Reframing

Most people don’t like the idea of having surgery. Even if it’s essential most people would probably rather be somewhere else doing something else. In many people’s minds being in hospital counts as an ordeal.

What is the state of mind that goes with having an ordeal? Usually it is one of apprehension or dread.

Does feeling apprehension or dread help?

Probably not. Being stressed is not very conducive to healing.

Recently, a client of mine went into hospital for some surgery, rather than being upset or apprehensive she was treating it as a short holiday! In her mind, this stay in hospital was a rest, lying in bed, being looked after and free from cooking or washing up duties - a holiday!

Not only did she choose her frame of mind, but to enhance the effect she took her holiday bag complete with her holiday kit: trashy magazines, an easy read novel, a serious book, mp3 player and supply of chocolate. All the things she would have taken on a real holiday (except for sun screen of course).

At first I found this a strange way of thinking about a visit to hospital. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to apply a holiday attitude to a hospital stay, but as I thought about it, I began to see that this point of view has a lot to recommend it.

If you are having a good holiday you will probably feel relaxed and comfortable, enjoying a break from the usual ritual, perhaps enjoying the chance to rest. Being able to be relaxed and comfortable in hospital is probably going to be conducive to your treatment and recovery.

Not only did my client frame the experience as a holiday she took props (her holiday bag) to elicit those holiday feelings or state while she was in the hospital.

Afterwards I asked my client how well her plan had worked. She said it had been enormously helpful by allowing her to be in an internal world separate from the physical world of the ward around her. She was able to get lost in her fiction and her music. She even conjured up memories of lying on beaches from previous holidays to develop her feelings of rest, relaxation and escape.

Would it be the only thing you would need to do to have a comfortable stay in hospital?

Probably not, but it’s a very good start.

If you think about it, all the people in my client’s ward were in similar situations all there to recover from surgery of one sort or another. How they approach the experience has an effect on the experience. As a patient you don’t have that much control over what happens to you, that’s in the hands of the medical team. You do have control (if you know how) over your responses.

Framing the experience or giving the experience a meaning of your choice is one way to exert a little control. Setting the frame alters the experience.

Which would you prefer an ordeal or a holiday?

Framing and eliciting helpful states (or feelings) are parts of NLP. My client had been spontaneously using the skills of an NLP Practitioner without knowing about it.

What would it be like if you knew these skills consciously then you could use them at will to change the quality of many of your experiences?

To learn about framing, states and far more, you might like to think about attending an NLP Practitioner training.

Click on the link to learn more about IntegrityNLP NLP Practitioner trainings.

Image courtesy of dMap Travel Guide

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NLP’s second model is the human sensory processing model that incorporates eye accessing and sensory language predicates. Often known as the VAKOG model. Here is a short introduction to sensory language predicates presented by Nigel Hetherington.

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One of the recurrent themes in any excellent NLP Practitioner course , or great application of therapy is to create the context for your own or your clients beneficial change. Another description for this is Reframing. Reframing is about changing how experiences are being perceived.

This clearly dovetails into the concepts of Description, Interpretation and Evaluation, three of the most important distinctions you can make, now,

One of the most thought provoking and exceptional people of the 21st century is Robert Anton Wilson. Bob Wilson has written many many books on many many varied subjects. One particularly excellent book ‘Quantum Psychology‘ gives us a wonderful example of these types of so very necessary distinctions.

The example cited comes in the form of the work of Albert Ellis. Here are two examples of less than positive and enabling statements about a persons ‘reality’. In NLP terms a seemingly impoverished model of the world, in every day language an interpretation of actuality.

1. My boss is a male chauvinist drunk, and this is making me sick.
2. My secretary is an incompetent, whining bitch, and I have no choice but to fire her.

By simply reformulating the verbal description, the complex equivalents and cause effects diffuse, some generalisations, distortions and deletions are alleviated BUT even more importantly the distinctions between descriptions, evaluations and interpretations become clearer.

1. I perceive my boss as a male chauvinist drunk, and right now I do not ( or will not ) perceive or remember anything else about him, and framing my experience this way, ignoring other factors, makes me feel unwell.
2. I perceive my secretary as an incompetent, whining bitch, and right now I do not ( or will not ) perceive or remember anything else about her, and framing my experience this way, ignoring other factors, inclines me to make the choice of firing her.

All NLP and therapy is essentially reframing. This is just yet way to make it so.

nigel hetherington

Communicating Excellence
Excellence in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Hypnotherapy

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