- Write a case study of a Meta Program and how you used it in a client’s intervention
- The client is a 52 year old woman who wants to lose some weight. She tried a number of different diets but they didn’t work for her and she found it difficult to restrict certain foods she loves because it made her feel deprived and depressed.
A meta program was conducted to learn more about her and to find appropriate interventions.Toward/Away From:A: What prompted you to come in for an appointment?
V: I just want to feel good. This extra weight seems to be holding me down and I want to have more energy and vitality. I think losing weight is a good step in the direction of being healthier.
The client appears to be a towards person. She talked about losing weight as moving towards better health, energy and vitality. Therefore, when working with her I would frame weight loss as an opportunity to move towards a healthier body, as a way to feel better and have much more energy.
Internal/External
A: How would you know if this was working for you? What evidence would you need? (This seems obvious because weight loss would be evidence, but I wanted to see how she thought about it)
V: Well, I’d lose weight, but more importantly I would feel good about myself. I would feel good in my body. My clothes would feel better on, not as tight. I would have more energy. I’d just feel a lot better.I prompted a bit further just to see if there were external factors.
A: Is it important to you how others would then see you?
V: It would be nice if I got a few compliments, but that’s really not why I’m doing this. I just want to feel better.The client appears to be pretty grounded in the internal framework. So, knowing that, I would approach change as something she could feel good about doing. Moving toward being healthier is something that would support feeling good inside, feeling good about herself.
Matching/Mismatched
A: What kind of clothes do you like to wear?
V: I like all kinds of clothes, but mostly I like things that are unique and different. I like to stand out.
A: How do you feel about the way other people dress? When I went to Catholic school as a child, we all had to wear uniforms and look the same.
V: That must have been awful! I would really not like that. I think people should be individuals and unique … kind of like snowflakes.It appears that the client leans more towards liking differences (mismatching) than wanting similarities. It also seems that she is a bit independent. As we continue the conversation that becomes more apparent. So, with losing weight I would point out how she could embrace her unique body and adorn it in any way she chooses to express her individuality. We talked a little bit about all the different kinds of clothes she could then wear.
General/Specific
A: How do you see this process unfolding?
V: I don’t have a clear picture yet. I usually feel my way along and trust the process.
A: Tell me a little bit about your goals.
V: I’m not a real goal oriented person. I like to just see how it goes and then go from there.The client appears to be more general. So, I would not be concerned so much with going into specific strategies or laying out a specific plan of action. Instead, I would check in with her along the way and see how she feels about what we are doing. Since she is also internally focused that would appear to be how she can access our progress.
Once/Several
A: How did you decide to come and see me? (the client is actually a friend, so I had to reframe this question a bit) If you didn’t know me, how would you decide to come to me for weight loss?
V: I would ask around for referrals and see who was good. I’d also research NLP to see if it worked.
A: Would you ask a number of friends or just one?
V: Oh no, I’d ask lots. I like to really investigate stuff before I decide to invest in it.The client appears to be a several oriented person. She likes to get lots of referrals and do research before she decides to do something. This seemed a little unusual because she is a general oriented person and doesn’t necessarily need to plan things out. However, people are wired differently so maybe in some areas she trusts things to just unfold, but with practitioners she wants to know she can trust them. So, with her I would reiterate several times how powerful these techniques are and give her access to research and testimonials on NLP and weight loss. I would also work on building rapport and trust since that seems to be very important to her.
Independent/team player
A: When you do a something, how do you prefer to work? V: I like to get into my own space and work from there. (the client is a potter) I prefer to work alone in my studio without distractions.
A: Do you ever like to collaborate on projects.
V: I’ve tried that a few times, but it doesn’t work so well for me. I get into a zone and like to follow my own flow.As I noted earlier, the client seems to be very independent. This also brought some more light into just following the flow instead of having a definite plan of action. Perhaps the artist in her trusts the process to unfold more naturally.
So working with her with weight loss I would emphasis that she is making it happen, she’s in charge and she can naturally and easily loss weight as she connects to her body and discovers how good it feels to be lighter (She also seems to be kinesthetically oriented) and how good her clothes feel on her body. I would not suggest weight loss support groups or rallying her friends. She seems to need to source her power from within.
In time/through time
I asked her to point to the past, present and future. She pointed behind her for the past. She said the present was all around her and circled her body and the future was to the right in front of her. Knowing her locations, I can use that in the future when we do a time line.
Contemplative/Action Oriented
A: Would you say you were a thinker or a doer?
V: I think a lot about things before I do it. I like to gather all the information. I’m sometimes slow in getting things down … a bit hesitant. I eventually get to doing things but it kind of happens all at once after all the pieces are in place.The client likes to think things through before she takes action. She needs all the pieces in place and then it seems she can step into the flow and let things unfold. There’s a lot of preparation and contemplation. So, with her, I would take plenty of time to set the foundation for change. I’d give her lots of information and let that settle. I’d also check in with her around pacing and see how fast or slow she wants to go. When we do a technique, I’d give her plenty of time to integrate it and let things naturally unfold. It will require me being more in the moment with her and following her rhythm.
- The client is a 52 year old woman who wants to lose some weight. She tried a number of different diets but they didn’t work for her and she found it difficult to restrict certain foods she loves because it made her feel deprived and depressed.
A meta program was conducted to learn more about her and to find appropriate interventions.Toward/Away From:A: What prompted you to come in for an appointment?
V: I just want to feel good. This extra weight seems to be holding me down and I want to have more energy and vitality. I think losing weight is a good step in the direction of being healthier.
- Describe in a social setting how you covertly used an NLP technique.
I tried the kinesthetic swish with a friend who was having a hard day. I said: I know things are kind of rough right now and I see that you are having a hard time today (I touched her arm). I’m sorry that you are feeling that way, but I want you to know that things always get better (I moved my arm up to her upper right visual area) and you will move through this.She did seem to feel a bit better afterwards. It’s hard to know whether it was just the support of a good friend or the technique. I’ll keep playing with it. - Write up an example of advance Information Gathering.
To gather advanced information I would bring the client through the logical levels. This allows me to know where we can work to create the deepest level of change.the volunteer was a willing participant. Due to lack of space we had her just imagine the levels with a visual in front of her so she could see how they progressed.the volunteer wanted to work on getting more clients. She was having difficulty getting her practice going.First, we had the volunteer imagine she was stepping forward on to environment and noticing what came up. I asked if her environment supported getting more clients.
She noted that because she could not afford an office just yet, she was seeing clients in her home. She felt that her home although nice did not present a professional environment that might attract more clients. She thought perhaps not having an office was in her way. Yet, at the same time she really liked the independence of being able to work from home. She wondered if there was a way to work home and get the kind of clients she wanted. She also wondered if there was a belief system in the way (which we explored later).
Next she imagined stepping forward onto behavior and noticing anything around how her behaviors supported her building her practice. She noted that she tends to get distracted at home and doesn’t always do what she needs to in order to do outreach and market herself. She also notes that she does not like the business aspect of her work. She finds she has lots of ideas but doesn’t know how to implement them. She says she gets overwhelmed with all the things she thinks she has to do and ends up doing nothing. She also mentions she doesn’t believe she can get enough clients, doesn’t have the confidence to support that (again beliefs show up). This would be a good place to do a swish pattern to help her move into a more confident successful business person (will do that later).
We move forward to capabilities where I ask what capabilities she already has that will support her in building her practice. She talks about all her training and education (she is a licensed therapist). In what was missing, she again noted business skills and time management. The fact that she hates marketing might make a godiva pattern useful to associate marketing with something she actually enjoys doing.
Next we stepped in beliefs. This was fertile ground and we gathered a lot of information that seemed relevant to her situation. I asked what beliefs she had around getting more clients and building her practice. She said she didn’t really believe that anyone would want to work with her.
Intellectually she knew she was competent but deep inside she remembers always being told that she was not good enough. She feels she holds that belief in a way that affects her confidence. She also believes that in this economy no one will want to spend the money. Additionally, she lives in an area with lots of therapist and believes that there is not enough money or clients to support her practice. All these beliefs affect her ability to take action (this points to how higher levels affect the levels below). A few thoughts on interventions are doing a visual squash combining anchors, a swish pattern to change identity and working with time lines to shift the past and create the future towards what she wants.
We moved into indentify and discovered that she identifies as a healer more than a conventional therapist. This was important because perhaps working with old models is not a match for her and finding out who she is and how she wants to create her work in the world will help her align with building her practice. This may also affect the level below of beliefs because maybe she doesn’t really see herself doing what she thinks she is suppose to do so it is not in alignment with her true beliefs or values. We can use a swish pattern to bring in her true identity as well as a timeline to build her future the way she wants it to be including past successes in the realm of who she truly is and how she wants to be identified.
Finally, we move into spirit. The volunteer has strong spiritual beliefs that will support her making changes. She believes she is supported by a higher power and that she has purpose and value in this world. She also believes in service which is aligned with her profession. Here we can tap into her spiritual connection to support her in serving in the world.
In checking in around the levels and all the information we have gathered both the volunteer and I agreed that the biggest blocks are in the area of beliefs and that is where we will begin the work.
- Invent a new technique.
I played with a variation of the visual squash. Although this is not an entirely new technique it is an interesting variation that I found very useful in therapy. I am a somatic psychotherapist so I work with clients to help them have a more positive relationship with their bodies and resolve trauma that is stored in the body.When working with a recent client, we discovered an internal conflict where one part of her wanted to express her feelings to her husband and another much younger part was scared and just wanted to hide. Instead of doing this visually, I had her sense in her body where each part lived. She experienced the part that wants to push through and express living as tension between her shoulder blades. The more vulnerable scared part lived in her heart area. I invited those two parts to have a conversation. At first they were at odds and the part that wanted to express didn’t care about the scared part and was a bit of a bully. The scared part retreated more. I invited her to go and back and forth between these parts somatically anchoring each part. As she did this her energy started to free up a bit when she realized she did not have to be one or the other (she had been stuck in this or that thinking). I asked how each part might actually be assisting the other and to play with bringing the good qualities of one into the other (like the blending and integration of the squash but going in both directions). As she did this she discovered that in fact they were not at odds and she said that she did not want to push forward without her heart! That was a real breakthrough for her.This technique emerged very organically as I followed her process with my NLP mind in the background. It was extremely useful for this client and hopefully my sharing it might help others who are dealing with emotional conflicts or concrete thinking.
NLP Master Practitioner Certification Course

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Why This Program Exists
You see, I was just like you. After years of practicing NLP, I learned that the real power lives in the advanced patterns — the meta programs, the language, and the techniques that work beneath conscious awareness.
There is no need to struggle, because I have found powerful resources that helped me overcome those challenges — and I've taken what I've learned and turned it into a step-by-step solution, a blueprint you can follow to have success.
With over 40 years of experience, 22 published books, appearances on Dr. Phil and in Forbes, and as the founder of the American Union of NLP and the American Alliance of Hypnotists — you're in good hands.
10 Video Modules
Every lesson in order — each one building on the last, all the way to your certification exam.
- Deepen your kinesthetic, auditory, and visual sensory acuity
- Calibrate tiny changes in others through focused group exercises
- Build the precise observation skills a master practitioner relies on
- Identify the meta programs that drive how people filter the world
- Work with patterns like toward/away, internal/external, and matching/mismatching
- Tailor your language to a person's meta programs for maximum influence
- Elicit and use the strategies behind motivation and decision-making
- Apply the Timeline for Success process to gather information and set direction
- Use the Lie/Truth submodalities exercise and the Success Track
- Discover each person's personal trance words and why they matter
- Use 'magic words' that shift attention and open the unconscious
- Practice eliciting and applying these words in real conversations
- Run the Kinesthetic Swish to change responses at a felt level
- Combine movement and state change for lasting results
- Rebuild rapport quickly while doing deeper change work
- Work with Logical Levels to align identity, beliefs, and behavior
- Use motivational metaprograms in your change work
- Apply the New Behavior Generator to install new capabilities
- Learn the words that unintentionally create resistance
- Replace limiting language with phrasing that moves people forward
- Sharpen your verbal precision as a master communicator
- Use the Godiva Chocolate Pattern to link pleasure to a goal
- Apply the Swish Pattern and its variations at an advanced level
- Practice the Computer Swish for fast, repeatable change
- Deliver embedded commands within ordinary conversation
- Use analog marking to highlight key suggestions
- Apply anchoring and the 'Don't' pattern with finesse
- Use the Zip Technique and Compulsion Blowout for stubborn patterns
- Layer Nested Loops to deliver change beneath conscious awareness
- Accelerate learning with advanced master-level processes
What Past Students Submitted
This is an assessed certification, not a certificate of attendance. Below is the actual work past students submitted for review — open any of them and read it here.
Case study 1 — recurring self-sabotage before success
- Write a case study of a Meta Program and how you used it in a client’s intervention
- The client is a 62 year old male- The client contacted me because he felt that he was constantly failing at the last moment when he would try to reach that success he felt he was capable of obtaining. He said he used to be very successful but in the past several years he keeps falling short and just cannot get back to the same financial level he used to enjoy. He had just recently lost a job that he held for several years, through no fault of his own. The company is a sales organization and decided to cease their operations in this state. He could have moved to another state if he wished to continue with them, but since he was an independent contractor, the cost of relocating would be his expense.When he came to me he was in the process of contacting other companies but was unsure if he would be able to put anything together quickly.
INTERVENTION
- During my initial interview I was able to determine the following Meta Characteristics my client possesses;
- Action Oriented
- Independent but likes to engage others to assist as a team.
- Able to see something once to make a preliminary decision but may want to obtain additional feedback if the decision is large.
- He is more of a General person in most cases except in technical engineering areas. He does have an engineering background.
- He seems to be more of a Matched person.
- He operates mostly on an External Basis.
- He seems to be moving away from things he feels are influencing his results.
During his day to day activities, when things are going OK, the “curse” is never a problem. It is not a problem under mild stress. But when the stress becomes intense, like it did by losing a good job, the “curse” raised its ugly head.
I was able to gain an overview of his Spiritual beliefs and based on this information, I decided to combine several modalities in concert to help him overcome the “curse” that had been plaguing him. I chose to use Metaphysics, Hypnosis and NLP to help him overcome this “curse”.
Step one was to use hypnosis to put him into a light hypnotic trance and tell him that we were going to take a walk in an enchanted forest that I knew was the home of a very powerful wizard. I told him that the “Magic” of this wizard was more powerful than anyone who ever existed. I used VAKOG during the session to flood his senses with the experience. When we met the Wizard, I introduced him to my client and told him of the “curse”. The Wizard, Merlin, told my client that as we walked along the path in this enchanted forest to keep out a sharp eye on the path because he would indeed find the “curse” and to follow the instructions given by me to deal with it. We both thanked Merlin and continued on our way.
As we continued our journey in the forest I called my clients attention to a large, heavy stick of to the side of the path. I asked my client to pick it up and bring it over. As we looked at it I asked my client if he could read the words carved into the stick. He said he could not because he did not even recognize the language so I interpreted the writing and told him it said “A Curse Against (His Name)”, then I told him he would be able to read the words and he could. Then I told him Merlin told me to have him break the stick in half and fling the piece in his right hand off to the right and it would disintegrate into millions of small pieces and to fling the piece in his left hand and the same would happen.
After this ceremony I had him visualize or imagine a large white circle of light on the floor of the forest that seems to be created by a large spotlight above. We went thru the VAK and he determined the color was White. I had him remember or visualize a time in his life that he had supreme confidence, we went through VAKOG sequence. I told him this is a circle of excellence and when he steps into this circle he will become immersed in Supreme Self Confidence. We went through the entire Circle of Excellence program and gave him the anchor of pressing the index finger to his thumb of his right hand and form the OK symbol.
I then brought him out of the light trance and explained again how the Anchor works and that it is always there for him whenever he needs an extra boost.
We have had a couple of phone sessions and one in person session since the original session to reinforce his state. He had found a job doing what he loves and life is good.
This method might be a little unconventional but it has given him back control over his life.
- The client is a 62 year old male- The client contacted me because he felt that he was constantly failing at the last moment when he would try to reach that success he felt he was capable of obtaining. He said he used to be very successful but in the past several years he keeps falling short and just cannot get back to the same financial level he used to enjoy. He had just recently lost a job that he held for several years, through no fault of his own. The company is a sales organization and decided to cease their operations in this state. He could have moved to another state if he wished to continue with them, but since he was an independent contractor, the cost of relocating would be his expense.When he came to me he was in the process of contacting other companies but was unsure if he would be able to put anything together quickly.
- Describe in a social setting how you covertly used an NLP technique.
The holidays provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate an NLP technique. I chose embedding commands with Analog Marking because this one really caught my eye when Steve demonstrated it in the training materials.There was a small group of friends over at our house. Most of my friends knew that I was studying for my Masters Certification in NLP and some had asked for a demonstration of how NLP worked, so I told them I would demonstrate some techniques later that evening.My wife had cooked some goodies and one of the young ladies said she would like to learn how to cook like that. So I explained that when learning to cook from SCRATCH it is best if YOUR learning from someone who really KNOWS the secret on fast cooking.Several of the guests scratched their noses and I explained what had happened. Everybody had a good laugh and most were impressed. I was also impressed how easily this works. - Write up an example of advance Information Gathering.
Information gathering starts when the prospective client contacts the office. It is vital to take detailed notes of not only what the client says during their discussion of their Presenting Issue but how they describe the issue. What emotions they exhibit while describing their Presenting Issue.In an effort to know the client better just ask them what they are looking for in the following areas, what do they want each area to provide for them. You only ask one at a time, HOBBY, CAREER AND FRIEND on your note pad just make three columns and write under each column the words they describe. Listen to any emotions they express. This part of the process is providing their Personal Trance Words.Ask non related questions to determine where they are on the main list of 8 meta programs
- Contemplative / Action Oriented
- In Time /Thru Time (Determine their version of their timeline by asking them to close their eyes and point to the past, then point to the present and then point to the future.)
- Independent / Team Player
- Once / Several Times
- Global (general) / Specific
- Matching / Mismatched
- Internal / External
- Toward / Away From
Ask the following questions to determine on what side of the Meta Program List they line up.
- What prompted you to decide NLP was something you were interested in and call me today?
- How do you know NLP is good?
- What is important about that to you?
- What do you want from this program?
- Do you know what will do for you?
- How will you know when you have what you want from this program?
- What effect will (the results) have in your life?
- Is there something that is stopping you from having this already?
- What resources do you have to make this a reality?
- What else do you need to make it happen?
- Invent a new technique.
I have discovered that there are hundreds of NLP Techniques and there might even be thousands so I am not sure what I am presenting here is actually new. But it is certainly something that I have not seen tied to NLP. In Hypnosis we have a technique called Wisdom Temple and it might be known under many other names also. So this technique I am going to describe is based on the Wisdom Temple used in Hypnosis and modified for NLP.When we consider the Theory of Mind and the fact that the Subconscious or Unconscious Mind is really driving the bus based on Beliefs, Ideas, Values, and all information stored. The Wisdom Temple Technique will allow the Client to gain insight from a Sage who lives within this Temple. The Subconscious loves stories and metaphors. By having the Client visit a Sage who is going to impart hidden wisdom to the Client the client will willing have a powerful memorable experience.In this scenario there will ultimately be three versions of the Client
- Is the client in their present state who will communicate with the Sage.
- Is the Client in the state they wish to be with the attributes they wish to possess and will appear as the Client takes on the attributes they wish to possess.
- The Client as the observer.
We set the stage by telling the client that we are going to create play that they are going to watch. We explain that the main actors will be themselves in two versions. One version is who they are right now and the other will be who they wish to become. We explain the 2nd version will not appear until the attributes they wish to obtain are passed on by the Sage. We explain the observer client will be sitting in the theatre watching the play unfold. Then have the Client sit up straight, feet flat on the floor, sitting back in their chair or recliner. We go through a progressive relaxation and have the client close their eyes and focus their thoughts on their breath. So far this is similar to what we might do in hypnosis but it is not necessary for the client to enter a deep trance. We are only look for a good state of relaxation.We have the client visualize or imaging the they are walking along a path in a beautiful forest utilizing VAKOG as we progress along the path. The client comes to a clearing a sees a Temple on a hill with a winding path leading up to the temple. The client walks up the path and as the client gets closer to the Temple they realize it is a very scared place where you can go to obtain wisdom they are seeking. As they near the Temple they begin to feel a wonderful peace that engulfs them, have them savor this feeling. Tell them “In this Temple there lives a Very Wise Sage who will guide them and help them morph into the person they wish to be. The Sage has the ability to help them create a version of themselves that has all the qualities and skills necessary to accomplish what the client wants to achieve.
As they get closer to the Temple the anticipation builds. Have them get a clear vision of the temple the texture of the walls, the color, the number of stories the Temple contains, whether there are windows the current weather condition, the sky, clouds if any etc.
As you enter the Temple you notice that there two large pillows on the floor in the center of the room. You look around and observe the room, the ornate ceiling and that fact the room is softly lit.. You sit on one of the large pillows and as you sit you notice that a person appear s and walks slowly toward and sits on the other pillow facing you. You realize that this person is your Sage, your wise guide. As you gaze into the eyes of the Sage you see wisdom, compassion and realize that the Sage knows everything about you. You feel that they may know you better than you know yourself. As you look into the eyes of the Sage you realize you can trust this Sage and that they have your success and good interests at heart. You fully accept that the Sage knows everything about you, all your experiences, your beliefs, your desires, your wants wishes and dreams. The Sage is aware of all the events that have shaped your life. You realize the Sage needs to know all of this so they can properly guide you.
The Sage is going to give you information to help you understand something about yourself. The Sage is going to tell you what you need to do to experience (here insert what the client wants to change and what they want to achieve) so that you may have whatever you desire. Perhaps you have battled with (here insert what the client wants to change) for a long time but now you realize that all that can change in a flash because now you are open to change, you are will and ready to receive the information. Now take a nice deep breath and let it out slowly and put all of your faith in the Sage, knowing that the Sage has the answers. Now I want you to ask the Sage any questions that you need answers to and just sit quietly and listen and allow the answers to come to you.
Now a third party appears carrying a large pillow with them and you recognize them as you. At first you are puzzled but then as they sit down next to you on their pillow you realize that the Sage has brought the future you with all the qualities, skills, beliefs, ideals, abilities and values you wish to possess. And the future you is vibrant and seems to radiate with all the wonderful attributes you have longed for.
As you the Observer is watching the events unfold on the stage in front of you, the present you seems to fade and merge or morph into the future you and you now know that from this day forward you now possess everything you need to bring your dreams to fruition.
Now back up on the stage the future/new current you, thanks the Sage for their kindness and help. As the Sage departs you are now surrounded in a beautiful circle of light and have the feeling to supreme self confidence and knowing that you are unstoppable. You just stand there a few moments and relish the wonderful feelings that you now have.
Now as you walk back toward the door you came in the circle if light follows you like a spotlight and you feel the energy of the light all the way through your body. You are filled with purpose, direction and knowledge and supreme confidence. Now just bring the client back to the present and tell them the lessons they learned will stay with them forever and they are now the future person they want to be.
Again I want to state I am not positive this is a new technique but it is an adaptation of a Hypnosis session I have use many times before. This modified version can be used in NLP.
Case study 2 — persistent low mood after a life change
- Write a case study of a Meta Program and how you used it in a client’s intervention
- The client is a 44 years old Italian-German male on holiday on Ko Samui, Thailand where I practice. He complains about a lack of being able to feel happy even he just has found the first real love in his life as he said. A few month ago he went through a very stressful time at his workplace where he was working as a chef. There he was bullied by his colleagues. Additionally he was very disappointed by a friend whom he trusted a lot but was involved in a criminal case through him in Poland. He describes it as the most difficult time in his life. The client also complains about missing his girlfriend who stayed at home in Austria. He is not sure if he wants to return home earlier. During our talk it becomes obvious that he is radiating a lot of negativity.The wheel of life exercise shows that his life is actually quite balanced. Shedding light on his current main values shows he is valuing family, friends and his relationship a lot. Regarding his undecisiveness I performed a visual squash exercise and tarot. This supported his idea of returning home earlier and his eyes became immediately more shiny. The client seemed to have a meta program of mismatching so I was several times telling him the opposite of what I initially wanted to say to send him in the “right” direction.His challenge seemed to be a PTSD so I introduced him to meditation and Qi Gong. Furthermore I performed a PTSD hypnosis session at our second meeting on him and instructed him to use the recording the next 4 to 6 weeks on a daily basis.
Follow up: The client called me after 2 month to tell me that he is happy in his relationship and that it was the best decision to return home earlier to spend a few days closely together with his new girlfriend. He is now into meditation and has taken up a class in his hometown. Also he was very thankful for the hypnosis recording which had according to him reduced his PTSD a lot. He is now feeling more relaxed and happy.
- The client is a 44 years old Italian-German male on holiday on Ko Samui, Thailand where I practice. He complains about a lack of being able to feel happy even he just has found the first real love in his life as he said. A few month ago he went through a very stressful time at his workplace where he was working as a chef. There he was bullied by his colleagues. Additionally he was very disappointed by a friend whom he trusted a lot but was involved in a criminal case through him in Poland. He describes it as the most difficult time in his life. The client also complains about missing his girlfriend who stayed at home in Austria. He is not sure if he wants to return home earlier. During our talk it becomes obvious that he is radiating a lot of negativity.The wheel of life exercise shows that his life is actually quite balanced. Shedding light on his current main values shows he is valuing family, friends and his relationship a lot. Regarding his undecisiveness I performed a visual squash exercise and tarot. This supported his idea of returning home earlier and his eyes became immediately more shiny. The client seemed to have a meta program of mismatching so I was several times telling him the opposite of what I initially wanted to say to send him in the “right” direction.His challenge seemed to be a PTSD so I introduced him to meditation and Qi Gong. Furthermore I performed a PTSD hypnosis session at our second meeting on him and instructed him to use the recording the next 4 to 6 weeks on a daily basis.
- Describe in a social setting how you covertly used an NLP technique.
I am using more and more the pacing technique to put myself in the shoes of another person and to synchronize. Thus I am pacing the breath, body position, gestures, emotions, etc.. Sometimes I am also using leading and pattern interrupt to change the mind state, situation and mood for myself and others.Recently I paced the mood of my girlfriend who was in a depressed state after work. Gradually I shifted to a more positive radiation and later on even asked her out. Later we were even dancing in a happy mood. - Write up an example of advance Information Gathering.
(the second client is 45, a early-retired truck driver from Munich, married since 10 years, one child)
- What made you want to come in and see me today?the second client: I have no interest anymore in sexual intercourse with my wife. I am even not masturbating anymore. Maybe once a month! In the past especially the first year we had a lot of sex but after a year or so it became less and less. I lost interest. When I was younger I had a lot of girlfriends even the perfect match. But perfect becomes boring pretty quick. I love my wife and we have a very special soul connection. She helped me a lot in my life. She supported me to become a good guy. Actually she pulled me out of a rocker gang where I have been one of the bad guys. Until I was 30 I still lived with my mother but I had my own room in our house. Mother joined us when we moved to Spain and is still living with us in our house here on Ko Samui. She is 74. Since I had an accident I am early-retired. Can you help me to find the reason for my loss of lust and help me to save my relationship? I am scared we will separate when she becomes more dissatisfied and wants to leave me. In Spain she already had a lover for a short time and we separated for a short time but came back together again. I now allow her to get what she needs even it is hurting me a lot.Metaprogram: Fear of loss = away from specific(It appeared to me that he is not really missing any sexual activity at all, after searching for missing information also with the Meta Model I found out that he actually dislikes the smell of his wife. He also said that he gets no pleasure cause her vagina is to large. He mentioned that his penis is just normal size. I told him that smell is actually largely dependent on the nutrition of a person.So the change of the food intake of his wife could change the perceived smell to the better. Beside offering hypnosis I told him to indulge in tantra techniques to work on himself as well as with his wife (sexual arousal, variety, games to stir up the attraction). For this I asked him to be very open with his wife since they were already talking about and dealing with the challenge. I also did the wheel of life exercise to check on his general satisfaction and stress level.)
He is more of an agreeing and matching person which might also be attributed to a general good rapport with him
- How would you know the therapy is working?the second client: Well, when I find passion and lust again and I can save my relationship. When I can see some change.(passion and lust (feelings) = internal See change = external
- What´s important about that to you?the second client: The relationship with my wife and keeping a intact family for my son!Intact family for the son = external
- What do you want from working with me?the second client: Help. I heard hypnotherapy can do amazing things. We tried already a lot. I went to a past life regression i.e.. I thought my wife and I have maybe been brother and sister in another life.(He was actually expecting some incident in a past life or in his childhood). I hope WE can fix my problem.Tried a lot, we can fix = seems to be action oriented specific
- What will that do for you?the second client: Give more insight, recovering missing information, easy reprogramming. Maybe give me my feelings back and save my relationship.Good feelings, insight = towards to an internal reward Save relationship = towards an external and internal reward specific
- How will you know you have it?the second client: I will know it by intuition (feeling). I will feel more sexual aroused again! I feel happy and loving towards my wife. Feelings = internal
- How will this effect other people in your life?the second client: My wife will be more happy and satisfied. My son will feel more secure and not so affected by my bad moods. Maybe my wife will have less challenges and a more harmonic relationship with her mother- in-law. That of course also affects her. Specific
- What stops you from having this already?the second client: I don´t know how to get this feelings back. Feelings back= towards to
- What resources do you already have?the second client: Well, I felt these feelings before towards my wife. (sexual arousal). I love my wife. I have a great family. I have the motivation to change something about the problem. Money to pay you! Specific
- What else do you need?the second client: I need courage to talk frankly to my wife (I let him anker courage)! I would like to learn some tantra techniques. Knowledge how to get these feelings back.
- What made you want to come in and see me today?the second client: I have no interest anymore in sexual intercourse with my wife. I am even not masturbating anymore. Maybe once a month! In the past especially the first year we had a lot of sex but after a year or so it became less and less. I lost interest. When I was younger I had a lot of girlfriends even the perfect match. But perfect becomes boring pretty quick. I love my wife and we have a very special soul connection. She helped me a lot in my life. She supported me to become a good guy. Actually she pulled me out of a rocker gang where I have been one of the bad guys. Until I was 30 I still lived with my mother but I had my own room in our house. Mother joined us when we moved to Spain and is still living with us in our house here on Ko Samui. She is 74. Since I had an accident I am early-retired. Can you help me to find the reason for my loss of lust and help me to save my relationship? I am scared we will separate when she becomes more dissatisfied and wants to leave me. In Spain she already had a lover for a short time and we separated for a short time but came back together again. I now allow her to get what she needs even it is hurting me a lot.Metaprogram: Fear of loss = away from specific(It appeared to me that he is not really missing any sexual activity at all, after searching for missing information also with the Meta Model I found out that he actually dislikes the smell of his wife. He also said that he gets no pleasure cause her vagina is to large. He mentioned that his penis is just normal size. I told him that smell is actually largely dependent on the nutrition of a person.So the change of the food intake of his wife could change the perceived smell to the better. Beside offering hypnosis I told him to indulge in tantra techniques to work on himself as well as with his wife (sexual arousal, variety, games to stir up the attraction). For this I asked him to be very open with his wife since they were already talking about and dealing with the challenge. I also did the wheel of life exercise to check on his general satisfaction and stress level.)
- Invent a new technique.
Emotional brain shifter (Make peace)Use it when you have (strong) negative feelings about a past situation while you can also think or find out about good feelings you had back then.
- Search for the good moments in that situation. Associate with the first moment and elicit all the modalities and submodalities (VAKOG). Make the impression stronger. Anker one moment after the other on a special spot on your body. (A1)
- Take the moments with negative associations. Ask yourself what can I learn from it immediately when I am very truthful to myself. Which resource or resources would have been useful to deal with them in a better way.
- Now take these challenging moments. Associate with the first moment and elicit all the modalities and submodalities (VAKOG). Make the impression stronger. Anker one moment after the other on a another special spot on your body. (A2)
- Now fire A2 then A1 or perform a visual squash (Use your hands as anker spots to be able to perform the technique)
- Test what happens if you think about the challenging moments.
- Take one after the other of the challenging moments in that situation and use the elicited resources under 2). Anker the resource(s) for every moment. Then for every moment fire it off. See yourself dealing with the moments one by one in a better way.
- Repeat 4)
- Test again what happens if you think about the challenging moments. Repeat 6) -8) until you are satisfied.
Case study 3 — a dyslexic child and beliefs about learning
- Write a case study of a Meta Program and how you used it in a client’s intervention
- As I work mainly with children I did a study of the meta programs of a dyslexic child that I have, so he could better understand his abilities in education and learning. Once we had these his focus and beliefs about learning changed. This was an amazing exercise and he now has very different beliefs about what learning is, failure to possibilities. I started by asking him a series of questions, however some of the standard questions had to be changed a little because to a child what made you take these lessons his answer would be “because my Mom made me”, etc…
- What is it that makes you do your best in these classes? A: I think these classes are fun and I understand more here than at school.
- How do you know this is a good class for you? A: I enjoy them and I don’t have to be sitting down the whole time and I understand what I have to do.
- What’s important about this for you? A: It’s easy.
- Do you want anything else apart from the motorbike your parents have offered you if you get all A grades this summer? A: No. Well yes, I want to get good grades for myself.
- What will this do for you? A: It will let me show people I can do it.
- When will you know you have it? A: When I get good grades.
- How will this affect the other people in your life? A: It will make them really happy.
- Is there anything that stops you having this now? A: I find science really hard. (me “but were looking at that no?”) Yes.
- Do you already have the resources to do this? A: Yes, what we have been doing in class.
- Do you need anything else? A: I don’t know? No not really.
Before I asked him these simple questions he was very dismissive about learning and that he could not do it. Now he sees that his goals are within reach. I now this may not be exactly a case study of someones Meta Programs but as I said before my work is based mainly with children and the speed they naturally figure stuff out is gob-smacking!
- As I work mainly with children I did a study of the meta programs of a dyslexic child that I have, so he could better understand his abilities in education and learning. Once we had these his focus and beliefs about learning changed. This was an amazing exercise and he now has very different beliefs about what learning is, failure to possibilities. I started by asking him a series of questions, however some of the standard questions had to be changed a little because to a child what made you take these lessons his answer would be “because my Mom made me”, etc…
- Describe in a social setting how you covertly used an NLP technique.
I recently went to a networking session with a group of psychologists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts that live in Madrid but get together to form an English speaking help group of therapists. As it was quite a nerve racking situation first I used my circle of excellence to calm me down. Then while the meeting was introduced I used my matching and mirroring skills on the chair of the meeting to build a quick rapport which lead to rapport with the group. As I was the first person to introduce myself I took the opportunity to anchor the topic of child therapy of which I am interested in by using your scratching over the head. From then on, every time we got off the subject of children I simply made a comment or brought the groups attention to me by clearing my throat or something and scratching my head. It was so funny to be sitting in a room full of professional therapists talking about their qualifications to then suddenly change subject and bring up a case or situation about children. - Write up an example of advance Information Gathering.
I used the information gathering with an adult client, one of the few I have. She was dealing with problems of guilt.
- She wanted peace and to be able to enjoy her free time without feeling guilty of not doing some work.
- She recalled a time from before she had such a high stressed job and just enjoyed her time when she lived abroad.
- Her situation was work related and she focused the guilt on herself thinking that her boss made her feel guilty although she knew it was actually herself and not her boss doing this. She also mentioned that apart from the guilty the feeling of fear and sadness and lack of satisfaction overcame her.
- I started by eliciting her sub modalities of her good memory using and then those of her negative feelings. We then went through swapping the sub modalities of the negative images for those of her positive scene. She then gave me her image of success.
- We then talked a little very vaguely about how she was going to reach her goal, free of guilt with a final image of her finally with a baby enjoying her time at the park.
- The client was adamant that it would take her at least 3 months to be able to achieve these goals so we established a time period of 3.5 months.
- Invent a new technique.
I mentioned a new technique I developed in the first exam, not knowing that it was a requirement of the Master Level. I have played around with it and made it more specific for certain cases. I have been working a lot with teenagers and this had led me to develop a special technique for Exams. It is based on the Circle on Excellence. It is called the Circle of Examination Success.This is a technique that combines some educational kinesiology with NLP. Begin by looking up with your eyes (not your head) and focusing on a point on the wall in front of you for at least 45 seconds, breathing in and out fully and slowly through your nose, relaxing with every breath. Now while the eyes do not move, slowly start to become aware of your peripheral vision (similar to soft eyes) take in 180 degrees of vision remain this way for another 30 seconds at least.Now bring your hands together, interlocking your fingers. Look at your hands. Now with your peripheral vision imagine seeing your two brain hemispheres just behind your hands. Once you can see then clearly, imagine the two hemispheres coming together, fusing into one completely whole fully functioning brain.Once this has been accomplished feel (or imagine if you cannot feel them) your two brain hemispheres inside your head. Feel (or imagine) them coming together to form one complete fully functioning brain.
Now notice how you feel. Relaxed and aware. Notice your hearing… Notice your sense of smell, maybe you can smell something particular. Do any images come to mind. Become aware of them all together.
Close your eyes if you have not done so already.
Imagine a circle on the floor in front of you.
Step onto the circle and release these feelings and emotions into the circle which will gently become a cylinder, surrounding you gently and safely.
Step back out of the circle.
Imagine a time when you felt total accomplishment and success. Feel what you felt, see what you saw and hear what you heard…. Step into the cylinder… Release these feelings into your cylinder and let them mix with the energies you have already released into your circle.
Step back out of the cylinder.
Imagine a time when you felt total fun. Feel what you felt, see what you saw and hear what you heard…. Step into the cylinder… Release these feelings into your cylinder and let them mix with the energies you have already released into your circle.
Step back out of the cylinder.
Imagine a time when you felt total relaxation. Feel what you felt, see what you saw and hear what you heard…. Step into the cylinder… Release these feelings into your cylinder and let them mix with the energies you have already released into your circle.
Step back out of the cylinder.
See your circle in front of you. Does it have any color? Can you feel any vibrations coming off it? Does it have an aroma?
Step back into you circle one more time let its energies penetrate you once more. Relax and enjoy being here. Relaxed and alert. Now that your circle has an endless supply of feelings for you and you can use it and time.
Step back out of your circle. See it in front of you. See it becoming smaller and increasing in power as it reduces in size. Smaller and smaller it gets becoming more powerful as it reduces…
Gradually it will become as small as a ring you put on your finger. See it, feel it, hear it form into a ring…
Now it begins to float up and comes towards you. A powerful, perfect, beautiful ring. It is going to slide on to one of your fingers.
Your conscious mind not sure which of your ten fingers it will slide onto let it float in front of you, see its beauty, feel its power close to you, hear its power sounding, let your sub- conscious slowly slide the ring onto one of your ten fingers…
Once it is on the finger of your sub-consciousness choosing feel it there.
See it on your finger, hear it buzzing with power on your finger.
Know it will remain here as long as you want it to always helping you.
Just before you are going to study for an exam. See it, feel it, hear it. Let it give you the power and energy you need to study efficiently and effectively.
While studying know the ringing storing all the things you are learning. Let your ring absorb all the learning you have done. See, feel and hear the knowledge being absorbed by your ring.
If you wish, at the end of a study session you may take the ring off and let it return to its original form as a circle on the floor, your learning cylinder.
Step into your circle.
Release the newly acquired knowledge into it, feel the knowledge in your circle, see it there, hear it there. Know that that knowledge will always remain in your circle and will be there for whenever you want it. When you want it will be immediately accessible to you. Whether as a ring on your finger or a circle on the floor.
When going into an exam know your ring will enable you to be relaxed, fully focused and has all the knowledge you have previously studied and learnt and placed in it to use in your exam for a success result and good grades.
Case study 4 — weight loss after repeated failed diets
Case study 5 — an entrepreneur stalled at break-even
Case study 6 — acrophobia in an 82-year-old client
Case study 7 — meta programs elicited in session
- Write a case study of a Meta Program and how you used it in a client’s interventionIn NLP, metaprograms are pervasive habitual patterns used by an individual across a wide range of situations.Metaprograms used in my client session
Once/Several Times QUESTION: What do you believe & why Once Are you able to see something once? Can you look at something once and make a decision? Several timesDo techniques several times!! Show testimonials
Do you have to see it several times to believe it’s true? Do you require several feedbacks before you make up your mind? Do you need to repeatedly study something before you buy it?
Approach/Avoidance
Move TowardMove Away From
Pleasure/GoalPain/Problem/Conflict
When I do a hypnotherapy session, I will commonly use the Once/Several Times and Approach/Avoidance metaprograms. My hypnotherapy session usually involves an induction and deepening til the person is in a trance. Then I attempt to identify the problem they want to work on. I do this by asking them about a situation they recently had that they wanted to work on. Specifically I want to identify if they are looking to move toward something (happiness, love, acceptance, some goal) or move away from something (abuse, relationship problems, addictions) . This can be tricky so I use multiple age or past life regressions during a hypnotherapy session. Using the multiple regressions, I will identify the best approach for the client.For example, one client was looking for away to deal with an abusive mother. During multiple age regressions, it was clear she wanted to move away from the trauma she had suffered. This abuse was causing problems in her current relationship. Knowing this, I was able to do some timeline work so that she could leave the past behind rather than focusing on moving toward the future.
I also use the Once/Several Times approach as part of the healing process. I attempt to identify which approach will work best when I try to create a healing anchor that the person can call during stress. When I can’t identify or am unsure of which will apply to the client, I will reinforce an anchor multiple times just to be sure that it takes. As a general rule, I will use the multiple metaprogram slightly varying the wording each time but keeping the anchor the same.
- Describe in a social setting how you covertly used an NLP technique.
I have used covert NLP when interviewing for a job position. I used several different techniques. During this process, I had three main goals: information gathering, building rapport and influencing the interviewer.Information gathering was a key goal of my interview with each person I talked to. When gathering information I tried to focus on the goal/outcome of getting the job. For example, I tried to determine if the interviewer was primarily visual, auditory or kinesthetic. Then I would attempt to focus the conversation by integrating Personal Trance words, Magic words along with VAK. During the discussion, I also tried to understand their belief system. I also tried to avoid assuming that they were thinking the same as me while trying to ascertain their belief system.Another one of my primary purposes for using NLP was for building rapport with an interviewer. I attempted to build rapport with interviewer using the pacing technique. This involved matching and mirroring the interviewer’s verbal and/or non-verbal behavior as they talked about the position and asked questions.In addition, I continued to focus my attention back to the interviewer. During the discussion, I would focus on the key words that interviewer would use and feed it back to them as an answer to their question. While listening and in rapport, I tried to put myself into “think” mode, that would also help me to detect indications that the interview had already made up his mind about me.
During the interview, I tried to maintain control of the situation while also maintaining rapport with them. One way I attempted to do this was with embedded commands. I tried mixing in VAK, rapport skills, “magic words,” and meta programs along with direct commands.
This use of information gathering to support developing and maintaining rapport and influencing the interviewer seemed to be effective. I got the job.
- Write up an example of advance Information Gathering.
NLP can be a valuable tool in information gathering. This can be done using precise questions which can result in greater clarity of information. NLP information gathering techniques can be used to more quickly get useful information while avoiding extraneous or misleading information from the client.Information Gathering from a client works best with some amount of prior preparation but this is not absolutely necessary. The following is an example of an advanced information gathering technique. It involves using information gathering to solve a problem the client is having:
- Build rapport with client
- You can also use hypnosis if appropriate
- Elicit the Meta programs and identify what goals the client is trying to achieve. Have them use very positive terms with extensive VAKOG.
- Asking what the client is trying to do or achieve. Questions you can use:
- What will it provide for them?
- When will they achieve this goal? Have them give a very specific time frame (2 weeks, a month, a year)
- Decide with whom they want it – Where, as well as, when?
- What affects will it have on them and the other people in their life?
- What keeps them from getting what they want
- What might help them reach the final result?
- What’s the best way to achieve this? Make sure they have a clear path toward reaching the goal.
- Have them explore every possible path to achieving their dream.
- Using a combination of Personal Trance words + Magic words + VAK, feed their information back to them. As they describe the goal & the path to achieving it.
- If the client is having problems seeing how they get to this goal, use nested loops to help them.
- Current State > intermediate State > End state
- At each state, attempt to use information gathering to help take them to the next state
- Invent a new technique.
I developed a memory modification to help get over a broken heart. This could be used to help forget the person who is causing you pain. From my experience, you don’t actually forget them as much as don’t think of them. If your mind does drift to them, your thoughts quickly move to other topics. This is an easier technique then what some hypnotherapists promote which involves re-experiencing the pain of the breakup and working through it.This technique involves:
- Identify the 5-7 major time when you were together with your former partner (including and 1st & last time together)
- Visualize the event as it happened. Visualize it using VAKOG.
- Now visualize what would have happen if event did not take place. Experience it if the event never occurred or the other person was not there.
- Visualize the face of the person who broke your heart. Visualize it slowly dissolving/ fading away. See it going from color to black and white until you cant hold it in your mind anymore. Replace it with the face of a friend or current love interest.
- Visualize the name of the person. Visualize it slowly dissolving/ fading away. See it going from color to black and white until you cant hold it in your mind anymore.
- Think of a person or an event that makes you very happy, focus on that event & experience it deeply and intensely. Now focus on remembering the old love interest. Visualize the old love interest fading away while being replaced by this pleasant event/person. Every time you start to think of this person, get focused on this other person or event.
Reproduced as submitted. Client names have been replaced with role labels; ages and case details are unchanged.
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