Mastering the Meta Model

Happy Hypnotism: Introducing the Meta Model Part 1

We are lucky to be hypnotists of the modern world because we can choose to mix and match our personal therapeutic approach from many great practitioners who have gone before us.

Many brilliant modern day hypnotists are great enthusiasts of the Indirect Model, the originator of which was Milton Erickson. In fact the Indirect Model is also referred to as the Ericksonian approach, with respect to the great Erickson. This is a fantastic approach and serves us all well, though today I would like to pay homage to its opposite: let’s take a look at the Meta Model.

Now you are familiar with the word ‘meta’ with our English words like metaphysics though maybe you have not given much thought to its origins. Meta comes from the modern Greek language and means ‘to go beyond’ or ‘after’. So metaphysics is beyond or after physics. To meta question is to go beyond or after, ‘ordinary’ type questioning.

John Grinder and Richard Bandler developed the Meta Model by modelling two very successful therapists, Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir, who got exceptionally positive results from their clients by having them be more specific in how they communicated. That is, they found that by using certain types of questions to gather information Grinder and Bandler observed that people tend to delete, distort and generalise their take on reality. We all do it. However, we do all this unconsciously. Hold onto your hats because once you become consciously aware of how we all dodge the true experience of reality, it can get a bit bumpy.

Regarding how we delete for example, we only present some of the information available at any one time, seeming to ignore some very relevant information as it does not suit our take on reality.

We distort by choosing to over simplify or fantasise about what is possible or what has happened. A lot of our stories would be quite bland without our own personal emphasis and deletion!

To recover the information missing as a result of deletions, generalisations and distortions, Grinder and Bandler identified twelve different patterns with corresponding questions and called this the Meta Model. So, the Meta Model is about being more specific to get a better understanding of the person’s take, or model, of the world.

All human communication has the potential to be ambiguous and as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, reality is certainly in the mouth of the communicator.

The purpose of the questions is to cut through this ambiguity, to access the missing information for both the client and the therapist.

We have a tendency to generalise by making general statements about what we believe, how we see others, our values and so forth. We usefully choose to ignore possible exceptions or special conditions that could present valid argument that would not support our cause. Like I say, we do all this unconsciously though and when we begin to realise how skewed our view of reality can be it can come as a bit of a shock. Of course, we do this for our clients in a loving way. If a person has no idea why on earth they behave in a particular way then we can ask the right questions and cajole the client into recognising that they are merely behaving in a way that serves them.

What I mean by this is that, let’s say a client says they can’t stop eating chocolate. Well, we know they can. We know they are not eating chocolate right now, so proving the point. What they really mean is they choose to eat chocolate from time to time because they find it tastes nice, makes them happy, gives them energy, is part of a sharing, social experience when offered it by a friend or loved one, it’s sweet, it’s smooth, it is fulfilling, oh I think I had better stop now before I need to go and buy some!

Asking the right questions can return a person to their sense of responsibility. Take responsibility for making a choice and you are back in control. However, the tricky bits come when someone pleads that it was not their choice at all. The cookie monster, the evil cigarette companies, the friend at work who is really not a friend at all and just wants you to be fat, is to blame!

Although based on the work of two therapists, the Meta Model has much wider reach and through this series of articles we will recognise how helpful it can be for our own inner talk as well as for communicating with others. Watch out though, as it can also provoke argument when used indiscreetly.

Once mastered, the Meta Model is a powerful and useful tool. However, it does take practice to master the questioning process and the process must be undertaken with a high degree of rapport for as soon as a person feels pressured you have lost their trust and maybe a good friend.