The User's Manual for the Brain Volume I
Page 28
12.3 Displacing Referential Indexes
Obviously working with story, narrative, and metaphor involves symbolism. A symbol refers to any object, situation, or character that becomes an anchor for certain responses. Many everyday metaphors take the form of, “I once knew a person who…” The symbolic link here? The word “person.” Further links will arise from the similarities within the story. Such symbolic links exemplifies the concept of “displacement of referential indices.”
This means that whenever someone talks about their experience, but does so with enough vagueness (artfully vague!), we then, as listeners, hear the story in terms of our own experiences. Come on, you know you do this! And when we do, we have shifted or displaced the referential index. (But don’t worry, the mind police won’t arrest you for this!) When we do this we have begun to listen sympathetically and experientially to the story. Doing this empowers the story to affect us and “speak to us.”
Making these referential index shifts occurs all the time. We all do it many times everyday. And it also occurs at both conscious and unconscious levels. We distort our sensory representations, we switch the referential index, we enter into the story, and the story casts its spell. Then its magic happens. No wonder the old term for story is spell!
Storying, narrating, metaphoring, etc., encourages the switching of referential indices.
Storying, narrating, metaphoring, etc., encourages the switching of referential
indices. This invites the “as if” quality of stories which then begins to work in our minds and bodies. And when it does—suddenly we feel transported to another time, another place, into another body, etc. The spell has entranced us. We lose track of time, place, self, environment, etc., as we go zooming off into new and different worlds and realities.
Then, once inside the story, an animal, another person, even inanimate objects transform and take on special meanings. They frequently take on powerful symbolic representations for us. And in the story, we become storied. Themes, plots, sub-plots, dramas, comedies, tragedies, victories, heroic journey, etc., define, describe, limit, and/or free us. White and Epston (1990) have, in fact, recently developed an entirely new therapy model from this marvelous phenomenon. Of course, the parables of Jesus came before White and Epston. And two NLP people, Freedman and Combs (1990, 1996) have further contributed to Narrative Therapy.
12.4 Isomorphism
The basic component that drives the power of story or metaphor to transform meaning and change the formula arises from the story sharing a similar structure to our life and experiences.
The basic component that drives the power of story or metaphor to transform meaning and change the formula arises from the story sharing a similar structure to our life and experiences. We call this similarity of structure, an isomorphic structure.
We call this similarity of structure, an isomorphic structure. Characters, events, emotions, dramas, etc., in the story relate and correspond to similar formats in our lives. This makes the story meaningful to us.
Isomorphism, as the similarity in structure, also explains how and why we can so easily, even unconsciously, use the story to shift our referential index. Dilts has offered this explanation:
Isomorphisms describes the brain’s ability to incorporate information about behavior from one class to another similar class.
“Isomorphism involves the formal similarities between representations of different responses… Individuals can learn much about the possibilities of their own behavior by considering the operation of other systems. Imagining that you are a bird in a certain situation, as opposed to a lion, will open up and abolish many different avenues of response… In general, symbolswill identify the structural aspects of the metaphor, while isomorphisms will deal with the relational or syntactic components.
The neural network of the brain constantly generalizes information making learning possible. Isomorphisms describes the brain’s ability to incorporate information about behavior from one class to another similar class. This is cross class learning.”
David Gordon gives an excellent example of choosing isomorphic relationships in developing a metaphor for family therapy.14 This does not represent a completed metaphor, but gives an example of how to choose isomorphic characters for metaphorical construction.
The specific selections of the objects, situations and/or characters of the metaphor does not really matter. What matters in metaphor creation concerns how the symbols relate or inter-relate to the needs of the client. In real life the characters undoubtedly refer to actual people in the person’s life. In constructing your metaphor, you can use animals, animated objects, people, situations or a combination. The rule, however, states that they must relate isomorphically to the client’s needs. Consider the following example:
Actual Situation Metaphor
Father Captain
Mother 1st Mate
Son Cabin Boy
Family Boat crew
Father rarely home Captain often shut-up in cabin
Son gets into trouble Cabin boy sets the wrong sails
Mother covers for son 1st mate corrects him and tries to reset sails before captain sees
Father finds out, becomes Captain finds out, furious no one furious and leaves told him and retires to his cabin.
No resolution No resolution
Problem recycles Problem recycles until… resolution
Milton H. Erickson gives an account of how he used this process while working with a couple having marital difficulties over their sexual behavior. Erickson talked to the couple about their eating habits. He found that their eating habits paralleled the individual sexual behaviors that were causing the difficulty. The husband was a meat-and-potatoes man and liked to head right for the main course, while the wife liked to linger over appetizers and delicacies. For their therapy, Erickson had them plan a meal together in which they both were able to attain satisfaction. The couple, of course, had no idea of the significance of the event, but were pleasantly surprised to find that their sex life improved dramatically afterwards.15
Now, I ask you, “What medical term do you believe describes the major sexual dysfunction in their sex life for this metaphor to have worked”? A metaphor which satisfies the similar structural components and becomes isomorphic with the problem situation can not only deliver effective therapy, it may also provide a complete therapy. Erickson turned to the use of metaphors almost entirely in his later years.
A metaphor which satisfies the similar structural components and becomes isomorphic with the problem situation can not only deliver effective therapy, it may also provide a complete therapy.
12.5 Transforming Meaning Using Metaphor
Using the language forms of metaphor, analogy, story, etc., enables us to conversationally reframe. Consider the following one-line stories.
“A river runs to the ocean as fast as it can.”
“The water held captive behind a dam still yearns for the sea.”
“A friend of mine always complained about her husband being late. But then after he died, she often thought about him and wished that he would just be late.”
“I once had a friend who always complained about the high cost of clothes for his teenage daughter. He complained and complained. Then, one day his daughter died in an accident. Now when he thinks about spending money on clothes for her—he wishes he had that opportunity.”
“If a surgeon is late for dinner because he’s saving someone’s life, does that mean he doesn’t care?”
“It’s like spitting into the wind.”
To story someone with a narrative or metaphor, think about what a particular problem, issue, concern reminds you of. What is this like? More frequently than not, we do our best lateral thinking when we stop thinking about a problem and think about something else (especially when relaxing, kicking back, and enjoying ourselves) and then all of a sudden, presto, an idea pops into consciousness that we then relate to the problem.
In Narrativ
e Therapy, we use externalization as a central eliciting process. This refers to externalizing a problem, situation, theme, idea, emotion, etc. By separating person from behavior (and all other functions and productions—especially thoughts and emotions) we underscore another central theme in narrative, namely:
The person is not the problem;
The problem is the problem.
Thus, as we externalize, we change our thinking and emoting about our life story, our thoughts and emotions, etc. This invites another story—a Preferred Story that we can build out of unique outcomes and sparkling moments.
How has Anger sabotaged your success this week?
When did the Rages invite you to enter back into that story?
So Sneaky Pee pulled one on you when you went to stay at your best
friend’s house, huh? And I bet you do really like to get back at
Sneaky Pee so he doesn’t embarrass you like that again.
What tactics have you found that Wimping-Out uses to trick you into
giving up? How have you stood up to Wimping-Out?
12.6 Connecting Present State With The Desired State
Present State in NLP defines the condition of the client exhibiting undesirable behavior. By Desired State we mean the outcome the client desires for themselves. We must pay careful attention in making the client’s desired state conform to the Well-Formed Outcome Model. The purpose of your metaphor (and all NLP therapy) is to move the client from Present State to Desired State.
The bridge between the problem (Present State) and the successful outcome (Desired State) involves both pacing and leading.
In order to move the client from their Present State to their Desired State, we build a bridge between the two. The bridge between the problem (Present State) and the successful outcome (Desired State) involves both pacing and leading.
12.7 Pacing
Pacing describes an essential element in bringing about change. Pacing describes the process whereby the therapist enters into the client’s model of the world and joins him/her in that world view. In pacing the client, use the client’s own language, topic(s) and story(ies).
In the example given above, Erickson used food as a metaphor for the couple’s marital problems. So, if a client who suffers from marital disharmony gets into a lengthy discussion that centers around the preparation and eating of food, the therapist can ask themself the question, “Are they talking about food or problems in their marriage?”
Always listen for the story behind the story. Within the structure of your client’s stories, you will often discover a metaphor for something else. And, their metaphors may provide a framework for you to devise therapeutic metaphors. In such cases, the therapist paces the client by adopting the client’s language, topic (s) and/or metaphors. In the example of the preparation and eating of food equating marital conflict, Erickson paced their story and fed it back to them in the form of a metaphor that contributed to their healing.
12.8 Leading
Once you have paced the client, your responsibility as the therapist moves to leading the client through metaphoric symbolism to the client’s desired outcome. Importantly, this does not mean that you necessarily solve the client’s problem. Again, the metaphor may or may not work. The metaphor provides a model that we can use to facilitate change. And, sometimes the metaphor itself lacks sufficient correspondence to produce change.
A metaphor’s content non-specificity provides choice for the client.
A metaphor’s content non-specificityprovides choice for the client. The client’s unconscious mind may choose to accept or reject the metaphor. Often the client’s unconscious mind may accept parts of the metaphor and reject other parts. Sometimes the metaphor may have an impact on areas within the client’s life that you have not targeted directly.Learn to appreciate the unconscious mind’s ability to direct the healing to the most needed areas. Erickson trusted his own unconscious mind as well as his clients’. Indeed, much of Erickson’s power rested on his total acceptance of the unconscious mind’s ability to do best for the client.
Any area within the client’s life that the metaphor may represent has potential for change. Therefore, the client’s unconscious mind may generalize the metaphor to other areas of the client’s life that lie analogous to the issue (s) presented through the metaphor.
All language operates as metaphor. Actually all language provides a doorway into the problem they desire your assistance in changing. As stated earlier, often the client will give you a metaphor through someone else’s story or even a similarly disconnected story. They will do this rather than describe the problem. Pacing the client means you enter their model of the world. This model of therapy does not force unconscious material into the client’s conscious mind. Rather, you as the therapist work with the client’s metaphors. That describes what Erickson did by picking up on the relationship of the food metaphor with the marital problem in the example above.
Because human neurology can organize itself isomorphically, parallels among neurological representations arise. The brain functions far more through structural relationships via the representational systems than it does through content.
Because human neurology can organize itself isomorphically, parallels among neurological representations arise. The isomorphic relationship of planning and enjoying a meal carried over into the couple’s sexual activity. The brain functions far more through structural relationships via the rep system than it does through content. Indeed, content means very little compared to the rep system structure. You will remember that with the exception of maintaining body functions, the brain can only do six things at the representational level: make pictures, create sounds, have feelings, smell, taste and create words. The parallel between the isomorphic relationship of the metaphor with the neurological representations (pictures, sounds, feelings, smells, tastes and words) give metaphors their power to bring about change. Thus, any experience processed by a person will obviously parallel representations from other areas of their life. Pacing the client means that you allow the metaphor to work in accordance to the client’s unconscious mind. This allows for clean and elegant therapy.
After pacing the client, the therapist leads the client through use of the metaphor to resolution of their problem. Again, this does not say we solve the client’s problem. The metaphor may or may not work. Like all NLP techniques, metaphors simply provide another tool in your therapeutic toolbox. By design, a metaphor offers the client a strategy that will lead them to resolution if their unconscious mind chooses to accept the metaphor. Erickson led the couple to resolution through the food metaphor. Once they successfully prepared and enjoyed a meal, they isomorphically related this accomplishment into their sex life. Erickson led them through the metaphor to resolution.
12.9 Utilizing Reframing Within Metaphors
Reframing provides a technique of changing problems into resources. A key NLP presupposition states that all meaning operates as context-dependent. Context determines to a large extent the meaning of everything we say, think or hear. When doing reframing, what we first view as a problem becomes the basis for a resource. Reframing serves as a vital component in using metaphors for therapeutic resolution. The metaphor provides an excellent frame for reframing.
The metaphor provides an excellent frame for reframing.
12.10 Unspecified Verbs, Nominalizations, Embedded Commands & Analogue Marking
A metaphor by nature induces a mild trance within the client. Milton model language patterns enhance this process.
Metaphors provide context for a most effective use of delivering reframes. Metaphors also provide the context for effective utilization of some language patterns you have already learned. Metaphors provide the context through which the use of unspecified verbs, nominalizations, embedded commands and analogue marking take on more effectiveness in delivery. We will review these patterns. A metaphor by nature induces a mild trance within the client. Milton model language patterns enhance this
process. Thus, the wise therapist will incorporate Milton model language within the structure of their metaphor.
12.10.0.66 Unspecified verbs
Unspecified verbs are those verbs where the speaker or writer leaves out the details of the action. David Gordon illustrates:
1) John went into the closet.
2) John crept up to the closet, gently opened the door, then jumped in, head first, using his feet to slam the door behind him.
You will note that the second sentence gives specific details of how John got into the closet. Although John chose a ridiculous way to get into the closet, you have a much greater description of how he got in the closet. The first sentence, on the other hand, gives little detail and permits the client to interpret for themselves as to how they got into or would get into a closet.16 In metaphorical description, the more you leave to the client’s unconscious mind for interpretation, the better. For that reason, unspecified verbs give you a tool to assist the client into trance.
12.10.0.67 Nominalizations
Nominalizations provide an excellent addition to therapeutic metaphors. You will recall that nominalizations describe those process words turned into a noun. A nominalization takes a process and freezes it. If you cannot see, hear, smell, or taste an noun, it indicates a nominalization. If you cannot put it in a wheelbarrow, you have the classic NLP description of a nominalization. If you fill in the blank below with the word and it makes sense you probably have a nominalization: “An ongoing __________.” Nominalizations delete large amounts of information. Consider the statement, “I am in a poor relationship.” Here we have a nominalization, the word “relationship.” You cannot see, hear, smell or taste a “relationship.” Nor can you place a “relationship” into a wheelbarrow. Changing the verb “relating” into the noun “relationship” nominalizes the verb. Other examples of nominalizations we hear come in words like education, illness, respect, discipline, friendship, decision, love, fear, strategy and sensation. Unless you want to hypnotize, nominalizing our experiences does not prove very helpful. However, nominalizing experiences in therapy may prove very helpful because nominalizations initiate trans-derivational searches. Because nominalizations delete massive amounts of information, they force the listener to go inside, search for connective meaning and supply their own meanings. The “going inside” describes a trans-derivational search. Consider the sentence, “Ralph has a friendship.” Do you see the nominalization here? “Friendship.” The process of acting friendly has become frozen into “friendship.” This sentence, within a metaphor, invites a client to initiate a trans-derivational search and apply their own meaning for “friendship.” Using nominalizations in metaphors gives the client the opportunity to de-nominalize the word, that is, turn the nominalization back into a process of their own choosing.