Global NLP Training Blog

First Fast Phobia Cure

Nicole — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:31:17 +0000

The first fast phobia cure outside of a training room is always the most scary one, for the NLP Practitioner or coach. Perhaps also for the client.

Global NLP Training takes an active approach following up with past students over Facebook, both via the Global NLP Training Fan Page, as well as our trainers connecting to students from their personal pages. Incredibly helpful tool, to answer questions, and support students.

Today I noticed a status update from a very excited student, doing her first fast phobia cure outside of the class room, less than 4 weeks after her training.

Let me introduce you to Barbara, Language Coach. I (Nikkie) wanted to leave her comments unedited, so I didn’t, minus some typo’s.

Global NLP Training: Hi Barbara, it was great to receive your news. So you just completed your first fast phobia cure. Congratulations! How do you feel?

Barbara: I’m overwhelmed. I can’t even find the right words … I feel great! And somehow relieved that I managed to get through it!

Global NLP Training: How does your client feel?

Barbara: Happy! She said she felt relieved and light. She couldn’t stop smiling. And hugged me A LOT!

Global NLP Training: Do you know what the phobia was, or did you do the technique without knowing?

Barbara: I didn’t know what it was. And it was okay. I really felt like I didn’t have to know. She told me afterwards though.

Global NLP Training: Doing this outside a training environment, did you feel confident? Was it hard to do?

Barbara: I was a little bit nervous about it, because I felt like having my NLP training manual on my lap, which wouldn’t be appropriate even though I really wanted it to be there as a back-up. But since I didn’t want to seem insecure about what I was doing, I just told myself that I knew it all and that I could do it without the manual. So I did.

Global NLP Training: How long did it take? Please don’t say an hour.

Barbara: An hour and a half LOL. No … it took no more than 15 minutes.

Global NLP Training: How did the client experience the process itself?

Barbara: She went through the first “rewind of the movie” too slow, even though I had given her the instructions very clearly (with the sound and so on), therefore it seemed to be a little painful for her. So I had to go thru the instructions again and clarified that it should only take a second to rewind the movie. When she did it again, I could see from the movement of her eyes that she went thru it a lot faster and she was fine this time. Her only comment in the end was “wow”.

Global: Was it a text book fast phobia cure, or did you have to be creative to get the job done?

Barbara: I think it was a text book fast phobia cure … I didn’t have to change anything. It worked just fine

Global NLP Training: What did you do to prepare? Read the manual, put yourself in a good state of confidence? Did you do NLP on yourself before you did it? Or did you just go for it.

Barbara: I didn’t look at the manual beforehand – for a lack of time. That’s why I was a little nervous when she said she wanted to do the “fast-phobia-cure”. I took some time to focus before I started, went thru the entire process in my head once, took a few deep breaths with her and then did it. (Oh and I’d stepped into my circle of excellence in the morning already, so I felt like I was still in it)

Global NLP Training: Was it easy to use good verbal and non-verbal communication patterns? I mean you took the course in English, which is not your first language.

Barbara: It was less difficult than I thought. This could be, because I’ve been reading a NLP book in German the past few days to find out if the communication patterns just translate or if I really had to learn the “German patterns”, so I felt confident about it. I do have difficulties to identify the representational systems and predicates in the language though. That’s a little tricky in German, but it’s doable.

Global NLP Training: Do you feel there are areas you could improve on for the next one?

Barbara: There is always room for improvement! I always say. Maybe not so much when it comes to “fast-phobia-cure”, because I really think I nailed that today … I realized that I do need some more tools when my client started talking about events from her past that somehow still have an effect on the present. So I guess I really have to take that Master Practitioner class, don’t I?!

Global NLP Training: What would you advise a new Global NLP Training graduate for their first fast phobia cure outside of the class room?

Barbara: Make sure that there are no budgies in the room! That can be very irritating … well, it was for me. Apart from that: keep a wary eye on your client and trust yourself. Your unconscious mind will know what to do!

Global NLP Training: In class did your partner have a phobia? Or did you work on a fear? Or were you unlucky and get a fearless client.

Barbara: I got THE MOST fearless student in our entire group … However (!) I knew I would get my chance some day!

Global NLP Training: Did you have a phobia? If yes, how is that going?

Barbara: I was THE other fearless student in our group.

Global NLP Training: When I did the fast phobia demo, it was intense, yet successful. Your class mate not only had a phobia, it was a trauma all wrapped in to one. Since his early childhood. What did you think when you saw the demo?

Barbara: I thought “THIS IS BIG. I want to do that too!” And then I thought: “WOW THAT’S BIG. Could I actually do that?!” And then I thought “great! I know a few people with a phobia … I’ll try and see myself”

Global NLP Training: How do you think about it now?

Barbara: I need to call my other “victims” – I want to do that again!!! And I’m still impressed with what you did for my class mate! It’s such a powerful tool.

Global NLP Training: Did you think it was hard to learn the fast phobia cure? Or did you feel that the demo, the explanation, and the class room practice was enough?

Barbara: I’ve always trusted the process. I never had the feeling I needed more input. And Practice is an important part of the learning process too!

Global NLP Training: Anything else that you would like to say to the readers?

Barbara: (To her fellow class mates) Each one of you has learned so much during our training – it would be such a pity if you let that knowledge and the skills slip away with time. It’s so important that you start using it ASAP! Don’t wait too long. … this is something that I tell my students over and over again. It’s simple, but true: “Use it or lose it.”

It doesn’t mean you’ll forget everything, but it gets harder to remember. So maybe you want to make it your intention to use the “fast-phobia-cure” or any other NLP-technique within the next two weeks – or not. I miss you guys!

Global NLP Training: That’s it. You are AWESOME. I am so proud of you. On to your next Fast Phobia Cure I hope.

Know that Lazy is your Client’s Natural State of Mind

Nicole — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 10:39:16 +0000

It may a negative thing to say about my clients that they are lazy! In fact, we all are inherently lazy. Lazy is for all of us a natural state of mind.

What do I mean with that?

The mind will always take the easiest and quickest route, to achieve its positive intention. (And yes, even the bad stuff we do has a positive intention.) And the brain learns very fast. That’s why we found ourselves day dreaming and doing other things with our minds during our time in elementary, high school or even college. When the brain isn’t engaged enough, it’s starts doing something else. This is why learning should not only be fast, it should also be fun. That’s the only way the brain can learn.

In order to get a client to do something, you have to shift their focus away from something else and onto the task at hand. The brain will by default not pay attention. That’s what I mean with lazy. It is your job as an NLP Practitioner and coach, to keep having your client focus on the task in order to achieve their goals.

In a way, that’s your most important job as a coach. You help the client determine a goal, the most effective tools to use for this is setting a ”Well Formed Outcome.” Which is something taught in a quality NLP Practitioner training or coaching course. There are however other good goal setting tools available (most common, though not most effective one, being setting SMART goals.) Then you lay out the tasks. And your job is to re-focus the client continuously on completing tasks. And help them define tasks that are required in order to achieve the goal.

Knowing that “lazy” is natural state a mind, will keep you on your toes to keep focusing the client as to where there attention needs to go. And where attention goes, energy flows!

NLP 4 Tuple – What Makes a Good Story Teller?

Nicole — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:23:31 +0000

NLP 4 tuple is one of the most powerful tools to put some “umpf” in your stories. NLP is also called a “study of excellence.” Basically very skilled people have been studied (modelled) in order to determine what specifically they do to be excellent. What is definitely a skill is “story telling”, which is of course part of being a good communicator.

In NLP Training a host of tools are taught in order to enhance communication. In this article I want to focus on 4-tupling an experience. Basically, what makes a good story teller?

Good story tellers, want to help the listener engage. Be present in the story, as if they are experiencing it for real.

A way to effectively achieve this is by 4-tupling:

Example:

This is a story about walking in the forest.

1. Describe what can be heard in the story.

You can hear the rustling of the leaves, twigs breaking with each step you take, some birds chirping some distance away.

2. Describe what can be seen in the story.

You see the forest path in front of you, and as you look up you’ll notice that some sunlight is coming through the thick blanket of dark green leaves.

3. Describe what can be felt in the story.

You feel the twigs breaking underneath your feet as you walk the path, and with each step you take you’ll become more and more relaxed.

4. Describe what can be smelled/tasted in the story.

You can smell the fresh pine trees, etc.

Next time you are listening to a story of someone who you know is a great story teller, pay attention. And you’ll notice that they 4-tuple naturally.

For both NLP and non-NLP trained coaches I highly recommend 4-tupling, not just when you are telling metaphors. Also when you are doing NLP techniques, and when you are assocating the client as to what they future can and will be like. The 4-tuple allows you to be a more inspiritational and more powerful coach.

Shifting Time in a First Coaching Session

Nicole — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:10:09 +0000

Shifting time in a coaching session can be incredibly useful. Most coaches do an introduction session of 15 minutes or longer, for the client to decide if they want to hire a coach. More importantly, if they want to hire this particular coach specifially.

Often times when people whom struggle with more complex problems, they do not show up at the NLP Practitioner certified coach doorstep until they have seen everyone else. From their friends, to their doctor, to a psychologist. So when someone sits down to talk to you, they assume you are like everyone else. The client may draw the wrong conclusion, that you will offer them the same services and worse yet they same poor results.

A good tool to use, and one of the basics in NLP Timeline Coaching is to shift the client from the past, in to the present, to the future. It is the past where a client gets stuck in their thinking, and in also in their therapies. Reliving over and over, what they so desperately need to forge.

One way to do this is by…

1. Start talking in to present tense, focus on what is going on right now. What makes you so different as a coach, from all the others they have seen in the past. Break the mold, if you have to.

2. What are the sessions with you going to be like today!

3. How will the future with you as a coach be different. (Talk in future tense.)

4. Talk about their future, with you as their coach either in it or having been in it as a result of reaching for instance a goal (or resolving a problem.)

Additional benefits of linguistically moving someone out of the past to the present and future are:

1. The past is where the problems are, the future is where the possibilities are.

2. In order to find solutions, you have to pace and lead the client into the future anyway.

3. Achieving goals can be done by performing tasks in the present, and knowing what needs to be done in the future.

4. If the client knows what is in their future, how can they not want to do whatever it takes?

5. You project yourself as their coach in their more optimistic future, which is good for your coaching business.

I would recommend any coach or NLP Practitioner to train in NLP Timeline Coaching. Simply, because it is one of the most effective coaching tools around. I find myself, especially dealing with significant emotional events of a clients past, to do Timeline Coaching. Time and again do I see people change using these coaching techniques, whom have been in other therapies for decades without any result. The power of these tools are incredible, which is why we teach NLP Timeline Coaching as part of NLP Master Practitioner and Life Coaching training.

NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern Tips – Two

Nicole — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:08:52 +0000

This is a follow up article that outlines tips to those whom already know the NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern. The cure or pattern itself, is not something that can be learned properly from a book, let alone a blog. It needs to be in a live NLP training environment with a trainer present, and is to be used in combination with an almost full NLP Practitioner toolset.

For the first article: NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern Tips – One

Going from a moment of safety before, to a moment of safety after the event happened
You run the risk of failing the fast phobia cure and trauma relief pattern almost entirely, if you are not picking a true moment of safety before the event happened and after. Need be you go back hours before, or even the day before if you have to. Example of the last pattern I did, was a visit to a dentist by a woman when she was a little girl. She used her experience in the dentist chair, the moment of safety before to the moment of safety after. The pattern failed. I used some milton model language, to get her brain search for the answer (instead of me having to guess.) The coin dropped she also watched her sister go through the same thing, which added to the trauma. We then did the pattern from a moment of safety before they even got in to the dentists office, to a time well after leaving it. The pattern worked beautifully.

Playing the black and white movie as seen from the projection booth is impossible
First work with dissociation. If that doesn’t work try playing the bottom half of the screen first, do the pattern on that. Then to the top half. Or every other minute (or second), and then the missing minutes in between. Remember, if the unconscious mind doesn’t want to cooperate in a patter, it has reasons for it! Something is not in place for the brain to safely play the movie.

You can’t get it to go level 2 or 3 fear
When you ask the client to rate the fear, from 1 being no fear and 10 being the worst and you can’t get it below level 2 or 3. Then you have wonder if the unconscious mind of the client isn’t absolutely right? First of all, a client usually rates their fear as 15 or a number like that, when asked to rate the fear from 1 to 10. So getting it down to a 2 or 3 is already a major success. In most cases, I ask the client if they are good with the number 2 or 3. After all, having a mild fear of snakes for instance, is completely justified as some snakes can be dangerous.

NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern Tips – Three coming soon….

How to know -how- someone is thinking?

Nicole — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 09:59:47 +0000

NLP Eye Accessing is often referred to as the Jedi-sword of an NLP Practitioner or coach. A wonderful tool to not necessarily know what someone is thinking, more so how!

In a series of articles, I plan to explain:
1. The history & science behind accessing in plain English.
2. Examples of how to use eye accessing in coaching
3. Eye Accessing – How to tell someone is lying, or not?
4. And in this article, how eye accessing works (Yes, free NLP Practitioner training.)

The below is an explanation of where the eyes go when looking at another person.
NLP term: indicates how we call this eye accessing cue in NLP.
NLP notation: how NLP practitioners write down quickly what eye accesses a client uses (this is useful for many reasons, that are answered in a quality NLP Practitioner course.)

Eyes move up and to the right
NLP term: Visual Remembered
NLP notation: Vr
The brain is accessing an image or some sort of visual memory of something the person has seen before.

Eyes move up and to the left.
NLP term: Visual Construct
NLP notation: Vc
The brain is creating a visual image, something it hasn’t seen before. Fantasy.

Eyes move directly to the right side
NLP term: Auditory Remembered
NLP notation: Ar
The brain is accessing a sound or some sort of auditory memory of something the person has heard before.

Eyes move directly to the left side
NLP term: Auditory Construct
NLP notation: Ac
The brain is creating a sound. Fantasy.

Eyes move down and to the right
NLP term: Auditory Digital
NLP notation: Ad
A person is talking to him or herself. The brain is processing an internal dialogue.

Eyes move down and to the left
NLP term: Kinesthetic
NLP notation: K
A person is feeling something 1) in terms of feeling something on the skin by for instance touching or temperature (tactile), 2) emotion (visceral.)

Eyes straight ahead defocused or dilated (large pupils.)
NLP term: none
NLP notation: none
A person is using the brain to quickly access sensory information such as sound, feelings, or images. Usually something visual.

Below a graphic representation of the eye accessing cues.

Soon “The History and Science of Eye Accessing cues in Plain English.”

Is multitasking effective?

Nicole — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:52:41 +0000

Is multasking effective, does it save time or does it really slow us down?

We are watching our children, while glancing at the news on TV, paying attention to our facebook chat, talking to our sister on the phone whom is in a fight with her husband. Now how effective are we? It really depends on the person.

The effectiveness of multitasking are dertermined by the combination of the preference for multitasking, intelligence, and the level of extraversion someone has. We call the preference someone has for multitasking ”polychronicity.” Polychronicity has a clear biological component, it depends if someone is sensitive for cues or triggers from the outside world. This explains why extraverts are better at multitasking, than introverts are.

There are some negative side effects to multitasking. In 2005 based on research by the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London, it appeared that the IQ of employees decreases twice as much if they are interrupted by email and phone, as someone who smokes marihuana. Scientists at the University of California showed that it takes an employee 25 minutes to recover from an interruption by phone or email.

From a mind, body, emotion perspective when a task requires a lot of concentration it is wise to focus on one activity alone. These tasks on its own require all your energy, and you’d deplete yourself eventually trying to multitask on high concentration tasks all at the same time. You need energy for each individual task, to perform them all at the same time. And the juggling act, alertness for the environment, all require their energy too. This is why multitasking are a major element in attracting energy related diseases like burnout.

Coming soon, NLP and how effective is multitasking?

NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern Tips – One

Nicole — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:24:35 +0000

This is the first installment of a series of notes on the NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern. This article assumes the reader already has learned the Fast Phobia Cure as part of their NLP Practitioner Training.

I am not entirely sure how many I have done, hundreds at this point. Though a seemingly simple technique, it actually requires ALL of the NLP Practitioner training skills to come together. And it is one of the few NLP techniques where it is really important to stick to process.

Most important:

1. Rapport!

2. Managing your own internal state.

3. Meta-model, to figure out what specifically is the problem.

4. 4-tupling and the Milton-model to create the experience

5. Perceptual positions

6. Submodalities (black and white, color)

7. Fast phobia cure pattern itself

There are literally 100s of notes I could give on this, and ideas how to cook with NLP. I will just give a few in a series of articles on this blog.

Turning three place dissociation in four or more place dissociation

An important part of the NLP Fast Phobia Cure is dissociating the client completely from the negative emotional experience. Some clients don’t dissociate until more than even more than free place dissociation takes place. Examples: putting in extra or thicker plexi-glass walls, see through Teflon shields, a bubble inside the projection booth, etc.

When dissociation isn’t happening?

Running the fast phobia off a timeline that is preferably physically built (not just as a sit down unconscious process. Especially when someone is highly kinesthetic.) This is really a Master Practitioner level tool though.

Put the client in the physiology of dissociation: lean back, chin raised, looking up, need be put their hands behind their head.

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NLP Fast Phobia Cure and Trauma Relief Pattern Tips – Two, coming soon….

Expanded Awareness Technique

Nicole — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:40:03 +0000

There is a very simple technique to learn and practice expanded awareness.

What is expanded awareness and why is it useful?

Looking at your computer screen, how much of you screen do you actually see as you are reading this blog post? Do you see all of it, even the tool bar off your browser? How much are you seeing around your computer screen? How about behind you?

The below technique will allow you to take in more information from the world….

1. Pick a single spot above eye level.

Perhaps a light fixture, a spot on the wall, the corner where the wall meets the ceiling.

2. Look at this spot with all of your focus. Fully and completely.

3. While looking at this spot with all of your focus, notice what is around the spot.

4. Now, while looking at this spot with all of your focus, expand your vision slowly. As slow as you can comfortably do this.

5. While looking at this spot with complete focus, notice the walls, the floor, the ceiling etc.

6. While looking at this spot, get a sense of….what’s behind you? Now you are in expanded awareness.

That was easy wouldn’t you agree?

Practice doing this faster and faster. Expanding and narrowing again your awareness.

It’s OK if you feel a little spaced out. It happens, this is called self-hypnosis.

Now when would the technique of expanded awareness be useful to you?

What is Expanded Awareness?

Nicole — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:13:16 +0000

Expanded awareness is useful for many reasons.

What is expanded awareness?

By using expanded awareness we can take in more information from the world around us, both in terms in what is observed from a rational conscious state, as well as subjective experience. You can sense more than your 5 senses allow.

Expanded awareness is said to be practiced by Samurai’s. Whom were required to notice an enemy coming, from beyond what could be sensed in a normal state of awareness.

Other than that, I find expanded awareness extremly useful in training and coaching. It allows me to take in more information from the client in coaching. As well as the ability to notice what is going on in an entire room of people.

Also you can induce a state of relaxation or trance in yourself, or others if you guide them towards a state of expanded awareness. I find it extremely useful to do on transatlantic flights, which I like to do from an altered state so I can zone out, or play with my own brain. After all, how can you NOT use NLP in moments when you are trying to preserve your sanity. You may as well put your brain to some good use, even in economy class!

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Coming on February 9th a blog post on: the technique of expanded awareness.