Hi,

I have a client who is Kinesthetic Preferred, Ad Lead rep systems - couldn't follow the fast phobia model due to being unable to visualise. Is there a more suitable technique to use please, or will I have to overlap representational systems?

Thanks

Get the client into a situation where they have the resources they need in the phobia state, and kinesthetically anchor that state. Then, put the client into the phobia situation and fire off the resource anchor. Or, instead of firing the resource anchor, you could anchor the probia situation and then bring them out of the phobia situation and collapse the resource and phobia anchors. The latter will probably be preferable if it's a full-blown, freak-the-F-out phobia, since your resource anchor will be unlikely to compete with that state.

There's about a million different ways you could go about it, but those are a couple of basic suggestions.

Good luck!

You're dealing with a human being who has all kinds of capabilities, so don't limit them by the sensory system straitjacket you want to fit them with. There will be contexts in which s/he does visualise: when remembering sexual experiences maybe. Instead of attempting to fit a readymade solution to a client, why don't you let them lead you to a new possibility?

Your job is to stay present with their verbal and other responses -- there'll be all kinds of clues. For instance, if they're unable to visualise the stimulus which gives them a phobia, then presumably they won't respond when you tell them that the stimulus is right behind them. Whatever their reaction to that ploy is, you learn something useful.

Work with what's true for them: I've seen someone use a client's belief in Reiki to 'heal' their younger self of their first response to the stimulus they had a phobia to, and grow up without it. The worst thing you could do is demonstrate the phobia of novelty that led you to label this person as 'Kinesthetic Preferred, Ad Lead' when they have so much more to show you, and themselves.

cheiro wrote:

Hi,
couldn't follow the fast phobia model due to being unable to visualise.

Just wondering, how would your client reply when you will ask him/her to tell you about the color of his/her favorite window of his house?

One of the useful thing i would do is to find 'how is your client being afraid of whatever he is being afraid of?' Your client might prefer kinesthetic, but he might be very well getting scared visualizing about his/her phobia

I agree with comments made above. Everyone can visualise. Some people just need to realise it.

Hi I agree with all that hve been said ... usually people can't realize that they do not visuaize as its sooo quick (especially in compare with a slow kinesthetic type). your client can see dreams while he's asleep or watch tv or describe his best friend so its ok he CAN

An ancor on dissociation is aways hepfull in dealing with fobias and keep it on from time to time... it keeps them from getting too deep into their fobia back again and its important
I'd try aso a frame "as if" or "How would you describe it if you could/know/or saw your story as an old movie or a stop screen shot..."

hope i've been hepfull otherwise please ask more
goodluck

One way to approach this might be to prove to them that they can visualize, but that their conscious mind might not be aware of it. By asking them questions that require a response to a visualization, such as querying them about the color of their furniture in their living room at home, you can make them realize consciously that they indeed have the ability to visualize, if not the conscious awareness.

Once that is accomplished, you can either bring that ability into awareness and work from there, or negotiate a compromise along the lines of: "since you now know that there is a part of you that is very good at visualizing, perhaps you can ask that part of you to take part in the process, even if you are not consciously aware of each step? Since that part of you was just now able to communicate to you about the color of your furniture at home, you can have that part communicate to you about the progress of each step in this phobia cure process."

As Irina mentions, another approach might be just to ask them to imagine what it would look like if they could visualize clearly.

If you are adept at hypnosis, another approach might be that you put them into trance and establish yes/no signals as the part that unconsciously visualizes goes through the steps of the phobia cure.

cheiro wrote:

Hi,

I have a client who is Kinesthetic Preferred, Ad Lead rep systems - couldn't follow the fast phobia model due to being unable to visualise. Is there a more suitable technique to use please, or will I have to overlap representational systems?

Thanks

There will be a specific process your client will go through based upon the coding of what it is they have an over - reaction to. The visual aspect might have absolutely nothing to do with it. The fast phobia cure works by recoding the response to the stimulus altering the process. So:

Is there a more suitable technique to use please

No technique is "one size fits all" so yes, always another way. You need to calibrate how the person is doing their phobia before you have a cat in hells chance of recoding it

or will I have to overlap representational systems

This could be a way to recode it - if they only have a kinesthetic coding then you could give it a colour (or whatever visual) and even a sound for the "actual" event then do the same for before and after the event and proceed as "normal" doing away with the rest of extra visuals like a cinema. If they can't over lap for whatever reason just use kinesthetics i.e before during and after and just run the feelings? To get them to dissociate if they are purely kinesthic get them to imagine feeling their own pain (like when you hear a story about someone) then get them to imagine them feeling the pain of them feeling the pain of them feeling their pain (phew!)

Ps. Maybe there is some benefit to the phobia that needs to be cleared up first

These statements do not necassarily represent the views of the author they are for educational purposes only

Ugh. Everyone wants to make the client visualize. I'm reminded of Richard Bandler's story about how he once presented himself to a dishonest NLP trainer (who didn't know it was Richard). The trainer was bragging to the audience that the fast phobia cure would work on anyone. So, Richard volunteered himself. His phobia? Making images of himself.

Seriously, we know nothing about the client. Maybe the client was born blind and has no concept of vision. Maybe the client doesn't give a rip about their ability to visualize. Maybe curing the phobia is 100x more important to them. There could be any number of reasons why the client can't or doesn't need to visualize.

I'm all for adding choice, but surely we should give our clients what they want, first? Surely we have the requisite variety to mold ourselves to our clients instead of the other way around?

Just a thought.

Chris Johnson wrote:

Ugh. Everyone wants to make the client visualize.

The fact is that everybody does visualize, except for the innately sight impaired (and even people born without sight can have activity in the optical areas of the brain). Many people will favor auditory or kinesthetic, but that in no way implies that they do not have the ability to visualize, it just means that they may be less conscious of their visualization ability.

As for blind phobics, has anyone come across one? How do they know when to be phobic?

I assert that the inability of a client to visualize is more a reflection of the ability and competence of the NLPer than anything else. I imagine that is why there is so much hedging on this issue.

What do you think it would be like if a given NLPer had the ability to show every single client how they can visualize? Believe that you can do it, and find the way.

Now, OK, sometimes going a different route than a visualization might do the trick and flexibility is golden. But with the proper skill set, including hypnosis, there is no good reason not to assist anyone to have a clear visualization. If you can't figure it out, it just means that you haven't tried everything that you could that would lead to success. If nothing else you could have your client look at something in your office, close their eyes and describe what they just saw, and do it again and again, until they get the hang of it.

Chris Johnson wrote:

I'm all for adding choice, but surely we should give our clients what they want, first?

That's exactly why the people above are talking sense. The best way to give that client what they want (based on the limited information we have) is to use the principles of the fast phobia cure.

Think about it this way - what if someone has a physical illness and the most reliable treatment (99% success rate) is an injection. What would you do if they are scared of needles?

You could move down the list to the next most reliable treatment (a pill; 60% success rate) or you could do a slight de-tour and sort out their needle phobia first... then give them the injection.

There are many added benefits to helping someone see their own pictures. Then they can be more in control of their mind in lots of situations. You'll be adding extra value as well as doing the best job on the issue they asked for help with.

Don't let your clients hypnotise you into believing in their limitations. People know far more than they think.

Wow - thank you all for your assistance! I am a newly qualified practitioner - hence my need for help on this. The client is in fact claustraphobic, which includes a fear of the dark - for it's ability to leave her feeling out of control of the wider situation.

I'll now break her experience down, to elicit her own process of going into the phobic state, then adapt the fast phobia model, or a similar dissociated model, to suit her. I like the idea of using colours, Alistair (she mentioned a liking for colour!). I do think it'd be useful to develop her ability to visualise in the beginning anyhow - as this may also help to give her a wider perspective of her experience.

I've been looking around the site at the abundance of useful information on here - what a great resource!! :-)

If the client continues to claim inability to visualize, ask them to pretend. Pretend works as good...

Regards,

- Anil

cheiro wrote:

Hi,

I have a client who is Kinesthetic Preferred, Ad Lead rep systems - couldn't follow the fast phobia model due to being unable to visualise. Is there a more suitable technique to use please, or will I have to overlap representational systems?

Thanks

Teaching people in their preferred rep system does tend to limit them. Stretch their abilities further by training brain to use all rep systems. Have you tried asking about a favourite movie they remember - could be that the good state associated with it would easier to convince them that they do actually see pictures all the time. Also.. tell them it doesn't have to be 'real' looking - but I know what you mean in that people sometime want their images to be more REAL than not.. a movie is a good way to train that part. So I created a movie in Second Life for people just like you are describing, because, I had the same problem and it really helped me to see clearer imagainings...

Here is the Fast Phobia Cure adapted to demonstrate how I use it in Second Life with clients. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykbvGx4Qu60