The ING Game

Manipulating our brain's sense of time is an important skill we can all be developing and integrating into our toolkits for change.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnosis offer us fantastic tools to do just this, for ourselves and our clients, and we will be discussing one of these tools here.

We can of course be using NLP's many time based patterns, such as time line. Alternatively we can simply be using linguistic tools such as verb tense, creating change.

Verb tense tells us what part of time we are dealing with, and how the action of the verb moves through time. This sounds confusing, but for a moment:

• Consider a time in the past where you had spoken to a client
• Compare this with those times when you are speaking to clients.

You may notice that the first of these instructions put the the action of speaking to clients very firmly in the past. This is because it used the past perfect tense "had spoken". This is called the past perfect tense because the action is "perfected" or completed, in the past. It is over and done with.

In contrast the second instruction uses the present progressive tense ("are speaking").Not only is the time the present (using the present tense "are") in addition there is a sense of movement, the verb focuses on the progression of the action through time. It does this by using the ING form of the verb ("speaking").

The technique we will discuss here uses the present progressive tense to give the client a little more room to change.

Summary of Pattern

1. The client selects an issue they want to work through. Let us say they have fear about an upcoming test.
2. Change the problem into an active progressive verb. In this case encourage the client to say: "I am fearing". How does the client feel when they say this?
3. Lead the client through statements indicating change and choice. Calibrate to the client's response. Examples might include:
4. "I am fearing, I am changing, I am choosing, I am choosing confidence, I am confidenting, I am choosing, I am choosing calm, I am calming, I am relaxing,..."
   

Other Words

This exercise also works well with other process based words, learning, growing, developing, evolving, etc and other awareness words knowing, seeing, feeling etc.

How it works

There are several powerful linguistic techniques and presuppositions being used here in this seemingly simple technique:

Removing Nominalization

"Fear" is a nominalization. It is a verb masquerading as a noun. Turning problems into nominalizations makes it more difficult to shift them (in general).

Turning the problem back into a verb, particularly in the progressive tense, shows the client that they are "doing" the problem. This may make them uncomfortable but it gives them back control.

Allowing Change

Using words such as changing and choosing allows the client a little more room to change, and to choose new responses. Again by using the present progressive tense we allow the client to experience choosing and changing as a process.

Moving into the future

Another benefit of the progressive tense is that it allows change to move from the present and continue into the future.