Articles by this Author
Directing in the Moment

The notes of a prototype model of how to use Vivian Gladwell's (of Nose to Nose) approach to training clowns to develop any skill that can benefit from in-the-moment feedback
which does not interupt the process. The example given is enhancing skills of Symbolic Modelling.
Iteration, Iteration, Iteration
If you search for 'iteration' on the web you will find precious little
outside the domain of mathematics and computing. And yet iteration is
commonly seen in nature as a way for organisms to grow and develop and
as a change process in an increasing number of psychotherapeutic
procedures. So what is iteration and how can we make use of it? These are unpublished notes written for
The Developing Group.
Proximity and Meaning
Adjacency is about 'next to-ness'. It creates meaning in people's minds - naturally. This article examines the significance of adjacency, how we can recognise it, and how we can work with it for ourselves and our clients, taking a 'clean' approach to adjacency.
Coaching with Metaphor
Are you aware that your clients use metaphor several times a minute? And that your clients reason and act in ways that are consistent with their metaphors? And that the nature of metaphor makes it ideal for working with out-of-the-ordinary problems and high-level goals? And that Clean Language keeps coaches' (unconscious) metaphors out of the coaching process, and facilitates clients' metaphors to change — and as they do, so do their perceptions, decisions and actions? If not, you need to read this article.
How to do a Modelling Project
We summarise 15 years experience of conducting formal modelling projects and training modelling. Our ideas are presented as working notes and guidelines rather than a finished article. We intend to keep updating and expanding these notes. Please revisit this site and let us know if you think there is something we should add. All contributions will, of course, be credited.
What is Therapeutic Modelling?
This article has been written in dialogue format. Some of these dialogues have actually occurred, although most of the questions are composites of those we have been asked over the years. It describes differnces between Therapeutic and Product modelling, and between Top-down and Bottom-up modelling.
Paying attention to what they are paying attention to

An introduction to the Perceiver-Perceived-Relationship-Context (PPRC) model. It enables a client’s verbal and nonverbal behaviour to be used to infer how they construct their model
of their world, i.e. it is a model of
perception from the client’s perspective.
Coaching for P.R.O.s
Being able to make the distinction between a Problem, a Remedy and desired Outcome statement is vital to being an 'outcome orientated' facilitator. This article gives detailed instructions on how to recognise client's PRO statements and how to respond so that you have more choice about where you guide their attention.
PRO can also be used to keep meetings on track, to keep a group in a creative state, to move people beyond conflict towards a joint outcome, or in numerous other productive ways.
Clean Language Revisited: The evolution of a model
We published our first article on David Grove's Clean Language,
Less is More, in 1997.
2 Since then our model of Clean Language has undergone two revisions. Below we document these changes and explain why they happened. By charting the development of our thinking we demonstrate how modelling over the long-term is an evolutionary process.
The Jewel of Choice
This 3-part article contains a transcript for each of the two sessions where Penny Tompkins and James Lawley worked with a participant on a Symbolic Modelling training in 2001. The transcripts are annotated to explain some of the modelling involved and the purpose for each question. In part 3 the client describes - both in words and drawings - the changes she experienced during the sessions, and what happened in the following 6 months.