Australia Workshop 2009 by Penny Tompkins and James Lawley

Metaphors in Mind
3-day workshop in Sydney, Australia

with

Penny Tompkins and James Lawley

January 31 - February 2, 2009

Penny Tompkins and James Lawley (biography), developers of Symbolic Modelling (which includes the Clean Language of David Grove) will be in Sydney, Australia in January/February 2009 and running a workshop to:

Demonstrate Symbolic Modelling and Clean Language live

Show you how to model systemically to encourage conditions for organic change

Discover your own Metaphor Landscape

Find out why the influential cognitive scientist and linguist, Steven Pinker, highlighted (in The Stuff of Thought) “A book on psychotherapy called Metaphors in Mind calls on therapists to work with their patients’ metaphors like: 'I have a sensitive radar for insults' and 'I’m trapped behind a door'.”

Outside the workshop,
James and Penny will be available for
private therapy sessions with individuals,
or for small group work.

Below you will find details of:

The Workshop, Jan 31-Feb 2
Venue
Cost, Booking and Contact Details
Frequently Asked Questions
Other Events - January 14 and 21st
Recommended introductory articles

THE WORKSHOP

Metaphors in Mind: Personal change through the new science of emergence

“Science has now moved from the Age of Reductionism to an Age of Emergence, a time when the search for ultimate causes of things shifts from the behaviour of parts to the behaviour of the collective. There can be no doubt that the dominant paradigm is now organizational.”
Nobel Prize winner for Physics, Robert Laughlin, A Different Universe, 2006

Cognitive science and psychology are part of this fundamental paradigm shift. No longer do leading thinkers use metaphors of machines, engineering, linear cause-effect, problem-solution, centralised control and power. It seems the world is decentralised and complex through and through. Reductionism is having to hand over its crown to the new science of emergence. The paradigm shift is based on three new ways of making sense of human experience:

Humans, individually and collectively, self-organise. Self-organising systems have no central control. Instead they are based on dynamic intelligent networks, that are complex, adaptive and emergent.

Metaphor is not some figurative icing on the narrative cake, it is intrinsic to language, thought and deed.

Knowledge for the most part is not based on abstract concepts and well-defined categories, but embodied through and through in a fuzzy, non-linear logic.

These developments require a radical new view of how human's change. One that accepts that although transformative change is indeterminate and unpredictable, the conditions for serendipitous events can be encouraged. Symbolic Modelling, has been rooted in this new worldview since its inception a decade ago. Symbolic Modelling is not just about thinking in terms of systems, it is a way to facilitate systemically.

Few approaches implement the new paradigm as congruently as Symbolic Modelling. Based on the groundbreaking work of David Grove, Symbolic Modelling integrates the Grovian 'clean' philosophy, the use of client-generated metaphor, the facilitator as a modeller, and systemic outcome orientation into one integrated package. The principal focus of this approach is the client's relationship with their own ‘metaphor landscape’ — a psychoactive 4-dimensional, imaginative world existing within and around them. The emergent dynamic feedback loop provides an inherent directionality, often guiding the client to places they didn’t know they needed to go, and to outcomes that surprise and delight both them and their facilitator.

WHAT YOU WILL GET AT THE WORKSHOP

Attend for 1, 2 or all 3 days

We have arranged the workshop so you can attend for:

Day 1 only, if you want a taster of what Symbolic Modelling is and how it works
Days 1 & 2 only, if you can devoted a weekend to learning the basics of Clean Language, Metaphor and Modelling
Days 1,2 & 3, for a more in-depth learning experience.

The workshop consists of:

Day 1 - Jan 31, 2009

Live Symbolic Modelling client sessions demonstrated and debriefed.
Recognising metaphors and how they represents the structure of experience.
Discover your own ‘generative metaphor’ and facilitate others using the most common Clean Language questions.

Day 2 - Feb 1, 2009

Demonstrations of identifying, developing and evolving Desired Outcomes.
The embodied nature of metaphor and its psychoactive role.
Work with a desired outcome for a personal development topic of your choosing and facilitate using the basic Clean Language question set.

Day 3 - Feb 2, 2009

Demonstrations of working with problematic patterns.
The significance of space and nonverbal metaphor in the change process.
More practice using Clean Language, with coaching from Penny, James and an experienced team of assistants.

VENUE

TIGERS - Balmain Leagues Club

138-152 Victoria Rd, Rozelle NSW 2039

For directions to venue: www.tigers.org.au

PRICES (in Australian Dollars)

Payment of a non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your place
Full payment is required by 31st December, 2008

	Price	Non-refundable deposit (20%)
Day 1 only: Jan 31, 2009	$250	$50
Days 1 & 2: Jan 31 and Feb 1, 2009	$450	$90
Days 1, 2 & 3: Jan 31, Feb 1 and 2, 2009	$600	$120

TO BOOK YOUR PLACE

You can pay by credit card using the PayPal buttons below

Please Note: if you experience any problems with PayPal adding UK VAT at
15% to the total amount, please contact Zannie Barrett. Thank you.

Deposit Day 1 only: $50	Deposit Days 1 & 2: $90	Deposit Days 1, 2 & 3: $120
Balance Day 1 only: $200	Balance Days 1 & 2: $360	Balance Days 1, 2 & 3: $480

CONTACT

Judy Baker in Australia regarding workshop venue details, accommodation, etc.

Zannie Barrett in the UK regarding private therapy sessions with individuals or groups.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (answers will open in a new tab/window)

In a nutshell, what is Symbolic Modelling?

Will this workshop suit someone who doesn't know anything about Symbolic Modelling but who loves metaphor?

Will I have a chance to practise Clean Language and find out about my own metaphors?

What kind of people would most benefit as participants?

What will I get from attending the workshop?

OTHER EVENTS
with Penny Tompkins and James Lawley

Symbolic Modelling MASTER CLASS
evening of January 14th 2009

Join Penny and James for a master class where they will demonstrate and debrief how they use Symbolic Modelling and David Grove's Clean Language in their work. Find out why Harvard Professor and cognitive scientist, Steven Pinker says "A book on psychotherapy called Metaphors in Mind calls on therapists to work with their patients’ metaphors like: 'I have a sensitive radar for insults' and 'I’m trapped behind a door'." The Stuff of Thought (2007). There will be time for questions and some practice.

Booking though Inspiritve www.inspiritive.com.au/nlp_masterclass.htm

Metaphors in Mind - Therapeutic Modelling in Action
evening of January 21st 2009

“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.”

Sue Knight, author of NLP at Work; NLP Solutions; and NLP and Leadership.

Penny and James will demonstrate and debrief how they apply modelling as a change process by using Symbolic Modelling and David Grove's Clean Language.

Booking though ABNLP www.abnlp.org.au see Events & Programs

RECOMMENDED INTRODUCTORY ARTICLES (articles will open in a new tab/window):

Coaching: Coaching with Metaphor
Therapy: Tangled Spaghetti in My Head
Health: The Mind, Metaphor and Health
Education: Learning Metaphors

ALSO by Penny and James

Book: Metaphors in Mind: Transformation through Symbolic Modelling

DVD: A Strange and Strong Sensation

We look forward to seeing you in January!

Metaphors in Mind
3-day workshop in Sydney, Australia

with

Penny Tompkins and James Lawley

January 31 - February 2, 2009

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS -answered by Penny and James

In a nutshell, what is Symbolic Modelling?
Will this workshop suit someone who doesn't know anything about Symbolic Modelling but who loves metaphor?
Will we have a chance to practise Clean Language and find out about my own metaphors?
What kind of people would most benefit as participants?
What will I get from the workshop?

Question 1 - In a nutshell, what is Symbolic Modelling?

Symbolic Modelling uses personal metaphors to facilitate clients to work with higher levels of experience — core beliefs, sense of identity and purpose, the spiritual — as well as complex and seemingly intractable issues that are not amenable to traditional techniques.

Metaphors and symbols are like threads which weave together to create a continually unfolding tapestry — the fabric of our existence. Metaphors are so fundamental, pervasive and embedded in thought, word and deed that they tend to remain out of our awareness.

Through Symbolic Modelling we become aware of the way our metaphors define our experience. Then we can create a model of how our symbolic mind-body-spirit perceptions work together as a perfectly functioning system. This model of self, or Metaphor Landscape, exists as a living, breathing, dynamic, multi-dimensional world within and around us. As we explore this symbolic world it begins to evolve, thereby creating the conditions for a transformative shift in the way we perceive our self and our relationships. And as this happens, our everyday thinking, feeling and behaviour change as well.

Question 2 - Will this workshop suit someone who doesn't know anything about Symbolic Modelling but who loves metaphor?

It depends what you mean by 'metaphor'. Often people think of 'metaphor' as poetry, traditional or therapeutic storytelling (like Milton Erickson used to do). Although we have had many hypnotherapists and storytellers on our courses, that is not the kind of metaphor we work with.

We work exclusively with client-generated Cognitive Linguistic-type metaphor (see introductory metaphor articles or Lakoff & Johnson's Metaphors We Live By or Steven Pinker's The Stuff of Thought). People who have an interest in how metaphors represent and influence each individual's idiosyncratic experience and behaviour.

Question 3 - Will I have a chance to practise Clean Language and find out about my own metaphors?

Definitely. We find that the most natural way to get interested in this work is by experiencing it both as a facilitator and as a client.

Throughout the workshop participants will have a chance to each ask other Clean Language questions and to practise the Symbolic Modelling process. During activities we will be on hand to provide in-the-moment coaching when appropriate (and depending on numbers attending).

We would aexpect everyone to leave with a metaphor for a personal resource (at a minimum) and, if you join up for the three-day workshop, you'll get to work with a personal desired outcome.

Question 4 - What kind of people would most benefit as participants?

Anyone interested in the type of metaphor as described above
Psychotherapists, Coaches, Counsellors, Mentors
Body workers who want to make use of spoken metaphors that spontaneously occur in treatment.
NLP'ers who appreciate that modelling at the core of NLP.
Teachers who provide personal support for their students.
Managers who coach or give employees performance reviews.
Anyone who works 1:1 as well as with couples, teams, etc.

We've also had participants who are:

IT people who are interested in systems (they love this work!).
GPs/Physicians who want to recognise and utilise patient's metaphors for their symptoms.
Teachers/Managers who want to help students/colleagues develop metaphors for 'learning'/'working' at their best.
Professionals who want to be able to recognise the 'nature of metaphor' for use in interviewing, motivation, decision-making, etc.

Question 5 - What will I get from attending the workshop?

The opportunity to learn from three different perspectives:

Observer
Facilitator
Self

As an Observer you will:

See two of the world’s leading practitioners demonstrate how this approach works in live situations.
Find out how Penny and James' make their in-the-moment decisions.
See how metaphor structures our experience.
Learn how to take on a systemic view of the nature of change.
Discover how the relationship between interior and exterior space is fundamental to the way we make sense of the world.

As a Facilitator you will have a chance to put the above into practice and:

Work directly with clients’ inner symbolic world in a naturalistic way.
Train your attention to focus on what is salient in the client’s information.
Listen with new ears; see with new eyes, ask questions in a new way.
Learn how client's words can become embodied and psychoactive.

You will also find out about your Self, you will discover:

Your own Metaphor Landscape.
How self-organising change works from the inside.
The difference it makes when your Metaphor Landscape goes psychoactive.
How to incorporate this approach in to your work.

WHAT YOU WILL NOT GET:

Us trying to 'sell' you on the ideas.
A step-by-step technique to be followed blindly.
Promises this will instantly transform your life and all your clients.
Analysis of clients’ process based on pre-given theories of personality or behaviour.