Forum: Clean Language

Just like symbols and metaphors represent something else, the name and the named may not be identical in the perceiver's mind. Finding a synonym for a word, may perhaps represent it better than the initial name they come up with, but it could also change their perception about the 'named',...

During a recent demonstration of Symbolic Modlling, a client said: "I don't know" several times. Afterwards a student wondered why I didn't ask the client: "And you don't know, and what if you did know?". Here's my answer: I first came across this kind of question on my NLP training. It takes...

Below is an e-conversation between Brian Birch birchpath.com, myself and Judy Rees cleanchange.co.uk that I thought others might enjoy and wish to contribute to. James ___________________________________________________ 1. Brian asked: How well can you work with categories using Clean...

From the Clean Change Newsletter: "How they're using Clean "I've got a good way of using Clean Language as the set-up for a hypnotherapy session. When they come and see me for an initial assessment, I do a Clean Language session with them. Then, when they come back for the second session I...

Metaphors highlight, enliven, summarize, delete, etc., I’d say. The deletion-aspect can lead to blind spots, that probably by asking more clean questions become “perceiving spots”, or maybe spots that have been in the dark, hidden, too distant to explore, etc. I wonder though, if it also can...

Sarah Nixon of Liverpool John Moores University, and myself are just about to send to the printers 2 workbooks which will be accompanied by a DVD in which 7 'successes' go through some symbolic modelling. Together they're designed to bring clean language and symbolic modelling gently into the...

have a great Easter ...

This is my first post to cleanforum, and is of two parts. 1. It seems to me that Clean Language is a preferred treatment for helping someone with post trauma stress. I'm surprised that Clean Language is not more widely known and practiced, especially here in the United States. The...

This is a report from one of our (Dee Berridge and Caitlin Walker) early clients who came to us suffering from chronic back pain. I think it illustrates beautifully the mindbody connection: Caitlin Having been treated in every medical way possible it was exciting to me to try and make a...

Hi Steve: "the homeopathic principle underpinning clean". That would be your belief, Steve, and whatever truth may be in it, I don't think you are doing the concept of CLEAN a favour by putting your own metaphors to it (and put it in a statement as if it were the only possible truth), which...

Hello All, Marian and I are writing an article about where clean language comes from, and the influences that lead David to his ideas. We would welcome any information you have about the different philosophies and programmes that David had previously studied. Thanks, Nancy

During my first exposure to Clean Language via Ned Skelton’s three day training in May this year, I became fascinated by the apparently deliberate and specific use of syntax (grammar) to form clean questions. I needed to know how and why CL works – from a grammatical / language point of view, so...

We use clean starts and clean space with business outcomes and they're going down really well and easily. With the 'Clean Team' (Penny, James, Phil, Marion, Wendy, Steve) we modelled a group of 80 to get a shared outcome for a budget plan. However I'd like to develop these processes further and...

Abstract from email from Phil Swallow to James Lawley, 14th November, 2003 PHIL: I was recently thinking about how the setting up of a question (consciously or not) affects how 'useful' it is. Like when a question doesn't seem quite right, somehow misses the mark (whose mark? :-) ). ...

Something a client said recently has raised an interesting question for me: when asked 'what would you like to have happen?', they said:'to change... no, I want a change'. Two things came to my mind from that, one straight away, the second as I was musing on it the next day. The instantaneous...

I am new to the concept of clean language. I allign myself with the Narrative Therapy approach, so the concept of not contaminating the process with my own assumptions makes a lot of sense. I do run into a problem though: I work in a prison, and as such I work with people who have behavior and...

Tell your stories of what it was like on a personal journey weekend or a therapists worksphop, working with David Grove.

In another thread Judy (doubtless dangling a hook in the water) reported: Okay, I'll jump on the hook... :) I am getting flashbacks frm The Life of Brian here... "It's a sign!"

Has everyone seen this? My copy arrived this morning. It features articles by Penny and James, Phil and Wendy, Steve Saunders, Philip Harland and myself. In his editorial, Toby McCartney says: "Everyone is talking about Clean... Clean Language has been described by some as the newest, most...

We have done some work with the horse and I started to think about how much the horse may take on from being part of a session. A recent equine report measured cortisol levels in horses after client sessions. They found the horses were in a more relaxed state after the sessions, measured from the...

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of a baby some two thousand years ago. We can all picture the scene of the crib with Jesus and all the people and livestock around it. If this would be about your birth, which objects would symbolize your family and how would you place them around you? Did...

Reading about metonomy, synecdoche, metaphor and tropes again, it just struck me how metonomy and synecdoche seem to contain a strong element of adjacency, in contrast to metaphor which employs two very different domains. According to the definition in the German Wikipedia article on tropes,...

In the post Motivations, Outcomes and Desires, I say: Considering it further, I think that it's not a complete translation at all. Feldenkrais' "one clear, recognized motivation" is more related to 'desired' than to 'outcome'. Pondering this made me examine the phrase 'desired...

Maslow introduced the concept of a hierarchy of needs. This inspired me to create my own -- clean -- Maslow 'shape', which is different from his pyramid. I'm curious how this works with anybody else, so if you like to try this, find your own words or symbols for the following needs, decide which...

From my own experience working with others and from watching others practising Clean Language, it is clear that the ability to keep the clent's desired outcome (D.O.) in mind is a vital part of facilitating well. Yet, even knowing that, as the client describes their narrative and delves into...

On a training in France this year, there was some discussion about where a facilitator might place themselves in relation to a client (see Robert G's interesting post here). Distance is one factor which may be relevant here. what interested me most was the angle between facilitator and client. ...

Hello all of you, When asking clean questions it may be useful for the guide to use only one location in space for the questions, as a way of marking out the questions and enabling the guide to use distinct locations for the symbols & metaphors the explorer uses during the exploration. and...

There was a thread on the previous version of this forum that was unfortunately lost when the site was hacked. Seeing Penny & James’ excellent article “Coaching for PROs” has prompted me to put my thoughts here again. I believe that Problem Remedy Outcome could be usefully stated using four...

I read once that you should never teach your wife to drive. Or play bridge or tennis, for that matter. I did the latter two, but never had the chance to test the theory of the former. That is until I married a wonderful woman from Cuba. Brilliant, with multiple degrees, fluent in 3 languages,...

“And when X, what happens to Y?” At last night's London Clean Language Practise group, 3 December 2003, we explored the question: "And when/as , what happens to ?" and it's sister: "And when/as , what's happening to ?" Our purpose was to: - Practise asking these questions - Notice the...

I have started another thread from an interesting but wandering-off-topic post in another thread. At the end of a post of mine was this paragraph: The next post is Corrie replying to this.

This is a discussion started by email and to be continued here: -----Original Message----- From: Corrie van Wijk Sent: 29 December 2005 11:28 To: Phil Swallow Subject: Perceiver, Perceived and the Space Between

Modelling In the world of Clean, a lot depends on the definition of the word ‘modelling’ and what it means for different people. Here's one set of definitions from the Oxford Concise Dictionary - add any others you know as replies to this post: model noun

I thought the transcript on the above topic at http://www.hypnosis.bc.ca/newsletter/Winter2005.pdf (on pages 2 and 3 of the .pdf download) might prove interesting to the group. The subject is as delicate as it is sensitive.

David Grove's Clean Space process has been around now for, what, 3 years? How much are we all using it? Frequently? Never? All the time? If you would be interested to find out how many of us are using Clean Space for some or all of the time when working with people, please answer the ANONYMOUS...

I am currently reading 'The Potent Self' by Moshe Feldenkrais and I was struck by the following passage in relation to myself at first and then more generally to the value of modelling desired outcomes (pp 20-21): "The ideal conscious action corresponds to a clearly recognized unique...

Recently someone posed the question: I replied: It's great to know that you are practising the questions. And yes, some people new to the process will ask what we mean by "where/whereabouts?". Asking "inside/outside of you?" is a neat solution I'd never thought of, so thank you for that. ...

As well as the prerequistes of working from a clean philosophy, paying exquisite attention, listening (rather than waiting to speak), using the other's words to describe their experience and asking Clean Questions, there are small routines that the facilitator uses. Some of these are...

In quantummechanics information gives form and identity to matter. A quantumcomputer entangles 0 and 1 until it is measured. Analogous, would sensory information get its form and identity only until you(r body) 'measure(s)' it in terms of what it means (for your survival). Would that...

Has anyone come across articles by Paul Thagard, “Professor of Philosophy, with cross appointment to Psychology and Computer Science, and Director of the Cognitive Science Program, at the University of Waterloo”, Canada. http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca/Articles/Pages/TOC.html He seems to haved an...

I was asked: "Is schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, bulimia, and all the other major mental illnesses, spiritual & emotional illness, or brain chemical phooey! I have a strong feeling even though symptoms can be different so can patients and medicines own double bind of numbing a brain wave has...

I was recently asked: "Does Symbolic Modelling subscribe to the idea that a gap exists between the Real Self and the Wanted Self which leads very often to inner disturbances of the system's equilibrium?" I replied: Symbolic Modelling does not hold to the notion of a "Real Self" as this...

These thoughts are from the perspective of an attendee and NLP Modeller. The whole of the "Clean Language Part 1" course is like a metaphor for the way one practitions clean language. Using a form of discovery method where the learner only gets to know what they need next, we "blundered around...

I have a client who for what ever reason does not respond to Symbolic Modelling. When I first used clean space, she moved into a corner, roled into a fital position and cried for 1/2 hour. Since that time clean space have been used several more time, I believe effectively, and she has...

The Role of From</P> "<FONT color=#800000>What do you know here?</FONT>"</P> "<FONT color=#800000>What do you know from here?</FONT>"</P> What difference does it make?</P> Phil

Hi all First of all my thanks to Phil for this great initiative. And here's my question: I have some contacts with a man suffering from severe tinnitus making his hearing virtually impossible in his left ear. Medical and paramedical treatments (acupuncture, osteopathy, denistry, etc;) haven't...

Notes taken from the David Grove video set - METAPHORS TO HEAL BY - Tape 1 - 1989 'Metaphor' derives from the same root as ‘amphora’ which is a Greek carrying vase. So metaphors carry information. Metaphors inside the body are representations of symptoms in symbolic form. They are an...