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As I was teaching with Matt James at the Accelerated Master Practitioner Training this year in Newport Beach there was some excellent discussion about how to use NLP techniques to get the greatest level of impact. I have had students ask, "How many times do you see a client?" or "How many sessions does it take to get to the problem resolved?"
In many therapies, the process is to have the client continue to return for a number of sessions, chipping away at each layer of the problem until such time that the problem is finally resolved. Sigmund Freud believed it would take years to let go of even one negative emotion using his "talk therapy". What we do as excellent NLP Master Practitioners is fast, powerful change work that can last forever. How thorough the change work is will define the number of times the client returns to work on the same or similar issues that are linked to a greater problem. The client's results will define the NLP Master Practitioner's success and will drive business to his or her door.
Getting back to the roots of NLP, a client will present their problem utilizing the best language they can at the time. Keeping in mind that the map is not the territory, we need to realize that the words the client is using does not describe the actual problem. We refer to these words as the surface structure of language. They describe an example of a greater problem. The deep structure of the language helps us to understand more accurately what the greater problem is.
If our change work is based on the surface structure language that the client presents, then our client's results will be incremental and lacking the energy needed for real change to occur. Using our language skills and techniques such as the Meta Model, we can begin to discover the presuppositions in the client's language and uncover the lost information that will reveal the deep structure and potentially the greater problem. It is not enough to be exquisite with our language to get the deep structure. This only makes it possible to reach the greater problem.
A thorough intervention, one that resolves the greater problem, requires a process to drill down through the language, representing the context, process and structure, thus revealing the underlying patterns manifested from the greater problem.
We use and teach a process called the Detailed Personal History. By spending 2 to 3 hours up front with the client you can learn the nature of the greater problem and create powerful, meaningful change.
For our students… I recommend that you learn and practice the Detailed Personal History. It is a process that distinguishes you and your skills as a Master Practitioner. Being time-tested, the Detailed Personal History, when applied in your break through therapy session, will help you find the greater problem and help your client make the deepest change possible. After all, that is why we are here isn’t it?
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