You are on page 1of 7

Anchoring Anchoring is based on the principle that simple kinesthetic, visual, or auditory cues can be associated with more

complex phenomena in a person's reality. An anchor works kind of like a push button that can activate a certain area.

People already use their own anchoring systems. For example, if a person has a complexity of stuff in her mind that adds up to the idea that "life is hard", she will talk about it with a certain tonality, she will put her body in a certain posture and so forth. This acts as re-enforcement that continuously pushes the right buttons. If she were talking in a different tonality or using a different posture, it would be much harder to get into the mode of "life being hard".

Anchors work both for the individual and when others do it. If I talk to the person above in the exact way she herself does, and I use similar words, and I use a similar body posture, which would tend to automatically activate her "life is hard" feeling, without any conscious thought being necessary on her part.

Anchors are very specific. It is not just that a generally "sad" voice will have the same effect. In terms of auditory distinctions it might be a very exact tonality, tempo, pitch, exact use of words. Kinesthetically it might be a certain precise touch, a certain position of one's limbs. Visually it might be the sight of a certain gesture, a lifted eyebrow, a smile, or anything else one might see. Seeing a specific old photograph might instantly bring back a whole package of memories and feelings and reactions. Also, smells are powerful anchors in that they tend to bypass the filtering of the mind.

As a process facilitator you need to know about anchoring, because you can't avoid setting up or activating anchors with your clients. You should at least avoid activating negative anchors at the wrong time, but you can also learn to use anchoring more deliberately as another powerful tool of the trade.

To use anchoring you need to be very aware of what the client is doing, and you need to be very aware of what you are doing, and you must have flexibility enough to change your behavior in ways that will work as anchors.

The polarity integration technique is a perfect place to use anchoring skills. We are working with two distinctly different parts of the person. Until we reach the end of the process it is vital to keep those two distinctly separate from each other. You are continuously switching back and forth between the two, and if you mix them up too much, it will be a mess.

Each side of the polarity will appear distinctly different. If you just observe the client carefully, you will notice that she uses a different tone of voice for each, and she adjusts her body position and facial expression when talking about each one. She will certainly use a different set of words when focusing on each one.

Pick up as much as you can from the client's own anchoring scheme. Most important is the use of language. Like, one side might be talking about things one MUST do, about how HARD everything is, about DUTY and NECESSITY. The other side might talk about what one WANTS to do, what is FUN, how FREE one would like to be, and so forth. That makes it very important that you talk to the first side in terms of rigid necessities, and to the second side in terms of fun possibilities. That is the way you get in rapport with each side, as well as the way you mark them out. The free side will not be cooperative if you tell it what it MUST do.

You can also with advantage make your own arbitrary marking system. You establish certain identifiers that differentiate what is what. I would usually assign each polarity its own side, i.e. left or right. I might ask the client to tell me which sides feel best for her, or I might just arbitrarily choose. Then, when I talk to one side, I turn my head slightly in that direction and I move my hands over there also. That sets up an anchoring system that makes it more clear what side we are talking with.

Nothing stops you from using your own arbitrary gestures as anchoring. That works fine if you keep track of what you do. You simply do the gesture when the phenomenon you want to anchor is present. Then later on you can bring it back, at least partially, by repeating the gesture in the same way.

Anchoring is going to work best if the client doesn't consciously have attention on it. Subtle movements that in themselves are nothing out of the ordinary will work best. It is not a conscious tool, it is a tool for being in rapport with the subconscious parts of a person.

The advantage of anchors is also that you can activate several at the same time. In polarity integration that is what you would want to do as you are getting towards the end. As the integration has started to take place you can help it along by starting to mix up the anchors. You mix up the language use gradually. You present the thought pattern of one polarity to the other polarity, using its own language. You start making sentences using expressions from both polarities at the same time. "It is your DUTY to have FUN, I am sure you see the NECESSITY for being FREE."

That is totally mysterious for the client consciously, but it works wonderfully. If done too soon, it just won't make sense. But if done when integration is already happening, it has a deep and powerful effect.

Likewise, in polarity integration, we can use the visual and kinesthetic positions of hands to help. You can stretch out your hands, palms up, and ask the client to do the same. Then you ask her to visualize each part in a different hand. That sets up the hands as anchors. As soon as she is sure she has done that, you ask her to put her hands together. And at the same time, you put your hands together and fold them. That merges the two anchors and will promote the merging of the parts really effectively. Particularly if you do it at the same time as you shift your language from marking out the parts sharply to suddenly merging the language

anchors. Since all of this works mostly subconsciously, it becomes kind of a mystical experience for the client. She will just feel oddly different suddenly, without having a good explanation for it.

Anchoring is part of a bigger subject of the power of symbols. One simple picture might trigger all kinds of feelings and implications, simply based on what associations have previously been made. If you associate an experience with a simple trigger you can bring back the experience later by activating the trigger.

As with all of our tools, of course, these principles are intended to help people, to increase power of choice, to respect the integrity of the individual.

Exercise - Observe another person talking. Notice how she marks out certain states with her tonality or gestures. - Reproduce another person's anchors yourself. Test if they bring back the state for the person when you do them. - Get another person to remember a resourceful situation from the past. When she really experiences the state, introduce an arbitrary anchor. Afterwards, test if it works to bring back the state.

Previous / Next / Contents

The First Session


The first session you give a client is probably the determining factor on whether or not she will continue. Not that it has to make you nervous in any way, you just have to be aware of getting a result right from the beginning.

If a client is referred by another satisfied client, then you have a bit more leeway. There will be somebody pushing from the other end, relating success stories and so forth. That helps. If a client just comes in from having seen an ad, just to see what you are about, then it is more critical that you get somewhere in the first session. Let me clarify right away that it is not necessary that you resolve a large portion of the person's issues in the first session. What is important is that you make her feel good and that you instill confidence. If you also handle something, all the better. Don't waste time giving thorough explanations of what processing really is. Very few people need that. They usually forget most of it again after the first visit. The best you can do is to put them in session, let them realize that you are there for them, and that things can be improved. Also, if you explain things too well, it is likely to act as a completion, as an end in itself. They say "Oh, that's what it is. Thank you, good bye." You are better off leaving them a bit in a mystery about what this is, and then just do it. Don't explain the principles of processing beyond something simple like: "I ask you questions, and we find out what is going on in your mind, and then we change it." You can refer to people or subjects if she needs references. You can say "Clearing was first mentioned by Alfred Korzybsky who developed General Semantics in the '30s". Or you can throw out some other subject that you know of that is related. "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" is a good one, it sounds impressive. If the client offers some subjects, leave her with the impression that transformational processing is both similar and different. You never lie to a client, you are honest about what you do. But you don't have to give her long theoretical dissertations. Processing is not theory, processing is what you actually do. It is more honest to do it with her, than it is to explain its development. You don't want either to contaminate her mind by convincing her of your theories before you find out how she actually works. There is a unique individual sitting in front of you, let's give her a chance of being the way she is. We assume that the person has come on her own determinism. If she hasn't, find out if she somehow anyway has something she wants to work on. If not, thank her for coming and tell her to come back when she feels that she needs to. Most people will walk in with a reason for coming. If you can bring that up and address it right away, you are in business. She will be naturally involved in the process and you don't have to explain anything. It can be as simple as: F: "Hello, I am Flemming, have a seat." C: "Hello. Thank you" F: "So, what can I help you with?"

C: "I have this problem with depression." F: "How are you being depressed?" and we are already into a process. Get their attention inside on what they want to change, as quickly as possible. So, if they don't already have attention on something they need to change, ask some questions that will bring it out. Keep going until you get something. F: "So, what are you here for?" C: "Well, I just wanted to find out what this Processing is" F: "OK, do you have something you want changed?" C: "What do you mean - changed?" F: "Well, should something be different in your life?" C: "I'd like to not get so angry" F: "Tell me when you get angry" If instead you had started to give a lecture on processing principles you would be on much more shaky ground. We would much rather do something for her. The most likely process I will get into in a first session is polarity integration. One reason is because what people have to complain about in themselves usually is a polarity. One side doesn't like what the other one is doing. Another reason is because polarity integration seems to work on just about anybody, with almost no explanation. And it is not an intellectual thing, it is hard for the person to sabotage it. You usually finish it in one session with a nice complete result. Another likely thing I might do in a first session is creative changing of perceptions. That is, simply making the client realize that she has pictures and sounds and feelings in her mind, and that she can change them. That would be when she claims to be the effect of something she is obviously doing herself. For example: C: "I am always critical of myself" F: "You mean, you talk to yourself?" C: "Eh.. yes" F: "Where does the voice come from?" C: "Come from?" F: "Yes, is it inside your head, or, what direction does it come from?" C: "Hm .. from behind, I think" F: "Is it in your own voice or is it somebody else's?" C: "Sounds like my mother, actually" F: "OK. What is the voice saying?" C: "You can't ever do anything right!" (in an accusing tone) F: "OK. Move her up front" C: "You mean, move the voice?" F: "Yes, move it up front" C: "OK, it is in the front"

F: "Good, now make it speak very quickly" C: "OK" F: "And move it out in the distance, so you can't hear it." C: "OK" F: "What would you rather have the voice say?" C: "You really know what you are doing!" F: "OK, bring back the voice and have it say it so you really believe it" C: "Yes" F: "And then move it to the back of you" C: "OK, yes that feels much better" (smile, pink skin tone) Showing her that she can be cause makes a big difference. Just demonstrating that she can feel different by moving pictures or sounds around and changing their qualities can be quite a deep revelation for many people. When you have gotten a good result on something she brought up you might end the session with a small explanation of what went on. Just to make her understand that you did it intentionally and there are principles behind what is going on. Also, if she understands the idea, she can better use the principle herself later. But notice that the explanation is much more useful and effective AFTER she has experienced what it is really about. Finally just ask her when she wants to come back and schedule her for her next session.

Previous / Next / Contents

You might also like