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Metaphors in Mind
3-day workshop in Sydney, Australia
with
Penny Tompkins and James Lawley
January 31 - February 2, 2009
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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.
Penny and James have both been UKCP registered psychotherapists since 1993, supervisors, coaches in business, and
certified NLP trainers. They co-authored 
