Meta Model in Neurolinguistic programming

The Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) meta model provides a tool that allows us to uncover our "real" experience (deep structure) from the language that we use (surface structure). We use it in our NLP practitioner and NLP master practitioner trainings in New York.

When we experience reality, we tend to delete, distort and generalize information. These then are the three universal modeling processes of the NLP communication model. These processes impoverish our maps of the world, resulting is a surface structure that is much less than the reality around us.

The purpose of the Meta Model is to reconnect us with the deep structure of experience, by:

• Identifying the portions of our language that lack specificity
• Asking questions which direct attention to those areas in such a way that we are forced to fill in the gaps between language and experience.

The meta model has to be done in the presence of rapport.

There are a number of standard patterns that occur in language that are identified and categorized in the Meta Model (this sentence is an example of several such patterns, can you spot which?):

• Nominalizations

A nominalization is a noun that pretends to be a verb, such as "decision" (the process of deciding), "love" (the process of loving), "belief" (the process of believing) etc.

A meta model question to re-access detail would be "and how are you deciding that?"

• Lack of referential index or Unspecified Nouns

This would include for example "he made me do it". The meta model question to re-access detail might be "who is he?"

• Unspecified Verbs

An example would be "they punished me". The meta model question might be "how exactly did they punish you?"

• Unspecified Comparatives

"That is better". "Better than what?"

• Mind Reading

"She hates me." "How do you know?"

• Lost Performative

"Safety is good". "According to whom?"

• Cause and Effect

"He made me feel bad". "How did you make yourself feel bad as a result of what he did?"

• Presuppositions

A linguistic presupposition is what is presupposed by a sentence but not stated. Suppose we talk about the front of the room. By implications that presupposes there is the back of the room, sides of the room, top and bottom of the room, outside the room etc. "I just think about being there at the front of the room, with everyone staring at me". "And what are you not noticing that's outside the room?"

• Complex Equivalence

""I am incompetent". "In which areas are you competent?"

• Modal Operators

"I can't do that." "What would happen if you did?"

• Universal Quantifiers

"I always feel that way." "Always?"

• So we believe we are bad at baseball. This belief acts as a filter for our experiences past and future. As we look back on our baseball experiences the limiting belief will tend to filter out those times we played well, and instead focus on the times we played poorly.
• The next time we play, our limiting belief and memories of how poorly we play will make us tense and nervous and we are more likely to play poorly again. Hence the belief is self perpetuating and self fulfilling.
• Suppose we change this belief. It will be easier for us to find those times when we have actually played baseball quite well, in spite of our beliefs.
• This new belief and our newly found memories will be more likely to make us confident and relaxed the next time we play, making it more likely that we will play well, and hence have a new positive reference experience.