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The thinking for this piece came out of a dream - I was giving a lecture and I found myself coming out with all these insights. Fortunately it was the last dream of the night, so I was able to go directly and put fingers to keyboard to capture the essence of that seeming genius within. In the cold light of the next day, it still seemed to have legs so here is the current developed version of my understanding on …. the practical use of Models or techniques.

First of all I've chosen to use the word Model when applied to the range of techniques we have on offer within the NLP repertoire. These techniques, for the most part, have resulted from the originator modelling an underlying structure of someone's useful experience, and the sequence of components resulted. Dilt's Disney Strategy, Meta Mirror and John McWhirter's Performance, Management, Direction and Supervision (PMDS) Model are examples of these.

I say for the most part, because there are secondary level Models which have been created, not from modelling of first hand direct experience, but through the artful combination of the various NLP components to achieve a particular outcome, or from the NLPising of original Models devised within other disciplines, or a bit of both. Crossing the Threshold was based on Joseph Campbell's model for example. Box 9 evolved out of John McWhirter's From/To/In Model.

These distinctions may seem a touch pedantic, however they hold the essence of the thinking behind this article. There are more possibilities around and outside of an established Model than there is within it.

Personally I believe that the current listing of NLP Models should be registered as one of the modern wonders of the world! The mind boggles when I begin to think of the released energy and reborn hope that has resulted from these simple processes. How many people's lives, around the world, have altered directly or indirectly through precision questions or anchors on different bits of floor.

Yet a Model is not the territory, only one map. If it is the right map for the circumstances, then it is hellova useful. And sometimes it is better than nothing, since it can prevent you from becoming totally lost. But just by having a map, we automatically set filters and delete any information that is not relevant to the path we are following. If we are heading for the top of that hill over there, we are unlikely to decide on the spur of the moment, to take a detour and go potholing. So we will only cover our predetermined version of the territory, ignoring the possibility that the meaning of life may be lurking below in that cave.

Going with the Model deletes what else is in the explorer's/(exemplar's) awareness or unconscious mind. Having a Model can prevent real discovery of the explorer's map of the world. After all, Models are merely tools to reveal unconscious processes, to be picked up and discarded as appropriate. Over reliance on established Models limits our experience, our thinking, and our effectiveness.

As an aside, within NLP we don't have models to plot the structure and flow of energy, a highly significant contributor to behaviour. We could do well to incorporate the strategies within the practices of Kinesiologists, Cranial Sacral Therapists, Reiki practitioners, Aura Specialists and others.

Flexibility Through Choice

I have been delighting of late with my level of flexibility in my 1:1 Personal Exploration work. Each new explorer is a magic gift ready and able to unwrap itself. I start off with absolutely no idea of what we will do. I encourage restricted content so I am rarely seduced by story, and I will do about 10-15 minutes of information gathering and then the session unfolds. Happily no one session is like the one before, although there may be some similarities with other sessions over time.

I confess to having my favourites Models - Personality Alignment, and some form of Timeline work do feature often. John's PMDS Model is getting a good airing at the moment, with the Symbolic Modelling questions, if not the full process, ringing the changes every now and then. Submodalities, triple description and trance work are regularly thrown in to the pot en-route. Then much can depend on who has been training with us, since I am fresh with new learning. However once that learning has bedded in, these new found Models get filed away into the growing library of options. And it is from this library that I draw my inspiration.

I realise that I am confidently able to do this because I am able to freely move between a Cognitive to an Intuitive selection process. This is what I mean by that.

	Option	For Example
COGNITIVE INTUITIVE	Go with the Model	Select Meta Mirror and complete the full process.
	Go with part of the model	Use 1st, 2nd, 3rd of the Actors A and B and the Director and maybe the Producer, and not continue with the full Meta Mirror process
	Go with part of the model and add another part of another model	Do 1st, 2nd, 3rd and gather that information and then branch out and do a Well Formed Outcome with the 3rd position.
	Go with part of the model and add bits	Do 1st, 2nd, 3rd and then explore submodalities of each making alterations through contrastive analysis.  Find a metaphor for each position bit of metaphor for
	Go with bits and add bits of other models	Start off with Metaphors – taken from different points in time.  Then take the significant Metaphor that emerges, wherever in the timeline and Dance the SCORE.
	Go with bits using skills only	Start off with the Metaphor, explore further with Clean Language, enter trance through story telling and working hypnotically with their Inner Adviser.  Come out of that and take multiple perspectives, building the new resource into a walking edit.

How Do We Know Which To Go For?

So how might we decide what to opt for? Here are some factors that might influence your decision making.

Experience
Much will depend on your experience. If you have just come out of Practitioner training, then you are well advised to practise, practise and practise the Models you have been given. Your confidence and skill will only come through a keen understanding of the effects reached overall and within the different stages. Skipping this stage can lead to sloppy work, limited precision, and ill disciplined thinking.

As you gain experience, you become more aware of the magic inherent in each of the components, as distinct from the Models. Now you are in the position to pick and mix intelligently and go with whatever is happening with your explorer.

Your Skills
There is an inbuilt intelligence in a well-constructed Model that can withstand our lack of skill. Most explorers will experience some significant effects from a Neuro Logical Level Alignment process on the first weekend of a Practitioner training. However it is probable that the effect will be greatly intensified when delivered by an experienced Guide on the final weekend, 16 or so days later.

Having said that, you need to be congruent about your skill levels. That is the basis for good ethical practice. Incongruence handled incongruently will cause an explorer to withdraw. If you still only feel safe within the tried and tested confines of predetermined Models, then stay there … with the commitment to work towards taking the next step into less prescriptive waters.

Awareness of Explorer
Some explorers are born naturals when it comes to exploring the unconscious mind. Their internal representations are daily companions; stuff plops constantly; and a vague instruction like 'notice' and they are off. In fact, sometimes these explorers can become a tad hysterical, without any real ability to make useful distinctions within their experience and need to be reined in with small chunk specifics. In the early days, there were times when I have felt like some cartoon character, emerging from 10 rounds with an explorer and still not knowing where we have both got to - highly entertaining, froth disguised as hard work, and no further forward. And I called it being creative and took false pride in my flexibility.

Other explorers can find it really hard to let go of their controlled sense of reality, or they may come with a fixed idea of what to expect - the couch et al. The auditory digitals are the most challenging. NLP is a waking trance. We rely on innate ability to access internal representations and create external hallucinations. What we ask of people is weird by anyone else's book! You may need to build rapport through linguistic changework patterns first before you can venture into the more esoteric pastures.

Your Relationship
Rapport fundamentally is critical, whatever the starting point of the Explorer. Offering Personal Explorations as a therapist, the level of trust an explorer offers never fails to amaze and impress me. Here is someone coming to a total stranger and is prepared to go on a journey of almost blind faith, with little or no preconception of what to expect. How precious is that?

Steve Gilligan's approach to centring and sponsorship is invaluable, and an essential mindset. The more you commit to their outcome, and the more they experience this commitment, then the more prepared they might be to follow your lead. And this commitment can often be shown by abandoning one approach and taking up another.

Time Available
Obviously the longer you have allocated in your session the more potential you have to play. Set pieces can generally take a predictable length of time, which might suggest a leaning towards pick and mixing. With a three hour session, which is one that I personally prefer, much can get done and consolidated from different directions, so that the explorer can gain a sense of completion within that timeframe.

Your Receptivity
As Judy Delozier says, "Every technique will let you down sometime." It is useful to notice when that is happening. Congruence is everything. Your sensory acuity needs to be tuned to any minute fluctuations in your explorer's congruence. Once noted, you are at a choice point. You can choose to pursue what is behind it in that moment. You can mentally log it and hold it on the back burner for later, and carry on gathering information to find if it links to any other patterns. Or you can opt to ignore it, since you sense it has low significance. However with this option, if you get the chance, you may return to it at a later date.

At the same time, whilst 99% of your attention is on your explorer, let that 1% be a channel for your unconscious mind. Let it whisper suggested questions to use. Let it remind you to return to some data gathered 30 minutes before. Let it offer the idea of what you could do next. Let it tell you that you should relax/be fierce/move or whatever to keep you in state. Keep that channel open at all times. It is your built in coach and mentor, your librarian and nanny.

Your Repertoire
The smaller your repertoire the fewer choices you have open to you. Keep on learning and more importantly experiencing for yourself. The more learning you have harvested, the greater your flexibility, your delight in your skills and your appreciation for your teachers. If you stick with the same old routines, then let's hope you manage to find enough people to fit into them - or else you won't get any practise at all! At the same time, it is important to take the time to integrate and internalise your learning at each stage, to avoid the danger that it stays a disconnected maelstrom of data and dormant handouts.

Having a wide range of options lets you know you are servicing your explorer with integrity. Your comfort zone is expanding all the time. You can offer a particular approach or blend of approaches knowing that your choice is based on what is happening in the moment - not on your limitations.

As NLPers, we are Modellers, which means we are constantly modelling, creating new descriptions and mapping new territories. That is where the joy and fun lies. Taking pleasure in honing our modelling skills will mean that we need to rely less and less on those techniques which act as a smokescreen for the real genius within.

Enjoy.

© 2005 Fran Burgess
22 February 2005