Everything you wanted to know about
Metaphors in Mind: Transformation through Symbolic Modelling by James Lawley and Penny Tompkins.
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by The Developing Company Press
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Book reviews:
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from: Crown House Publishing
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What people have said
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Caroline Myss, Ph.D., best selling author of
Sacred Contracts, Anatomy of the Spirit and Why
People Don't Heal says:
Tompkins and Lawley have
written a book that provides people with a tool for profound
analysis and insight. The use of metaphors as a means of
evaluating how you order your world, your relationships,
your occupation, and interpret the experiences of your life
is invaluable. This book should be read by everyone who has
an interest in expanding their awareness of why they say the
things they do, and discovering how the "contents" of their
lives are sources of empowerment.
Ernest Rossi, Ph.D. author of Dreams,
Consciousness & Spirit, The Symptom Path to
Enlightenment and The Psychobiology of Mind-Body
Healing says:
Metaphors in Mind presents a broad integration
of deep perspectives about helping people learn how to
facilitate their own creativity in solving their own
problems in their own way. Well done!
David Grove, MS. author of Resolving Traumatic
Memories says:
I have tremendous admiration
for the innovative work they have developed ... I
congratulate Penny and James on completing this valuable
book ... a richly stimulating text that gently escorts the
reader on a captivating journey. Be prepared for this book
to launch you on a personal journey of change and
development. The parade of thought provoking concepts,
stories and challenges contained within will provide a
reliable travelling companion to accompany you along the
way.
[For more see: The Foreword]
Charles Faulkner, author of NLP - The New
Technology of Achievement, says:
It is a closely reasoned,
well-referenced, and articulate contribution to therapeutic
practice, the understanding of metaphor, and the importance
of applied theory.
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Michael Hall, Ph.D. author of Meta-States, The
Secrets of Magic, Mind-Lines and many other books, says:
James Lawley and Penny
Tompkins have provided an excellent presentation of working
with metaphors in order to model human experience. What I
really like about this new work is their research in
Cognitive Linguistic, Cognitive Psychology and
self-organization theory.
[For more see: Meta-States and Symbolic Modeling]
Sue Knight, author of NLP at Work, NLP
Solutions and NLP and Leadership, says:
Metaphors in Mind is such a significant piece
of work and for me is the essence of what NLP is really
about. My admiration for what James and Penny have done is
unbounded and it has -- in the modelling tradition --
enhanced what is available in the NLP world for us all to
use. And given the complexity and the changing nature of
what he [David Grove] is doing, it is even more impressive
how simply and elegantly James and Penny have modelled the
structure of hgis work using Clean Language for Symbolic
Modelling. I do recommend the book.
[For more see: Modelling - a tribute to Simon and David]
Angus I McLeod, Ph.D. says in Performance
Coaching: The Handbook for Managers, HR Professionals and
Coaches
No contribution to coaching
would be complete without reference to the outstanding work
of Penny Tompkins and James Lawley. With its basis in Clean
Language and its focus on coachee metaphors, Symbolic
Modeling offers a powerful skill-set for personal change and
development geared to compelling targets. In its overt use,
Symbolic Modeling may not appeal to all managements.
However, I use several of the interventions and the language
patterns of Symbolic Modeling in my work and have never
encountered any resistance to them during a coaching
session, even though the language seems to many observers to
be contrived. Do not be misled by the language constructs:
they are powerful keys to unlocking motivated change. The
examples of coaching given in this book are highly
influenced by such language constructs.
Bob Janes, in NLP World, November 2000,
says:
This book is a tour de force,
a magnificent contribution to the study of the structure of
subjectivity and to the fields of therapy and personal
change.
[For more see review in: NLP World]
Eric Robbie, one of the most experienced NLP'ers in the UK wrote (in Rapport 60)
Of all the new stuff to emerge in the last 20 years [in NLP], especially here in the UK, the most significant, the most radical, and the most influential is (to me) the work done by Penny Tompkins and James Lawley in taking the ideas of David Grove, and running with them. Their combined approach is, as they say, a true paradigm shift. After taking their stuff on board, you can't go back.
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Contents
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What do you do as a therapist, teacher, doctor or manager
when your client, student, patient or colleague says "It's
like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall," "I've got a
knot in my stomach" or "I'm looking for the right path to
take"?
Metaphors in Mind describes how to give
individuals an opportunity to discover how their symbolic
perceptions are organised, what needs to happen for these to
change, and how they can develop as a result.
Based on David Grove's pioneering therapeutic approach
and use of Clean Language, Symbolic Modelling is an
emergent, systemic and iterative way of facilitating the
psychotherapeutic process.
This comprehensive book covers the theory of metaphor,
self-organising systems, symbolic modelling, the practice of
Clean Language, the five-stage therapeutic process, and
includes three client transcripts.
336 pages
Paperback
9 x 6 inches (234 x 152 mm)
Published October 2000
ISBN 978-0-9538751-0-8 (ISBN was formerly 0-9538751-0-5)
£ 17.95 (pounds Sterling)
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FOREWORD by David Grove
I BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
1. Metaphors We Live By
2. Models We Create By
II THE HEART OF SYMBOLIC MODELLING
3. Less is More: Basic Clean Language
4. Clean Language Without Words
III THE FIVE-STAGE PROCESS
5. Stage 1: Entering the Symbolic Domain
6. Stage 2: Developing Symbolic Perceptions
7. Stage 3: Modelling Symbolic Patterns
8. Stage 4: Encouraging Transformation
9. Stage 5: Maturing the Evolved Landscape
IV IN CONCLUSION
10. Outside and Beyond
V ANNOTATED TRANSCRIPTS
- Castle Door
- Jubilee Clip
- Lozenge
Summary of Clean Language Questions
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
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The Foreword by David Grove
An eighteenth century botanist planted a willow sapling in a
barrel after first weighing both the sapling and the soil. After the
sapling had grown for five years, he weighed the tree and discovered
that it had increased in mass by 195 pounds. Upon weighing the soil
he was surprised to find that it had decreased in weight by only 13
ounces. The question is, where did a 195 pound tree come from if not
from the soil? The only answer is, out of thin air!
And it is by delving into thin air itself that we discover an
explanation for this mystery. During the light of day a tree absorbs
carbon dioxide through its leaves. Then at night, during the dark
phase of photosynthesis, the carbon dioxide molecule is separated
into one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. The tree releases the
oxygen atoms back into the air and forms the carbon atoms into a six
carbon simple sugar ring which is a building block for cellulose. The
hidden beauty in this system is the deconstruction, release and
recombination of basic elements from one structure to another. The
mass and structure of the tree is the result of this mysterious
process.
Just like building blocks of a carbon atom that have been
recombined to form more complex compounds, Penny Tompkins and James
Lawley have synthesized elements from a variety of sources such as
Neuro-Linguistc Programming, Clean Language and systems thinking -
and added both mass and structure. Although my original work was in a
therapeutic context, their synthesis has made it available to others
who have taken it into the fields of business, education, health and
social services. I have tremendous admiration for the innovative work
they have developed.
My first encounter with Penny and James appeared to materialize
out of thin air. Penny's tenacious "won't take no for an answer"
style and James' inquiring, penetrating questions formed my initial
introduction to them. My life continues to be enriched by our ongoing
interactions. "Developing" is a word that I strongly associate with
both of them. Not only is it the name of their company, but it also
describes what I have come to recognize as constant theme which they
apply to themselves as well as the clients with whom they work.
I congratulate Penny and James on completing this valuable book.
The immense degree of dedication and devotion that they steadfastly
maintained during the course of this project has resulted in a richly
stimulating text that gently escorts the reader on a captivating
journey. Be prepared for this book to launch you on a personal
journey of change and development. The parade of thought provoking
concepts, stories and challenges contained within will provide a
reliable travelling companion to accompany you along the way.
David J. Grove, 4 July, 2000
The Introduction from Metaphors in Mind
"James, I know you'll ask a hundred questions about this
workshop, and I don't think I'll be able to answer a single
one. But I do know this guy David Grove is doing something
special. I've just had one of the most profound experiences
of my life. Why don't you postpone your holiday and come and
see him? Maybe together we can figure out what he's doing."
Unbeknown to Penny, this telephone conversation was to
decide the direction of our lives for the next five years.
David J. Grove, M.S.
David Grove is a New Zealander whose unique psychotherapeutic
approach, experience and style make him one of today's most skilful
and innovative therapists.
In the 1980s he developed clinical methods for resolving clients'
traumatic memories, especially those related to child abuse, rape and
incest. He realised many clients naturally described their symptoms
in metaphor, and found that when he enquired about these using their
exact words, their perception of the trauma began to change. This led
him to create Clean Language, a way of asking questions of clients'
metaphors which neither contaminate nor distort them.
Initially David Grove specialised in 'healing the wounded child
within'. These days his interests have widened to include nonverbal
behaviour, perceptual space and inter-generational healing. He is
constantly developing new ideas and creative methods which continue
to fascinate and inspire us.
Our contribution
To "figure out" what David Grove was doing we used a process
called modelling. This involved observing him work with clients
(including ourselves) and spending hour after hour poring over
recordings and transcripts. We looked for patterns in the
relationship between what he was doing and the way clients responded
that contributed to the changes they experienced. We combined these
patterns into a generalised model which was tested and fine tuned -
cycling through observation, pattern detection, model construction,
testing and revising many times.
While our model is based on David Grove's work and incorporates
many of his ideas, he has a different way of describing his approach.
Our model was derived more from our observation of him in action than
from his explanation of what he does. It was also shaped by our
desire for others to learn the process easily and for it to apply to
a range of contexts in addition to psychotherapy.
As well as employing many of David Grove's ideas, we have also
drawn upon cognitive linguistics, self-organising systems theory and
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). The result is a process called
Symbolic Modelling.
Symbolic Modelling in a nutshell
Symbolic Modelling is a method for facilitating individuals to
become familiar with the symbolic domain of their experience so that
they discover new ways of perceiving themselves and their world. It
uses Clean Language to facilitate them to attend to their metaphoric
expressions so that they create a model of their symbolic mindbody
perceptions. This model exists as a living, breathing,
four-dimensional world within and around them.
When clients explore this world and its inherent logic, their
metaphors and way of being are honoured. During the therapeutic
process their metaphors begin to evolve. As this happens their
everyday thinking, feeling and behaviour correspondingly change as
well.
Some clients benefit just from having their metaphors developed
with a few clean questions. For some the process leads to a
reorganisation of their existing symbolic perceptions, while for
others nothing short of a transformation of their entire landscape of
metaphors will suffice. As a result clients report that they are more
self-aware, more at peace with themselves, have a more defined sense
of their place in the world and are more able to enrich the lives of
others.
What you will learn from this book
What do you do as a therapist, teacher, doctor or manager when
your client, student, patient or colleague says "It's like I'm
hitting my head against a brick wall" or "I'm so wound-up I can't see
straight" or "Things keep getting on top of me"?
Do you ignore the metaphorical nature of their communication? Do
you unwittingly introduce your own metaphors ("Why do you continue
punishing yourself?" "I can tell you're stressed." "How does that
make you feel?")? Or do you take their metaphors as an accurate
description of their way of being in the world and ask questions
within the logic of the information - without introducing any
metaphors of your own ("And is there anything else about that brick
wall?" "And what kind of wound-up is that?" "And whereabouts on top
of you?").
This book describes how to do the latter.
When using Symbolic Modelling you give your clients, students,
patients or colleagues an opportunity to discover how their symbolic
perceptions are organised, what needs to happen for these to change,
and how they can develop as a result. In order to do this
proficiently, you need to be able to:
- Attend to client-generated verbal and nonverbal metaphors
- Communicate via Clean Language
- Facilitate clients to self-model
- Be guided by the logic inherent in their symbolic expressions.
Our primary focus in this book is psychotherapy. And while we
describe a complete process that can be used in its own right, many
therapists and counsellors have found ways to combine Symbolic
Modelling with their preferred approach. In addition, in Chapter 10
we describe how Symbolic Modelling is being used in education, health
and business.
Structure of the book
We have arranged the book in five parts. Part I provides
theoretical and background knowledge about metaphor, modelling and
self- organising systems. Part II introduces the basic questions,
philosophy and methodology of Clean Language. Part III contains a
stage-by-stage description of the Five-Stage Therapeutic Process,
with extensive client transcripts to illustrate and explain how the
process unfolds. In Part IV we describe a number of applications of
Symbolic Modelling outside the field of individual psychotherapy.
Finally, Part V contains annotated transcripts of our work with three
clients.
How to use this book
We have designed the book to be used iteratively. This means that
you will benefit from revisiting each chapter with the accumulated
knowledge gained from reading later chapters, and from having put
into practice what you have learned. In this way the book is like a
travel guide. It gives useful information about the places you are
about to visit, what to look out for, and if you reread it after you
return, it will mean so much more.
You do not have to begin this book at the beginning. Depending on
your preferred learning style there are various entry points. You can
start with Part I if you like general concepts and theory first. If
you prefer to learn by doing, the information in Part II will enable
you to start practising immediately. If you want to find out how you
can apply the model in a variety of contexts, go to Part IV. And if
you learn best by first seeing an example of the entire process,
start with Part V.
And finally
Like learning to play the piano, no amount of theory or
observation can substitute for the actual experience of your fingers
moving over the keyboard. Our main purpose in writing this book is to
encourage you to use Symbolic Modelling because only then will you
discover how much your clients can benefit from this approach.
And it is not only your clients who will benefit. As a result of
using Symbolic Modelling we have developed acute listening and
observation skills, an improved ability to retain and recall
information and an increased capacity to think systemically and at
multiple levels.
Also, being facilitated to model our metaphors and patterns has
been an indispensable part of learning to facilitate others to model
theirs - not to mention the gift of our own personal development.
Yet perhaps the most unexpected benefit of regularly facilitating
Symbolic Modelling has been learning to become comfortable with 'not
knowing', to be in the moment with whatever is happening, and to
trust the wisdom in the system.
Earn CEUs
Read
Metaphors in Mind and get 15 Continuing Education Units (CEUs):
If you require CEU's in your profession, you can now take a
self-study course on "Metaphors in Mind". Licensed clinicians, social
workers, nurses and other licensed professionals in USA can visit
www.innerlandscape.com.
This self-study course is approved for 15 CEUS by:
- The National Board for Certified Counselors #5803
- MFTs and LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral
Science Examiners #2387
- The California Board of Registered Nursing Provider #13258 for
18 contact hours
- NAADAC Provider #389
- TX Board of Social Work Provider #CS3518
Others are being added all the time.
Download Index of Metaphors in Mind as a PDF
Penny and James
