Rapport 21 - Autumn 2010

THE MAGAZINE FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

21 AUTUMN 2010

What Makes a Modeller James Lawley & Penny Tompkins

Miracle of Voice

Speaking with Power & Influence

Emotional Bankruptcy NLP Trauma Recovery in the Pacific

What is NLP?

Michele Paradise

Own the room...

AVAILABLE BY SUBSCRIPTION £3.50 WHERE SOLD

Contents INSIDE ISSUE 21

4 NLP The Big Question 6 Basic NLP Modelling Success 7 Professional Development

Thought Leaders get the Edge

8 NLP

James Lawley and Penny Tompkins

12 NLP

Emotional Bankruptcy

16 Lifestyle

Own the Room...

Well at least part of it

18 International

NLP Trauma Recovery in the Pacific

22 Celebrity

Ross Davenport

25 ANLP News 26 Health

Drugs and Addictions

28 Coaching Miracle fo Voice 32 NLP

Cover Stories

AUTUMN 2010

16

36 NLP Performance Confidence

22

38 Business Paradox Coaching 40 Research The Second NLP

Research Conference

42 Training & Workshops

John Seymour

6

44 Diary 47 Book Reviews 48 Author Interview

18

Lindsey Agness

50 ANLP

ANLP Accreditation Programme

52 Regional Groups 54 Endnote

36

Consciousness, Unconscious,

Subconscious and Super-conscious

Seduced by NLP

26 Welcome to the Autumn issue of Rapport.

We have some interesting, informative and though provoking features for you this month. Judy interviews James Lawley and Penny Tompkins (p8) and gets an insight into NLP modelling. We could all use our modelling expertise to our advantage when attending interviews or networking events, and Michele Paradise explains how we can use our skills more effectively on page 16.

I have just started reading Lindsey Agness’ latest book “Still 25 Inside” and she is interviewed by Cait on page 48. It’s all about attitude and I love Lindsey’s positive reflections on women of a ‘certain age’ – I’m certainly adopting her approach rather than becoming a ‘grumpy old woman’!

And I am combining that attitude with Judy Apps’ guide to speaking with power and influence (p28). Simply understanding a bit more about how voice works and where it originates will help.

Publisher - Karen Moxom

Karen Ross has written an inspiring piece on their work using NLP to help victims from the tsunami and earthquake in Samoa (p18). In fact, New Zealand based Karen tells me they are now supporting those coming to terms with their

Editorial Team: Caitlin Collins, Andy Coote, Eve Menezes Cunningham Judy Rees admin@anlp.org, 020 3051 6740 Art Editor: Enzo Zanelli Advertising: Nicola Andrews advertising@anlp.org, 020 3384 3217

own tragedy closer to home, following the recent earthquake in New Zealand.

Judy follows up her interview with Ross Jeffries in the Summer issue with an interesting debate about using NLP for seduction (p32)... do let her know your views on the subject. And Eve gives us some timely advice on managing ‘emotional bankruptcy’, including some great tips to ensure we look after ourselves on occasions, as well as attending to the needs of others.

With ANLP launching their new Accreditation programme later this year, Andy reports on their progress and talks to some of the Accredited Trainers about their experiences.

We are also launching our new website later this year, and we will have appointed a new Membership Co-ordinator by the time you receive this issue – we’ll keep you informed via our e-newsletters, blog and Facebook/Twitter postings. So, as the nights draw in, I suggest you settle down with your Autumn issue and enjoy a good read.

Look forward to seeing you at the NLP Conference in November.

Until next time...

Membership, subscriptions and back issues: members@anlp.org, 020 3051 6740 Publisher: Karen Moxom vision@anlp.org 020 3051 6740 Company Reg No. 05390486 Phoenix Publishing Ltd Room 11, Apsley Mills Cottage, Stationers Place, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP3 9RH

Karen

Rapport published by Phoenix Publishing on behalf of ANLP. www.anlp.org Design: Square Eye Design

DISCLAIMER The views within this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher, nor does the publisher endorse the products or services promoted in the magazine.

Articles are for information only and intent is to inform. Readers should seek professional advice before adopting any suggestions or purchasing any products herein.

THE BIG QUESTION

THE BIG

QUESTION

What is NLP? For the Autumn edition of Rapport we asked you for your own definitions of NLP and here’s what you came up with...

Please note: If you like any of these definitions and would like to use them, please contact the person who provided the definition and ask their permission before publishing this view elsewhere. Thank you.

Despite the less than easy name, NLP really brings together the psychology of best practice and approaches. It is a collection of tools and techniques that bring about positive change in yourself and others.

Neuro Linguistic Programming, or NLP covers a wide range of knowledge that has many different descriptions: ‘the study of success’ or an ‘instruction manual for your mind’.

Dee Clayton dee@simplyamazingtraining.co.uk Based on the presupposition “the meaning of the communication is the response you get”, over 30 years of explaining NLP I always ask myself “who is asking?” and even sometimes ask the person directly (with a smile). Only then would I give an answer which usually starts with - NLP started with a question, and that question is, “how is it possible some people are average at what they do and others excel?” for example in your world of__ how is it possible that some people are brilliant at__ wouldn’t you like to know how to do that__ that’s NLP! Robert Smith robert@treaclenlptraining.co.uk

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On its own or added to medication NLP is an effective contemporary psychotherapy.

It´s used for prevention or treatment of psychosomatic disorders, anxiety, depression eating disorders and addictions.

NLP could gain the evidence required to be included in the NICE guidelines as it happened with CBT. Emma Allende emmaallende@gmail.com NLP acts like an instruction book for our mind, enabling us to find out how our mind is currently working, keep the elements that work for us and change any patterns, cycles and behaviours that don’t work, enabling us to then have cycles, patterns and behaviours that work for us.

With NLP we can learn how to have our mind work with us and for us to achieve all that we want.

Claire Hegarty info@tranceformations-pbe.com A map to navigate the pieces, processes and systems that make up our ever-changing internal world. A sensory metric by which to organise our experience of the external world as feedback and connection.

And a cognitive-somatic system to embrace how these two worlds interface and influence each other.

Pamela Gawler-Wright pam@beeleaf.com

NLP is a set of beliefs, tools and techniques that facilitates personal change at the deepest level.

Kat Rogers another.level@ btinternet.com NLP is, to me...... the appreciation of (an individual's) thinking processes as expressed in language and behaviour patterns and the means to replicate or adapt them according to need.

Angela Enock-Shore angela@assett.com Neuro is all about what we THINK, linguistic is all about what we SAY (verbally and nonverbally) and programming is all about what we DO. So NLP is the study of what we THINK, SAY and DO! Lindsey Agness lindsey@thechangecorporation.com ‘NLP has helped me get back to the me that was there before the world got in the way’ Tony Wright tony@pwaunlimited.co.uk

THE BIG QUESTION

"... The study of how you do being you, and how you make sense of the world around you.

Because everyone is unique, NLP is different for everyone. So NLP is personal, and that's the difference that makes the difference between NLP for you and NLP for me."

Angela Watson info@pgdcoaching.com The art and science of how people communicate & influence and the effect that has on the other person.

Trevor Graeme Wilkins trevor.wilkins@rogers.com NLP is discovering how we do, what we do and how to do it even better Nick Kemp info@nickkemp.com

NLP studies human behaviour, asking: Doing what?

Doing whatever where (and/or where not) exactly?

Doing whatever when (and/or when not) exactly?

Doing whatever how exactly?

Doing whatever why exactly?

Who are you when you do it?

Who (or what) else do you do it for?

Ian Berry ian.berry1@ntlworld.com ''We use our usual five senses to receive external and environmental information, and then we use our natural sixth sense to subconsciously translate that information according to our individual bank of experiences and our habitual way of thinking'' Mahmood Sheikh m.mahmood777@hotmail.co.uk

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NLP is the user manual for your mind!”

Carol Talbot carol@matrix-training. com

"People programme their neurology through the language they use" Jonathan Clark JonathanBOSS@aol.com

NLP is the examining, collecting and rendering of human studies from every field then blending the best bits of them to make excellent models, interventions and applications for sales, business, therapy and personal/professional growth.

Terri Ann Laws tessthewizard@gmail.com 'Having the curiosity to notice what works for yourself and others, the flexibility to adapt your thinking and behaviour to that, and the ethics to only do that which generates more choice and good outcomes for those affected' Reb Veale reb@revealsolutions.co.uk “Neuro Linguistic Programming is a psychological approach based on scientific principles from a foundation of Constructivist theories.

Using an integrative-cognitive approach it involves a qualified practitioner working to explore experiences, beliefs and memories to help change thinking and behaviours and so reduce symptoms and improve personal, social and professional life.”

Martin Weaver martin@lifetidetraining.co.uk

There are many definitions and I expect you know all of the published versions.

For me personally, NLP, as a meta-discipline, can create the possibility of TRUE FREEDOM. This can mean a FREEDOM from ANY impoverished model of the world which, in turn, gives you the KEY to unlocking your true potentiality.

David Key david@auspicium.co.uk ‘’NLP is a mindset, and a collection of methodologies and tools for enabling an individual to understand human experience and therefore create high performance in themselves or others’’ Piers Thurston piers@feelhappynow.co.uk “NLP is about how to do some things better, how to do some things excellently, and how to understand how or why I do some things I might like to stop (and to stop them ) and how to enable other people to improve on what they do, if they want that.

And it’s there to enable everyone – pre birth to whatever mature age you are to communicate with themselves and others better!”

Rosie O'Hara rosie@nlphighland.co.uk

Next issue We will be returning to our debate column. If you have an issue you think would make an interesting debate topic, please contact Andy Coote via editorial@anlp.org or ANLP on Twitter at http://twitter.com/anlp Facebook or LinkedIn.

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BASIC NLP

INTRODUCING NLP

Outcomes 9: Modelling success

By Caitlin Collins Modelling is actually the first way we learn how to learn which makes it easier for you practise it and also to teach it to others.

Now practise what you've learned, remembering the 'deep structure' as well as the physical actions. This isn't about trying to remake yourself as a clone of your model; this is about effective learning that will enable you to fulfil your own unique potential.

I

n this series we're following a theme of setting outcomes, exploring basic NLP concepts and techniques as we go along.

'Modelling' is perhaps the most basic technique: NLP arose out of Richard Bandler's and John Grinder's interest in how someone achieves excellence, rather than just being averagely competent; they directed this interest towards people who excelled in their various fields, and developed the skill of modelling these experts so they could teach others to be experts too.

Modelling is actually the first way we learn how to learn. As babies we copy those around us – smiling, talking, walking. Later we realise we need to know more than can be gleaned from just watching and copying: along with the observable physiology, the 'psychology of the individual' (as Jeeves put it) is also relevant. In NLP, these two aspects are referred to as surface structure, which can be observed, and deep structure, which requires investigation. Both are necessary for effective modelling.

There are a couple of useful principles to bear in mind with modelling: first, if one person can do something, others can learn to do it too; and second, we all have vast innate potentials for excellence. I don't know if these statements are factually correct, but I do know that learning becomes much easier if we act as if they are!

Let's say you have an outcome in mind: you've identified what it is you want to be able to do. It could be almost any skill: cooking, riding, speaking in public, dancing, teaching, telling jokes, chatting someone up, introducing

Caitlin Collins: www.naturalmindmagic.com

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yourself at a party, writing a story – even sleeping (a skill much desired by insomniacs!).

Find someone who's really good at it to model.

Now you're going to find out how they do it, while being attentive to the differences that make the difference between excellence and mediocrity. You can do this very simply in just three steps.

Observe your model. Watch them

attentively; then imagine yourself in their place, doing what they're doing.

Chat with your model to find out about their attitudes, emotional states, and motivations concerning what they're doing.

What are they thinking? How are they feeling? Why are they doing it?

Run some experiments in which you try omitting specific elements to find out which ones are essential and which can be left out. Ask your model, 'What would happen if you didn't do that?' This enables you to streamline and simplify the process,

You can also work with an absent or 'virtual' model. Identify your absent model and bring them to mind. Imagine watching them doing whatever it is you want to learn. Then imagine yourself in their place, looking through their eyes. How exactly are you standing / sitting / moving? What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What's important to you about what you're doing?

It's also possible to model yourself – your own excellence. Think of something you do well; imagine yourself doing it now. Notice how you're moving, what you're thinking, how you're feeling; all the qualities you associate with this familiar occasion. Most people trying to learn a new skill seek technical proficiency first, after which confidence and enjoyment may follow.

Try reversing that: find the confidence and enjoyment you experience in doing something you're already good at, and bring those states with you as you imagine learning your new skill.

A constructive emotional state enables you to act more effectively in any circumstances, and it's much easier to learn when you're relaxed and enjoying yourself. Practise this repeatedly in your imagination, so it happens easily when you actually physically engage in your new skill.

The principle of modelling also applies to developing habits, so be careful to model what you do want, not what you don't want! We can learn undesirable skills as easily as desirable ones! And, of course, the more often we do something, the easier it becomes. Practice makes perfect for good or for ill – so be careful what you practise!

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Thought Leaders get the

By Mindy Gibbins-Klein

A

s a coach or NLP practitioner, you may have noticed the market getting a little crowded and competitive recently. Perhaps you have been in a competitive bidding situation, unsure how to stand out amongst a number of other coaches.

I believe that even in the most crowded markets, certain people stand out, and they are known as ‘thought leaders’. Over the past ten years, I have studied what the most impressive and outstanding thought leaders do, including hundreds of my clients who have written and published extensively. Their characteristics fall into four logical groups or attributes, conveniently making up the word REAL. My book 24 Carat BOLD: The Standard for REAL Thought Leaders introduced the REAL strategy which I have summarised below. I now challenge you to ‘Get REAL’, and I hope it will help you to get the edge you deserve.

To be a REAL thought leader, you need to have extensive Reach, effective Engagement with customers and the wider marketplace, acknowledged Authority in a specific subject area and the Longevity to stay in the customer’s mind long enough to make an impact (and ideally much longer than the competition).

Reach is a completely measurable factor.

You can count how many countries someone does business in, how many customers they have, how many connections on LinkedIn, friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter.

You can count the number of books and articles they have written and published, as well as numbers of copies sold, downloads and views. Therefore it is reasonable to suggest that anyone can extend their reach with a good strategy, and in fact, that is the objective of most business owners. The exceptional ones are the ones who achieve that goal.

Engagement is a little harder to measure, but has an even greater impact. This is the

I believe that even in the most crowded markets, certain people stand out, and they are known as ‘thought leaders’ way you communicate with your client, including the style, tone, relationship and trust factors. It is my belief that more business owners, including coaches, sabotage their success by poor engagement than any other mistakes they make. REAL thought leaders know how to engage with their customers in ways that create trust, which in turn leads to business. They make engagement part of their strategy. They really get to know people at a deep level, building real relationships.

As I mentioned in a previous article, coaches tend to be good at this, and it’s still worth a reminder.

Authority is often bestowed on the leader by the market, but it starts with a series of coordinated activities that can be one hundred percent controlled by that leader.

For example, they spend the time and think through the message they put out into the market, including the exact space they want

Edge

to play in, their views on their subject and the kind of influence they want to have. To be a real authority means being bold and opinionated, and unafraid to stick up for one’s point of view. After all, that is what will make people take time out of their busy schedules to pay attention to you. They do want to hear what you have to say, not some wishy-washy politically correct and innocuous waffle that sounds the same as everyone else. In the world of NLP and coaching, this is extremely important, as the message can start sounding the same.

Finally, Longevity should be a goal for every business person, not just aspiring thought leaders. Even to stay in someone’s mind is a huge challenge in this day of information overload and stress. So you need to be relevant and timely with your content, and provide ways for the customer to remember you on a regular basis. Regular updates, newsletters, blogs, emails and even the old-fashioned note or phone call will all help, as long as you reinforce your main message every time you can, and add value to that person’s life. Without a doubt, the best Longevity tool of all is still a quality book in print. There is a reason why certain books get pulled off the shelf often and are well-thumbed, dog-eared and highlighted.

So there you are. Four elements which, when executed well and complementing each other, can raise you in the customer’s eye to a position of a real thought leader in your space. Even in the crowded market of NLP and coaching. One word of caution, though: you never want to call yourself a thought leader. That is arrogant and very dangerous. If you do your job right and get all four attributes working for you in a positive and congruent way, by writing, publishing and speaking, you will soon see others writing, publishing and speaking about you and start referring to you as the thought leader, which is very powerful indeed.

Mindy Gibbins-Klein is the UK’s leading writing and publishing strategist, best known as founder of The Book Midwife and co-founder/director of Ecademy Press business publishing. Her mission is to create thousands of real thought leaders who will change business and society with their ideas.

An international speaker, trainer and consultant with 20 years in marketing, training and coaching, and over 300 clients who have written and published excellent books and articles quickly using the Book Midwife methodology, Mindy writes and speaks to thousands of executives, business leaders and entrepreneurs each year about how to become a thought leader and turning expertise into enhanced credibility and more business. mindy@bookmidwife.com

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modeller?

NLP INTERVIEW

What makes a

Judy Rees discusses modelling with experts James Lawley and Penny Tompkins

A breakthrough moment came when they realised that Grove wasn’t trying to change his clients – he was modelling their inner landscapes

M

odelling is at the heart of NLP: it’s the methodology that leaves behind the field’s famous “trail of techniques”. But for many students of NLP, challenged to undertake a modelling project as part of their Master Practitioner course, it can be something of a puzzle.

I’m sure I’m not alone in struggling to get started, overwhelmed by competing methodologies on the one hand, and baffled by the missing links in trainers’ stories of Bandler, Grinder and the “wild days” on the other.

What actually makes a great modeller? Penny Tompkins and James Lawley should know. They are not only expert modellers themselves, but have undertaken a number of modelling projects in which they have modelled great modellers.

They have studied with many of NLP’s best-known modellers – including John Grinder, Robert Dilts, John McWhirter, David Gordon

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and Graham Dawes – and have been involved in a huge range of modelling projects.

Modelling has become a habit for them, to the extent that Penny said: “We almost can’t not model nowadays”.

In their first major modelling project, the couple modelled psychotherapist David Grove, creator of Clean Language. What began as a one-year commitment extended to four years before they eventually published their book, Metaphors in Mind, in 2000.

A breakthrough moment came when they realised that Grove wasn’t trying to change his clients – he was modelling their inner landscapes – a process Penny and James called “symbolic modelling”.

Now, as psychotherapists themselves, they model their own clients’ inner worlds and help them to discover more about themselves, how they do what they do, and how they can have more choice – to “selfmodel”. As trainers, they model their students’ learning processes.

NLP INTERVIEW

What is modelling?

“Modelling” in NLP has very little to do with either Naomi Campbell, or building miniature plastic aeroplanes! It’s more akin to scientific modelling: Wikipedia describes this as “the process of generating a model as a conceptual representation of some phenomenon”.

But there are wheels within wheels. In NLP, modelling is typically viewed as a process whereby a modeller: identifies an exemplar (a person, or people

who exemplify some desired behaviour or skill); gathers information about what the exemplar does; constructs a model of how they do that; tests whether using the model gets similar results to the exemplar. goes on to use the model themselves, or facilitates others (acquirers) to learn how to apply the model.

There are lots of ways of doing each stage.

Penny and James distinguish between this process, “product modelling”, and the related process of “therapeutic modelling”. In the latter, a therapist constructs a working, in-the-moment model of their client’s “model of the world”, which they use to guide their interventions. This may be held more or less consciously by the therapist – there is no need to formalise it, to write it down, or to share it.

For a number of articles about modelling including “How to do a modelling project” see www.cleanlanguage.co.uk/articles/categories/Modelling/

Recently, they modelled wellknown NLP modeller Robert Dilts over the course of a weekend, as part of an event organised by Fran Burgess and Derek Jackson of the Northern School of NLP. The results of that project are now available in a comprehensive report – including video clips and transcripts - on their website.

It seems that they’ve come a long way. As they explained, when they began their work with David Grove, they realised that most of what was known about NLP modelling was implicit. John Grinder and Richard Bandler had written up the results of their early modelling, but not how they did it. So Penny and James had to “reverse engineer” how the founders of NLP had done it before applying that learning to their modelling of Grove.

To make things worse, Grove was a very reluctant exemplar! He initially agreed to be modelled only on condition that he didn’t have to answer any questions and that they didn’t mimic what he was doing.

They could attend his seminars, but only as ordinary participants.

Gradually, he became curious about what they were doing and became a close friend. But he remained reluctant to answer questions about what he was doing.

When he eventually agreed to be interviewed, it had to be in a hot tub, with the recording equipment well out of sight. James said: “So much of him was out there running around in the client’s landscapes that he didn’t spend time selfreflecting on his own internal processes.”

In contrast, Robert Dilts was an enthusiastic subject, who loved to

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High-quality listening and observation skills are essential ingredients Levels of modelling When Penny and James were modelling David Grove, there were multiple levels of modelling going on.

The client was learning more about themselves – self-modelling Grove was learning about his client’s inner world – therapeutic modelling Penny and James were creating a model of Grove’s process with a view to making his skill available to others – product modelling.

talk about his modelling process – as befits the author of Modelling with NLP. By the time Penny and James modelled him, they had had plenty of practice and knew better than to try to model his entire process in a few hours. Instead they selected a small part to pay attention to – how he selects “what is essential” while modelling.

It’s a superb NLP modelling pedigree. If anyone can help those struggling Master Prac students, it’s Penny and James.

I should declare an interest. I’ve been an avid student of Penny and James’s work for several years, and would happily interview them about modelling for hours. In doing so, I’m a modeller, too.

And in this article, we have two pages – and that brings me up against the modeller’s dilemma.

I have many pages of notes, two hours of audio recording. What do I select, from all the information I have, to include in my “model”.

What’s essential? And how I can I best present the model so that you, the reader, are able to use it?

As James observed, this part of the modelling process can feel almost violent: after making pristine observations of your exemplar’s words and actions, you now find yourself changing them to make them easier for others to adopt.

And every newly-created model is born of the modeller’s map: it draws on the modeller’s knowledge and experience, and is ultimately limited by their imagination and other mental capacities.

So, I’ve selected one key piece, which I think you’ll find interesting because it’s new, and because it provides something which many

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NLP INTERVIEW

And every newly-created model is born of the modeller’s map: it draws on the modeller’s knowledge and experience, and is ultimately limited by their imagination and other mental capacities

NLPer’s will find useful and relevant. It’s a new model, which Penny and James have not published before. And it encapsulates Penny and James’ learning from various modelling projects over the years.

It’s a list of the core skills required of a good modeller.

Outcome orientation, having a strong sense of what your purpose

is in conducting a particular modelling project and being able to maintain that while navigating the unfamiliar and often confusing territory that is the exemplar’s world. The outcome remains a “dynamic reference point” that guides the modeller throughout the project.

Sensory acuity. High-quality listening and observation skills

– including the ability to suspend judgement – are essential ingredients.

Being comfortable with large amounts of information, and with

not knowing how it all fits together. Penny and James’s experience suggests that most, if not all, modellers will be inundated with information, much of which will not be relevant, and they need to have some way of coping with it all.

Responsiveness in the moment. The model-in-progress needs

to be constantly updated as new information emerges. As James said: “It’s like one of the rules of improvisational comedy – whatever someone says, you run with it.”

Signals for significance. All models are incomplete – “the map is

not the territory”. But expert modellers seem to have a strong and reasonably accurate sense of what’s most important for the model to work in practice.

Pattern detection and split attention. A key NLP distinction is

between content and process – between what a person thinks and/ or does, and how they think and/or do it. An expert modeller is able to pay just enough attention to the content to keep the process moving, while noticing and investigating patterns at the process level. Penny said: “You can know there’s a pattern before you can articulate it.”

This is something of a work in progress: there may be crucial pieces missing, or it may not be as elegantly simple as it’s possible to make it.

The proof of its value will be in the results it gets. If you’re an NLP modeller, why not try developing these skills – and let me know what happens next?

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NLP

Emotional

Bankruptcy

By Eve Menezes Cunningham

W

hen businesses fail, it’s not just about the money (or lack of it).

It’s about how you feel about money and how much belief you have in your business and ability to turn things around.

For some people, going into their savings can feel like failure while others are happy to go into enormous debt because they know it’s an investment in themselves and that it’s worth it.

When things aren’t going as you’d planned, do you feel like throwing in the towel or does it energise you to find that elusive solution?

Rest and re-fuel “If you're feeling emotionally bankrupt, you'll feel literally unable to give another ounce of energy, thinking space or emotional time out in any direction,” says Lynette Allen, author of Behind with the Laundry and Living Off Chocolate (www.ukcoachingpartnership. com).

“It's not a good place to be, especially if you need more work and more money coming in. Rest won't seem like the obvious solution, but know this, decisions and plans to move forwards cannot happen when you're emotionally bankrupt. Taking even 24 hours to decide that you're not going to make any decisions, that you're not going to

12 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

work, that you're not going to try will give your body and mind what it needs – time to re-fuel. Most people have 24 hours to be able to do this. Eat sensibly, take a hot bath in the middle of the day, watch your favourite films one after another, but rest.

“After you've rested, take yourself off

If we don't continue to find new sources of inspiration, keep our curiosity alive, what first seemed thrilling can turn into routine rather quickly Barbara Winter

somewhere you've never been before. It could be a cafe, a town not far from you, an art gallery, but find somewhere different to sit, buy yourself a coffee and write down five things you could do differently to get more work and money coming in. Ask yourself 'If this was the most fun way of bringing more work and money in, what would I do?' You'll be accessing a different part of your brain and it'll bring out the creative side of you – you're more likely to find solutions that will work.”

Lynette felt like this herself when her father died. “I couldn't take on even the slightest pressure or decision,” she remembers. “As a result, I actually resigned as Director from one of my businesses and completely reevaluated my other business, asking myself if it was really what I wanted to do with my life. I was fortunate to be able to take some time out to rest and then slowly put my life back together again in a way that fitted with my ethics and my values.

From that, The Womens Coaching Company Ltd was born and my co-directorship with the UK Coaching Partnership Ltd. Everything I do today with my businesses are planned and work, because I chose them following an emotionally bankruptcy.

It's ok to change your

NLP

Be kind to yourself. If you’re at the point where you could benefit from talking things over with a doctor, therapist or counsellor give yourself permission to do so Hannah McNamara mind. It's ok to re-evaluate what you're doing with your life. It's entirely possible to remould it, professionally and financially for the better.”

Find a mentor “When you’re feeling this way, it’s tempting to retreat into your shell and close down, blaming yourself for not being good enough or blaming those around you for ‘conning’ you,” says Hannah McNamara, author of Niche Marketing for Coaches (www. marketinghelpforcoaches.com).

“This is not the time to be putting pressure on yourself to make a sensible decision about which strategies are going to work for you.

That’s when expensive mistakes are made – because you don’t know what you don’t know. Learning by trial and error is costly and will drain you further. Choose a mentor who has successfully done what you want to do, who you trust and who has similar values to yours. This doesn’t necessarily mean working one-to-one with them. They can be your mentor if you read their materials, go on their workshops or follow their advice online.

Make sure they are advising strategies that will work for the kind of business you want to create. For example, if you just want to work with people one-to-one and face-to-face, choose a mentor who teaches how to do this, rather than someone only teaching how to make money on the internet.

“From an early stage in my business I worked with my business partner, Dr Patrick White. It’s amazing what a difference it makes having someone to talk things through with and plan with. Not only is he my business partner, but he is my mentor as well. Given that he is an incredibly successful entrepreneur his advice and no-nonsense approach continues to be very valuable.

“When you’re clearer about what you are going to do, chunk it down into baby steps and avoid making big life-changing decisions.

It’s OK to take it slow and solid. Make sure each step builds on the last one and avoid the temptation to flit around changing your mind all the time. Yes, the personal development

13 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

world is filled with rags to riches tales (‘Last year I was living in a trailer park and now I’m a multi-millionaire working 2 hours a week’) but put that to one side and focus on getting the foundations in place that you can build on later. Be kind to yourself.

If you’re at the point where you could benefit from talking things over with a doctor, therapist or counsellor give yourself permission to do so.”

Look for ways to give back “Most people are overstretched these days by the demands of mountains of outgoings and bills just for even the basics in life,” says poet and environment activist, Louise Ashley (www. louiseashley. com). “Even good businesses can go under and financial security can be hard to get.

While we all need to have money for the things we need, if we don't feel we are doing what we enjoy or what is ethical for people and the environment, life can leave us still feeling empty.

When we create more sharing, less greed and hording at the expense of the many, especially people in developing countries, then I think people will feel more motivated and inspired rather being overwhelmed, dispirited, emotionally and financially bankrupt.”

Take good care of the boss “There's usually so much excitement at the start-up and then, once the honeymoon is over, things begin to change,” says Barbara Winter, author of Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for the Joyfully Jobless (www.barbarawinter.com).

“If we don't continue to find new sources of inspiration, keep our curiosity alive, what first seemed thrilling can turn into routine rather quickly. As entrepreneurs, we're the biggest asset our business has. Taking good care of the boss needs to be a high priority. Some of my successful entrepreneurial friends make daily exercise a regular part of their schedule.

Taking time away from our business is also important. It's also easy to overlook these things until they take a toll.

“Entrepreneurs need to understand cycles.

All businesses, big and small, are subject to cycles. Plan accordingly. For instance, in my

business, July is a quiet month so I always use that gift of time for exploration, spending extra time with my family, making it rich in other ways. But it took me a few years in business before I could uncover the pattern of cycles that were normal for me.”

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 13

NLP

OK to reevaluate what you're doing with your life.

It's entirely possible to remould it, professionally and financially for the better Lynette Allen

Let it all out “Although it can be the scariest thing in the world, sometimes you need to take a step back and even stop for a while,” says holistic counsellor, Rae Strauss (www. holisticcounselling.biz). “Pay into your own emotional bank account with rest, good food and the time to regain a positive mindset. If you're under a big workload taking time out can be the last thing on your mind, but if you can manage it, it can pay dividends.”

When Rae felt overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted and unable to stop procrastinating, she took a long look at what she was doing.

“Once I found clarity, it was much easier to work through things. Make a list of all that needs to be done so it is out of your mind and on paper can be frightening when you see how much is on there, but it literally is a weight off your mind which you can then view more objectively.”

Ask for help “When you hit emotional rock bottom and feel you have nothing else to give to your business, and every minor setback feels like a kick in the teeth, you have to do the hardest thing in that situation. Ask for help,” says Paul Holmes, author of A Man Derailed and founder of www.vegancookieclub.co.uk.

“The problem is that when we are at our lowest ebb we feel vulnerable, useless and a failure. We believe asking for help is admitting to failure. But looking at your business in a different perspective is crucial to moving forward. Asking for help is empowering.

Bringing others on board can make you feel engaged with the rest of the world.

“Allow yourself to have bad days. Some days, you just have to turn everything off and do something else. Emotional exhaustion is not failure, if you were physically exhausted you would sit down and rest, you have to all the same for your mind.”

Bounce back and make business even better than before While no one would choose to feel emotionally bankrupt and unable to give another ounce, paying attention and learning from these feelings could be the best thing you ever do for your business and for yourself.

How can you avoid burning out again? What daily habits can you cultivate so you take excellent care of the boss every day?

In the meantime, give yourself the time and space you need to rest and recharge. Dream a little. What would you like your days to look more like?

Sometimes, it can feel self indulgent to think about what you need but paying attention to your body’s cues (energy levels and moods are a big part of this) can help you turn your business around so work makes you happier and more energised than ever.

What tweaks could you make to feel more inspired and creative at work? Who can you ask for help? What can you do differently?

If you learn from it, one day, you’ll look back and see this time of emotional bankruptcy as a blessing in disguise.

For more confidence coaching tips and advice as well as information about telephone coaching across the UK and beyond and face to face coaching in Witham, Essex and surrounding areas and London Bridge, please visit www.applecoaching.com

14 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

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LIFESTYLE

OWN THE ROOM... well, at least part of it!

By Michele Paradise

C

onfidence...now there’s a word. But what is it? Everyone, yes I do mean everyone, I speak to would like a bit more confidence in some area of their lives. You know the people I mean, they are captains of industry but don’t feel confident buying their wife’s birthday present even though they’ve been married for 20 years. Or the woman who successfully runs a team of 150 people and is at the top her game in the office, but doesn’t have a clue what to say to a man she fancies.

For years I’ve worked in a business where you really have to look confident, no matter what you’re feeling - the fashion business.

In fact, I believe the fashion pack coined the expression ‘Fake it till you make it’. It’s quite a bizarre business.

Take a young woman, sometimes as young as 14 years old. Dress her in clothes that cost more than her parents earn in a month, pamper her with hair and make up, put her in 6 inch high heels , send her down the catwalk and expect her to project confidence, in front of several hundred people. The designer then calls her agent and says she can’t walk very well on the catwalk, she looks frightened and although she’s beautiful and everyone wants to book her, she just can’t pull it off. Well, could you?

None of us were born feeling confident, knowing how to walk in high heels pretending to be someone we’re not. But I have a strategy that I’ve used many times with models and actors to get them the best possible outcome. They don’t have time to practice as much as is needed to get them to the level of a supermodel but they can develop techniques to put them in a confident state, get a good outcome at the casting and get the job. If you don’t survive the casting, you won’t get the job anyway but you can do the best that you can to give yourself maximum advantage. This goes for any job, not just modelling. You can own the room or at least a small part of it for a short period of time and that’s all you need.

So, I’m going to unpack my casting

16 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

So put on your ‘comfortable skin’ before you put your clothes on and you will be totally prepared for anything

methods so that you can see exactly how to do it and I’m sure you will pick up some techniques that you can use for yourself or your clients, so you can be more successful in getting more clients, networking or just feeling really good when you walk into a new situation.

As we know in NLP, you need to go there first. If you want your client to be in a resourceful state, you need to go into the resourceful state first or an excited state or even a state of ecstasy. I love going there first, it’s one of the best perks of the job,

especially when it comes to hypnosis! So no matter what the situation is...a casting, a job interview, a networking opportunity...go there first. Simple and so powerful.

I see so many people enter a situation hunched over, having a deep and meaningful conversation with their internal self, and not aware of what they are projecting to the people they meet. Stop it! If you saw a person walk into a room like that, would you be inclined to listen to what they have to say? I wouldn’t. Before entering any situation, prepare yourself. You wouldn’t arrive at a party without clothes on, would you? So put on your ‘comfortable skin’ before you put your clothes on and you will be totally prepared for anything.

Now I’m going to share with you the steps I use for training models how to get the desired outcome they want at a casting and I know that these steps will resonate with you in your life even if you aren’t a model.

Before you even get to the appointment, start preparing. Learn as much as you can about the client, the job, what is expected from you, what style they are looking for and most importantly, start visualising how well the appointment is going to go. I particularly like using the spinning technique at this point. I get the model to identify where their anxiety is and at what level and reverse it and attach colour to get an even more powerful outcome. Most people who don’t know anything about NLP or claim to have trouble making pictures, find this very quick and effective to calm them down.

At this time, I also get them to fire off some good anchors of times when they were relaxed, successful and in control of their thoughts. I use the analogy of a beam of light similar to the one in Star Trek. When I refer to Star Trek I usually get a wry smile from

LIFESTYLE

them, which is a good state breaker if they are feeling particularly stressed. I get them to imagine that someone they greatly admire is in the beam, so when they take that step forward, they take on the ‘skin’ and persona of that person. I immediately see their posture, skin tone and internal voice change and then I know we’re good to go.

When you get to the venue, walk in slowly noticing as much as you can. Whenever we enter a new situation, there are usually visual and auditory stimuli in the environment.

Notice them. Look at the artwork, signs, people and any other visual or auditory stimuli. This will keep you in the moment and help you to ‘arrive’ at your destination and make a connection with the environment.

Besides, there may be something that you see or hear that you can refer to later as topic of conversation if you need one.

I always advise models to wear flat, comfortable shoes to the venue and change into high heels before they enter the room.

This has a twofold benefit, the model can travel comfortably and quickly and when she puts on the heels, her posture changes and that changes the way she feels. It’s a state changer to be elevated, even if by only a few inches.

When your name or number is called out, stand up, sort your posture out, walk into the room making eye contact with everyone.

Proffer your hand and shake hands as you clearly say your name and agency with pride.

Handshaking is so important. First of all you touch the other person and this engages another sense. Secondly, it is impossible to not look at someone when they are shaking your hand so they have to look at you. And most importantly, you are controlling the way the interview is going. You are saying ‘look at me’ and they have to. Then take a step back so that you can direct the eye of the casting director to look at you full length. That’s why you’re there!

Keep talking to a minimum. When some people get anxious, they talk too much and say stupid things. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open. People tell us stuff all the time that will help to move us forward with good information but we’re so busy talking in our heads or mouths that we miss valuable information. Models aren’t usually booked on their general knowledge of life or opinions

so this is the perfect time to watch, look and listen.

Some casting directors or interviewers will hardly even look at you and just leave you standing there. Don’t sit down. You have not been invited to a tea party. This is an interview and your desired outcome is to get the job. You want to hold your position and keep the attention focused on you in a very positive way.

If the casting director does not ask for

your portfolio or ask you to walk for them then ask them. What do you have to lose?

If you politely say “would you like to see my portfolio” or “would you like to see me walk” you have kept control of the casting and given yourself the best possible chance to get the job. I’ve even been known to start walking without even being asked. This has got me jobs in past because I might not have been what they were looking for when I walked in but they realised how well I could model and booked me. You can apply relevant techniques to any situation – the aim is to raise yourself above the rest of the crowd and be noticed and remembered.

When the interview is finished, thank everyone for their time, smile and leave as if you are on the catwalk. Remember, they’re still looking at you and could change their mind. Besides, if they don’t book you for this job they might book you for a future one!

In the fashion business as well as in other businesses attitude is everything. The only disability you have in life is a bad attitude.

So if you conduct the whole interview in a calm, controlled and attentive way, the worst thing that could happen is that you will learn something that helps you with the next one.

Even if you don’t get the job, you’ve done the best that you could do and they probably didn’t book you because your hair was the wrong colour, you’re too short, you’re too tall and any other physical reason you can think of. Not every great casting gets the job but every great casting moves you forward with confidence to the next one.

POSTURE TIP When training models, I pay particular attention to their posture as they are treated like ‘human hangers’ and if their posture isn’t good, the clothes look awful on them. Unfortunately, it’s not just models that have bad posture...I see it everywhere.

Our bodies really do say so much before we even open our mouths and having good posture is the easiest

way to get your body to ‘speak’ well to anyone you meet. I have a tool based on a Pilates exercise called the Posture Wand and this quickly and effectively sorts out posture but you can do this at home.

Take a broom or mop handle and after rolling your shoulders back 3 times in an exaggerated, 360° manner, insert the handle in the crook of

your elbows behind your back. This will immediately realign the posture and you will feel where your correct posture should be.

It will also engage the core muscles and take pressure off the lower back and if you practice this everyday for 15-30 minutes for at least a month, your muscle memory will change and you will develop a new and better unconscious posture.

Michele trains models, actors and brides to be to get a better outcome for their interview, casting or wedding and will be giving catwalk workshops at Britain's Next Top Model Live exhibition in October and will be presenting workshops at The National Wedding Show in October. Here are some contact details for Michele if you are interested in seeing her in action or having a one to one session with her. Tel: 07958607599 www.micheleparadise.com www.changeyourmindforgood.com www.thebridalcoach.co.uk Link for BNTM Live http://www.bntmlive.com/ Link for the National Wedding Show http://www.nationalweddingshow.co.uk/bridal-confidence-coaching/6509768.article

17 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 17

NLP Trauma INTERNATIONAL

By Karen Ross

N

estled in the Pacific Ocean, the islands known as Samoa are a piece of paradise: rich green hills encircled with white glistening sands and the translucent inviting sea, inhabited by a warm people with ready smiles. In September 2009, a tsunami swept through this idyllic place following an earthquake 190 km south of the islands.

Several waves hit the southern coast of the main island, Upolu, some more than 5m high and travelling over 500m inland. 148 people died, hundreds of families were displaced and thousands affected.

Even now, almost a year on, people are still suffering from nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, depression, aggressive outbursts, excessive drinking, insomnia and other typical PTSD-related (post traumatic stress disorder) symptoms. Some remain up in the hills unable to work or go to school for fear of another wave coming. Some villages have started rebuilding, others haven’t begun.

The Trauma Recovery Team Made up of NZ based NLP Trainers and Master Practitioners, the team itself is currently voluntary. We know each other through either training together or being part of one of the ongoing professional development groups in Auckland. We also invited Dr Richard Bolstad to be part of the team and he kindly agreed to run three-days of training for those we were going to help. We were thrilled to have him on board because his experience in training these trauma skills is unparalleled.

Our funding came from sponsorship and fundraising. A significant sponsor was Aggie Grey’s Hotel and Bungalows who sponsored our accommodation and meals for the whole seven days. A local travel company helped us secure discounted airfares and secured two donated flights from local airlines. The Samoan Ministry of Health paid for the cost of catering the training, and the rest of the funds were raised through friends, family and other like minded people, primarily through our website www.traumarecoveryteam.org.nz.

We’d all seen on TV that many people there were still distressed and finding it difficult to rebuild homes and villages

An idea is born Less than two months after the tsunami, the New Zealand Trauma Recovery Team was born. It all began sitting around the dinner table at my place. A few of us NLPers were having dinner together and a friend and fellow NLP Master Practitioner, Rachel Papaconstantinou, mooted the idea of going to Samoa to help people suffering from trauma. We’d all seen on TV that many people there were still distressed and finding it difficult to rebuild homes and villages. “Yes, lets!” we all said. Of course, as we talked about our plans other practitioners wanted to be involved too and soon we were a whole team rearing to go.

Within days we were contacting everyone we could think of who needed our help and who could help us get there; local funding agencies, local Samoan representatives, Apia hospital, the Samoan Ministry of Health, the Red Cross in Samoa, charitable trusts, all of our friends, families and colleagues and on it went. Within two weeks we had a formal invitation from the Samoan Ministry of Health to help with trauma recovery there. Then, after two months of fund raising, planning and preparation, seven members of our team of nine left New Zealand, on the 24th of February.

18 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

NLP Trauma Treatment NLP trauma work is being carried out around the globe, from Western Australia following the bush fires, to ground zero following the 9-11 events to the Haiti earthquake. Some of the first research I came across on this was by Dr David Muss who did a pilot study on this method, with 70 members of the British West Midlands Police Force, all of whom had witnessed major disasters such as the Lockerbie air crash (Muss, D. in British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 30, p 91-92, 1991, Muss, Dr D. The Trauma Trap. Doubleday, London, 1991).

In 1999 Dr Richard Bolstad and Margot Hamblett were invited to Sarajevo to teach local psychiatrists how to help survivors of the Bosnian war suffering from PTSD. Richard said “if there was any doubt, I believe that our work in Sarajevo is demonstrating that the core NLP techniques are robust enough to deal with the psychological aftermath of the worst experiences humankind can face.” (http://www.transformations.net.nz/trancescript/sarajevo-ending-the-

Recovery Pacific

INTERNATIONAL

in the

eternal-siege.html.)

Research has begun in the US working with war veterans – discussed

by Frank Bourke at the recent International NLP Research Conference.

He also explains “in clinical use after 9-11, NLP protocols relieved PTSD symptoms over 80% of the time in two to four hours. CognitiveBehavior Therapy, the best of the researched methods, is effective 32% of the time and takes four to nine months.” (Research Program: PTSD Protocol for War Veterans by Frank Bourke, Ph.D. & Richard F. Liotta, Ph.D. - http://nlprandr.org/?page_id=508). It was incredibly exciting to know the tools we were taking to Samoa are beginning to be recognised as some of the most effective evidence-based techniques on the planet for treating PTSD.

noticing the frangipani flowers in the ladies’ hair, seeing our team dotted around the edges and listening to the Prime Minister address us. I felt a mix of elation and disbelief; that we were there, so successfully so far, with the Prime Minister addressing us!

As we watched the participants enjoying discovering the skills and tools they were learning it felt amazing to see their transformation.

It was especially touching to hear people talking on day three about their experiences healing their own trauma during the training. One woman told me over lunch of a traumatic event she’d experienced as a teenager that she had been able to heal and move on from (now in her 60’s). She told me that in the past when she was counselling people she would hold her heart as she comforted them, as her own heart was hurting. She was so delighted she could heal herself and feel better.

On our final day, Rachel and I were fortunate enough to work with the UN. We ran a 90-minute workshop on stress and state-of-mind management for staff from five agencies including UNESCO and the Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS). The session introduced them to tools for coping with the various situations they are faced with, from crime scenes to natural disasters. We spent the afternoon facilitating and supervising individual sessions for staff suffering from a range of issues including severe and long term PTSD.

As we watched the participants enjoying discovering the skills and tools they were learning it felt amazing to see their transformation

Our Work in Samoa Our trip to Samoa was for seven days, during which time we provided three-days of training for local mental health workers and counsellors. 40 people in total registered for the training including members of the national mental health unit, Ministry of Police and Prisons, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), UNESCO, Samoan Lifeline, Samoan Victim Support, and a number of smaller local NGOs. The three days covered a range of NLP skills including rapport, outcome setting, anchoring, various communication skills, Richard Bolstad’s RESOLVE model and the NLP Trauma Process, both outlined in Richard’s book Transforming Communication (2004, Second Edition).

In-field support followed the training for several days, allowing local workers to practice their skills under supervision and enable them to build confidence and competence. Support has continued from NZ by telephone conversations and email exchanges. The team also carried out some individual sessions with both workers and victims.

Highlights Day one of the training opened with the Samoan Prime Minister welcoming the team and talking about how important the training was going to be for “re-building peoples’ minds to enable them to rebuild communities in Samoa”. It was a great feeling as I looked around the room that morning at the participants seated in rows,

19 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

Suddenly the tsunami was very real On Saturday morning the phone in my hotel room rang. It was 3am.

It was surreal hearing the hotel manager explain there was a tsunami warning in place and that we would be evacuated at 6am. The warning had gone out across the Pacific following the Chilean earthquake the previous night, measuring 8.8.

For those of us having never experienced this kind of emergency before, when the siren sounded around 4am there was a brief sense of the fear and panic many local people experience at the very thought

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 19

INTERNATIONAL of another tsunami. After our evacuation that morning and talking with people around the island on the following days, it brought home to the whole team just how very real the threat of natural disasters are there. While many people have been able to let go of the trauma and move on, we saw how traumatising these warnings can be for those still suffering from the September disaster. One woman I spoke to had been shaking all over as she drove down the hill from her home to evacuate people from their coastal fale’s (huts). She lost 13 members of her family in the 2009 tsunami, including her mother.

Challenges and Opportunities Every culture has its nuances, beliefs, language and customs, and it was vital we took care to pace all that is unique to Samoa. With his wealth of experience not only as an NLP trainer but across many cultures as diverse as Eastern Europe, Japan and China, Richard Bolstad was well placed to do this. His ability to pace and lead the participants’ Christian beliefs and local traditions was pivotal to the success of the training. His style, story telling and pacing allowed participants to receive the learnings in their own map of the world, understand them and apply them in a way that was congruent with their belief systems.

We knew it was vital to have a Samoan speaking NLP practitioner on our team, and thankfully Asenati Toilolo agreed to work with us. She translated handouts and other materials and provided a bridge in the training room when language became a barrier. While the training was held in English, there were times when translation was invaluable.

Our intention was always to leave as many resources and resourceful people behind as possible (and I don’t mean ourselves, although it was very tempting to stay behind I can tell you!) Our in-field support was crucial to helping participants integrate their skills as much as possible and develop their confidence. Much more time was needed for this in reality and this would be one of our main areas of focus on a return trip.

Not being a charitable trust proved to be our biggest challenge when it came to raising funds as many charities will only provide funds to group set us as formal charitable trusts. We weren’t ready to plunge into this kind of commitment with the time pressures of getting there as soon as possible, but for future work, this will be essential.

Outcomes and results so far Chart – Measurement of results At the end of the 3-day training a total of 29 participants were given their certification by Richard Bolstad to practice these NLP trauma skills. This was a wonderful result. (8-10 remaining participants were

To find out more about the Trauma Recovery Team, donate or read about the first trip to Samoa in detail, go to www.traumarecoveryteam.org.nz

20 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

From a big picture point of view, it has become increasingly clear that the need for trauma work like this is widespread

not certified as they could not all be there for the entire three days due to work commitments.)

It has been wonderful following up with some of the people from the training and those we did one-on-one work with and hearing how different they are experiencing life since their sessions. It is immeasurably rewarding to know we can make such a difference.

On a more quantitative level, we wanted to track the success of this work, so at the end of the training we asked participants to record (on a form we provided) the results from each session (their own trauma work or that of people they were helping). They were given a scale to measure with, based on the specific PTSD-style symptoms experienced, from 1 to 10, where 1 was ‘neutral or calm’ and 10 was ‘the worst they can think of’.

The chart indicates the mean scores for participants who did the trauma cure process. Unfortunately, due to the sheer logistics of tracking the paper work from New Zealand we have only 11 results recorded so far, so results can not be claimed yet to generalisable.

Practitioners who have used the NLP Trauma Process will know these results are very typical, certainly in my experience in private practice.

Going forward: the need is endless We know that the NGO’s we worked with very much want to incorporate these skills into their client work and would like much more help with in-field support to grow their skills. The Ministry for Police and Prisons would like their prison staff trained. There are other NGO’s inquiring about training for their staff. The woman who lost her mother and other family members is just one of many individuals we want to get back to help. There is still much to be done.

Ultimately we would like to return to Samoa with a team of 5-10 NLP practitioners for seven days to continue the work we have begun. We would be aiming to continue in-field support, carry on with one on one therapy with those individuals who need it including getting up into the hills and working with families and children in order to get them back to school, work with some of the schools that were affected by the tsunami (realistically, we could spend a whole week just doing this!) and conduct another 3-day training for other workers based in Samoa who were not able to attend the first training, and for those who did to refresh their skills. We are continuing to look at options for raising funds and would welcome any support with this (contact us easily through our website).

From a big picture point of view, it has become increasingly clear as we’ve progressed this project, spoken to agencies like Oxfam and had emails from other parts of the world that the need for trauma work like this is widespread. Oxfam here in NZ pointed out over a dozen countries just in the Pacific where this kind of work would help, and then there’s Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, China, and the list goes on. My vision is for a fully funded global trauma recovery team that can really make a difference to the peace and wellbeing of our world.

Karen Ross is an NLP Master Practitioner with a business management degree. She runs a private coaching and training practice in Auckland, NZ. She runs workshops on a range of topics including wellbeing in the workplace and speaks on Using Your Brain on Purpose. www.freshwaysforward.co.nz www.avaraconsulting.co.nz

the NLP conference

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Pre-conference workshop Friday 12th November The Customer is Bothering Me, the Client is Bothering Me, the Patient is Bothering Me! with Shelle Rose Charvet

Other confirmed speakers: Lindsey Agness Lynette Allen Judy Apps Andrew T Austin Sue Bayliss Sue Beever Fran Burgess Michael Carroll Jan Cisek Jo Clarkson Reg Connolly Colin Cox Frank Daniels Nancy Doyle Arielle Essex Marie Faire Robert Fletcher Pamela Gawler-Wright Art Giser Michael Hall Kimberley Hare Olive Hickmott David Hodgson Katie Hogg Bob Janes Di Kamp Nick Kemp Sue Knight

Hans Christian Lassen James Lawley Jeremy Lazarus Janey Lee Grace Judith Lowe Dianne Lowther Ian McDermott Iain McGilchrist Peter McNab Rupert Meese Karen Moxom Susan Norman Nick Owen Katrina Patterson Judith Pearson Patricia Riddell Julian Russell Jamie Smart Thies Stahl Robbie Steinhouse Suzi Strang Wendy Sullivan David Thompson Penny Tompkins Lisa Wake Caitlin Walker Wyatt Woodsmall

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CURRENT RESEARCH IN NLP: VOL. 1 PDF Version

This 136 page journal contains nine research papers which were originally presented at the 2008 conference

For regular updates and news check out the conference website at

www.nlpconference.co.uk

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Crown Buildings, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen SA33 5ND Tel 01267 211880 Email books@anglo-american.co.uk www.anglo-american.co.uk

NOW AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE IN TWO FORMATS

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VOL. 1

Proceedings of 200

8 Conference

Edited by Paul Tose

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ISBN 1-84469-019-9

As an online PDF emailed to you following purchase As a printed journal available to order by downloading an order form, contacting ANLP on 020 3051 6740, or emailing members@anlp.org

www.nlpresearchconference.com

CELEBRITY

Ross Davenport Olympic Swimmer

By Eve Menezes Cunningham

O

lympian Ross Davenport started swimming when he was 6 years old because his older brother wanted to go with his friends and he simply followed. While he says he was “always quite decent at the small club” Ross didn’t realise quite how good he was until he was 17 and realised he could go to the Olympics at 20.

When I’d initially tried to schedule our interview and was told he was in training, I imagined this made life quite hectic but it involves even more than I’d expected. “I get up at 6.30am, eat, take the dog for walk and am at Training for 7am” says Ross. “We stretch, do core work, Pilates and more stretching before getting into pool at 7.45am and then swim until 10am. We swim between 6500 and 7000 meters at the local swimming pool then go to the gym for an hour. Then it’s home for lunch and bed before coming back to the pool for 3.30pm, doing 20 minutes of stretching and 6000 more metres. We have Wednesday and Saturday afternoons off but it’s a full day on Sunday. 10 sessions a week plus three weights sessions.”

Competition time sounds positively relaxing in comparison. “Three weeks before, we start tapering down, winding down on volume and intensity week by week” says Ross. “A week before the competition, we do nothing. We stop all weights to avoid risking injury and just compete. So it’s just warming up and competing.”

“We get a couple of days off at Christmas and two or three weeks off after major competitions.” These generally happen twice a year with trials for whatever’s coming up and then the actual competition (Olympics, Commonwealth Games etc.)

I wondered if this extreme commitment ever wavered but when I asked if he’d ever wanted to give up, Ross said it had only been for a year when he was 14 that he’d felt like that. With two hours’ training a day on top of school and homework, he felt he was missing out on

We get a couple of days off at Christmas and two or three weeks off after major competitions the fun his friends were having hanging out in the park and playing football. But after a while, he realised that while that was fun, he wanted to give swimming his all.

Now 26, Ross stays motivated by always focusing on his own personal best. “I want to be better and think I can be. Whether that means winning medals or not.”

He credits his family as his biggest supporters. “They were practically a taxi service to and from swimming and they financed everything.

Now, since I’ve moved on and stand on my own two feet, my parents plan their summer holidays around where I’m competing so they can watch. This year they’re coming to Delhi and they’ve been to China.”

At the moment, Ross is focusing on the Commonwealth Games. “I really want to go there and perform and do myself proud. Then there’s the Olympics in two years time, competing in front of a home crowd.”

When I asked if he thought the Olympics’ legacy would inspire children more he said it already is motivating UK sports people. “We’re all more determined. Whether 14 or 26. There’s more strength and depth.”

When he looks back at all the training and thinks back to when he was 14, Ross says he spent a lot of time wondering if what he was doing was the right thing, “wanting to know if everything was going to be alright. Looking back, I’d have liked to have believed in myself a little bit more, to have strived earlier. I didn’t target going to the Olympics until it happened and didn’t believe I could go until I was actually going. I wish I’d had that belief that I could make it.”

Ross’s advice for passionate people everywhere (be that sports, arts, business, science or anything)

Believe in your own abilities

“Believe in yourself and really work as hard as you possibly can.

It doesn’t come easy. Nothing does. If life was easy everyone would do it. Do your best. If you fall short of your goals you can still hold your head high and be proud.”

What would have helped you to know when you were dealing with that?

22 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

When did you last do what felt impossible?

How did you support yourself when it felt too hard?

What could you do to make it easier and even more enjoyable this time around?

CELEBRITY

I want to be better and think I can be.

Whether that means winning medals or not

Ross’s fitness tips As the days get shorter, it might be less appealing to get up to run, swim or do yoga before you start work or the kids get up. “Start now,” says Ross. “Get into that routine. It’s all about routine. Don’t go too hard at it straight away – make your personal goals realistic. Then gradually increase them.

Start with running one mile and build up instead of trying to start with five miles.”

Photographs by Ben Duffy – SW Piks

23 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 23

CELEBRITY

With September being Oral Health Month, here are Ross’s dental tips Dental hygiene is an often overlooked area but taking good care of your teeth and gums, while keeping your teeth looking good, can also prevent heart disease. Here are Ross’s tips: 2 minutes and 30 seconds, “bristle workout”: Using a small headed toothbrush and starting at the back of the mouth I work across each tooth with a front crawl circular action, making sure I get under the gum lines. I finish off my “bristle workout” by brushing my tongue in the same manner.

1 minute, “tight spot check”: With an interdental brush recommended by my hygienist, I can get to those very hard-to-reach areas in my mouth, ensuring I am clearing as much plaque off as possible, lurking in those really tight mouth and tooth spots. It’s not as hard to do as you think, once you’ve been shown how to do it by an expert!

“Going for Gold” – the 1 minute final relay splash: Switching over from my brushing workout, I finish my twice daily oralcare fitness regime with a vigorous rinse workout with alcohol free Dentyl Active Complete Care mouthwash that works six ways to give you everything you need to complete your daily oral care regime. Holding the bottle like a dumbbell, I shake the mouthwash energetically so the two-coloured mouthwash mixes together. Using a capful of rinse, I swish the mouthwash around my mouth for about 30 seconds, and finish with a gargle. I then check to see how many bits I have dispelled into the sink. I always know when my brushing has lacked energy as there are more bits in the sink than when I am on tip-top brushing form. My mouth, teeth, gums and tongue are always left with a deep, clean feel.

Keeping my mouth fit all day: Although I stick to strictly healthy and nutritious diets, there are some foods that leave your mouth with an aftertaste, like spicy foods. This is why I always have a travel-sized bottle of Dentyl Active with me on the go, so that I can rinse my mouth after eating to get that deep, clean feel.

Avoiding personal odours: I always take precautions to avoid any undesirable personal mouth odours. So for me that means avoiding foods that can give off smelly compounds when bits get stuck in my mouth, such as garlic. But as there smelly compounds can occur naturally in my mouth as well, I know I need the right hygiene products too – a rinse and gargle with Dentyl Active keeps my breath smelling fresh all day long.

24 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

ANLP NEWS New payment facilities for members

I

n response to requests from members, ANLP have now introduced a Direct Debit facility for renewing your membership.

Paying your membership subscription by Direct Debit means that you can now renew your membership quickly and easily every year without having to dig out your credit card or send us a cheque. And of course, you are covered by the Direct Debit guarantee.

If you are noticing the effects of the credit crunch, then you may want to take advantage of our monthly or quarterly membership, which is only available to members opting for Direct Debit payment method, and does still require a minimum 12 month commitment.

To take advantage of the new Direct Debit facilities, simply contact the ANLP Office for further details by emailing members@anlp.org or call us on 020 3051 6740

CPD Survey Results

I

t's interesting to read that 95% of you think CPD is important and 56% of you currently record your CPD. You also told us that over 80% of you would like to have some simple online facilities for recording CPD... so this is something we will explore further with our new web developers in the future and see what we can do.

However, less than 2% of you were using the ANLP online programme for

ANLP PROMOTION

recording your CPD, so we decided not to renew this particular scheme when the license came up for renewal.

Thank you to all that completed the Continual Professional Development (CPD) Survey. Do please keep your eyes open for further surveys via our members newsletters – we do love to hear your opinions and this helps us to ensure we provide the right services for you.

NLP Conference Update

A

NLP will be at the NLP conference this year, which is taking place in Canary Wharf between Friday 12th and Sunday 14th November. We are exhibiting in the Grand Suite and Karen will be speaking at 1.30pm on Saturday 13th November.

We would love to meet up with you on our stand, so do please come and say hello. And if you have something specific you would like to discuss with us, like ANLP accreditation or other services, then call the office on 020 3051 6740 or email members@anlp.org and we can schedule in some specific time over the weekend to have a proper chat with you.

STOP!

Neuro Linguistic What?

W

e all know that NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming.

However, we were wondering if you could come up with any better definitions. So far, one of our Members, Reb Veale and her students have come up with these crackers!

Now Living Propitiously No Longer Pressured Nice Loving People New Life Purpose Necessary Life Prowess Neat Limitless Practice

We rather like them!

Email members@anlp.org with your new definitions.

We can’t wait to read them and will select the best ones to publish in the Winter edition.

CALLING ALL NLP TRAINERS If you are involved in NLP Training read on…

For many years now, if you haven’t had your own BRANDED NLP Practitioner Material on Audio and Video, you probably had to spend tens of thousands developing your own or, had to buy someone else’s material.

Imagine being able to have your own NLP Practitioner audio, video and supporting manual, ALL BRANDED to look like they come from YOUR Company.

At ANLP we have identified a provider of this material and having TESTED IT OURSELVES, we are keen to pass on the opportunity to our members.

This QUALITY / PROFESSIONALLY recorded NLP Practitioner material contains the syllabus of many of the well known NLP Academies. WITH OVER 500 TRACKS AND 8 VIDEOS, you can now promote your own products to support YOUR training.

FINALLY, now you can get your own BRANDED NLP PRACTITIONER HOME STUDY PROGRAM to sell to your clients and make a tidy profit!

What to do next…CALL 020 3051 6740 or email members@anlp.org and ask about having a TRIAL of your own WHITE LABEL NLP PRACTITIONER HOME STUDY KIT*

25 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 25

HEALTH

The Reality of Working with

Drugs and Addictions

By Nick Kemp & Dr Susan Elton

W

orking in private practice is a world apart from what is often taught in NLP trainings. Private clients simply don’t respond in the same way as seminar delegates, and some of the most challenging types of client are those who have drug dependencies. I talked about this recently in Boulder Colorado during the Advanced Mastery Training, pointing out that when people talk about “drug dependency” this covers a massive range of different behavioural problems. A simple swish or kinesthetic anchor often won’t have a great deal of effect and it’s important to realise that “the end behaviour” is the result of the client becoming fixed in a specific pattern of behaviour, thinking, feeling and responding in the exact same manner so the world shrinks down and becomes extremely small.

Nick regularly see clients who have drug related problems within his clinics in Leeds and Manchester. Many of these clients have already tried a host of different solutions without success. Analytical approaches mostly don’t work and often those counseling the client don’t themselves believe that there is any possibility for substantive change.

Often the drug treatment workers themselves begin to believe that the best that can be achieved is to keep the client in “a holding pattern” and hopefully gradually reduce the amount of administered drugs.

Recently Nick gave a talk to the staff members of the Leeds Community Drug Treatment Services and asked the 26 counsellors present how many of their clients would respond in exactly the same way during each weekly session, sitting the same way, asking the same questions with the exact same use of language and same tonality. Many clients were convinced that they have few, if any, choices in life and of course for many of them their world revolved totally around their drug of choice.

Interestingly many of the practitioners felt quite drained from such interactions and were very receptive to many of the

26 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

approaches Nick outlined in his own Practice in Leeds.

"As head of a busy community drug service, the most significant element I witnessed in his training for my team that has proved to be important in our work with addicted clients has been without a doubt the powerful insight he provided that profound change is not only possible and desirable - but that it is not a time bound process. We are used to assuming that our work will be slow and painstaking - Nick reminded us of the human potential for swift and dramatic change."

Sian James - Head of Community Drug Treatment Services

In NLP there is often far too much emphasis on getting the client to feel good and ignoring the reality of their life predicament

When dealing with any kind of addictive behaviour remember that there are essentially two main components The internal process of how the person thinks that creates the desires and feelings The external environments that reinforce the addictive behavioural patterns As a therapist we need to work with both of these elements to give the client any chance of real success. In NLP there is often far too much emphasis on getting the client to feel good and ignoring the reality of their life predicament. Often their social circumstances revolve around their addiction problem and such interactions are just as addictive as their chemical drug of choice! Provocative techniques as used in Provocative Therapy and Provocative Change Works assist in the establishment of positive behaviours regarding the individual being able to work, hold down personal relationships, be a provider, be a parent, sibling, son or daughter,

friend and have a healthy sex life. In other words, to live in the real world and function effectively within it.

Dr Richard Gray from Brooklyn has done some great work in the area of addictions and set up The Brooklyn Project some years ago. Nick was lucky enough to interview him www.nlpmp3.com about his work in this area, and has learned the value of consulting with specialists when developing his own work.

Richard Gray designed a system of educational exercises designed to create continuing experiences of personal well being, self efficacy, self control and a positive future orientation.

The Program is an affective and cognitive skills training program in which clients learn the following practical, experiential skills: Memory enhancement Emotional enrichment Emotional control Mood enhancement Self control Body awareness Outcome design Future orientation The program can be provided in the following formats: 16 weeks, one two hour session per week 8 weeks, two 90-minute sessions per week 4 weeks, two three-hour sessions per wee In each format he recommends two

HEALTH

was a card of a teddy bear in a sailor suit holding a bouquet of flowers saying

one-on-one sessions with each participant to ensure that the skills have been fully mastered. Facilitator trainings can be arranged as four-day intensives or to meet your schedule.

The Structure of the Program: 1. The submodality structure of memory and emotion.

2. Emotion as skill, memories as resources.

3. Creating anchors, the keys to emotional control.

4. New enhancements; gaining more depth in felt experience.

5. Constellating the deep Self; using the tools created to find a deep sense of Self and center.

6. Spreading the wealth; extending these new tools to real life circumstances.

7. On your own; creating new anchors to meet your personal needs.

8. Awakening positive history; finding more resources and connecting with your positive past.

9. Deeper depths, integrating the new elements of personal history into the felt sense of Self.

10. Defining Futures; using the felt sense of Self to create relevant, attainable futures.

11. Stabilizing futures, using Win Wenger's Image Streaming to clarify the future.

12. Visiting the future; the initiatic final exercise created by Robert Dilts and Stephen Gilligan.

(Also see http://home.comcast. net/~richardmgray/brooklynover.htm) Dr Susan Elton adds It is also possible to achieve enormous success within the traditional 10 minute appointment system of the GP surgery, in combination with alternating appointments with a Drug Therapist in a community shared care programme.

I received a pink envelope today marked “private/important”, “F.A.O. Dr S E”. Inside

“Thank you so much”. An enclosed letter read “Dr. E I cannot express my gratitude enough...when I first came to you things were horrible and I had created the situation. I actually thought I was losing my mind. I was heartbreakingly sad, angry and desperate. My actions had alienated my family I felt worthless and I thought it was the end. Now I am actually happy! The contrast to my life now is incredible. I like myself, my ambition has come back. My family are happy (understatement)My life gets better every day!!

Thank you so much. In gratitude very sincerely C.S.” I was extremely touched, and very happy for the client in question. C.S.(initials changed for confidentiality reasons) was approaching 40 and for the last 20 years had been a

It is one thing to know how to prescribe safely, it is another to be able to communicate with someone who may be desperate

chaotic intravenous heroin user, alienated from his family, without work, in shocking health, unable to maintain a relationship, and with absolutely minimal self esteem. At times he had been reduced to picking deep holes in the skin over his Achilles tendons in an effort to avoid work and obtain pain killers .It had been a rough ride, for him, for his mother, his family, and for everyone around him.

Now he has good relations with his mother and step father, is trusted with the company credit card, represents the family business,

has loads of work, gets on with his sister, has aims and achieves them, realises that other people have set backs and can help them and care for them, and knows he can address set backs himself in a constructive fashion without disappearing into a haze of heroin.

He is rightly proud of himself and knows others are too. He is stable on treatment and able to pick up his prescription weekly without supervision. He has his life back, and the risks to his health have been massively reduced. He knows he has a way to go, and he is doing really well.

What made the difference?

Communication skills and persistence.

Specifically Provocative communication techniques, combined with NLP. That and our being determined we would not fail him and his family.

In our inner city practice of 14,000 patients we have roughly 120 substance misusers on our register. Some have dropped out of treatment, some are in prison, some have moved away to start afresh elsewhere, and some have entered rehabilitation programmes. The remainder are seen regularly by ourselves in the community drug shared care programme. Over the last 3 years 12 have been unable to engage in treatment, of the remainder all but 35 are in some form of recovery, either abstinence or steadily decreasing substitute prescribing, of the remaining 35 we still see, enormous progress is being made. Their families and their children also benefit massively, alongside the obvious benefits to themselves.

I did not initially choose to work with substance misusers, yet it became increasingly obvious that our community needed this service. IVDU have a seven times greater chance of dying of all the other causes of death put together, than someone else their own age. It seemed ridiculous to ignore it. It is one thing to know how to prescribe safely, it is another to be able to communicate with someone who may be desperate, ashamed, defensive and convinced everyone despises them. Who may have had a horrible childhood, and may well have started using heroin at the age of 12.

I have attended numerous courses to learn a variety of communication skills and techniques. I have found that this has made the difference with which to quite literally unlock the future for people and their families, in both this and the next generation.

It is rewarding work which is so very worthwhile and I heartily recommend it.

For more on Nick Kemp’s work see www.nickkemp.com

27 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 27

COACHING

MIRACLE OF VOICE Learn how to speak to people with power and influence

By Judy Apps

T

o communicate you use your voice … as well as gesture, posture, breathing and your general state. The sounds you make are infinitely subtle and communicate far more than the words you choose. So if you are interested in connecting with other people, the voice is a highly important part of that communication.

If you can learn how to connect with people at a deep level through your voice, you have a priceless instrument at your command.

The human has a big head and a big body, and in between there is the narrowing that is the neck. In that in-between area sit the vocal cords, our voice box. What mystery placed the vocal cords just there, mid-way between head and heart, mind and body?

And what does it mean to us as communicating beings?

Our amazing voice Let’s remind ourselves first of all how we speak.

The basic sound is produced by vocal cord vibration. To make that sound we breathe in through nose and/or mouth (above the narrowing) and the air enters our lungs (below). From there the air passes across the vocal cords and out through the mouth (above). The sound made by the

28 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

vibration resonates throughout the body in varying degrees (or at least can do so if we permit it to).

Many people assume that speaking is just a ‘head job’ – an intellectual process. They have the sensation of thinking in the head, taking air in through nose or mouth and speaking through the mouth, articulating the sound with lips, tongue and teeth. They are not aware of any other part of the body playing a part at all.

Sounds communicate far more than the words you choose This is to miss major parts of the process however. First of all, the trigger to speak is an impulse in the body that is not the same as thinking. It’s an energetic call to action. This is the impulse which causes your body to get involved in taking in breath in a particular way and begins the process of producing particular sounds. You speak because you are enthused, determined, angry, anxious, inspired or interested, because you have a desire to help, to impress, to convince, to charm, to motivate or reassure: that’s the impulse.

Let’s say for example I am having a debate with you and you make a statement that I violently disagree with. In my eagerness to refute your statement I am quick to respond; I take a rapid breath which organises my body in such a way that the sound comes out resonating sharply again the breast plate and in the head.

Maybe, on another occasion I glance at someone beside me whom I love very much and am filled with a beautiful loving feeling which arouses the desire to say something. The breath I take, suffused with love, opens cavities around my heart and chest which resonate softly when I say my words of endearment.

It is the breath, affected by the trigger (desire, intention, emotion etc.) which moves the muscles of the body to open particular combinations of resonating cavities which then vibrate to make the particular quality of sound that expresses the intention accurately.

This is the miracle. Through this means we

COACHING

HEAD

We breathe through nose or mouth Vocal cords vibrate

BODY

Sounds vibrate through the whole body

Sounds issues from mouth

Air enters lungs

express in sound the intention in our being.

The vibration of the resonating cavities is the result of our intention and different resonances hold different meaning. Listen to the sounds of people speaking and you will hear the different energies.

The high-pitched resonance of the head comes into play when we are excited or enthusiastic.

“Wow, that’s brilliant!” we exclaim, and the voice comes out high and bright resonating in the bones of the head.

The chest bone resonates strongly when we express our opinions and beliefs. “I am sure that it’s the right thing to do.” we assert, and the sound resonating in the chest sounds confident and trustworthy.

A lower softer resonance is engaged around the area of heart when we express feelings - as opposed to talking about them. “The island is an amazing special place,” we tell someone, and the sounds are subtle and low as we feel again the emotions we associate with our visits there.

The deepest resonance is the sound of unconditional instinctive belief which resonates in the gut. The sound resonates from deep in the body as we speak some fundamental truth, “I trust you.”

“This is what it’s about.” The sound goes beyond opinion or feeling to express deep knowing.

Thus, the way the voice resonates has an amazing story to tell. The voice has this capacity to express simultaneously many different aspects of a person in a wondrous simultaneous interweaving of different resonances. This gives glorious nuance and variation to our expression, as subtle and revealing as the visual fleeting passing of an emotion across a face, or the change in the reflective shine of an eye.

Our amazing voice … ...except when it isn’t What stops us from expressing ourselves in sound?

29 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

What mystery placed the vocal cords just there, mid-way between head and heart, mind and body?

This miracle of sound doesn’t happen if we introduce tension into the process. So, if we stiffen our shoulders, grit our teeth, tighten our jaw or narrow our throat none of that subtle resonance happens. The sound that emerges is constricted, hard edged and without variation – dull, in a word.

Tension in the throat, jaw, neck, mouth or tongue blocks the free flow between head and body and this blockage causes our voice to have to choose: resonate in the head or resonate in the body?

Choosing head Some of us with tightness around the narrowing between head and body make sounds which resonate from above the neck. We make high sounds or light sounds. The voice is able to rise a little in pitch when we get enthusiastic about anything, but lacks any depth of resonance. We have no auditory way of expresses deeper shades of feeling. The voice may sound nasal, throaty, shrill, shallow, piercing or lightweight but always monotonous if listened to for any length of time.

Choosing body Some of us in tensing the narrowing cut ourselves off from resonance in the head and all our sounds issue from below. As a result we are unable to sound excited or enthusiastic. “That was fantastic,” we exclaim in a low unvarying

voice with enthusiastic sounds entirely lacking. But equally we are unable to use the deepest tones.

Our voice resonates just below the throat and sounds flat – so flat in fact that people often doubt the veracity of what we are saying!

What causes that physical tightening?

Ah, this is where it gets interesting.

Tension of the moment Sometimes we tighten physically because of stress.

For example, we have been tussling with awkward emails for an hour on the computer, and someone interrupts us with a question. We turn to answer it with all the physical tension of the previous effort still gripping our shoulders and ‘mouse’ arm and our voice comes out constricted.

A good example of tension of the moment is performance anxiety. When we stand to speak at a podium on an important occasion we may hold our shoulders and upper body stiffly and as a result our voice cannot resonate below that tight area.

The sound comes out constricted and high which so troubles us when we hear it that we stiffen even more and the voice comes out in a squeak!

Dissociation A little earlier I explained that the breath moves the muscles of the body to open the resonating cavities through the energy of inner intention, desire or emotion.

Some people regularly hide that inner energy from the world and so it cannot be expressed in the voice. This happens when a person is dissociated.

NLP makes the important distinction between association and dissociation. To discover what dissociation is, you may have practised an exercise where you take a step back out of emotion and body feeling into a place of greater objectivity (sometimes called 3rd position). You can do this as a deliberate act to gain more objectivity, but

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 29

COACHING

We express in sound the intention in our being it also happens to many people early in life as an involuntary protective reaction to painful emotion or other trauma and becomes their habitual way of being. In stepping out of the living energy of ‘the now’ for whatever reason you step out of the possibility of expressing that energy in voice or body.

You can still of course make the sounds of expression in your voice; you can speak higher and lower, faster and slower etc. but any expression will not be the direct manifestation in sound of inner energy and therefore will not have the impact of a voice which connects with your inner energetic flow. It will be expression pasted on.

Listen to certain politicians and you will hear expression pasted on. Many times these same politicians have had technical voice coaching, but the discerning listener is never fooled by mere expressiveness; at some level they know that it’s pretending. You won’t believe a word of what they say if the expression does not connect with inner energy and feeling.

Someone whose voice resonates fully knows how to tune into the inside as well as focusing outwards to their listener. Many of us do one or the other. There are those who push outwards with their sound, forcing the voice to their bidding and creating sounds that have no music or feeling. There are others who ‘stay on the inside’, creating thoughts and feelings but in the process of making words failing to reach the outside at all.

As the martial arts teach us, the ideal state is ‘not too tight and not too loose’; neither gripping, pushing and forcing nor letting go, giving up and letting the energy slump. When I hold a singing bowl in my palm to make it ring, I don’t grip it tightly, but equally I don’t let it fall from my hand: not too tight, not too loose. If you have ever heard a singing bowl you will know how powerful and true the sound can be.

Another way of thinking of it is to be energetic and relaxed at the same time. That is the state of mind of all successful performers.

Learn how This is something you can learn how to do. When someone comes to me for voice coaching, whether for general voice improvement or because they have an imminent important presentation to make, I often show them how to allow their intention to flow directly from breath into sound without being gripped or held. If you try it, you’ll enjoy the wonderful sensation it gives you as you turn internal energy into sound and hear the increase in authority, integrity and sheer life that results.

You will also love the possibility this gives you of connection, for as your voice connects with your intention and breath it resonates with that intention – bright chest sounds for confident statements, softedged sounds for feelings, brilliant high sounds for excitement – all with subtlety and nuance.

People listening to you then catch your energy and intention and are influenced by your speaking. Their emotions are engaged; they are moved or motivated.

Your voice is transparent and they hear not just a voice, but YOU.

Manufactured voices There is another way of pretending, and that is when a speaker has invented their voice to make it more imposing or acceptable. You can usually detect the fiction even when they don’t realise they are pretending. First, there is a tiny pause before their sound comes out as they ‘put on’ the voice; second, the voice though maybe rich, resonant or imposing is very ‘samey’; third, it’s not interesting; you get bored with it. You will often find that voice in people who seek to produce received pronunciation in patrician tones!

The voice that really speaks The how of a truly expressive voice is very simple.

1. Relax body and mind.

2. Have an intention, a desire, an impulse to communicate.

3. Don’t stop or hesitate after your breath: flow straight from thinking/feeling into sound.

Judy Apps, speaker, author, trainer and coach This is just one of several themes in Judy’s book, Voice of Influence, published by Crown House. As well as one-to-one coaching she runs open courses in London on voice and public speaking, communication, leadership and coaching. Go to www.voiceofinfluence.co.uk for more information, plus free e-courses and free downloadable articles on voice, communication, presentation, NLP and more.

30 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

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Seduced by NLP? NLP

By Judy Rees

A

cross the internet, NLP is advertised as a method of seduction and manipulation. Increasingly, that’s people’s first impression of the field. What are the implications for NLPers? Judy Rees

reports.

It’s a secret weapon of mass destruction in the war of the

sexes…

It gives you extreme power to get people to do whatever you want…

It makes you magnetically attractive and irresistibly influential… … and the fact you’re reading this means you already know about it. Because these are descriptions of NLP. Research NLP online, and you’ll soon find the ads and forums about seduction. Aimed at young men, they promise to teach tricks and techniques to get girls to do whatever you want.

When I first encountered this tacky material a few years ago, I was initially repelled. But later, my curiosity overcame my disgust, and I started to explore. I discovered some fascinating material – and a huge range of views.

According to Milton Keynes-based NLP trainer Michael Beale, women do tend to be curious. “When I’m doing trainings I always have some seduction books about – and it’s usually the women who are fascinated by them.

“Girls tend to grow up being interested in relationships, and reading about them, boys don’t. And there comes a huge crash in the teenage years when they have to sort this stuff out.”

Michael sells a range of seduction materials. The need seems obvious to him – many men, perhaps most men, just don’t know how to approach female strangers in an appropriate way. “Talking to new people is a real fear, and overcoming it requires real courage,” he said.

As an NLP trainer, standard NLP persuasion techniques such as anchoring and embedded commands naturally feature in Michael’s courses. But, he said, it’s most useful for most people to learn to say what they actually want from a transaction, and to ask for it directly, before adding the influencing patterns.

He’s tried out some of the non-NLP seduction techniques, such as telling people that he’s a palm reader, or asking a stranger: “Do magic spells work?” He said: “The thing is, if you always say what you’ve always said you’ll always get the same reaction. The seduction material enables people to explore new approaches and is often more effective at opening a connection between two people than traditional NLP.” Glasgow-based Rintu Basu, author of The Persuasion Skills Black Book, loves NLP persuasion techniques. He uses them very freely and openly – in the book, in his blog posts, even on Twitter – so that his readers can share his enthusiasm.

32 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

It makes you magnetically attractive and irresistibly influential

NLP

I have refused to train people who have a very negative attitude towards women, and were wanting to learn specific seduction techniques

Whenever you’re communicating with somebody, you cannot not influence. Rintu’s solution is to be honest about your own agenda – for example, if he’s asked for book recommendations, to say up-front that he has his own products to sell.

But despite his passion, he draws the line at training the hard-core seduction community.

He said: “I can be quite sneaky and I don’t have a halo. But I have refused to train people who have a very negative attitude towards women, and were wanting to learn specific seduction techniques.”

For Rintu, there’s a purely practical reason to avoid using persuasion techniques ‘unethically’. He said: “If you’re taking people to places they don’t want to go, eventually they’re going to realise it. You’ll lose face, lose credibility, lose respect.”

Nathan Thomas, aged 19 and originally from Auckland, has been fascinated by NLP since he was 15 and recently co-trained in London with Rintu. He said: “Persuasion is just one area in which NLP is applied.

If you get behind the marketing hype, it’s remarkable how similar NLP for persuasion and NLP for coaching actually are. If someone uses something unethically, that’s not the fault of the modality, it’s the fault of the person.”

John P Morgan runs short persuasion courses in London which include NLP techniques. He said: “When it comes to persuasion, I think there is obviously great value in learning NLP as long as you remember that NLP is not all there is. NLP covers only a fraction of what is to be found in the arts and sciences of persuasion and influence.”

Windsor-based Chris Morris was the first of my interviewees to express the view that the ‘seduction’ model of NLP can be positively harmful – to the people being taught it, who themselves may have been ‘seduced’. Chris runs the largest online forum website for NLP and discussions about seduction techniques are common.

“Open forums give you an insight into what people new to NLP really want to know about. We see that it's the influencing and seduction techniques that attract most people - they are the major routes into NLP,” he said.

33 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

“Lots of people think NLP will give them the power to control others. That's an attractive idea to some, especially if they're having a hard time of things, and it's easy to seduce people into spending their money on learning so-called secrets that successful people know and others don't.”

Chris said he’s concerned that newcomers to NLP soon find themselves on a damaging journey though – learning clever ways to project the mask of how they want to be seen while hiding their natural, authentic selves.

“NLP has a crowded marketplace. The economics mean that most trainers can’t afford to sell you just one product. Instead they push the paradigm of a journey, of becoming, of taking more and more courses.

It's like trying to climb Escher's staircase. It cannot work.”

He doesn’t accept the argument used by some trainers (including Speed Seduction guru Ross Jeffries in the last edition of Rapport) that “It’s just marketing, pacing their reality. Once we get them in the room, we teach them what it’s really about.”

Chris said: “I know that's what a lot of them try to do. And good luck to them! However, I think the frame they put around the training is at least as powerful as the content of the training. If you make it about being powerful and having power over others, that's what most people will filter for. Sometimes the trainer will successfully reframe expectations but often I've found people go to learn new ways to trick people and they get deeper into the idea of trickery.”

Andy Smith, Manchester-based NLP trainer and expert in Emotional Intelligence points out that influence techniques are morally neutral.

When someone visits a therapist they want to be influenced.

He thinks that most of the popular NLP persuasion techniques are short-term and self-limiting. People using them tend to come across as sleazy, and their “victims” will be left baffled and/or annoyed.

Like Chris, Andy’s concerned with the effect on the 'persuader'. He said: “There’s an issue not just for manipulators and seducers, but NLP enthusiasts in general, about approaching every human interaction with a desired outcome of getting the other person to do something

rapport - Autumn 2010

| 33

NLP

or at least agree with them. This kind of outcome focus doesn’t allow for genuine conversations - dialogues in which we can genuinely connect with another person, learn something new, increase our selfawareness, and even change our minds.”

One NLPer who’s benefitted indirectly from the seduction world is Joergen Rasmussen, a Norwegian change worker whose book, Provocative Hypnosis, received a massive boost last year when it was endorsed by Ross Jeffries. Like Chris Morris, Joergen thinks the NLP industry is an unhealthy mess, a “pyramid certification” scheme, so he kept his distance from it until he began to publicise his book.

He said: “A lot of people get into NLP because they want some sort of power or advantage over other people, and when you look at the courses that sell well a lot of them seem to be about getting power over people. I don’t think it’s ethical - it might be a pace-and-lead to some extent, but if that’s happening, I really doubt.”

On the other hand, he said, there could be great value in acknowledging our desire for power, and embracing it as a part of the human condition – as people like Ross Jeffries have apparently done.

He said: “I like the feeling of power too, I’m not going to lie.

“If you look at a lot of people’s personal growth projects, they want to be happy and powerful and secure and certain or whatever, and all the flip sides of those coins they want to disown. It is a Nazi project and it will result in huge shadow elements.

“I think a lot of NLPers are exploiting that wave by promising, ‘You can become this and this and this’. That perhaps to me is the most unethical side to it. Instead of helping someone to become more humane and acknowledging, tolerating, owning more aspects of their own personhood, many people use NLP to kill aspects of themselves.”

Kent-based commercial influencer (and NLP ‘guru-maker’) James Lavers is critical of the Black Book and many seduction products, but not because they are unethical. He believes they represent an outmoded understanding of persuasion.

James said: “It’s based on an impoverished model – the idea that influence and persuasion is something you do to somebody so that they think the way you want them to think, and do what you want.

But the bottom line is that most people don’t want to think the way I want them to think, and aren’t going to.

“The model needs to evolve a bit.

“My view is that ‘all hypnosis is self hypnosis’ – we influence ourselves.

And we have agents – a sales person or our kids – who can influence the influence process, to influence us to influence ourselves.

“If you can figure out what somebody wants with enough specificity then influencing them to go get it can become very easy.”

Jamie Smart of Leicester-based Salad takes a similar view. Jamie said: “Back when I was selling influence training, I loved using techniques in the copy I wrote. It was congruent with the training and with where I was at the time. I liked that what I was doing was an example of what I was talking about. People would buy the stuff saying that they really admired the copy. It was a bit trainspottery: seeing it done well made people think, ‘I want to do that’.

If you can figure out what somebody wants with enough specificity then influencing them to go get it can become very easy.

“Now I think that persuasion is more of a process: 1. Recognise that you don’t need anything to be OK – then you won’t be using somebody else to get something 2. Figure out what value you are looking to provide them in their life 3. Find out what their perceived wants and desires are, and figure out how to provide them.

“When people think they need something – that their security and well-being or whatever is dependent on getting clients or a job or a girlfriend or some money – that is the start of a toxic sales and persuasion process. People who are needy in their interactions are more likely to be manipulative.

“So start by being aware that you don’t need anything to be OK. You don’t need techniques. You are enough as you are.”

So, have I persuaded you that the issue of ‘NLP seduction’ has hidden depths? Where do you stand on the ethics debate – and what difference does it make to what you actually do? I’d love to hear more views – email me at judy.rees@gmail.com

34 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

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NLP

PERFORMANCE

CONFIDENCE

By David Griffiths

T

his article is an exploration of evidence for the effectiveness of NLP in building confidence for musicians entering a music competition.

Earlier this year I was attending a Rally for the Banjo Mandolin and Guitar Federation which involves, amongst other activities, competitions for musicians to enter to win trophies in a variety of categories involving performance and musicianship. Having some time available I offered some free NLP sessions for musicians who would like help with their performance confidence. A golden opportunity for instant feedback, for the client about to take part in a performance and for myself to evaluate the change work. I had four people take up the offer.

I saw one on her own and the other three in a group session.

After attending my sessions three of them came first in their competitions and one came second.

I was amazed at the results and also curious. It would be easy for me to attribute their success to the NLP change work. They could all of course have been brilliant musicians who won despite their nerves so I followed up their success by asking them each to write me some feedback about their experience.

I will outline the change work I did with them, their feedback and my thoughts.

position they were asked what they noticed, what they would change and what they learned about themselves. I then asked them to go to meta position as observer of the whole event.

Mental rehearsal - Each musician was asked to rehearse their performance from waiting for their turn to perform to taking their seat, introducing their piece, preparing themselves to play, playing, imagining a fluent performance, hearing the applause and leaving the stage.

Affirmation - I checked each player believed they had the technical ability to play their competition piece. I then asked each of them to tell me they were “great players” and we built affirmations in present tense language. “I am a good player”, “I know this piece”, “ I am focussed and calm when I play”. Each player was asked to create affirmations that worked for them and to use this for their internal dialogue.

Being present - Most of the players recognised their internal dialogue was mind reading the audience and what they would be thinking.

They created scenarios of things going wrong and negative or hostile intentions of audience and judges (dissociated). The perceptual positions exercise helped to change this negative perspective. I now asked them to practice bringing their attention to focus completely on the music (associated) as they began to play, their love of playing, the joy of expression and their enjoyment of the piece as they played, in other words staying associated and present.

Just before they begin to play to imagine they have just played the whole piece with complete confidence

Change work Breathing - Slow breathing to focus the mind and get oxygen into the blood stream. To breath before playing and during playing.

Breathing out on the first note.

Anchoring - Each player created anchors for states of confidence from other areas in their lives. To use the anchor as preparation and if necessary as they sit down to play.

Imagining - Just before they begin to play to imagine they have just played the whole piece with complete confidence.

Circle of confidence - identifying what confidence meant for each player. What they would see, hear, feel if they were confident, how they would look, what their posture would be and what they would believe about themselves. They put each of these resources into a circle (or shape of their choosing) and stepped in and out adjusting the resources until the experience was what they wanted and they were congruent.

Perceptual positions - I asked each player to sit as if they were about to play with the audience in front of them and the judges to the side. I then asked them to sit in the audience to see themselves as the audience would see them and the same for the judges. In each

36 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

Feedback Annette: “I found the whole experience helped me greatly. I wondered at the time if I would have a problem applying what you told me but I didn't and would really like to learn more.”

Elizabeth: “I've always become very nervous when I have to play solo, or when I feel "exposed" when playing in an orchestra or band. I had a very short session with Dave at the BMG Summer School last year, which I found useful. I became much better at playing when exposed, and the more confident I was about the music and my ability the less trouble I had.

When I decided to enter the solo competitions at the BMG Rally, one of my main worries was the effect of my nerves on my playing. Even playing for my teacher was hard work.

The [NLP] session made me feel much more relaxed and actually looking forward to being able to show off my abilities in the competition. I planned my schedule so that I would have time to compose myself before each competition (I was doing two solos).

Unfortunately the first one didn't work - I arrived 10 minutes early, to

NLP discover that the competition was running ahead of time and they were waiting for me. Although I tried to take my time setting up I was rattled, and not practised enough in the technique to overcome the unexpected! My hand shook and although the overall impression wasn't too bad I missed all the difficult bits. Interestingly, this made me even more determined to get the next competition right, particularly as it was the one that mattered the most to me. This time, when I arrived early believing that I was the first to play, I did not allow a change of playing order to throw me. I sat and imagined myself playing perfectly. I took time setting up, I breathed properly before playing, and I enjoyed what I was doing - and at the end I knew I had performed very nearly as well as I could, and all the nuances I wanted to get into the piece were there.”

Rachel: “[The NLP] Session started with some general tips for performance. Two that felt really useful were improving relaxation and getting rid of tension by concentrating on our breathing especially concentrating on breathing out and looking at the last few bars of a piece and imagining that you had just finished playing the piece and were now going to play it for the second time.

Before the ensemble playing I tried the breathing exercise which was good and imagining finishing the piece already, I felt quite calm and focussed before we started playing. During the performance I could feel myself starting to get tense and lose focus but there was enough time during and between pieces to “reset” using the breathing technique and the anchor. I felt focused and able to “lose myself” in some of the pieces and it had almost been enjoyable and found I could refocus fairly easily when needed.

Before the duet I didn’t think I was feeling too anxious. I tried the breathing exercise which seemed to help. The time before we started playing felt a little bit rushed and I probably said I was ready to play before I was – I felt focused but not relaxed but it didn’t really feel like that was going to get better however long I waited and using the anchor didn’t seem to make any difference. The first few bars went OK but then my right hand started to shake and got to the point where I was unable to play. I had to stop for a few bars and found it difficult to get back in as everything felt too fast. I managed to finish the piece but my hand was shaking and the whole thing felt out of control and on the verge of falling apart again. I felt very frustrated with myself and that I had let [my duet partner] down, I hadn’t felt calm or relaxed although I think focus again was better. Overall the session did help, certainly in the ensemble playing, and my focus was better in the duet which was probably what enabled me to get back in again rather than completely panic!”

Vivien: “I am pretty sure that I would not have won the class without Dave's help, and I will be using the [NLP] technique not only for public performances but also at lessons and during rehearsals - it works! The confidence session helped me a great deal and I felt automatically much calmer afterwards and that sense of calm and confidence was still there the next day when my performance was due to take place.

Prior to the competition, I used a couple of the techniques learned during the confidence session and was able to absorb myself in the music without being concerned with having an audience. This was something I had previously not been able to do."

My thoughts How do we know if NLP is effective. One criteria is the change in behaviour from the client’s present state (problem) to their desired state (outcome). If the change is the outcome the client wants then this would appear to be an effective outcome. If its more than that its added benefits. For the practitioner, feedback loops provide evidence of change, difference and direction. Sensory acuity and rapport provide feedback for congruence and reading client state. Change can either be immediate or take place over time. The final call is with the client. They will tell you if they have a conscious awareness of the change or their own feedback loops will inform them of change if it is unconscious and over time.

Of the three who won first prize their feedback reported behaviour change which benefited their performance both in preparation and during the event. Elizabeth learnt from her first performance to expect the unexpected after being thrown by a change of time schedule and resolved to build that into her practice which on second application meant she stayed present and was able to effectively apply her skills. Vivien reported her intention to apply her skills in other areas (transference) like lessons and rehearsals. Annette wasn’t sure she could apply her skills when it came to the performance and was pleased when she could (belief ). She also wanted to learn more.

Rachel, was not pleased with her performance and found her state nearly collapsed because the tempo of the piece seemed too fast. Despite this some of the skills had worked, in particular her focus on the music which enabled her to recover enough to finish the piece and in her first performance she used her breathing and anchor to regain a resourceful state in between pieces.

My learning has been to build in more strategies for clients for maintaining state when the unexpected happens. To create awareness that confidence is not the same as success. I am now also including change work on letting go of the need to be perfect.

I believe success and failure are not useful terms to use when evaluating the benefits of NLP, it either works for the client or it doesn’t or something in between. What I look for is difference, result and feedback. All four players reported a difference in their approach to playing in a competition and tangible benefits from applying new skills and awareness. Three of them said they would continue to practice and improve their techniques and two were keen to develop their skills further. This is evidence of change.

The players began by describing their state prior to the NLP sessions with words like ‘fear’, ‘exposed’, ‘nervous’ and ‘tension’ and after their performances with words like ‘relaxed’, focused’, ‘enjoyed’, ‘looking forward’ and ‘calmer’. If this is the change that happened after just one session imagine the benefits for each of them as they continue to practice their skills for as we all know, the path to mastery is practice, practice, practice.

David Griffiths is an NLP master practitioner and trainer. He welcomes your feedback. You can contact him at david@metamorphosis.me.uk or phone him on 0845 466 0259 (local rate) www.metamorphosis.me.uk

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BUSINESS

Paradox Coaching Pat Hutchinson introduces the exceptional Harrison Assessment coaching tool – the tool that doesn’t label and supports the expansive ’subjective experience’ ethos of NLP

A

s management and leadership development trainers specialising in the use of NLP in business we have lost count of the number of times we have been offered the opportunity to use various assessment tools in our work. Until 5 years ago we resisted all such attempts on the basis that they invariably work on the basis of a system of labelling, may or may not be prone to ‘fixing’ and often work on too few ‘traits’ to be accurate. When we discovered the Harrison Assessment tool, which is based on paradox and enjoyment theory, we became excited for a number of reasons – Preferences – It takes into account enjoyment factor both in relation to tasks and to working environment when assessing job suitability. Recently Harvard Business School published a piece of research which proved beyond doubt something that NLPers have know for a long time, ie, that if people enjoy what they are doing they will achieve high levels of performance.

So what is the Harrison Assessment, how does it work and how can it be used in conjunction with NLP to provide a powerful coaching tool?

Accuracy – To date we haven’t found anyone who has argued with the accuracy of this instrument. It works on a much higher number of trait combinations than its competitors producing high levels of accuracy.

Wider Considerations – The Assessment takes into account personality traits (attitudes, motivations, interpersonal skills, decision-making tendencies and personality balance), task preferences, work environment

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preferences and interests.

No stereotyping – The assessment doesn’t generalise the resulting profile into a colour or type making it impossible to ‘hide behind’ the results. Users are not therefore tempted to use their profile as a justification for behaviour. The tool is designed to open up possibilities for more flexible behaviour and when used in conjunction with NLP tools and techniques provides a powerful coaching and recruitment tool.

No fooling – The system has a consistency rating based on the way the questions are asked. If it detects inaccuracies it will ask for the on line questionnaire to be repeated.

The paradox concept – In their excellent book ‘Built to Last’ Collins and Porras refer to the ‘Genius of the AND’ instead of the ‘Tyranny of the OR’. In other words, for example, the power to operate at a strategic level is a combination of risk taking and analysing pitfalls not one or the other. A shortfall will produce either impulsiveness or over cautiousness respectively. The HA encourages the development of this combination in the form of 12 different paradoxical graphs, an example of which is explained in detail later in this article.

Each graph indicates behaviour under stress conditions as well as the user’s usual behaviour.

Valuable Reports - Once completed the user has access to a wide range personal development and recruitment reports.

asking them to place 8 statements for each question in order of preference. This normally takes between 15 and 20 minutes to complete. The statements are repeated in slightly different formats to check for consistency. Reports will only be generated once the appropriate consistency level has been reached. The reports we have been using for coaching with our clients as well as our open programme clients are the Paradox Graph and Narrative.

The Paradox Graph and Narrative The Paradox graph is divided into 12 individual graphs arranged over 4 stages which can be related to leadership or project achievement – initiating (an idea or project), motivating (self and others), implementing and maintaining.

On each graph the vertical axis represents the strong (yang) trait and the horizontal axis the soft (yin) trait. The twelve paradox graphs are – Strong – Soft Traits Initiating Opinions

Certain – Open/Reflective

Decision Approach

Analytical – Intuitive (example shown below)

Strategic

Risking – Analyses Pitfalls

Motivation Self Motivation

So what is the Harrison Assessment, how does it work and how can it be used in conjunction with NLP to provide a powerful coaching tool?

The Harrison Assessment (HA) was founded in 1990 by Dan Harrison ‘to help companies optimise their human capital by leveraging their deep understanding of human resources and psychology’. It is used widely in Asia, the USA and the Middle East and is just beginning to become popular in Europe.

Users complete an on-line questionnaire

Driving

Self Acceptance – Self Improvement Self Motivated – Stress Management Enforcing – Warmth and Empathy

Implementing Communication

Frank - Diplomatic

Innovation

Persistent – Experimenting

Delegation

Authoritative – Collaborative

Maintaining Power

Assertive – Helpful

Organisation

Organised – Flexible

Strategic Acumen

Optimistic – Analyses Pitfalls

BUSINESS

The beauty of the Harrison assessment is that it allows the coach to get right to the heart of the matter very quickly Here is one of the 12 paradox graphs – this one relates to the user’s approach to decision making and is a real example of a client I shall refer to as Brian.

Brian has scored 9 on analytical (strong trait) and 5 on intuitive (soft trait). His resulting usual behaviour was a tendency to use logical intuition 50% of the time and to be laser logical the rest of the time (as indicated by the blue sphere of behaviour

in the top half of the graph).

The grey spot in the bottom right of the graph indicates that under stress he might lose his sense of logic and become non-logical.

Paradox Coaching Harrison Assessment and NLP – a Powerful tool for coaching!

Think of the Soft and Strong traits as values – for example Brian has a strong value around analysis and logic when making decisions.

Some of the time he was happy to use his intuition but most of the time he preferred the data necessary for him to analyse. When put under pressure he reverted to non-logic which often left the people around him confused and mistrusting his judgement due to inconsistencies. In order to balance these traits and bring them into the ‘balanced versatility’ quadrant (top right) Brian needed to develop his intuitive skills.

During coaching Brian revealed a number of limiting beliefs around analysis. It transpired that he was happy to combine analysis with a degree of intuition for what he referred to as ‘low level’ decisions relating to everyday activities. However, whenever decisions requiring longer term commitment were required his tendency to over analyse was not only

frustrating his peers but sometimes leaving the organisation behind the competition as the team struggled to gain his commitment.

In order to help Brian to balance this trait we used a submodality shift – transferring the image of the analytical decision into the submodalities of one which was based more on intuition. We then re-enforced this with a new behaviour generator so that he could see himself generating quicker well thought through decisions.

These are just two techniques we used to help Brian. Experienced NLP practitioners can be creative with other techniques – for example, having established the beliefs surrounding the values we have used collapsing and creating anchors, perceptual positions and visual squash as well as techniques from Core Dynamics and other personal development technologies.

The beauty of the Harrison assessment is that it allows the coach to get right to the heart of the matter very quickly whether in a training session such as a Certified NLP Practitioner programme or one to one coaching with senior executives in organisations.

For more information on how to access Harrison Assessment and other available reports contact Pat Hutchinson or David Molden at Quadrant 1 International www.quadrant1.com 0870 762 1300 info@quadrant1.com

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RESEARCH

The Second NLP Research Conference Cardiff University

School of Healthca re Studies Ysgol Astudiaethau Gofal Iechyd

By Eve Menezes Cunningham

I

t’s natural to want reassurance and studies and research can help provide it. Sadly, there hasn’t been much available in the field of NLP so it’s exciting to learn about some of the research now being carried out.

At the second bi-annual NLP and Research Conference at Cardiff University this July, there were plenty of people happy to share their research with a wider audience.

Covering everything from research techniques and the way musicians create to looking at how NLP can be used to help at risk teenagers society has already given up on, each presentation was thought provoking.

Here are some of the highlights from presenters, organisers and delegates: Senior Lecturer in Management at Surrey University, Paul Tosey has been an academic inspiration to many in the field of NLP. He says, “I attended my first training course in 1989 and was convenor of the 2008 conference.”

THE SECOND INTER NATIONAL NEURO-LINGUIST IC PROGRAMMIN G RESEARCH CONF ERENCE

in partnership with

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and ANLP Internatio

nal CIC

clear about what you’re measuring. Be clear about what your process is. Be passionate about it and open to critique at the same time. Look at what works for you and your practice. See if We invite you to partic ipate in this cutting you can measure it and edge forum in whic with the latest resea h you can engage rch in the field. The aim of the conference growing community is to support the of inquiry into NLP. then think about the Neuro-Linguistic Pro gra mm ing The cost is £130, whic research bit. Richard h includes Refreshme nts and Lunch Church’s notion of Action Based Research is probably the most useful way to start for a beginner.”

Lisa had looked forward to the conference for the chance to hear, discuss and challenge ideas but while she enjoyed it, like many, she wished there had been more time (there is talk of extending it for future conferences). “There was a great paper on eye patterns given in 2008 that really did question and review all the evidence so far on eye patterns. We need more like this.”

Blane Savage came from the Univerisity of the West of Scotland to present on how musicians create. He enjoyed having the “opportunity to meet like minded individuals who had the same passion for NLP as myself.” Blane was also very appreciative of the support he’d received from colleagues and world authorities on NLP on the paper he presented.

Nancy Keranen came all the way from the Benemérita Universidad Autonòma de Puebla in Mexico to present on expert performances. “After reading an article written by Paul Tosey in Humanising Language Teaching. I wrote to Paul and he pointed me towards his website which has a lot of material available. So I read those and even had an article published in the IATEFL's (English Language Teaching Organisation) Journal associated with a small study I carried out.” That paper formed part of her presentation at this conference.

“There is some very good work being carried out in education and it is a promising area for further research for me. Hopefully there will be some areas for international collaboration. My presentation was very successful. All of the presentations I went to were excellent. The organisers were very helpful and really pleasant people. Lunch was great and even seeing a presentation that was not in my area (it was ‘business’) was an eye-opener. Overall, I thought it was a brilliant conference and is one that I hope has been instrumental in steering

There is some very good work being carried out in education and it is a promising area for further research for me - Nancy Keranen A meeting with Karen Moxom, Charles Faulkner and then Suzanne Henwood sowed the seeds for the now biennial NLP and Research Conferences. It comes from “a desire to help improve the quality of inquiry in the field, to continue to build a research community. It provided a forum for people researching in the field to share their work.”

Paul’s highlights were seeing new people involved with presentations and there as delegates who hadn’t been involved in 2008. As far as future conferences go, he’d like to see “a broader theme for the conference so that it encompasses NLP and related practices (e.g. Clean Language) though I'm not yet clear what the common factor would be.”

“We need to both gather an evidence base for NLP and also question and challenge some of the assumptions,” says Lisa Wake, Director of Awaken Consulting and Training Services (www.awakenconsulting.co.uk).

Her tips for people considering starting their own research are to “be

Cardiff University

Saturday 3 July 201 0

CARDIFF UNIVERSIT Y UK New Lecture Theatre complex Next to Ty Dewi Sant HEATH PARK CAM PUS

RESEARCH

We need to both gather an evidence base for NLP and also question and challenge some of the assumptions - Lisa Wake

the course of my future research.”

Melody Cheal from the Gwiz Learning Partnership (www.gwiztraining.com) has been involved since before the Surrey University conference two years ago.

“NLP has lacked credibility in some circles due to its lace of empirical research,” she says. “I experienced this first hand while taking an Masters Degree in Applied Positive Psychology. One of the lecturers was very dismissive of NLP in a very emotional non-academic way. It became clear to me that there was a need to transform this attitude.

As a result of this I decided to focus my dissertation on how NLP helps people improve their self esteem and well being.”

Tim Lyons has been interested in NLP and research since the conference two years ago. “I liked Frank Bourke’s report on the American NLP Research and Recognition project (as this went some way to fulfilling my first hope) though I did not get the impression that the same was true outside the USA. I found Paul Tosey’s research into Gregory Bateson’s real alignment with NLP interesting and thoughtprovoking.” For future conferences, Tim hopes to see something like “a ‘Results Zone’ to understand how NLP research is actually changing the world.”

“I have known Paul Tosey since 1999 and so was aware of the development of the research conference from sometime in 2005,” says David Allaway from the University of East Anglia. “I presented at the first conference and so was invited to take part in the second.

Originally, I was attempting an NLP-based PhD, started in 1998, and so Paul was the only ally that I could find in the country at that time (within the HE system in the UK). Selfishly, it gives me the opportunity

to have conversations about NLP above the basic level so common in discussions with those not trained in NLP. It challenges me to step up my descriptions and explanations, it urges me to search for meanings and explanations, to fit together disparate parts of my intellectual experience. The effect is highly motivating.

“Professionally, the conference is vital for the development of NLP and possibly its survival too. NLP needs credibility from within academia if it is going to be tested thoroughly and, therefore, developed, refined, advanced. If the confidence is there, let’s test it and learn from it. Advances in research methods allow us to explore NLP in ways that were not possible in the rigid positivism of the 1970s. It is unsurprising that the positivist paradigm could not cope with Bandler and Grinder’s experimental approach and, recursively, that Bandler and Grinder, once bumped out of the academic system at Santa Cruz, became embittered.”

“Working at ANLP means that I am lucky enough to be surrounded by the fantastic and dedicated people who make the NLP Research Conference a reality,” says Lala Ali Khan (www.anlp.org). “We need academic research-based evidence to give people hard-proof that it is a reliable, credible and applicable set of tools.”

ANLP’s aim in co-ordinating the Research Conference, and subsequent Research Journal is to create a supportive forum where both academic and non-academic NLP professionals can develop, discuss, share and grow academic research projects, which will put NLP on the map.

Karen Moxom (www.anlp.org) adds "The day itself was fantastic.

The papers were interesting and diverse, a community spirit filled the air and there was a great sense of achievement and movement in the right direction. There was an opportunity to meet other members of the NLP community and share the collective excitement about the enormous potential of academic research."

"As soon as the new academic year starts, ANLP will be galvanising the Conference Committee into action and making plans for the 2012 Conference, including reviewing the feedback received about the day, and of course how the event can be even better next time."

Are you interested in researching your area of NLP? What’s your area of NLP? What makes you feel passionate when you think about its potential applications? Could you do a study? Measure the results and share them with a wider audience?

Check out www.nlpresearchconference.com for more information about what’s going on, what’s being planned and find out how to get involved.

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The next International NLP Research Conference is currently being organised and will take place in 2012 at the University of Hertfordshire.

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Reflections TRAINING & WORKSHOPS

of an Aging NLP Trainer

By John Seymour

I

wasn’t expecting to have to decide whether to retire or not this year. I had handed over the business, John Seymour Associates, to my business partner, who had successfully grown it. I had resigned my Directorship and settled down to life as a parttime NLP trainer, which suited me very well.

Then along came the recession.

The main part of our business was providing tailor made training for organisations, and with the recession this disappeared alarmingly. The business model was not designed to survive the biggest recession since the thirties, and it didn’t. JSA had to go into voluntary liquidation, despite the NLP part of the business being potentially viable. Not a bundle of fun.

I was left with two unfinished Practitioner courses and one unfinished Master Practitioner. What to do? Legally, as a mere employee, I could walk away from it with no financial obligation. But that would leave some seventy or so students who had paid their money, only to find themselves abandoned part way through their NLP courses. Blaming the bankers, or a dysfunctional capitalist economic system, didn’t help much.

I had enough in my pension pot that I could retire, and that had some attractions.

Ethically though, I clearly had an obligation to complete the existing courses. What surprised me was my emotional response. The phrase, ‘righteous anger’ comes to mind. It was just not acceptable to have the NLP courses trashed by the vagaries of the economy. The courses were right livelihood, and did nothing but good in the world. They benefitted the students a lot, according to them. And they benefitted me – they kept me intellectually alive, learning and growing.

Intention: the present courses must be completed and next years courses must go on if possible. How? Fortunately, another of the

42 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

employees, Jill Phillips, was of the same mind.

She had worked with me for many years and wanted to see the NLP courses continue. To cut a long story short, we bought back all the rights and assets needed to continue the NLP courses. We started a new business, ‘JSnlp’ to do this and completed all the courses. What really surprised me was the huge amount of support we got from students of previous years, who wanted to see us continue the courses.

This has all led me to reflect on how the whole field of NLP has changed over the 25 years that I have been involved in teaching it. From the origins in the seventies as an embryonic new discipline emerging from the life work of Gregory Bateson, NLP has spread globally. I believe it has become the most influential of the applied humanistic psychologies. You can find NLP Practitioners in the Human Resources part of most large companies, and the core skills of NLP turn up in a surprisingly wide range of training courses, often ‘rebadged’. It is commonly said that 90% of NLP is rebadged under other names. There must be many thousands of NLP training companies worldwide. And yet NLP is still considered by many to be just another lot of new age psychobabble with no scientific background. There is a strange contradiction here.

Perhaps it is the fate of anything truly innovative to be controversial, and what we are witnessing is a Kuhnian paradigm shift. As NLP continues to spread, the lack of research, caused by lack of funding has become more of an issue. The work of the first and second ‘International NLP Research Conference’ (www.nlpresearchconference.com), headed up by ANLP in partnership with the University of Surrey in 2008, and Cardiff University in 2010 should increasingly make a difference.

Improved funding, research know-how, and hard research evidence will all help. Similar initiatives worldwide include the Institute for the Advanced Study of Health (www.nlpiash.

org) in the United States, and Inspiritive (www.inspiritive.com.au) in Australia.

As the research evidence for NLP mounts, I believe we will see a second generation of NLP books which will be more academically acceptable and focussed on the different application areas of NLP. Lisa Wake’s excellent ‘Neurolinguistic Psychotherapy’ is a good example of this.

One piece that has been missing is a quantitative psychological test to measure the extent of transformational learning that happens over a Practitioner training.

In counselling and psychotherapy, the CORE outcome measure is widely used and accepted, but is designed to measure the extent of mental health problems. Two of my colleagues, Peter and Pam Keevil, designed a very neat pre-test/post-test questionnaire for students which measures transformational learning. They call it the Personal Evolution Questionnaire (PEQ) and it is based on a hybrid of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence and Ken Wilber’s Four Quadrants. There are 40 questions which the students completed at the start and finish of Practitioner training.

Each question is in the form of a statement and you are asked how much you agree with

TRAINING & WORKSHOPS

The phrase, ‘righteous anger’ comes to mind. It was just not acceptable to have the NLP courses trashed by the vagaries of the economy it on a five point scale. For example, the first one is ‘I know how different feelings express themselves in my body.’

We have run a pilot with 14 volunteers and have just got the first results. The % is the increase in self-reported score from start to finish of an 18 day Practitioner spread over 9 months.

Personal Evolution Questionnaire Results

by Peter and Pam Keevil Quadrant 1: Self Awareness (Increase %) • Awareness of my worldview/map (33%) • Sense of self worth (53%) Quadrant 2: Social Awareness (Increase %) • Awareness of others’ maps (30%) • Positive regard for others (27%) Quadrant 3: Self Management (Increase %) • Choice in my response to life (32%) • Achieving results in life (35%) Quadrant 4: Relationship Management (Increase %) • Quality of connection with others (35%) • Working with others for shared goals (45%) The overall average was 37%. Dry figures maybe, but quantitative research has its place and the results do give evidence of significant learning. And perhaps this is why most students are so positive in their comments.

Here is one from many: “This course has changed my life. It’s the best money that I have ever spent and I can’t recommend it enough. 6 months on this course has done more for my peace of mind and quality of life

than 20 years of counseling…”

It would be good to get more results for the PEQ. We plan to run it again this year, and Peter and Pam intend to make it available for others to use. In the meantime we will be putting more information about the Personal Evolution Questionnaire in the Resources section of our website (www.jsnlp. co.uk). If more NLP training organizations use it, the PEQ could become a useful quality benchmark.

Another innovation that I’m excited about is that we are beginning to experiment with social networking media to provide students with additional learning resources.

Conversations about practice groups, books and diverse topics can take place on our Facebook and Twitter pages. These are just beginning as I write. You can find us on Twitter under johnseymour_nlp, but on Facebook it is easier to search for our page under jsnlp. I’ve committed to a monthly blog on our website, which will have all the links on the Resource page. Exploring around I found a really good debate on NLP and psychology. I’m pretty enthusiastic about the benefits of daily journaling and know at least one student on next year’s Practitioner who is a Psychologist and planning to do a frequent blog on her learning journey. This is a fascinating development and she just might attract quite a following.

There are already some video clips up on

YouTube from the boxed sets of DVDs which are available from us. There are more on the way, including some in which Sally Vansen, of The Performance Solution, and I discuss NLP and coaching. I’m very interested to see how NLP develops in this world of social networking and looking forward to discovering more about it.

Last, but not least is a real world networking development. Many teachers have come on our courses over the years, and this has recently hit a critical threshold. A small group of outstanding teachers, who also happen to be NLP trainers, are getting together to design the first NLP Teaching Practitioner training for teachers, designed and run by teachers.

I will support them on design, quality assurance, and assessment. The course will be run by teachers at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary, for teachers at all levels, and is due to start in the New Year (website for info). The prospect of a new generation brought up with NLP… exciting stuff.

I believe NLP will come of age and begin to really go mainstream in the coming decade with a whole new generation of research, books, application courses and social networking activities. Together these can take NLP into the different areas of our society and help to create a world that works better for more people.

John Seymour is Director of JSnlp Training and Consulting. Since starting in 1985, John has trained extensively at all levels. He is a co-author of the bestselling ‘Introducing NLP’, and ‘Training with NLP’ which was the first book on NLP training. An NLP Master Trainer, with honorary awards for training and writing, John serves on the Advisory Boards of both ANLP and The Professional Guild of NLP. Based in Bristol, JSnlp provide all levels of NLP training for individuals and organizations.

Contact Jill for further information: phone 0845 6580 654 or email jill@jsnlp.co.uk or visit our website www.jsnlp.co.uk

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DIARY

DIARY OF EVENTS FOR AUTUMN 2010 October 2010 NLP Foundation DiplomaDarlington 2/10/10 Darlington - Co Durham Alan Johnson - Train of Thought 01609 778543 enquire@trainofthought.org.uk Selling Magically 2/10/10 London Dr. David Shephard 0208 992 9523 news@performancepartnership. com Fast-track NLP Sports Practitioners 2/10/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com Fast-track NLP Practitioner 2/10/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com INLPTA NLP Practitioner 2/10/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Practitioner Course 2/10/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Diploma 2/10/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Business Practitioner 2/10/10 Bath Sally Vanson 01225 867285 sally@theperformancesolution. com NLP Practitioner Course 2/10/10 Brighton Terry Elston 0800 074 6425 terryelston@nlpworld.co.uk Writing at Work 4/10/10 Henley on Thames UK Sue Knight 01628 604438 support@sueknight.co.uk “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 2 of 8 6/10/10 Buxton- Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net

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“Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 2 of 8 7/10/10 Chesterfield- Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net

NLP Diploma - 1. Communication and Relationships 14/10/10 Hammersmith London Judy Apps 01306 886114 judy@voiceofinfluence.co.uk

NLP Business Diploma (Endorsed) 18/10/10 Glenrothes- Fife Rosie O'Hara 01309 676004 info@nlphighland.co.uk

NLP Master Practitioner - Change Management/Consultancy 27/10/10 Accenture centre - Milton Keynes Michael Beale 01908 506563 michaelbeale@ppimk.com

INLPTA Full Practitioner Module 2 7/10/10 Gloucestershire Reb Veale +44(0)7790885086 reb@revealsolutions.co.uk

INLPTA Master Practitioner Module 2 14/10/10 Gloucestershire Reb Veale +44(0)7790885086 reb@revealsolutions.co.uk

NLP Certified Practitioner module 2 with the authors of Brilliant NLP 20/10/10 Oxford Pat Hutchinson 0870 762 1300 pat@quadrant1.com

“Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 4 of 8 28/10/10 Chesterfield- Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net

NLP Diploma (NLP Practitioner part 1) 15/10/10 Tewkesbury John Field 01386 725 679 john.field@fieldlearning.co.uk

Fast-track NLP Sports Practitioners 22/10/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com

NLP Diploma (INLPTA certified) 28/10/10 Bristol Karen Meager 01749 687 102 karen@monkeypuzzletraining. co.uk

Business & Marketing Skills for Therapists & Coaches with Andrew T Austin 16/10/10 Barcleo Majestic Hotel Harrogate alan johnson 01609 778543 enquire@trainofthought.org.uk

Fast-track NLP Practitioner 22/10/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com

Business Booster Day ~ £35 per session or £70 for all 3 29/10/10 Great Victoira Hotel- Bradford West Yorkshire Kevin Downsworth 01274 585160 kdownsworth.firstposition@ blueyonder.co.uk

Licensed NLP Practitioner Training 8/10/10 Birmingham Matt Caulfield 08453 626277 mail@mattcaulfield.co.uk Provocative Change Works in London Oct 8 - 10th 8/10/10 London Nick Kemp 01274 622994 info@nickkemp.com NLP Practitioner Course Hertfordshire 10/10/10 Hertfordshire Kim Blackmore 01708 479766 kim.blackmore@indigoeagle.com Intensive ABNLP 7 day NLP Practitioner Course 10/10/10 Milton Keynes Pip Thomas & Faz Colbhie 02031 450698 nudge@edgeNLP.co.uk NLP Intensive Business Practitioner 11/10/10 Henley on Thames UK Sue Knight 01628 604438 support@sueknight.co.uk

NLP Practice Group 16/10/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com NLP Business Practitioner course 16/10/10 Holmes Chapel- Cheshire Martin Crump 1872555939 martin@evolution-development. com NLP practitioner 16/10/10 Bedfordshire Melody Cheal 01767 640956 melody@gwiztraining.com

“Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 3 of 8 13/10/10 Buxton- Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net

Professional Development & NLP Seminars 17/10/10 Cardiff University Paul Harper 01685 883799 nlp2012@sky.com

Boost Your Communication Flexibility 13/10/10 Basingstoke- Hampshire Linda Sykes +44 (0) 1256 469 023 info@axiom.uk.com

Diploma in Clinical Supervision 2010/11 18/10/10 North East Susi Strang Wood MRCGP 01287 654175 drsusistrang@aol.com

“Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 3 of 8 14/10/10 Chesterfield- Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net

Wider Mind; Ericksonian HypnoPsychotherapy in Practice 18/10/10 London Pamela Gawler- Wright 0208 983 9699 info@beeleaf.com

Modular NLP Practitioner 20 days - Darlington 23/10/10 Darlington - Co Durham Alan Johnson - Train of Thought Training 01609 778543 enquire@trainofthought.org.uk NLP Practitioner Certification 23/10/10 Leeds Kirsty McKinnon 0141 248 3913 kirsty@excelr8.co.uk Business Applications of NLP 23/10/10 Birmingham Matt Caulfield 08453 626277 mail@mattcaulfield.co.uk FREE 2 day NLP Business Diploma 25/10/10 Hertfordshire David Key +44 (0)845 434 0149 enquiries@auspicium.co.uk The Achievement Accelerator 25/10/10 London Dr. David Shephard 0208 992 9523 news@performancepartnership. com “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 4 of 8 27/10/10 Buxton - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net

The NLP Practitioner Certification 30/10/10 London Dr. David Shephard 0208 992 9523 news@performancepartnership. com NLP Practitioner Certification training 30/10/10 Aldershot - Hampshire Ian Pitchford 7976281927 ian@amind4adventure.com

November 2010 NLP Practitioner Certification 1/11/10 North Yorkshire Susi Strang Wood MRCGP 01287 654175 drsusistrang@aol.com NLP Business Diploma 1/11/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com NLP Practitioner Goa - India 1/11/10 Goa - India Terry Elston 0800 074 6425 terryelston@nlpworld.co.uk Solutions in Mind 2/11/10 Warwickshire Dianne Lowther 01926 435 609 dianne@brilliantminds.co.uk

Fast-track NLP Sports Practitioners 3/11/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com Fast-track Sports Practitioner (for existing Practitioners) 3/11/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com The art of a work life balance 3/11/10 Bristol Karen Meager 01749 687 102 karen@monkeypuzzletraining. co.uk Introduction to NLP 4/11/10 Exeter Chris Menlove-Platt 07890 306896 chris@ledevelopment.co.uk NLP Diploma - 2. Leadership and Influence 4/11/10 Hammersmith London Judy Apps 01306 886114 judy@voiceofinfluence.co.uk INLPTA Full Practitioner Module 3 4/11/10 Gloucestershire Reb Veale +44(0)7790885086 reb@revealsolutions.co.uk Certificate in Advanced Coaching Skills 4/11/10 Near Bath Sally Vanson 01225 867285 sally@theperformancesolution. com Psychopathology in Psychotherapeutic Practice 5/11/10 London BeeLeaf - Pamela Gawler- Wright 0208 983 9699 info@beeleaf.com INLPTA NLP Practitioner 6/11/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Practitioner Course 6/11/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Diploma 6/11/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk

NLP Practitioner Certification Training 6/11/10 Falmouth UK Victoria Whitney 077 99 33 43 92 victoria@simplelife-solutions. co.uk

NLP Diploma - 2 x 2 day modules ~ Yorkshire 18/11/10 Bradford/Leeds/West Yorkshire Kevin Downsworth 01274 585160 kdownsworth.firstposition@ blueyonder.co.uk

Frank Farrelly's Provocative Coaching/Therapy 8/11/10 Henley on Thames UK Sue Knight 01628 604438 support@sueknight.co.uk

NLP in Business Diploma - 4 x 2day Modules 18/11/10 Bradford/Leeds?West Yorkshire Kevin Downsworth 01274 585160 kdownsworth.firstposition@ blueyonder.co.uk

Being at Your Best ~ Managing your Mood States 9/11/10 Bradford / Leeds West Yorkshire Kevin Downsworth 01274 585160 kdownsworth.firstposition@ blueyonder.co.uk “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 5 of 8 10/11/10 Buxton - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 5 of 8 11/11/10 Chesterfield - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net The NLP Master Practitioner Certification Training 12/11/10 London Dr. David Shephard 0208 992 9523 news@performancepartnership. com NLP 7 Day Certified Rapid Practitioner Training 13/11/10 Hertfordshire David Key +44 (0)845 434 0149 enquiries@auspicium.co.uk NLP Business Diploma 15/11/10 London Jeremy Lazarus 020 8349 2929 jeremy@thelazarus.com “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 6 of 8 18/11/10 Chesterfield- Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net NLP Master Practitioner (INLPTA certified) Module 1 18/11/10 Stirling - Scotland Karen Meager 01749 687 102 karen@monkeypuzzletraining. co.uk

Building Production Relationship ~ An introduction to NLP 18/11/10 Bradford/Leeds/West Yorkshire Kevin Downsworth 01274 585160 kdownsworth.firstposition@ blueyonder.co.uk Licensed NLP Master Practitioner training 20/11/10 York Philip Callaghan 01904 636 216 info@resourcefulchange.co.uk ACCELERATED NLP Practitioner Certification 21/11/10 Nottingham Colette White 0800 0433 657 or from outside the UK call +44 (0)207 249 5051 colette@infiniteexcellence.com Professional Development & NLP Seminars 21/11/10 Cardiff University Paul Harper 01685 883799 nlp2012@sky.com NLP Diploma (INLPTA certified) 23/11/10 Stirling - Scotland Karen Meager 01749 687 102 karen@monkeypuzzletraining. co.uk “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 6 of 8 24/11/10 Buxton - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net NLP Prac/MPrac/Trainer Training in the Australian Outback 24/11/10 Scone - Australia Sue Knight 01628 604438 support@sueknight.co.uk Voice of Influence 25/11/10 Hammersmith London Judy Apps 01306 886114 judy@voiceofinfluence.co.uk

INLPTA Master Practitioner Module 3 25/11/10 Gloucestershire Reb Veale +44(0)7790885086 reb@revealsolutions.co.uk Ancient Hawaiin Huna 26/11/10 North East Susi Strang Wood MRCGP 01287 654175 drsusistrang@aol.com NLP Diploma (NLP Practitioner part 1) 26/11/10 The Cotswold Conference Centrenr. Broadway John Field 01386 725 679 john.field@fieldlearning.co.uk PSYKOLOGIKA-ESOTERIKA - Train to be a Psychological Entertainer - Mentalist and Stage Hypnotist!

26/11/10 Birmingham Matt Caulfield 08453 626277 mail@mattcaulfield.co.uk

December 2010 “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 7 of 8 1/12/10 Buxton - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 7 of 8 2/12/10 Chesterfield - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net INLPTA Full Practitioner Module 4 2/12/10 Gloucestershire Reb Veale +44(0)7790885086 reb@revealsolutions.co.uk Certificate in Advanced Coaching Skills 2/12/10 Near Bath Sally Vanson 01225 867285 sally@theperformancesolution. com NLP Diploma (INLPTA certified) 3/12/10 Stirling - Scotland Karen Meager 01749 687 102 karen@monkeypuzzletraining. co.uk ACCELERATED NLP Practitioner Certification 4/12/10 London Colette White 0800 0433 657 or from outside the UK call +44 (0)207 249 5051 colette@infiniteexcellence.com

INLPTA NLP Practitioner 4/12/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Practitioner Course 4/12/10 Swindon Mike Dee 1793706862 mike.dee@aapd.co.uk NLP Practitioner Course Manchester 5/12/10 Manchester Kim Blackmore 01708 479766 kim.blackmore@indigoeagle.com FREE 2 day NLP Business Diploma 8/12/10 Hertfordshire David Key +44 (0)845 434 0149 enquiries@auspicium.co.uk “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 8 of 8 8/12/10 Buxton - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net “Change Your Mind- Change Your Life”: Session 8 of 8 9/12/10 Chesterfield - Derbyshire Diane Oxborough 01298 72907 dianeoxborough@netscape.net NLP Diploma - 3. Coaching and Change 9/12/10 Hammersmith London Judy Apps 01306 886114 judy@voiceofinfluence.co.uk INLPTA Master Practitioner Module 4 9/12/10 Gloucestershire Reb Veale +44(0)7790885086 reb@revealsolutions.co.uk NLP Master Practitioner - Sales 15/12/10 Accenture centre- Milton Keynes Michael Beale 01908 506563 michaelbeale@ppimk.com

To get your workshops and events listed in Rapport, log in as a member to www.anlp.org and enter your events into the online diary. Every issue, online events listed for the next 3 months will be included in Rapport.

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Four Great books from NLP Practitioner David Hodgson Bestselling author David Hodgson is a NLP Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP and works with young people and those who work with them on motivation, goal setting, life skills and employability.

The Buzz A practical confidence builder for teenagers The Buzz packed with interactive activities, practical tips and humour, has something for every young person. The Buzz blends all the richness and energy of NLP and personality type theory and is presented in a style designed to inspire and educate both teachers, parents and and young people alike.

IsBN: 978-190442481-9 £6.99

Awakening Possibilities and Choices for your Expansion and Growth

We will support you by providing contexts and experiences to bring out the best in you and your people

NLP…

Practitioner Master Practitioner University recognised Trainer’s Training

The Little Book of Inspirational Teaching Activities Bringing NLP into the Classroom edited by Ian Gilbert A collection of activities developed and used with teenagers all over the country that are short, easy to follow and engaging. They can be used as one off activities to spice up a session or can be put together to form one hour lessons or even whole day events. There are suggested combinations of activities to suit different topics such as PSHE, Successful Revision/Learning, SEAL.

Diploma

Benefits…

Pathways to an MA using NLP Association for Coaching Accreditation UKCP Accreditation

IsBN: 978-184590136-3 £7.99

The Little Book of Charisma edited by Ian Gilbert The book is a breathless, informative and funny journey through factors contributing to excellence in communication, from the six rules of influence, creating a powerful performance, constructing speeches, how to avoid being manipulated by advertisers, steering clear of the arrogance trap, which emotions to build in an audience (and in which order).

IsBN: 978-184590293-3 £8.99

Other Programmes…

Supervision Courses for Coaches/Therapists

Using NLP with Children Executive & Career Coaching Breakthrough sessions

Magic of Modern Metaphor Walking with the stars edited by Nick Owen A collection of stories for teachers, trainers, parents and thinkers sharing ancient wisdom through a modern relationship between grandson and grandad. Warm, funny and inspiring stories.

IsBN: 978-184590394-7 £16.99

To order your copies now visit www.anglo-american.co.uk or contact us on 01267 211880

About us…

Small group sizes Just 2 hours from London by train Individual support and tuition

For further details, contact us now on…

Telephone: 0845 8732036 Website: www.awakenconsulting.co.uk Email: info@awakenconsulting.co.uk

BOOK REVIEWS

RAPPORT BOOK REVIEW Beyond Question Coaching Cards Kim Hare £15.99, Kaizen Training I was lucky enough to try out the Beyond Question coaching cards at our local practice group. We used the cards as a small group and participated in some completely content free, dynamic questioning using the cards in a random fashion! It was a really interesting session and I certainly gained some useful insights into a current challenge, without having to do anything other than repeat the questions on the card to myself, and then appreciate the power of some questions, which cut through any internal chatter and excuses, and went straight to the heart of the

issue! I tried these out the next day with a friend of mine, who had a dilemma she wanted to resolve.

She used the questions to gain a few insights and had resolved her particular dilemma in less than 20 minutes. I certainly think these prove to be a useful addition to the coaching ‘toolbox’ and I have used these many times since, especially for getting myself out of my own chatter and enabling myself to move forward. The box says ‘Transformational coaching at your fingertips’ and they certainly worked for me!

Karen Moxom, Book Review Panel

Develop Your NLP Skills Andrew Bradbury £9.99, Kogan Page Andrew Bradbury’s book starts with a brief discussion of 15 presuppositions (or NLP sayings) that he felt reflected the basics of NLP(NeuroLinguistic Programming). Chapters 2 to 14 focus mainly on basic ideas and techniques of NLP, while chapters 15 to 22 explore their application to a range of business problems. For example, chapter 3, “point of view”, explores the meaning of the little saying of NLP that "a map is not the territory it depicts". Andrew then draws out the application that we need to be aware of these maps since every communication takes place between folks with different mental maps, the potential for miscommunication becomes large when our mental maps diverge. This book covers a surprising amount of business ground, including issues around motivation, discipline, performance appraisal and even company mission statements. Many of the well-known ideas of NLP, such as mirroring, rapport

building, and anchoring are discussed in various contents, in particular in communication issues.

As well, the book deals with number of business topics such as self-management, negotiation, sales, and resistance to change from an NLP perspective.

For a small book that can be read in an afternoon, I found it packed with great ideas and it has become a reference book to me. For example, if I’m doing a presentation, I find it worthwhile to quickly rereading the section on presentations. So, overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone new to NLP or to any businessperson that looking for a new ways to tackle communication, and motivation challenges of business. One thing the book does not cover is the development of NLP and underlying contributions of various persons that contributed to the NLP approach, so if you looking for historical understanding this book is not for you.

Colin Carbno, Book Review Panel

Making Your Words Work Terry Mahony £14.99, Crown House Terry Mahony’s “How to Make Your Words Work” takes readers on a four part, six chapter, 188 page journey of applying NLP in Education. While particularly useful for teachers, this book is also an excellent refresher of NLP’s communication tools and useful for workshop leaders and presenters. After an introduction to some concepts of NLP there is an overview of language patterns, representational systems and rapport. The second part focuses on psychology in the classroom and different approaches to behaviour management, using strategies and identifying triggers, linking teacher behaviour to Dilts’ Hierarchy of Ideas. Part three starts

with a “how to” guide on applying language patterns in the classroom from the meta model, Milton model to sleight of mouth and reframing, offering in the second half practical approaches such as situational scripts for calming and centring pupils as well as examples for using meta program patterns and applying meta model, Milton language, embedded commands and sleight of mouth. In the final part – a mere 13 pages, Terry Mahony looks at what you can do with all this, offering a range of “experiments” to become an even more “reflective practitioner”.

Tim Hilgenberg, Book Review Panel

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Still 25 inside AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Lindsey Agness celebrates the power of women in midlife and beyond...

Interview by Caitlin Collins

8

7

6

I live Life o My Purpo n se 1

8 Attitudes of the Successful Mid Life Woman 5

Ia m Eno Good ugh

2

3

4

I Wh Know oIa m

ain Cer t ’I m f My o ess cc Su

eate I C r at W h nt a IW

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e I Lik elf Mys

Eight attitudes and six goddesses Passion and hope are major themes for Lindsey. 'When we allow ourselves to discover what we are passionate about, we experience the triumph of love and hope over fear,' she says. She has structured the book around eight key attitudes, each of which headlines a chapter containing concepts, information, advice, exploratory questionnaires and exercises. Each chapter is liberally illustrated with real-life examples, many of them anecdotes from Lindsey's own life: having made several major life-changes in her forties and being an experienced NLP trainer and successful author, she's well-qualified to serve as a role model as she guides her readers on their own journeys.

Be prepared to disappoint others to be true to your dreams

I Take For MTime e

I

t's said we attract what we wish for: well, in the very same week that I'd found myself agreeing with some female friends about a need for energising inspiration in our, oh dear, 50-ish lives, into the letterbox popped Lindsey Agness's fabulous book on how there's lots more to life after midlife. In fact Lindsey demonstrates how, rather than resigning ourselves to being over the hill and doddering down the slope to senility, we can welcome greater than ever opportunities for fulfilment and contribution.

Having had the pleasure of interviewing Lindsey for Rapport two years ago on the publication of her first book, Change Your Life with NLP, I'd been looking forward to talking with her again about her second book, and here it was – a cracker. Lindsey can identify the specific incident that prompted her to write it.

'It was an exhibition aimed at midlife women: I'd been booked to give a talk on how to change your life at 50. I turned up at the event full of enthusiasm – to find the other exhibitors and speakers focusing almost entirely on dire medical matters, stair lifts, pension plans, retirement villages, and the thrills of ballroom dancing and cooking!

I was shocked! I came away from the day determined to challenge such grim myths about midlife. We're not dead yet!'

e Tr u I am yself to M

In addition to the eight attitudes, Lindsey offers an innovative presentation of six female archetypes, based on Greek goddesses, to help us to identify those aspects of ourselves we habitually express and to uncover those we are neglecting. I find I'm not alone

in neglecting Aphrodite, the 'beautiful, outgoing lover'. 'Many women shut down this archetype,' agrees Lindsey, adding: 'Just imagine how much energy you'd have access to if you released her!' The goddess archetype exercises encourage creative thinking: it would take more than new knickers for me to revitalise my dormant Aphrodite, and I'm happy to be reminded of the importance of finding my own ways to honour the principles of connectedness, bonding and passionate commitment!

A bigger picture I remark to Lindsey how it seems to me that her book spans several interlinked issues. At first sight it's about women like my friends and me, at a transitional stage in our lives and facing the challenges of aging, for whom the book offers not only fresh ideas but also many practical exercises to enable us to look forward to the future. However this is not only a matter of personal fulfilment for individual readers; it raises the possibility of releasing the tremendous potential of women of maturity to contribute to the world – a potential that may be underrated and

THE SIX GODDESS ARCHETYPES ATHENA The ambitious career woman, she faces problems head on and defends the boundaries of her family and community.

Highly disciplined, she sets and sticks to goals and develops plans to reach them.

ARTEMIS Introverted and independent, she is practical, adventurous and prefers solitude. She represents the goddess of nature and is concerned with animals, environmental protection and women's communities.

DEMETER The nurturing caregiver, she creates a safe environment through empathy and commitment. She encourages community spirit and nurturing relationships among others.

HERA Taking charge of the kingdom around her, she can rule with vision and empower others in the process. She represents the goddess of marriage and is concerned with her relationship as a woman to a man.

APHRODITE The beautiful, outgoing lover who enjoys connectedness, bonding and passionate commitment, she loves life and enjoys it as an intense and seductive experience. She loves to be in love.

PSYCH A teacher and healer, she is a catalyst for change whose power is to transform her own reality as well as that of others. She can get the best out of others, often through her own suffering and healing.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Midlife women have so much to offer

blocked by limiting beliefs that marginalise older women.

'Absolutely,' agrees Lindsey; 'if you can galvanise midlife women, they have a huge amount to offer. Many women do not have a strong sense of their own identity, or recognise their own potential, as they've often spent years focussing on others. Now is the time for them to find out what's really important to them to create something new for themselves.'

Identity and authenticity are key issues throughout the book. I'm especially struck

by Attitude Four, 'I am true to myself', which is expanded by the statement: 'You know what you want, you respect yourself and you are prepared to disappoint others to be true to your own dreams.' This highlights for me my own timidity about disappointing other people and not only letting them down but also incurring their disapproval. 'This is a big issue for many women,' says Lindsey. 'You find women stuck in unhappy relationships, making sacrifices to stay with someone they don't love, afraid to leave; they need help to find the courage to liberate not only themselves but the other person too.'

If such liberation is to be understood not as mere indulgence but as empowering and enabling, perhaps we need to look at some of the contributions midlife women might be empowered and enabled to make for the wider world. I'm personally interested in what mature women might offer in terms of radically different kinds of leadership in diverse areas including politics, education, ecology, and economics. Lindsey's approach throughout her book comes across as collaborative and constructive, and there seems to be an underlying assumption of women's willingness to support and help each other. 'I think it's true,' she says, 'that women tend towards co-operative approaches rather than competitive and confrontational ones. We have a lot to offer in that area. It's such a male dominated world that it's quite hard to come up with female role models who don't take on a macho role and who are not playing the same games as the men. It's even difficult to find words for an empowered woman in her maturity. "Crone" doesn't work! Aging, especially regarding women, tends to be not so much respected as dismissed. I think much of women's power

lies in sharing.'

With this thought in mind, Lindsey is offering a combined personal development and coaching program to complement the book. 'It's called Age with Attitude,' she explains. 'It's a 10 month program in which each student is allocated her own coach in the first of four modules who then works with her throughout the program to help her to make lasting changes. I've also created the "Goddess Council", whose role is to review the goals set by fellow students and to give them extra stretches if necessary.

The women demonstrate great commitment to the group – they really support each other – and the results are amazing.'

And while Lindsey is already hard at work on her next two publications – Change your Business with NLP is out in September, while Lose Weight with NLP is planned for early next year – I'm going to suggest to my friends that we find the energising inspiration we need for our, hurray, 50-ish lives by getting together and going through this book. We can prove to ourselves and the world that we have more to offer now than ever before.

Lindsey Agness, Still 25 Inside, 2010, Rodale www.agewithattitude.co.uk www.thechangecorporation.com

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ANLP NEWS

ANLP Accreditation Programme relaunches in Autumn 2010 The ANLP Accreditation programme is changing to reflect the needs of today’s market. Andy Coote takes a look at the revised scheme and talks to three participants in the pilot.

W

hen selecting a product or service that you have never used before, you probably look for some form of third party endorsement. It might be the BSI Kitemark for safety, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance marks for ethical sourcing, the GasSafe mark (formerly CORGI) for gas installation. There are many schemes to accredit competence and safety which are intended to inform and assure the potential customer of the level and quality of service that they will receive.

Given the nature of NLP training, where participants commit significant time and money to acquire knowledge and qualifications, it is no surprise that they look for some external verification that the course in which they are planning to invest their hardearned money will meet their needs and expectations.

ANLP has been accrediting trainers in the field of NLP for some time and is in the process of changing and upgrading that process. “In the spirit of NLP, we have been modelling excellence, and we have modelled more robust approaches to accreditation such as the ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management)

50 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

approach”, says Karen Moxom, Managing Director of ANLP. “We are introducing fairer and more robust process and extending accreditation to courses and workshops as well as training organisations.”

The ANLP Accreditation will be relaunched formally on the ANLP stand at the NLP Conference in London on 12th - 14th November. It has already been piloted with some trainers (see boxes for feedback) and ANLP is now working on moving previously accredited training organisations on to the new scheme.

For training organisations, accreditation will have a number of significant benefits. Potential clients will have increased confidence in their quality of delivery and have additional reasons for choosing their training, especially in a crowded market. It can differentiate their offer and provide critical reassurance for their purchasers.

It will also demonstrate their commitment to best practice by delivering externally accredited programmes, generating more public trust in their services.

Some clients, especially in the Corporate and Public sectors, expect trainings to be quality assured by having independent

external verification. ANLP Accreditation will provide that assurance.

ANLP provide an independent and objective assessment from a UK perspective. They do not provide training themselves and are supported by an advisory board with representatives from several training organisations, across a number of ‘schools’ of NLP. Their website features strongly on search engines and is a prime source of objective information about NLP. Accredited training organisations will be featured on the site.

The ANLP Accreditation Programme is an independent peer reviewed scheme monitored by ANLP. It is intended to complement, rather than replace, accreditations from other NLP organisations and is underpinned by ethics and standards. Training organisations sign up to a Code of Ethics and Practice as part of the accreditation process and course participants are encouraged to sign up to the ANLP Code of Ethics for Practitioners.

The Programme is based on core components, allowing the trainer to deliver courses flexibly whilst ensuring standards without standardisation. The basic required elements include: Admission policies and prescreening procedures A course structure which includes learning outcomes, aims and objectives, frames for learning and promotes

self responsibility Monitoring and Evaluation processes, feedback, ongoing support for students and ongoing professional development (CPD) An accredited course must provide a coherent approach to the subject, reflected not just in the theory, skills and practice of the students but also in the way the course is structured, taught, evaluated and administered.

The course will be congruent with the principles of NLP as well as reflecting that trainees can be relaxed and encouraged to accept that learning is natural and easy when they trust that they have all the resources they need in order to learn.

To qualify for ANLP accreditation, core NLP courses must be of the following minimum duration Diploma course – 20 hours face to face training Practitioner course - 50 hours face to face training Master Practitioner course - 90 hours face to face training All ANLP accredited courses must have at least one method for monitoring and evaluating the progress of their students.

These will vary from course to course and a number of evaluation methods are included in the guide. They include practical assignments and projects, formal tests and assessments, projects, diaries, journals and feedback notes.

External validation can help potential clients to make a reasoned decision based on a consistent assessment from an independent third party organisation Individuals who would like to become an ANLP Accredited Trainer, or run ANLP Accredited Courses, will need to check that they meet the core criteria and understand the basic application requirements, that they can meet the time schedules and ongoing commitment, review the ANLP Accreditation Programme Guide and then submit a completed application form to ANLP, together with all their supporting documentation. There is a non refundable deposit payment to cover admin and external verifier fees.

Applications will be internally reviewed and then passed to one of the ANLP’s independent external verifiers. As part of that process, the applicant will be interviewed by the external verifier – for convenience, this interview can be conducted over the phone.

If successful, the applicant will then become part of the ongoing ANLP Accredited Programme and pay the balance to cover their first year’s accreditation.

If unsuccessful, feedback and advice will be offered and the applicant will be given an

David Key, Head of Training and Research Auspicium Limited.

Auspicium decided to work with the ANLP because they felt it would provide them with additional credibility and provide a positive for buyers and differentiator in competitive bidding. “ANLP is independent and UK based which we saw as a benefit for us and a complement to INLPTA and ABNLP accreditations. Being accredited by a credible, independent third party helps HR departments and training buyers to make their decisions more quickly and makes them easier to justify.”

“Being one of the first companies and individuals in the world to be accredited by ANLP is an honour and privilege”. The ANLP Accreditation logo highlights four values which are important to Auspicium - ethics, integrity, professionalism and standards.

“The process of accreditation has enabled us to see areas for improvement in training delivery, content and business context. It has helped us in our intention to be a truly excellent training organisation.”

opportunity to reapply at a later date. There is an appeals process available for any applicant who wishes to challenge the decision of the External Verification Panel.

ANLP Accreditation is a continuing process. After an initial application process and accreditation, there is an ongoing commitment to the Programme.

After approval of an application, the accredited organisation is responsible for internally monitoring and evaluating their trainees on every course to ensure they meet their standards.

They will then submit a preagreed number of monitoring and evaluation assessment reports from every course to ANLP annually for review by one of ANLP’s independent external verifiers.

ANLP will issue ANLP Accredited Certificates (or, in the case of co-accreditation with

Tony Nutley, Training Director, UK College of Personal Development.

UKCPD saw accreditation as a way to increase buyer confidence. “External validation shows your processes have been checked out. In our case, most of what we were doing was right. There were a couple of things we could have been doing differently. Accreditation drew our attention to the need to screen people to ensure that the right people get on to the course. We now have a robust screening questionnaire.”

Choosing ANLP as an accrediting body was made easier because “the ANLP of today is an incredibly professional, standard setting, academic conference organising and overall high quality flag waving group of people that I am confident to associate my business whole heartedly with.”

The next step in UKCPD development is their Master Practitioner qualification. “We were clear that it had to be accredited by the ANLP and at Level 7 with the ILM. Both organisations have worked (and are still working) hard on this with us and I know with their help and support we will have the accreditations in place very soon.”

another awarding body, ANLP Accredited Seals). These will be uniquely numbered and allocated to each successful trainee and recorded on the ANLP central Accreditation Register.

Accreditation gives successful participants the ability to demonstrate their commitment to best practice and quality assurance, and gives their potential clients the confidence they need to choose their courses. NLP and related approaches operate in an increasingly competitive market where conflicting claims are causing confusion in the minds of potential purchasers.

External validation can help potential clients to make a reasoned decision based on a consistent assessment from an independent third party organisation.

Mark Woodhouse, Training Director, PERFORMANCEPEOPLE™ Performance People provide transformational leadership & coaching courses with NLP content and have a strong customer base in the Military sector which created specific requirements. “We needed to be able to map from the ANLP accreditation to the National Qualifications Framework for ELCAS. ANLP provided external validation of our mapping and were very helpful when our requirements changed at the last minute.”

Performance People are also accredited

by ABNLP and INLPTA and an approved ILM centre so the accreditation process was nothing new. “The ANLP process is well documented and they walk the talk.

It offered a consistent approach, with appropriate values, standards and ethics and allowed us flexibility of delivery. It allowed us to express our personality and meet the needs of our client base.

As a bonus, we were able to develop our candidate handbook from the ANLP accreditation guide.”

If you are not yet a Member of ANLP, and would like to use the logo and enjoy the many other benefits of ANLP Membership, please visit our website for further information at www.anlp.org or contact the ANLP Team on 0203 051 6740 or members@anlp.org

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REGIONAL GROUPS

RAPPORT NETWORKING CONTACT Practice Group of the month: Hemel Hempstead ANLP Practice Group

Ross Hammond ross@rh-coaching.co.uk Tel: 07540 371066

Practical, Inspiring, Informal

things they can use immediately.

I took over the group in April 2010. The group is passionate about the power of NLP and what it can do.

In the last few months we’ve explored Transformational Coaching Questions, cuttingedge Influencing Techniques and the Magic of Metaphor. It’s an informal group, and great for networking – and open to all. Come along even if you haven’t trained yet, but just have an interest or are curious about what NLP can do for your life. There are always a handful of NLP trainers there who are available to coach or answer questions.

We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at the Life and Soul Academy, Boxmoor Hall, St Johns Road, Hemel Hempstead from 7.30 to 9.30 pm. It’s a great venue, and we often stay behind for a drink and a chat afterwards in the comfortable bar. Every month we have a different high-quality guest speaker/ facilitator... and we like to keep the evening highly practical, so that people leave with

England - North Harrogate Achievers Club Sonia Marie Saxton Tel: 0845 257 0036 E: smesaxton@saxtonpartners.co.uk Harrogate Practice Group Elizabeth Pritchard T: 01326 212 959 E: elizabeth@zeteticmind.com www.zeteticmind.com Lancs - Nr Clitheroe Dawn Haworth T: 01254 824 504 E: admin@nlpand.co.uk www.nlpand.co.uk Leeds - West Yorkshire Liz Tolchard T: 01943 873 895 M: 07909 911 769 E: liztolchard@live.com Manchester Business NLP and Emotional Intelligence Group Andy Smith T: 0845 83 855 83 E: andy@practicaleq.com www.manchesternlp.co.uk Manchester NLP Group Gary Plunkett T: 08707 570292 E: enrol@high-achievers.co.uk E: nwnlpgroups@aol.com Manchester, Stockport, High Peak Sandie Shaw or Chris Delaney T: 07985 284 914 E: nlppracticegroup@googlemail.com Newcastle Upon Tyne Philip Brown T: 0191 456 3930 M: 0777 228 1035 North Yorkshire Alan Johnson T: 01609 778 543 www.nlpnorthallerton.co.uk North Yorkshire Practice Group Rebecca Wake T: 01642 714702 E: rebecca@awakenconsulting.co.uk www.awakenconsulting.co.uk

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Warrington Tiffany Kay T: 0845 833 8831 E: tiffany@go-beyond-nlp.co.uk www.WarringtonNLP.co.uk York Philip Callaghan T: 01904 636 216 E: info@bronze-dragon.com www.bronze-dragon.com/nlp_group.shtml

England - South Bedfordshire Melody and Joe Cheal T: 01767 640956 E: info@gwiztrainig.com www.gwiztraining.com Berkshire NLP Group Balbir Chagger M: 07944 931 437 E: berkshirenlpgroup@googlemail.com www.lifestorytherapeuticcentre.com/NLP. aspx

Hants - NLP South Nigel Heath T: 01794 390 651 E: heatherapy@aol.com www.nlp-south.org.uk Hertfordshire - Hemel Hempstead Ross Hammond 07540 371066 ross.hammo@ntlworld.com www.rosshammondcoaching.com Hertfordshire - Letchwoth James Rolph T: 01462 674411 E: james@resource-ecologies.co.uk

Come along, I can guarantee you a warm welcome.

The cost is just £5 if you book in advance – just to cover venue and refreshment costs.

North West & North Wales (Chester) Gary Plunkett T: 08707 570 292 E: enrol@high-achievers.co.uk E: nlp4fun@aol.com

Croydon Michael Carroll T: 020 8686 9952 E: info@realnlp.co.uk www.nlpacademy.co.uk

Contact me on ross@rh-coaching.co.uk or 07540 371066. There’s also a newsletter which keeps you informed about upcoming events... contact me to subscribe to this.

Kent & East Sussex NLP Group Beverley Hamilton T: 01892 511231 E: beverley.hamilton@uwclub.net

North London NLP / Tom MacKay T: 07815 879 055 E: tom@mackaysolutions.co.uk www.northlondonnlp.co.uk

London - Hampstead / Najma Zaman T: 020 8926 1297 m: 07950477318 E: firstpath@btinternet.com

Oxford / Nick King M: 0780 253 4150 E: info@oxfordnlpgroup.org.uk www.oxfordnlpgroup.org.uk

London - Central PPD Learning Judith Lowe T: 0870 7744 321 E: info@ppdlearning.co.uk www.ppdlearning.co.uk/community/ our-practice-group

Sandwich, Kent Lindsey Agness or Zoe Young T: (Lindsey) 01304 621735 M:(Lindsey) 07711 036 192 M: (Zoe) 07932 371 164 E: zoej66@btinternet.com

London - Central (Business) Mark Underwood T: 020 7249 7472

South East London & City Simon Hedley T: 07930 275 223 E: londonpractice@psithinking.co.uk www.psithinking.co.uk/londonnlp practicegroup.htm www.nlpswap.com/

London (Central) Robert Ford T: 08453 962842 M: 07976 715234 E: livinglifenlp@orange.net London - Central/North Practitioners and above only Jeremy Lazarus T: 020 8349 2929 E: Jeremy@thelazarus.com www.thelazarus.com London The Performance Partnership David Shephard T: 020 8992 9523 E: info@performancepartnership.com www.performancepartnership.com London - Ladbroke Grove / Nina Madden 07906 255 529 E: mail@ninamadden.com www.ninamadden.com London NLP & Hypnosis Practice Group Phillip Holt T: 08451 306213 M: 07061 003 003 E: enquiries@nlp-london.com www.nlp-london.com London West - Richmond NLP Group Henrietta Laitt T: 0208 874 8203 M: 07880 614 040 E: henrietta@richmondnlpgroup.org.uk www.richmondnlpgroup.org.uk

Sussex - Brighton Association of NLP Practitioners / Terry Elston T: 0800 074 6425 E: enquiries@nlpworld.co.uk www.nlpworld.co.uk www.nlp-brighton-assoc.org Sussex - Brighton NLP Group Viv Craske M: 07939 134 274 E: mail@brightonnlpgroup.org www.brightonnlpgroup.org Sussex - Chichester Roger and Emily Terry T: 01243 792 122 M: 07810 876 210 E: info@evolutiontraining.co.uk www.evolutiontraining.co.uk Sussex - Worthing E: jim@espconsultancy.co.uk Ware / David Key T: +44 (0)845 434 0149 E: enquiries@auspicium.co.uk www.auspicium.co.uk West Sussex - Chichester Andrew T. Austin E: andrew@23nlpeople.com www.nlpstudygroup.com

England - East Cambridgeshire Phil Jones T: 07711 711 123 E: phil@excitant.co.uk www.cambsnlp.co.uk Colchester NLP Group Julian Campbell T: 01473 410521 M: 07710 781782 E: nlp@lifechangingtherapies.co.uk www.lifechangingtherapies.co.uk/colnlp. html Essex - Southend Pauline Oliver T: 01702 203465 Norfolk NLP Practice Group Stephen Ferrey T: 01603 211 961 E: info@motivational-coaching.co.uk www.motivational-coaching.co.uk Ipswich Steve Marsden T: 07889 751578 E: steve_marsden@btopenworld.com Redbridge - Ilford Glenda Yearwood T: 0208 708 3876 E: glenda.yearwood@redbridge.gov.uk www.redbridge.gov.uk

England - West Bath NLP North East Somerset Philippe Roy T: 01225 404 050 E: pr@in-focus.org www.bathnlp.co.uk Bath NLP Skills Builder Ben Reeve T: 01823 334 080 E: benjamino_32@hotmail.com www.idevelop.co.uk Bournemouth John Chisholm and Michelle Fischer T: 01202 424250 E:info@creative-leadership.co.uk Bristol David Griffiths T: 01179 423 310 E: david@metamorphosis.me.uk Bristol Karen Meager T: 01749 687 102 E: karen@monkeypuzzletraining.co.uk www.monkeypuzzletraining.co.uk Cornwall Practice Group Elizabeth Pritchard T: 01326 212 959 E: elizabeth@zeteticmind.com www.zeteticmind.com

Cornwall (West) Robert Ford T: 08453 962842 M: 07976 715234 E: livinglifenlp@orange.net Devon NLP Practice Group Jane Stubberfield T: 01392 841153 M: 07887 744299 E: jane@jsa-development.co.uk www.jsa-development.co.uk Devon - South-West (totnes) NLP Support Group Alice Llewellyn & Anna Scott-Heyward T: 01803 866706/01803 323885 Devon - Torquay Chris Williams T: 0781 354 9073 Devon & Cornwall NLP Practice Group Nick Evans T: 01392 811 772 M: 07832 357 208 E: nick@nlp-southwest.co.uk www.nlp-southwest.co.uk/ WordPress/?p=72# more-72 Dorset John Chisholm or Brian Morton T: 01202 42 42 50 E: john@creative-leadership.co.uk E: bmhrd@btinternet.com www.nlpdorset.co.uk Swindon, West Country Tony Nutley T:01793 554834 E: info@ukcpd.net www.ukcpd.net West Somerset Caitlin Collins T: 01643 841310 E: info@naturalmindmagic.com Wiltshire Clare Smale T: 07977 362787 E:whitehorsenlp@btconnect.com www.whitehorsenlp.com Worcestershire and Gloucestershire Practice Group Kim Phillips T: 01386 861916 E: kimmphillips@hotmail.com

England - Midlands Birmingham (flexible locations and to suit members) Mandy Ward T: 0121 625 7193 M: 07740 075669 E: mandy.ward3@virgin.net www.cassykindly.co.uk

The Derby NLP Practice Group Karl Walkinshaw T: 07971 654 440 E: karl@k-d-w.co.uk East Midlands NLP Group Rupert Meese T: 0115 8226302 E: rupert.meese@lightmind.co.uk www.lightmind.co.uk/EMNLP Northants - Northampton Ron Sheffield T: 01604 812800 E: ron.sheffield@btinternet.com www.nlpgroups.org Nottingham - West Bridgford Karen Shaw T: 01159 818 228 E: karen@innercommunications.com www.innercommunications.com Walsall/Birmingham Richard Pearce T: 07760 175589 E: richard@kochin.co.uk West Midlands - Worcestershire Jennie Barnes T:0886 884 022 E: jennie@barnes1835.fsbusiness.co.uk

Scotland Aberdeen Rosie O’Hara M: 07796 134081 E: info@nlphighland.co.uk www.nlphighland.co.uk Bridge of Allan, Stirling John McLachlan T: 07803 127 384 E: john@monkeypuzzletraining.co.uk www.monkeypuzzletraining.co.uk Edinburgh Centre of Excellence Practice Group Michael Spence T: 0131 664 7854 E: msnlp@btconnect.com Edinburgh NLP Practice Group Patrick Wheatley & Sheena Wheatley T: 0131 664 4344 M: 07765244030/ E: wheatley.co@btconnect.com E: sheena@changingperceptions.org.uk www.changingperceptions.org.uk Forres/Elgin NLP Practice Group (North of Scotland) Rosie O’ Hara T: 01309 676004 E: info@nlphighland.co.uk www.nlphighland.co.uk

Glasgow Mina McGuigan T: 01236 610 949 M: 07886859942 E: mina.mcguigan@googlemail.com www.nlpacademyscotland.co.uk Glasgow Centre of Excellence Practice Group Michael Spence T: 01316 647 854 M: 07710 332 841 E: msnlp@btconnect.com Glasgow - NLP in Education Jeff Goodwin T: 0870 060 1549/0141 248 6484 E: jeff@nlpscotland.com www.nlpscotland.com Inverness - (Highland) Rosie O’Hara T: 01309 676004 E: info@nlphighland.co.uk, www.nlphighland.co.uk

Wales Cardiff James Angove E: angove@ntlworld.com www.cardiffnlp.co.uk Shropshire & Mid Wales Practice Group Nick Greer T: 01743 361133 E: nlpgroup@nickgreer.com www.nickgreer.com

International Brussels, Belgium Gerard Murray T: +32 476 417 606 E: gerry.murray@widecircle.eu www.meetup.com/NLP-in-Brussels/ Chicago, USA B Groth T:(312) 751-2600 E: vakog@live.com www.meetup.com/NLP-Chicago

Practice Groups meet regularly and give you the chance to share experiences with like minded individuals and fellow professionals. They also offer you the opportunity to further your knowledge and add to your Continual Professional Development (CPD) through informed lectures and workshops.

For further information on the Practice Groups listed, please log on to our website, www.anlp.org If you would like to add your Practice Group to this list or change existing details, please contact us on 020 3051 6740 or email members@anlp.org 53 | Autumn 2010 - rapport

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ENDNOTE

Consciousness, Unconscious, Subconscious and Super-conscious

By Dr. Terri Ann Laws

C

onsciousness?

Subconscious and Unconscious minds? Yes, that’s a big one. I have come to understand that we all look into our own mind and assume we see the human mind. So as far as Freud is concerned, Freud had sick, perverted thoughts and he ascribed his sick mind to everyone else, bless him. Those who have a Freud mind believe Freud is everything, obviously.

They look into their own mind and heart and see what Freud said. The rest of the population see something else.

In sharp contrast to Freud, we have the great Psychiatrist, Dr. Milton Erickson and his 50 years of contribution, and he believed the polar opposite to Freud.

Uncle Milty says the ‘unconscious mind’ is filled with our greatest, highest potential, absolutely perfect, innocent and blameless and anything any human has ever achieved is in the DNA and the unconscious mind of every human being, but we get scarred and hurt and confused and put blankets over our potential. His Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy was astonishingly successful, often after just one session.

So if we want to gauge who is right based on results, then Freud didn’t heal people in five years, and Erickson healed thousands, in one to ten sessions. Freud did much more damage than good in many cases; Erickson never did any damage at all. Freud blamed the patient when they got worse; Erickson blamed himself and

did something different next session and fixed it. No failure, only feedback, and all feedback is very useful, in fact necessary! Do we have an Unconscious Mind or a Subconscious Mind, or even a Super-conscious Mind? I might go about explaining it something like this....

It may well be a metaphor, a way of explaining why we are conscious of only somewhere between 5 and 9 bits of information at any given second, when we have millions of bits to choose from to be aware of. We have tons and tons of info in our minds, a lifetime of experience, and also the as yet untapped unlearned potential too, yet we single out bits to pay attention to and delete or ignore the rest. The rest is referred to as unconscious because we’re not actually consciously aware of it, but it’s all there and can be brought or called to conscious mind by effort or skill.

When we learn Mind Power, Fire Walking, accelerated learning and ‘out there’ stuff like remote viewing etc, we find our mind becoming very, super alert and then we become able to do amazing things we can’t normally do when ‘fully conscious’ and operating normally in the world.

This can be measured with an EEG or a bio feedback machine.

We go into the Theta state and enter what feels like an altered state of consciousness, and suddenly all this genius or amazing abilities become available to us. But it goes away when we start chatting

and making coffee. For want of a name, we call this ‘Superconscious’.

There are thoughts, beliefs and presuppositions outside of our awareness that dictate our automatic responses to things.

These are just under the surface of our awareness and can be called to mind immediately if someone asks, “What are you doing?” or “Why are you reacting like that?”, and since it is only just below awareness as opposed to totally outside of our awareness and lost deep in the forgotten somewhere, we could call this subconscious.

That’s the way I explain it all to myself and my students, but that’s just how I understand it.

There are others with different theories. I go with Dr. Milton Erickson’s belief that we are all super human and capable of astonishing things, and we’re all totally pure and innocent but we learn weird stuff as we witness the world while growing up, and we get a bit distorted.

The potential for horrific evil is also inherent in every human being. Why some humans display this right from early childhood is still a mystery to me. Maybe collectively we need examples of every human potential, so each person displays a different set of potentials for the rest of us to witness and learn from. In a well run functioning society the good people outnumber the bad more than 100 to 1, possibly even 1000 to 1 maybe, and that confirms my belief that Milton Erickson was right, not Freud.

terriannlaws@gmail.com Terri Ann Laws, Int. Master Trainer of NLP, Mind Power, Therapy and Life Coaching

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Consciousness? We are aware of our awareness, aware of our thoughts and reactions and aware that we’re aware of them.

We’ll never know if animals have this too or not. They don’t speak to us with words, but they definitely ‘speak’ to us.

Well, not all of them. Some ignore us, some attack us, some run like hell away from us, but we can never know if they are conscious mutes or unconscious meat. With Horse Whispering and Mind Power we learn to communicate with animals, and then we realise that even insects can ‘hear’ us, but we talk using our minds and not our words.

Even plants communicate, as Luther Burbank discovered, but we don’t bother to learn how to communicate with them, probably because most people don’t believe it.

My explanation of consciousness is that everything is conscious. The ability to communicate is separate from consciousness. Arrogant people like to think that since they can talk, they are the only beings, the only things that are conscious. I see consciousness as ‘the mind of God’, and even atoms are conscious. They seem to behave in what appears to be intelligent ways under certain experiments.

Something, not us consciously, is keeping this whole world living, growing, functioning, changing and evolving. It isn’t human beings explaining to an acorn how to grow into an Oak tree.

Well that’s my take. What’s yours?

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