five entries for each letter.

V K A Ad

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

TOTAL

Step Three:
The comparison of the totaled scores gives the relative preference for
each of the representational systems.

This represents only how you were processing when you took the test -
so please don't start labelling yourself at the Identity level- "I'm a visual"
or "I'm a kinesthetic".

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Eye Accessing Cues
When people think about their thoughts and experiences they tend to
move their eyes in certain ways. In NLP these eye movements are
described as eye patterns or eye accessing cues.

Practicing our sensory acuity by closely monitoring the eye patterns of the
person we are communicating with can provide useful clues as to how that
person is thinking from moment to moment.

These cues help demonstrate which sensory representational system the

person is currently accessing: visual, auditory or kinesthetic (including
gustatory and olfactory).

VR – Visual Recall / Remembered When people look up to their left,

they are generally accessing pictures they have actually seen before;
e.g., an orange.

VC – Visual Constructed When people look up to their right, they are

generally constructing images they have not actually seen before; e.g.,
an orange with purple spots.

AR – Auditory Recall / Remembered When people look sideways to

their left, they are generally hearing something they have heard before;
e.g., a piece of music, or their mother’s voice.

AC – Auditory Constructed When people look sideways to their right, they

are generally hearing something they have not heard before; e.g., a piece of
music they are creating for the first time, the sound of a glass bell.

AD - Auditory Digital When people look down to their left, they are
generally talking to themselves in their own voice.

K – Kinesthetic When people look down to their right, they are generally
accessing emotions or bodily sensations.

Keep in mind that these are indeed generalizations. Many eye movements
happen too fast or almost too fast to track. Just because someone looks
up and to their right when answering a question does not mean he or she
is lying! Additionally, some folk are simply not neurologically organized
this way.

The eye pattern diagram below represents the eye patterns of a normally
organized or normally wired right handed person. By normally organized
or normally wired we mean that the person is not reverse wired or
reverse organized which will be covered in more detail later.

9
 CONSTRUCT RECALL
Vc Vr

Ac Ar

K Ad

Questions To Elicit Eye

Movements Vr (VISUAL RECALL)
What color was your first car?
How many windows does your place have?

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Vc (VISUAL CONSTRUCTED)
If the Owl and the Pussycat had kids, what would they look like?
What would your bedroom look like if it was painted silver?

Ar (AUDITORY RECALL)
What was the very last thing I said?
What does Donald Duck's voice sound like?

Ac (AUDITORY CONSTRUCTED)
If tigers spoke English, what would they sound like?
What would your favorite song sound like, if it was sung by
a parrot?

Ad (AUDITORY DIGITAL - INTERNAL VOICE)

Can you recite the six times table to yourself?
What's your favorite proverb or saying?

K (KINAESTHETIC)
What does velvet feel like?
How warm do you like your bath?

Note: people looking straight ahead with defocused eyes when answering
a question are getting quick access to readily available information.

Statistically most people are normally organized in that their eye

accessing patterns match the diagram above.

A smaller percentage of people, including many people who are left-

handed, will be reverse organized. For reverse organized people a mirror
opposite of the above diagram applies - Vc, Ac and K on the right and Vr,
Ar and Ad on the left.

To become highly effective in using eye patterns you should practice them
until you become unconsciously competent in their use.

If the concept of eye patterns is new to you then you may be wondering
just how you can learn easily how a person is thinking by observing their
eye patterns and also distinguish if they are normally organized or
reverse organized.

The answer is really quite simple and elegant - simply provide an

appropriate context such that the natural response of that person is
exactly the response we are looking for.

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As if that wasn't simple enough, providing the right context to observe and
measure a person's eye accessing cues can be as simple as asking them a
few simple, well designed questions and watching where their eyes go.

Using eye patterns

So now that we know about eye patterns and how to look for them, how
is that information useful to us? How can we take the knowledge that
people tend to move their eyes in certain ways depending on how they
are thinking and do something useful with it?

Examples of uses for eye patterns include:

Eliciting primary representational system

Enhancing communication
Improving rapport
Eliciting strategies
Modifying strategies (eye pattern scramble)

By noticing people's eye patterns as you are communicating with them

you can join them in their model of the world, pace their current
experience by using predicates that fit with their eye accessing cues and
thus increase and deepen rapport.

Here's a few basic example scenarios to illustrate the point. We'll use a
sales person (Jim) and a prospective client (Sue):

Jim: So Sue, from our range of products our poopelwinkleblatter would

be the best option for your company

Sue: (looking upwards and to her left - Vr) hmmm, I'm not sure Jim.

Jim: (speaking quickly) Well, if you remember looking at the feature list
you'll see that the poopelwinkleblatter ticks all your boxes in terms of
requirements. Can you see how this would benefit your company?

Sue: (looking upwards to her right - Vc) well, the poopelwinkelblatter

would certainly enhance our window displays.

OR

Sue: (looking toward her left ear - Ar) You say that this will cut our
manufacturing costs by 15%, that doesn't sound possible.

Jim: (speaking more slowly) I hear what you're saying, it does sound
incredible so let me explain exactly how you will make those savings
effortlessly. Would that be music to your ears?

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OR

Sue: (speaking slowly and looking down and to her right - K) I'm not
sure Jim, I still feel uncertain, as if something is missing from your
proposal or not quite clicking into position.

Jim: (speaking slowly) That's OK Sue, if I were you I'd feel exactly the
same - you need to feel comfortable with your purchase so let's run
through the features and benefits one more time so you can really get a
good grasp of what you're getting your hands on.

In these scenarios, Jim detected how Sue was thinking from moment-to-
moment from her eye accessing cues and matched his predicates to pace
her current experience, join her in her model of the world and hence
enhance his communication and the level of rapport.

There was also reference to the speed at which Jim and Sue were
speaking to each other but no explanation as to the significance of the
rate of their speech. So what was that all about?

Jim was utilizing further knowledge that he had learned about

representational preferences to further enhance his communication with
Sue.

Visual people often speak very quickly. They are thinking in pictures and
sometimes they think faster than they can effectively speak. The pictures
move so fast that it's difficult if not impossible to vocalize every thought
adequately.

Auditory people often speak a little more slowly. Often how they say
something is more important to them than what they say and so they
will be very precise in their vocal communication. Auditory people will
take the time to ensure that you have fully heard what they want to
communicate and they will think carefully about the words you use too.

Sometimes their eyes will flick left and right for several seconds as they
say the words to themselves in their own mind, finally speaking only
when they are happy with what they have heard. It's also fair to say that
some auditory people love to hear the sound of their own voice.

Kinesthetic people often speak more slowly still. Their communication is

often interspersed with pauses as they check how they feel about what
you've communicated to them, and then check to feel about the response
they have come up with.

Jim detected this information during his communication with Sue and
modified his own behavior to match Sue's and thus significantly enhance
his communication with her.

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Primary and Lead Representational Systems
Within the representational systems, there is a lead and a primary
system. The lead system is accessed instinctively and may not reflect the
thinking pattern of the person. For example, when asked a question, a
person may instinctively look down and left (auditory digital) as they are
repeating the question to themselves in their head before responding.

The primary system is that which is preferred in communication (i.e. a

predominantly visual person) and may be different from the lead system.

As demonstrated earlier, when building rapport, matching rep systems

proves very powerful. Reflected in the concept of pacing and leading,
after having matched another’s rep system, one may lead another to a
preferred rep system.

Primary Representational System

This is the main system the person is conscious of.
It is their main way of representing the world and processing
information.
You can assess it from the words (predicates) they use.

Lead Representational System

This is the first system a person uses to access information.
It is the system they use as the key to retrieve information
represented in any system.
You can assess it from the first eye accessing movement they use in
response to a question.
This movement happens very quickly.
A person may have a different lead system for different types of
experience - for example, they may use pictures to retrieve
pleasant experiences, and sounds to re-access unpleasant ones.

Reference system
This is the system a person uses to check if the information they have
accessed, and now have in consciousness, is correct or not.

When Lead and Primary Systems Differ

The lead system is not the system the person is conscious of, so the
information they access with it is unconscious until it moves over into
the primary system.

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The person has no control over their response to the lead system until
made aware of it (e.g. "What do you see when you get that feeling?")
When a person is not able to bring one of the representational systems
into consciousness, they may say "I don't see any mental pictures" or "I
don't have any internal dialogue." They may still be using this system
unconsciously (without seeing mental pictures, for example, they would
be unable to recognize people).
Where a representational system is out of consciousness, it may lead to
responses that the person cannot understand. For example, if someone is
generating unpleasant mental pictures, he may feel bad in response to
the pictures but be unable to explain why.

Visual
Visual people tend to do things more quickly whether that be moving or
speaking. A picture says a thousand words and they’re describing in
words the images which are flying through their mind. They may speak in
a higher pitch and they tend to sit more erect on the edge of their seats,
with their eyes up and generally breathe more shallowly from the top of
their lungs. They use gestures a lot which tend to be nearer head height
and have no problem throwing their hands in the air. They generally have
a neat, organized and well-groomed appearance and like things to ‘look
right.’ They find it difficult to remember verbal instructions because their
minds tend to wander. They are less distracted by noise and they use
visual predicates like “I see what you mean” or “I get the picture”.

Auditory
People who are predominantly auditory do things more rhythmically. Their
voice tends to be mid-range and they talk to themselves, either internally
or externally; they may even move their lips when they’re reading. They
breathe from the middle of their chest and use some hand gestures but
not extensively. They can repeat instructions back to you easily and are
distracted by noise. Auditory thinkers often tilt their head to one side in
conversation, as if lending an ear or on the telephone.
They memorize things in steps or sequence and like to be told things and
hear feedback in conversations. They tend to use auditory predicates such
as “that rings a bell” or “that clicks”, and are interested in what you have
to say. They can be excellent listeners and enjoy music and spoken voice.
Their handwriting is between the visual and kinesthetic styles.

Kinesthetic
Kinesthetic people typically breathe from the bottom of their lungs so you’ll
see their stomachs going in and out. They do things much more slowly than
a visual person and have a deep voice. When they speak, there are long

15
pauses between statements and they process things that are said to them
to determine the feelings they get. They respond well to touch and
physical rewards. They use few hand gestures and generally stand closer
to the person they’re talking with. They use predicates such as “I want to
get a handle on it” or “a firm foundation” and will be able to access their
emotions more readily. Physically they tend to be more solid looking and
generally their hands are larger or chunky (so that they can get to grips
with things). They are interested in how you feel and memorize by
walking through the process or doing it. Their handwriting is more
rounded and it is likely that they’ll push more firmly on the page.

Auditory digital
The Auditory digital person will likely manifest characteristics of the other
3 representational systems. In addition, they will talk to themselves a lot
and like to make sense of things and understand them. They place a high
value on logic and also like detail. They also use words which are abstract
with no direct sensory link. They use predicates like “I understand your
motivation” or “that computes with me”. As a result of their emotions
being attached to the words that they’re using to describe, they often are
less emotionally attached to outcomes (double dissociation).

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Characteristics of Primary Rep Systems
Visual
 Memorize by seeing pictures

 Have trouble remembering verbal instructions

 Tend to stand up straight, breathe from the top of the chest

 Prefer to stand back so they can see you

 Interested in whether things 'look good'

 Tend to move, think and talk faster

Auditory
 Easily distracted by noise

 May think using 'external dialogue' (talking to themselves
out loud)

 Learn by listening

 Can repeat things back to you easily

 Breathe from middle of chest

 Tone of voice very important

 Interested in whether things 'sound right'

 Like to be close enough to hear you

Kinesthetic
 Often talk and breathe slowly

 Respond to physical rewards and touch

 Memorize by doing or walking through things

 Breathe from abdomen

 Interested in whether things 'feel right'

 Like to be close enough to touch you

Auditory Digital
 A lot of internal dialogue

 Interested in whether something 'makes sense'

 Can exhibit characteristics of other systems

 Will often be leaning back (dissociated)

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Submodalities
The Building Blocks of Experience
In NLP the five senses that comprise our sensory input channels are also
known as modalities. Submodalities are the qualities of each
sensory modality. They tell you how important a representation is and
what response to have - so if you change the submodality codings you
can change the response. Submodalities are the very building blocks of
experience and the basis of many of the highly elegant techniques for
rapid change within NLP.

We take external information in through our five senses (representation

systems or modalities). The meaning of a subjective1 experience is
directly related to submodalities. Submodalities are the different
components of modalities or representation systems. For example, in the
visual modality the component elements include: whether the picture is
black and white or color, how close the image is, the brightness, the
location of the picture, the size, the contrast, the focus etc.

The principle is that if a person varies some of the submodalities, their

experience will also change. For example, a generalization for most
people is that as the person makes the visual image closer and brighter,
the intensity of the feeling about the imagined situation increases.
Changing some submodalities, called drivers, will make major changes in
experience. Changing other submodalities will have very little or no effect.
Which submodalities make major changes and which do not varies with
each individual. Therefore, each individual must be "calibrated" to find the
driving submodalities.

Any time we experience anything, we take that external event and turn it
into an internal representation, or our thoughts about that event. How we
respond to our own subjective internal representations of the outside
world determines how we feel about it, known as our state. Our state
influences our physiology, which at the most base level literally means
the functioning of our entire body. It’s important to remember that our
internal representations are never the same as the external event itself -
that’s why we say the map is not the territory.

If we can take an experience and code it in one particular way, we can

just as easily code it in any number of ways. If the way we've coded a
particular experience proves to be less useful than we would like, why not
recode the experience in a more useful way? After all, each of us is the
cartographer of our own map of reality and we can change the map in any
way we choose that more usefully serves our purposes.

1 based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.

18
Can you think of something that you really don't like to do but have to do
on a regular basis whether you like it or not? Would you like a way to
transform the way you think about that thing you don't like to do so that
it becomes something you really enjoy and even look forward to?

Can you think of a food or drink that you really like or even crave but, for the
sake of your health/vitality/waistline should consume less of? How would you
like a way to transform the way you think about that food/drink so that you
like it less and your cravings become a thing of the past?

Maybe there's something that you WANT to like but you just can't bring
yourself to try it, or just one negative aspect of it outweighs all the
positives?

You can use submodality techniques to recode your experiences in such a

way that you can make those useful changes easily, quickly and gracefully.

Here is a list (not complete) of some of the more noticeable qualities or

submodalities for each of the three main sensory systems:

Visual Auditory Kinesthetic

associated/dissociated loud or soft temperature
color/black & white distance from sound texture (rough/smooth)
location (l/r, up/down) words or sounds intensity
distance location of sound pressure (hard/soft)
brightness stereo/mono duration
framed/panoramic continuous/not weight (light/heavy)
blurred/focused speed (faster/slower) shape
contrast clear/muffled
moving/still soft/harsh
speed (faster/slower)
size
2-D or 3-D

The accordance of submodalities to our representation of experience

gives our experience meaning. How do we alter our subjective
experience? Alter the submodalities by which we represent it.

The table on the next page illustrates this point.

19
The following table gives you a clearer idea of what kinds of
questions would be asked:2
Modality Sub-Modality Questions
Visual Color/Black & White Do you want black and white? What about full-
color spectrum? How bright or dull are the
colors?
Brightness When looking, does it appear brighter or darker
than normal?
Contrast What about the intensity versus the lackluster?
Focus And the visual – clear & crisp or just plain hazy?
Texture How does it appear: velvety or coarse?
Detail Can you spot foreground and background
details?
How do you see or define the details as part of a
whole? Is it necessary to shift focus to keep them
in view?
Size Ask for the exact size of the picture?
Distance And, get the distance, how far is it -- exactly.
Shape Get the description: shapes of the picture ---
angles
Border Ask them to describe borders, if there is one and
what’s the feel?
What kinds of colors are there? How thick or
deep is it?
Location Get a description of the location within the
space?
Describe – using both where and how you see
the pictures?
Movement Freeze frame? Movie? Still picture?
And, the speed of the movement – slower, faster
than the usual rate?
Can the image remain secure? What direction is
it moving?
What’s the speed of that movement?
Orientation Does the picture slant one way or the other?
Association / How do you imagine or view yourself – or as if
Dissociation you
Perspective What’s your perspective?
Should it be If Dissociated, is your view of
yourself from either side (right/left) Do you see
yourself from the right or left, behind or facing
you?

2 Extracted from the AUNLP Practitioner Manual

 Proportion What about people and/or things within the
frame, are they in proportion to each other, as
well as you? Do they appear tinier or bigger than
life?
Dimension Are they flat or is it 3-D?
Do you perceive the features envelop you?
Singular / Plural How many pictures are there?
Can you see them in succession or all at once?

Auditory Location Where does the sound come from? In or out?

Pitch High or low-pitched?
And, is it higher or lower than it usually is?
Tonality Ask about the tonality: twangy, deep, full-bodied,
husky, smokey, throaty, like nails on a chalkboard?
Melody Is it all the same - boring or is there a harmonious
scale?
Inflection What’s accentuated?
Volume What about the volume - loud?
Tempo The speed? Quick? Deliberate?
Rhythm Is there a certain pulse or regularity?
Duration Does it stop and go or is it constant?
Mono / Stereo Is it like surround sound or do you hear it from one
particular side?
Kinesthetic Intensity How powerful is the feeling?
Quality Can you illustrate the body sensations: prickly,
cool, hot tranquil, edgy, tangled, subtle?
Location Where parts of your body feel it, if you feel it?
Movement Does the sensation provide any movement? And if
there is, is it uninterrupted or does it move in a
regular pattern?
Direction Where does it begin?
How does it move --- from the point where it
starts to its most startling?
Speed How does it move – steady stream or full-throttle?
Duration Uninterrupted? Irregular?

As we’ve already covered, submodalities use the basic language of the

mind to change the way we encode thoughts and ideas. By changing the
submodalities, we change what that thought means, and that changes the
way we feel about those things.

Techniques Include:

1. Contrastive Analysis: Find the submodalities of two things and

compare them to find the possible Drivers. Example: Comparing the
I/Rs of Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt to find the drivers.

22
2. Mapping Across (A.K.A. Like to Dislike): Shifting the drivers found
in Contrastive Analysis to change the meaning of one internal
representation to another. Example: Changing the Submodalities of Ice
Cream (liked) to Frozen Yogurt (disliked) should cause the client to
dislike Ice Cream.

3. Swish Pattern: Replaces an unwanted Internal Representation with a

desired one. Swish works well for changing minor states or behaviors.
For example, you can use it to switch the client’s bad habit (i.e., biting
nails) to a more desired one (i.e., brushing hair with fingers.)

4. Dissociative Techniques: Shifting viewpoints and viewing an Internal

Representation from a dissociated position. You can use this to reduce
the negative emotion on a memory, so a client can look at it without
feeling the feelings. This works well to help clients get rid of phobias
during the Phobia Model.

5. Perceptual Positions: Shifts the Internal Representation between

three empowering viewpoints:

• First Position is looking through your own eyes.

• Second Position is looking through another person’s eyes
(usually a significant person in the event).
• Third Position is observing the entire scene from a dissociated
position (say, above the entire event as a video camera). This is
useful as a Dissociative Technique and for incorporating learnings.

23
“Mapping Across” Submodalities

E.G. LIKE DISLIKE

This is useful for changing attitudes to things – for example, a
food that the client "likes too much" (present state) can be
shifted into the submodalities of a food that is disgusting to them
(desired state).

1. Identify the two states (or values/beliefs) that you want to contrast —
one desired, one undesired.

2. Elicit the submodalities of each separately. "As you think about that,
what do you see?" encourages a picture - visual mode is preferable for
quick changework.

3. “Contrastive Analysis”. Identify the Drivers - the critical

submodalities that make the difference between the two. (Usually it is
good to go for the following as critical: location, distance,
associated/dissociated, brightness, or focus.)

4. Let go of the content of the desired state, creating a void. Change

the submodalities of the present state to those of the desired
state. Emphasize the drivers. You can leave the content of the present
state as it is, although this may change by itself.

5. Test the change using the internal kinesthetic experience (e.g. "Does
this feel like understanding now?" or "Do you want that food?") and
future pace.

A more in-depth way of explaining this, with an example, is once we've

elicited the important submodalities of the liked substance and the
disliked substance, is to compare the two sets of submodalities to find the
drivers, the difference that makes a difference.

Start off simply, by comparing the two sets of submodalities side-by-side

and noting any differences between the two sets.

Each of the differences will play a part in differentiating between a

substance that the person likes and a substance that they don't like.
Certain of the differences will have a more powerful influence than the
rest, and these we call the drivers. As a rule of thumb, changing a driver
will cause all the other submodalities to pull in alignment with the driver
automatically.

24
Typically, three distinctions will stand out as drivers - the location of the
picture, the size of the picture or the difference between associated and
dissociated.

Map across the contrasting submodalities

To complete the process, we map the contrasting submodalities from the

substance the person doesn't like on to the substance they do like - in
this case we map the submodalities of cough syrup onto red wine.

For the exercise let's assume that our subject likes red wine and dislikes
cough syrup. Their picture for red wine is a large, color picture in the
center of their field of vision and is dissociated (they see themselves
drinking it and enjoying it).

Their picture for cough syrup is smaller, in the bottom-right corner of

their field of vision, is black and white and associated (they see a spoon
of cough syrup being thrust toward their mouth).

To change like to dislike and have them dislike red wine, we ask them to
imagine a dissociated, black and white picture of a glass of wine being
thrust toward their mouth and have them move that picture into the
bottom-right corner of their field of vision and make it the same size as
the cough-syrup picture.

If we've correctly elicited the submodalities and correctly mapped across

the contrasting ones, the drivers in particular, the person we are working
with should find that they dislike red wine with the same intensity that
they dislike cough syrup.

If, when they think about red wine, they also display the exact same
unconscious physiology changes that we earlier noted were associated
only with cough syrup and not with red wine, we have a very strong
indication that the process has indeed achieved our desired outcome - like
to dislike.

Simple, quick and effective.

(If you or the person you're working with decide that you really would
prefer to like the substance again, take the opportunity to develop your
skills further by reversing the process by returning substance back to its
original submodalities)

Key Elements in Submodality Change

Drivers – usually one or two submodalities which bring the other
submodalities with them when changed

25
 Critical submodalities - again, the one or two which cause the person
to make a shift. Usually the same as the drivers but could be different
Location is often a driver - it's one of the few submodalities that is
common to V, A and K
Analogue or digital? Some submodalities are analogue - i.e. there
is an infinite range between two extremes (e.g. volume, brightness,
intensity). Others are digital - either one thing or the other (e.g.
associated/dissociated, although people can flicker rapidly between
the two)

Submodalities Belief Change Script

1. Identify a limiting belief. "As you think about that belief, what do you
see?” ('force' a visual and elicit the submodalities.)

2. “Think of a belief which is no longer true. (e.g. Father Christmas, or 'I

go to [name of junior school]'. What is it? As you think about that
belief, what do you see?” (Elicit the submodalities.)

3. Change the submodalities of the limiting belief into the submodalities

of a belief that is no longer true.

TEST: Now, what do you think about that limiting belief?

4. “Think of a belief which for you is absolutely true. Like, for example, the
belief that you speak English (or whatever belief they come up with).
Do you believe that? As you think about that belief, what do you see?”
(Elicit the submodalities.)

5. “Think of a belief that you would like to have instead of the old limiting
belief. Good, what is it? As you think about that belief, what do you
see?” (elicit the submodalities)

6. Change the submodalities of the desired belief into the submodalities

of the belief that is absolutely true.

TEST AND FUTURE PACE: Now, what do you believe? Why do you believe
you have this new belief? What will happen next time you are in that
situation where the limiting belief used to affect you?

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THE COMPASSION FORMULA

You will not always have a lot of time to spend when an issue comes up
for you. The 10 steps of the compassion formula will help you to resolve
issues in your life when you aren’t in a position to do more formal, closed-
eye techniques.

1. Identify What specifically is the problem or situation?

2. Invitation How did you attract or invite this into your life, either by
your actions or inaction?

3. Mirror What aspects of yourself are being reflected back to

yourself?

4. Compassion See the problem or situation through the other person’s

eyes.

5. Objectivity See the problem or situation through the eyes of an

observer.

6. Lessons What lessons do you need to learn from this problem or

situation?

7. Store Store the learnings.

8. Release Release the blame. “It seemed like a good idea at the
time.”

9. Decide Make a new decision about what this old problem or

situation means to you now.

10. Lock It In Test and future pace.

Key success factors in submodality work:

1. Position yourself off to one side of the person you are working with,
rather than directly in front of them, so that they have room to
picture their representations and their eyes won't be fixed on you.

2. The better you calibrate the non-verbal responses of the client (e.g.
where their eyes go when they picture their belief, changes in voice
tone which show how certain they are about what they are saying)
the easier and more successful the intervention will be.

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Associated/Dissociated
When someone is associated into an internal representation (their
viewpoint is located within the representation), they will have access to
the feelings in that experience. When they are dissociated (outside the
experience), the feelings will be less intense (though they may still have
feelings about what they are seeing).

Generally, the more a person talks about an experience, the more they
will associate into it. This is useful when you are eliciting resource states -
not so useful with unresourceful experiences, as strong negative emotions
can shut down thinking processes.

Influencing Submodalities with Language

The words we use shape and sequence the internal representations of the
listener, so what you say and how you say it can make a big difference.

Question/phrase Associated/
Dissociated?
This experience
That experience
How does that make you feel?
As you look back at that experience....
Where do you see yourself in five years' time?
What is it like when you....?
And then what happened?
And... what happens next?
Looking forward to....
What do you see?

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Using Submodalities
Internally:
Making your image of a goal more compelling
Reliving a good memory more fully
Making a remembered or imagined bad situation less disturbing
Defuse an 'inner critic', 'chatterbox' or 'gremlin'
Use association or dissociation to move in or out of feelings as
appropriate
Elicit the submodalities of a good experience, and then change those of
other experiences to make them more pleasant
Move from one state to another using submodality shifts - e.g. to move
from compulsion to indifference around a particular food that you "like
too much"
Use submodality shifts to de-potentiate limiting beliefs and 'install'
desired beliefs (although these will probably need some backup from
supporting reference experiences if it is to last very long)
Elicit finer submodality distinctions to differentiate and gain more
control over experiences that seem overwhelming - e.g. pain control
Elicit visual analogues for kinesthetic experiences - changing the
submodalities of the visual analogue can change the experience (again,
pain control)
Ramping a submodality up past a threshold so a compulsion or phobia
blows out (advanced technique, not for the faint-hearted)

Externally (environmental submodalities):

Using lighting and sound to increase or reduce the 'energy' in a room
(e.g. calming a youth club or party at the end of the night - thanks to
youth work thought leader Andy Jackson for this insight)
Use changes in pitch, tone, volume, and speed of your speech to
capture attention and change the mood of an audience
Use visual and auditory submodalities to make films and presentations
more compelling
Evoke submodalities linguistically to elicit desired states in an audience
or coaching client more easily
Research is showing that environmental cues affect the brain
metaphorically - e.g. holding a brainstorming meeting in a high-
ceilinged room promotes creativity, while lower ceilings are better for
detail-focused work; people holding a warm drink are likely to think
more 'warmly' of strangers, and so on.

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The Swish Pattern
Defusing Negative Triggers

The Swish Pattern is another powerful NLP technique which involves

manipulating submodalities in order to alter our experience. Typically, it
is used to eliminate behaviors which we find detrimental to our
enjoyment, pleasure and productivity. This may be something as
debilitating as an addiction, or as stressful as a phobic response to
something, or as minor as a mild chocolate craving!

More specifically, the Swish pattern is designed to anchor a desired

state to a cue situation that currently produces undesired behavior.

1. Client identifies what they will always see just before the problem
behavior occurs (associated). This is the cue situation. Break state.

2. Have the client make the picture of themselves as they want to be,
when they are free of the problem. Use submodalities to make the
picture as vivid and involving as possible - and have them step into it.
Have them notice how good that feels - and turn the feelings up. Now
have them step back out of the picture (dissociated). Shrink it down to
a small, dark picture the size of a postage stamp.

3. Have them see the negative trigger picture again, but this time with the
‘postage stamp’ in the bottom left corner. Now - quickly - fade out the
trigger picture and expand the ‘stamp’ up to the full-size good picture -
at the same time making a swissh sound. When they’ve seen the good
picture, blank the screen (this is to mark an end point at the positive
image, so they don’t install a sequence leading back to the negative
trigger).

4. Get them to repeat step 3 five more times for themselves, making it
faster each time (remember the swissh sound). They could open their
eyes between each swish to separate them. Repeat it for two more
sets of five, making it faster each time, or until you can’t see the
trigger picture any more.

5. “Now, how do you feel when you remember the trigger situation? Put
yourself into that situation in the future. What has changed about the
way you feel and respond in that situation now?”

Let’s look more in-depth at how the swish actually works.

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Pattern interrupt

The swish is a form of pattern interrupt designed to assist us in changing

direction - to interrupt the pattern we have been running (problem state
or behavior) and replace it with a more useful pattern (desired state or
behavior).

When we engage in the problem state or behavior we are running a

pattern that is coded and stored in our neurology.

Let's use for a moment a metaphor of our brain being a record player (or
an MP3 player for those of you too old to remember what a record player
looks like). When we engage the problem state or behavior it's a lot like
playing a record over and over (or listening to the same track on your
MP3 player repeatedly).

What the pattern interrupt helps us to do is scratch the record (or

scramble the MP3 data) so it can never be played in the same way again.

We then replace the record (or MP3) with a new tune - the desired state
or behavior.

Picture 1 - associated - present state - undesired

The first picture represents the behavior or state that we wish to change.
Hence it is something we have already experienced which is why we make
the picture associated - as seen through our own eyes.

As we've already experienced this state or behavior we'll probably have

an internal representation of it which includes kinesthetics or feelings. As
this state / behavior is something we wish to change we will probably
have negative feelings about it. Associating fully into the picture and
seeing it through our own eyes also triggers the kinesthetics - putting us
in touch with the negative feelings that we wish to move away from and
creating a push effect - pushing us in the direction of.....

Picture 2 - dissociated - desired state

We create the second picture as dissociated to help to create momentum

toward a compelling future. We are essentially showing ourselves how
things could look and how we could look having made this change now.

People who move toward what they do want are usually more successful
than people who move away from what they don't want.

31
By dissociating the second picture we help to project it internally not only
as a worthwhile goal but also as something achievable in reality, and this
creates momentum that pulls us toward this desired state.

The Swish

The studies which led to the development of NLP techniques found that
when we visualize images, the strength of the feelings we associate with
the images can be directly affected by submodality distinctions such as
the size of the image and the brightness.

Big, bright images up close in our field of vision usually trigger stronger
feelings than small, dark images which are off in the distance. (This
couldn't be why action movies are so much better on the cinema screen
or why TV screens are growing in size almost daily, could it?)

Try it out - think of something that excites or scares you. Make the
picture big and bright and pull it towards you until it's really, really close -
you'll probably find the feelings you associate with the picture get
stronger as it gets nearer, bigger and brighter.

Now gradually push the picture off into the distance. As it recedes into the
distance it gets smaller and darker until it's hard to make out the detail of
the image at all. As it slides away you'll probably find the effect it has on
your feelings getting less and less.

Swish leverages these findings - we push the undesired image further

away, which in turn makes it smaller and darker and less emotionally
significant to us. In so doing we provide a clear instruction to our
neurology that we wish to move away from this state / behavior.

Then the desired image comes rushing back in at high speed to replace
the undesired state / behavior with the desired state / behavior.

This too is an element of the swish that is vital to its success. Whatever
we take away - in this case the problem state / behavior - must be
replaced with something else - the desired state / behavior. Our
unconscious mind doesn't like gaps and, in the absence of something
better, it will tend to fill the gap by replacing the problem state / behavior
right back where it came from.

The Speed

The swish works best when it's done rapidly. Why? Because brains don't
learn slowly - brains learn quickly.

Imagine being shown a picture on the first page of a small pad of paper and
then, a week later, being shown the second page containing the same

32
image again with some small changes. Imagine this process spanning
several months, each week being shown subsequent pages with the
image changing slightly each week from the week before.

If you were shown the pad in this way you would probably find it
unremarkable, relatively meaningless and quite disinteresting.

It would only be when you were shown all of the pages in rapid
succession that the greater meaning would become apparent as, through
persistence of vision, your brain would connect all the disjointed images,
see the pictures moving and realize that the pad was in fact a small
motion picture in the form of a flip book.

Just as we can only fully understand the flick book when the pages are
accessed quickly, our brains learn better when they are able to make
connections between pieces of information quickly - which is why the
swish works best when it's done at high speed.

Clear the screen (break state)

The direction of the swish pattern is old picture -> new picture -> clear
the screen. Why do we clear the screen each time? Why not just switch
back and forth between the two pictures?

We use the swish pattern to program our neurology to take us in a new

direction - toward the desired state or behavior and hence the process is
sequential - step 1, step 2, step 3.

Simply accessing the two pictures repeatedly, one after the other, would
suggest bouncing back and forth between the two or looping around
constantly between the problem state / behavior and the desired state /
behavior - which is absolutely not the outcome we are looking for. The
process needs an exit point so that the unconscious knows that the end of
the process has been reached. In NLP this exit point is known as a break
state.

The clear screen step in the swish is a simple break state. By introducing
the clear the screen step the pattern becomes move from the old state ->
to the new state -> then exit, which is exactly the outcome we wish to
produce.

Anchoring

The swish pattern also includes anchoring. The picture of the undesired
state / behavior becomes the stimulus which automatically triggers the
response - the picture of the desired state / behavior. This reinforces the
instruction to our unconscious mind to leave the problem state / behavior
behind and move toward the desired state / behavior.

33
Swish Pattern Exercises

1. Have your partner choose a compulsion you wish to remove. Ask them
to visualize a large brightly colored image of the unwanted compulsion.
Set it aside for a moment.

2. Then, picture yourself in control of your own destiny, a person who’s

achieved their goals and desires. The visualization must be done with a
profound gripping intensity. Finish it off with a forceful dedicated voice
that confirms your need of this future.

3. Turn your attention to the large, bright, unwanted compulsion image

and place a small dark image of your desired state in the lower left-
hand corner. Make sure the large bright picture suddenly gets dark,
just as the small dark picture simultaneously springs up in size to
replace it – large, bright and light.

4. Very quickly, you must repeat this process five times in succession
and make the “swish” sound each time. After you complete each
process, briefly open your eyes.

5. Place the image of the unwanted compulsion on a rubber band and

push it out towards the horizon. When it’s almost imperceptible create
a tiny image of how you want to be. Begin in the center of the
compulsion then release the rubber band and don’t be surprised when
it “snaps back” – right in your face.

6. This is your opportunity to make the unwanted compulsion image

affect you yet again in the most negative way.

Computer Swish

1. Imagine the problem – see it through your eyes VAK.

2. Imagine the ideal you – that is someone that would never have this
problem. The ideal you – looking, acting, being – way beyond the
problem.

3. Imagine a computer screen – see the problem. Imagine the mouse in

your hand. Notice the icon.

34
4. Double-click and watch the problem disappear, instantly replaced with
the ideal you.
5. Repeat 5 times. Your problem should have trouble coming back.

6. Drag the problem to the trash folder – dump it in a bin that contains all
the things you never want to do – again!

This is an incredible way to track your brain’s speed. FAST. Open the file,
think about rewriting programs and watch the system run differently -
more efficiently.3

Eliminating Fears -The Fast Fear Relief Technique

This technique neutralizes the powerful, negative feelings of fears
and traumatic events.

Remember: A phobia takes over when people are stuck or caught in a

situation that frightens them or catches them off-guard. Translation:
perceived danger becomes the phobia. Individuals can do what
psychologists call “one-trial learning” - proof that the human brain learns
and re-learns quite rapidly. Voilà, a new way for you or your client to
respond to old traumas!

That hidden, but important, part of you that’s been protecting you all
these years with those unwanted phobias is important and valuable. We
need and want to preserve the ability to protect ourselves in dangerous
situations. The purpose: refine and improve your brain’s ability to protect
you by updating the information.

1. With your eyes open or closed, imagine sitting in the middle of a

movie theater. Visualize a black and white snapshot of you up there on
the screen.

2. Float out of your body, up into the projection booth and look down at
your other self, curled up in the best seat in the house, then past the
orchestra seats up to that black and white glossy of you on the
screen. If this makes you nervous, protect yourself with imaginary
Plexiglas over the booth’s hole.

3. Watch and listen, protected in your own little corner, as you view the

3 Excerpted from the AUNLP Practitioner Manual

35
 black and white movie of a younger you going through a thorny
situation, the one that brought on the phobia. Pay attention to every
little detail. Don’t miss a beat. The problem might have started
seconds before the actual disaster. Follow it through until the end,
then even beyond when something resembling next to normal took
over. You must be detached, a spectator in your own drama. If not,
decrease the size of the screen, zoom out and make it smaller. Follow
this up by using your imagination to create a grainier more sepia
looking picture, drain the color. Stop and start the film. Re- wind, if
necessary. But, detach yourself. And, instead of THE END, freeze that
last frame, the one after the event that caused you to stumble, fall
and maybe even hide all these years.

4. On that frozen frame you leave the projection booth and slip back into
the present you down there in the middle of the theatre. Step into the
freeze frame of the younger you, who feels OK again, as the movie
comes to an end. This is double dissociation. An instant re-play, in
about two seconds or less, of the experience, but backwards and in
color, is next on your agenda. Go all the way back, before the
beginning, before once upon a time. See, hear, and feel everything,
backwards in those two seconds or less.

5. Test the process - attempt to return to the phobic state any way you
can. What if you were in that situation now? When will you next
encounter one of these situations? If you still get a phobic response,
repeat steps 1 to 4 exactly, but faster each time, until none of the
phobic response remains.

Because you were traumatized, you’ve stayed far away from those
situations, which made you feel phobic. Hiding never gave you the
chance to face them or learn how to control your feelings. As you begin
to encounter and explore these situations in the future, exercise a certain
degree of caution until you’re more comfortable with them.4

CONFLICTING PARTS
The concept of “Parts” represents the process of internal conflict and
incongruence. Whenever there are two opposing desired outcomes
(often both are desired equally, or there is confusion as to which is more

4 Excerpted from the AUNLP Practitioner Manual

36
important), we can say that the person has developed “parts”. Often,
one of the parts is being consciously denied or rejected, which only
serves to strengthen its influence over the individual.
Parts often represent minor personalities, and are often born from
significant emotional events. They usually have their own values and
belief systems. Parts represent an incongruence in the person, as the
parts themselves are incongruent.
A common example of someone with parts is a person who has been
inactive for a period of time, and now wishes to join a gym and get back
into shape. Commonly, people in this situation find that they have parts
which are in conflict with each other, and this is usually very easy to
identify by their spoken and body language.
They may be heard to say things such as, “Part of me wants to go to the
gym, and part of me just wants to relax after a hard day at work.”
Another common way this is expressed is with the saying, “On one hand
(abc), but on the other hand (xyz)...”
Reintegration of parts is possible. Through parts integration we help the
person to realise that both parts exist to fulfil a positive intention, and were
once part of the larger whole. When they experience this realisation, the
conflict is resolved and they are able to choose an appropriate course of
action, or make a satisfying decision which ends the internal conflict.
Examples of Parts:
A part of me wants to lose weight, a part of me doesn’t want to
put in the effort.

I want to meet new people, but I like being on my own.

On one hand I want to get a new job, but on the other I’m fine where
I am.
I don’t have enough time to do homework, but I have plenty of
time to surf the internet.

I want to be more outgoing, but something stops me.

I want to be in a relationship, but I don’t want to give up my

freedom.

37
The Visual Squash Exercise with Regression
“Classic”

Once you sort a conflict into its two parts, your next step - integrate the
two by combining or integrating the anchors of the two sides. You
accomplish this with the “Visual Squash.”

1. Access and get outcome for side #1 - the part that wants to change.
Put one polarity in the hand that is appropriate. You’ll see what that part
of you looks like. You’ll hear its tone of voice and so on. Do you realize
how valuable this is (positive outcomes or functions)? Another way to
attack the issue, ask that part just how positive that function is? Keep
that part in that hand, as you turn to look at your other hand.

2. Access and get outcome for side #2 - the part that resists change.
Do the same thing with the other polarity in the opposite hand. It
might help you to consciously remember the events that continue to
hold you back. Perhaps, you’ll remember fragments of this, or these,
events. You might be very surprised at how your pre-conscious takes
you back to these experiences now…take a beat, a pause…rest.

Often our pre-conscious minds misinterpret events or situations.

Parents and authority figures constantly remind us to work harder so
we can achieve something in life, otherwise you’re bound to be a loser.
Our minds only hear the negative. Sometimes an event that failed - a
dropped ball, a bad move, a split second pause, that forces us to
replay these events as if they were a part of us right now. Instead of
something we can learn from.

Now you should invite this part to release the event and any others
that might hold you back, keep you from moving forward. This should
free you to see yourself, these events or causes in a new light.

3. Mutual appreciation of outcome – With outstretched arms, look

straight ahead and watch both hands as they turn to face each other.
Ask each one if it understands and appreciates the value of the other.
Each polarity should express some appreciation for the positive or
valuable function of its partner.

4. Integration of parts – Take your pick of any of the following

38
 verbalizations.

A. Watch and listen to both of these valuable parts of yourself. Let your
hands come together at their own pace, blend and integrate in an easy
comfortable manner. Each should retain its own identity, importance
and usefulness, however they should pick up or gather qualities and
capacities they lack or need. They are gifting each other.

B. You’ll fixate on the changes as the separate images come

together…and assimilate each other’s parts. Once the two images
converge you’ll be surprised by the picture they present as they
become one, as they melt into each other and take on each other’s
capacities. Absorb this new image. It represents a combination of
brand new abilities. You’re about to enjoy additional skills and skills
that you never imagined. A new beginning, a new way of
accomplishing important outcomes simultaneously.

When the integration is complete, pay special attention to your client

simultaneously observing their facial expressions, breathing and posture
as their hands merge.

5. Associate with the new integrated part - When it’s time,

physically use your hands to bring this part into yourself – into your
body, so that it easily and readily becomes part of you and your
behaviors. You’ll feel a surge of energy in your body as the hands
reunite with you. Please make time to appreciate and enjoy the
qualities of this unique experience.

6. Future-Pace – Give some thought to how and when you want to

integrate these qualities, where they can be used to their fullest in the
future…”

Visual Squash – Revised

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There are some changes to the Visual Squash. For those of who need some
clarification, you use a Visual Squash when your client has a polarity
response. Part of them wants to do something; part of them fights it. The
best time to use it is when there are conflicting desires within a person, for
example, a part of that person wants to give up emotional eating, while

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By Steve G. Jones

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the other part wants their comfort food.

1) You can start the Visual Squash by proposing that the client think of a
person, place, or thing they love. Help them locate the feeling - ask
them to describe the color, shape, sound and where it sits inside of
them.

2) Use a technique (e.g. Escalator) to get your client into a relaxed

state. Nothing too deep, just relaxed enough to get their conscious
mind out of the way. Once they’ve reached this zone:

3) Ask them to picture, in their mind’s eye, exactly what they want to
change the part that brought them to this place and that really wants
to reach this goal. And you should repeat it here, in the positive, of
course. If the client has given you their reasons this is a good time to
list them - better health, more confidence, a new look, whatever they
desire. There may be others you’re not consciously aware of. That’s
okay. The amorphous feelings will begin to take shape and color with
sounds and feelings. It’s your client’s vision – anything from a white
cloud to a pink heart. Who knows? Forms need thanks, from your
client and you. Don’t forget. They only want what’s best for you.

4) Next on the agenda, get your client to imagine again that part of, for
whatever reason, stops them from achieving their goal. The reasons
may or may not be clear, or rise to a conscious level. That’s okay.
Make sure this part matures into a color, a shape, sound, and feeling.
Anything works. You want your client to understand the part of you
that holds them back, keeps them from achieving this particular goal.
You and your client should thank this part. We may not like what it
has done, but it’s been doing it for a reason. You want this part to
look at each of the behaviors and beliefs that created the issue. When
we’re growing, maturing, we absorb unintended patterns. As children
we often hear, “Clean your plate, people are starving in parts of the
world.” What do our parents really mean? They don’t want us to
waste or overeat. What we hear might be very different, which is a
perfect example of mis-learning information.

You can insert specifics here:

A. Sometimes, our subconscious minds misunderstand events or

situations.

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 B. Often a parent or authority figure tells us, “work harder or you’ll
never succeed,” or “you’re a loser”. Unfortunately, our minds tend to
hang onto the negative.

C. Sometimes an event that failed - dropped ball, bad move, split-

second pause, causes us to replay these events as if they were part
of us, as opposed to an innocent moment that we can learn from.

5) This is the moment you want to invite this part to release the event
and any others that hold you back. This is the time you begin to see
these events or causes in a new light and your life changes direction,
all for the better.
This part is embarking on a new journey, relearning what it needs to
do so it can take better care of you.

6) In your mind’s eye, get these two parts to face and acknowledge each
other. You might even begin to notice an energy connection between the
two because each part realizes they’re gaining something, not losing
something. Each has something the other needs and they’ll each be
stronger as they fuse together, forming a more perfect union.

7) It’s important to watch and listen to these valuable parts of yourself

as they come together at their own pace, blending and integrating at
a comfortable and useful way to you. Neither part loses anything, yet
retains the usefulness and importance of both parts. They gain each
other’s best qualities, those lacking in themselves and present in the
other.

You’ll find the changes fascinating…coming together at their own

speed and as comfortably as they can assimilate the changes. When
the two images eventually join, you’ll be surprised by the newly
formed single image that dissolves into one and take on each other’s
capacities. Observe the new image closely because the new part
represents a combination of abilities you’ve never had before. You’ll
enjoy more skills and abilities, new ways of accomplishing all of these
important outcomes simultaneously…

8) Associate with the new integrated part.

9) Take your time and when the moment presents itself, imagine this part

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 moving into that place where you feel love and belief, inside your body,
where it meshes with you and all of your many behaviors, easily and
readily available. It’s as true for you as the love you feel for this person,
place, or thing. While this is happening, you’ll feel a surge of energy,
internally, as this part reunites with you…take a few moments to
appreciate and enjoy the qualities of this unique new part.

10) Once you’re feeling comfortable think of the specific times and places
you want these integrated qualities and capacities to be fully at your
disposal down the line.

Future pacing
Testing and future pacing are the means in NLP by which we verify that
the changes we make today will project forward with us into our future
and thus ensure that useful and context appropriate resources are
available to us when we need them.

When we've used NLP to do some change work either on ourselves or

with other people its good practice to verify the effectiveness and
longevity of our work. We do this in the following two ways:

1. Testing

Put simply, we test the work we've done to ensure that we get the results
that we expected.

In the swish pattern example, we would test by thinking about the

problem state/behavior or, if we are working with someone else, by
asking them to think about the problem state / behavior.

If the person who had done the swish found that thinking about the
problem state / behavior caused them to rapidly and automatically switch
to thinking about the desired state / behavior, then we could usefully
accept that the result of our test was positive and that the swish had
yielded the desired outcome.

If we test and find that we don't get the expected results, we could repeat
the process (in this case by repeating the swish pattern) and test again.

If after repeating the process a number of times we still don't get the
desired results what should we do? The answer is simple - if what you are
doing isn't working, do something else.

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If you are certain that you've set a well formed outcome and you have
enough sensory acuity to know from the feedback you receive that you
are not getting the desired results, then ANYTHING ELSE has a better
chance of succeeding than what you've been doing so far. Apply the five
principles for success and utilize your behavioral flexibility to find some
other way of getting your desired result.

Your choices here may include doing the same NLP technique differently,
switching to a different NLP technique or something else. Remember the
law of requisite variety?

2. Future pacing

Successful testing enables us to immediately test and verify that the NLP
technique we've used has produced the desired result(s).

A successful test does not necessarily mean that the desired result(s) will
carry forward and continue to appear in our behavior automatically in
appropriate contexts in our future. This is where future pacing enters the
equation.

Future pacing could be usefully compared to rehearsal for the unconscious

mind.

Future pacing the earlier swish pattern is as simple as asking the person
to imagine a particular time and context at some time in their future
where their natural response would have been the old state / behavior.

Get them to fully associate into that future scenario, visually,

kinesthetically, auditorily - 'As you step forward to that future time now,
step into your body, see what you would see, hear the sounds around you
and feel the feelings of really being there'.

Once they are associated into the future experience test that their
response to it is the desired state / behavior from the swish pattern.

Have them repeat this process two or three times, each time stepping
into some different future time where their desired outcome is to have the
desired state / behavior replace the old problem state / behavior.

If you get the desired results the future pace is complete - simple as that!

The future pacing process should help to ensure that the seeds of
achievement you plant today continue to bear fruit into the future.

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