Mining Your Metaphors

Change the metaphor, change the self.

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Crossing London Streets and Neural Pathways

October 1, 2009

I’ve recently returned from London , where I was doing advanced training in Symbolic Modeling and attending the Clean Conference 2009, a gathering of people from around the world sharing their work with and thoughts about Clean Language.   Surprisingly, one of my lessons came not from my classes nor the Conference, but from walking around London.

Being American and used to driving on the right, it was a challenge to manage there, where they drive on the left. Forget trying to drive a car; just crossing the street was difficult!    My crowning moment was when fellow trainee Dena Robbins-Deckel (who is from Israel, where they also drive on the right) and I approached a crosswalk. There on the street, painted in large letters, was LOOK LEFT. I stopped, mindfully telling myself, “Okay now. I have to do the opposite of what I instinctively do.”  Dena was pausing, staring, concentrating, no doubt going through a similar mental process. So what do we do? We both looked right.  And then, at the same moment, we said, “Which way is left?” Our brains were positively scrambled by the effort to change!

Besides giving us a good laugh at ourselves, the incident provided a wonderful demonstration of just how difficult it is to overcome patterns of behavior that repetition has firmly established in our brains, despite cognitive awareness and the intention to do something differently.   If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to change your behavior, fully intending to, but finding you just can’t seem to, you know what I mean. And insight into why it might be hard or where your behavior came from in the first place doesn’t help much either.

Something has to change in both mind and body, where old patterns are deeply entrenched. I’ve found Symbolic Modeling is one effective way of doing that, using the language of the subconscious: metaphor.  Where most verbal coaching and counseling techniques engage your cognitive faculties, the slightly altered state feel of a Symbolic Modeling session is taping into a different kind of knowing and processing. It bypasses your ‘logical’ knowing and self-limiting beliefs to enable your brain to “do something differently”, bringing about change (if that’s what you want) on an internal level that transcends cognitive awareness and those well-established patterns. Want to learn more about this technique? Check out my website www.miningyourmetaphors.com

As for crossing the streets in London, I gave up trying to retrain myself entirely, and just looked both ways wherever I was!

Gina


Filed Under: brain neuroplasticity, Cognitive Science, metaphors, Mind/body, Subconscious MessagesTagged: symbolic modeling

How Do Horseshoes and Clean Language Differ?

September 4, 2009

At our last summer hurrah at the beach, our family was playing horseshoes, and it got me thinking.  In horseshoes, close just may be good enough. But, as a coach, counselor or therapist, when you use Clean Language and asking questions about your clients’ statements, you have to use their exact words.

Why isn’t close-but-not-exact good enough?

Try this. Take a piece of paper, and list the numbers 1-10. Consider the word ‘green.’ Write down the first ten things that come to mind related to ‘green.’  Then, without sharing your answers, ask a few other people to do the same. Now, compare lists.

Chances are you may have several words that are the same and then a few more that are only on your list but it’s logical to everyone why they made your list.  And then perhaps there are one or two words that leave your friends scratching their heads: why would that have anything to do with ‘green?  Maybe the word ‘grandmother’ because green was your grandmother’s favorite color, or ‘icing’ because someone once made you a funny birthday cake with green icing. The association is unique to you.

And that’s why close is not good enough when you’re repeating your clients’ words. Because every word, consciously or subconsciously, has its own resonance and associations for the speaker. Change it, and you lose the information that word ‘contains’….and you suggest to your client you didn’t really hear him/her.

Share your story here on the blog of a unique association you have with a word or respond to someone else’s word-story with your association.

And the next time someone uses the word “green”, you might want to use a Clean Language question, and ask, “Is there anything else about green?”


Filed Under: Coaching, Counseling, metaphors, Power of Words, Subconscious Messages, TherapyTagged: Clean Language, Clean Language activity

Metaphors and Drug Policy

May 26, 2009

Metaphors matter because they frame the way we think about an issue–and the solutions we consider. I’ve been noticing recently that the Obama administration knows this too. (Guess they’ve read George Lakoff’s Don’t think of an Elephant!(2004).) A few weeks ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the administration would no longer be using the term “War on Terror.”  This was followed by an announcement by Gil Kerlikowske, the drug czar, that the administration will no longer refer to seeking solutions for the drug problems in this country as a “War on Drugs.”

When we started referring to addressing the drug problem in this country as a war,  we started thinking in terms of  military/police solutions.  Drug users became the enemy, and it was only logical to construe treating their health problems with compassion as being ‘soft on crime.’ Changing this approach when our attack wasn’t succeeding would have been tantamount to surrendering–which no politician wants to do.

I think our war metaphor  had an even subtler, more insidious effect. When we started using battle metaphors,  we started thinking terms of winners and losers.  And pretty soon there was an us vs. them mentality that became so intrinsic a part of our culture that we forgot that us and them are one and the same.

“We’re not at war with people in this country,” said  Kerlikowske.

Hallelujah!  Maybe now we have an administration that is really ready to reframe drug use–this time as a health issue. And, thinking of Clinton’s quote,  that is ready to rethink its approach to healing (rather than combating) the root causes of the anger that fuels people’s resorting to terrorism.

Wonder what new metaphors the administration will come up with?  Keep us posted if you spot any.


Filed Under: metaphors, Power of Words, Subconscious MessagesTagged: American metaphors, assumptions, leadership, public policy, reframing

Welcome to Metaphorum!

May 5, 2008

Welcome to Metaphorum, my blog!  Here you’ll find thoughts and theories about metaphors, Clean Language, suggestions for applications of the technique,  articles, quotes, poems and more. I hope you’ll find them stimulating.

Whether you’re a client exploring the possibilities of Clean Language, a professional counselor, therapist or coach considering adding these tools to your tool box, or someone already familiar with them who’s ever curious about the ways transforming metaphors can transform life, welcome.

Add your voice to our community!

Gina Campbell


Filed Under: metaphors, UncategorizedTagged: Clean Language, symbolic modeling

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Gina Campbell, offering Clean Language trainings since 2005

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