This article is about the concept of the meta model in Neuro-linguistic Programming. For other uses, see Meta-modeling.

The Meta-model of Neuro-linguistic programming or Meta-model for Therapy is a set of specifying questions or language patterns designed to challenge and expand the limits to a person's model of the world. It is designed to respond to the distortions, generalizations, and deletions in someone's language ^[1]. It forms the basis of Neuro-linguistic programming as developed by then assistant professor of linguistics, John Grinder and Richard Bandler ^[1]. John Grinder, Ph. ... Richard Bandler (full-name: Richard Wayne Bandler) (born February 24, 1950) is an American author and the co-inventor (with John Grinder) of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and creator of Design Human Engineering (DHE) and Neuro Hypnotic Repattering (NHR), . // Bandler holds a BA (1973) in Philosophy and Psychology from the...

The meta model draws on transformational grammar and general semantics, the idea that language is a translation of mental states into words, and that in this translation, there is an unconscious process of deletion (not everything thought is said), distortion (assumptions and structural inaccuracies) and generalization (a shift towards absolute statements). Likewise in hearing, not everything said is acknowledged as heard. Transformational grammar is a broad term describing grammars (almost exclusively those of natural languages) which have been developed in a Chomskian tradition. ... General Semantics is a school of thought founded by Alfred Korzybski in about 1933 in response to his observations that most people had difficulty defining human and social discussions and problems and could almost never predictably resolve them into elements that were responsive to successful intervention or correction. ... Hearing is the following: Hearing is the sense by which sound is perceived. ...

These language patterns were based on the work of family therapist Virginia Satir, gestalt therapist Fritz Perls and linguistic patterns from Transformational syntax ^[2]. It is claimed that the Meta-model "yields a fuller representation of the client's model of the world - the linguistic Deep Structure from which the client's initial verbal expressions or Surface Structure, were derived" ^[1] by offering challenges to its limits, the distortions, generalizations or deletions in the speaker's language ^[1]. The reverse set of the meta-model is the Milton-model; a collection of artfully vague language patterns elicited from the work of Milton Erickson ^[3]. Virginia Satir (26 June 1916 - 10 September 1988) was a noted psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy. ... Fritz Perls photo on the cover of an Hungarian edition of his book The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy (originally published 1973) Friedrich (Frederick) Salomon Perls (July 8 1893, Berlin - March 14, 1970, Chicago), better known as Fritz Perls, was a noted German-born psychiatrist and psychotherapist of... Transformational grammar is a broad term describing grammars (almost exclusively those of natural languages) which have been developed in a Chomskian tradition. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In linguistics, and especially the study of syntax, the deep structure of a linguistic expression is a theoretical construct that seeks to unify several related observed forms. ... In linguistics and syntax, surface structure refers to the representation derived from deep structure of a linguistic expression by transformational rules. ... Milton Hyland Erickson, MD (1901 - 1980) was a psychiatrist specializing in medical hypnosis. ...

The following examples were derived from therapeutic contexts. The developers state that these patterns can be identified in all human communication.

Discussion

Definition of the meta-model:

"People respond to events based on their internal pictures, sounds and feelings. They also collect these experiences into groups or categories that are labeled with words. The meta-model is a method for helping someone go from the information-poor word maps back to the specific sensory-based experiences they are based on. It is here in the information-rich specific experiences that useful changes can be made that will result in changes in behavior." (Steve Andreas, 2003 [2])

Examples of NLP meta-model language patterns

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Distortion: Semantic Well-formedness

Presupposition (an assumption made whose truth is taken for granted) In linguistics, a presupposition is background belief, relating to an utterance, that: must be mutually known or assumed by the speaker and addressee for the utterance to be considered appropriate in context Will generally remain a necessary assumption whether the utterance is placed in the form of an assertion, denial...

Examples:

• "My wife is pregnant."
• Presupposition: You have a wife.

• "Do you want to do it again?"
• Presupposition: I have done it already, at least once.
• Challenge: "Have I done it before?"

• "My husband is as lazy as my son."
• Presuppositions: You have a husband; you have a son; your son is lazy.
• Challenge: "Am I to assume that your son is lazy?"

Cause-effect (x means y, x makes me y, or x makes y happen) The philosophical concept of causality, the principles of causes, or causation, the working of causes, refers to the set of all particular causal or cause-and-effect relations. ...

Example:

• "That news makes me angry."
• Challenge: "If it weren't for that news, you would not be angry?"

"Mind-reading" violation (a claim made about what someone is thinking without sufficient evidence)

Example:

• "If he doesn't start paying his share of the bills, she is going to leave him."
• Challenge: "Has she told you that she intends to leave him if he doesn't?"

Lost Performative (making reference to an action by an unspecified source) Performative utterances are speech acts which perform the action the sentence describes. ...

Example:

• "Her book was highly acclaimed."
• Challenge: "Highly acclaimed by whom?" or "How do you know that?"

Generalization

Nominalization (transforming a verb into a noun) Generalization is an inference rule of Predicate Calculus which states that: If is true (valid) then so is . ... // Definition A nominalization is a word that has been changed from a verb or an adjective into a noun. ...

Examples:

• "The communication [from 'communicate'] in this company is poor."
• Challenge: "How could we communicate more effectively?"

• "They need my decision [from 'decide'] by Monday."
• Challenge: "Have you decided yet?"

Universal quantifiers (all, every, everything, ...) In predicate logic, universal quantification is an attempt to formalise the notion that something (a logical predicate) is true for everything, or every relevant thing. ...

Example:

• "My co-workers are all lazy."
• Challenge: "All of them?" or "Which co-workers, specifically?"

Modal operators of possibility (can, might, may) and necessity (have to, must, should) A modal operator is a logical connective, in the language of a modal logic, which forms propositions from propositions. ...

Example:

• "I can't put myself together."
• Challenge: "What would happen if you did/didn't?"

See also: Modal logic

Complex equivalence (drawing an unrelated conclusion from an event; similar to a non sequitur) A modal logic is any logic for handling modalities: concepts like possibility, impossibility, and necessity. ... This article is about the logical fallacy. ...

Example:

• "And now my secretary quit. I'll be bankrupt by the end of the year!"
• Challenge: "Are you telling me your fortune depended on your secretary's employment?"

Deletion

Unspecified Comparatives (necessary element for comparison is not stated) and superlatives (something has some feature to a greater degree than anything it is being compared to in a given context: best, worst, greatest) In grammar the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another. ... In grammar, the superlative of an adjective or adverb indicates that a member of a set transcends the other members in some way. ...

• "That was the best plan."
• Challenge: "What were some of the other plans?"

Unspecified referential index (personal pronouns used when the context is not already understood, or not easily understood based on the preceding sentences , eg. they, them, you, ...) In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word that usually takes the place of a noun or noun phrase that was previously mentioned (such as she, it) or that refers to something or someone (I, me, you). Pronouns are often one of the basic parts of speech of the...

• "They say I should go into business, but I don't know if I have the confidence."
• Challenge: "Who is it that says you should go into business?"

^[1]

Influences

Its roots can be traced back to the work of Noam Chomsky Transformational Grammar and even further to the nominalistic tradition of William of Ockham. Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ... In philosophy, nominalism is the theory that abstract terms, general terms, or universals do not represent objective real existents, but are merely names, words, or vocal utterances (flatus vocis). ... William of Ockham William of Ockham (also Occam or any of several other spellings) (c. ...

An effort unrelated by origin but going in the same direction of improving clarity of communication is the constructed language Loglan (and its close cousin, Lojban). An artificial or constructed language (known colloquially as a conlang among aficionados), is a language whose phonology, grammar and vocabulary are specifically devised by an individual or small group, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture the way natural languages do. ... Loglan is a constructed language originally designed for linguistic research, particularly for investigating the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. ... Lojban (IPA , official full name Lojban: a realization of Loglan) is a constructed language which was created by the Logical Language Group in 1987 based on the earlier Loglan, with the intent to make the language more complete, usable, and freely available. ...

See also

• Neuro-linguistic programming
• Richard Bandler
• John Grinder
• Transformational Grammar
• Noam Chomsky
• General Semantics
• Alfred Korzybski
• Virginia Satir
• Milton Erickson
• Fritz Perls
• List of NLP topics
• Modeling (NLP)

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a set of techniques, axioms and beliefs, that adherents use primarily as an approach to personal development. ... Richard Bandler (full-name: Richard Wayne Bandler) (born February 24, 1950) is an American author and the co-inventor (with John Grinder) of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and creator of Design Human Engineering (DHE) and Neuro Hypnotic Repattering (NHR), . // Bandler holds a BA (1973) in Philosophy and Psychology from the... John Grinder, Ph. ... Transformational grammar is a broad term describing grammars (almost exclusively those of natural languages) which have been developed in a Chomskian tradition. ... Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ... General Semantics is a school of thought founded by Alfred Korzybski in about 1933 in response to his observations that most people had difficulty defining human and social discussions and problems and could almost never predictably resolve them into elements that were responsive to successful intervention or correction. ... Alfred Korzybski Alfred Korzybski was born on July 3, 1879 in Warsaw, Poland, and died on March 1, 1950 in Lakeville, Connecticut, USA. He is probably best-remembered for developing the theory of general semantics. ... Virginia Satir (26 June 1916 - 10 September 1988) was a noted psychotherapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy. ... Milton Hyland Erickson, MD (1901 - 1980) was a psychiatrist specializing in medical hypnosis. ... Fritz Perls photo on the cover of an Hungarian edition of his book The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy (originally published 1973) Friedrich (Frederick) Salomon Perls (July 8 1893, Berlin - March 14, 1970, Chicago), better known as Fritz Perls, was a noted German-born psychiatrist and psychotherapist of... This is a list of topics related to Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). ... NLP modeling (or modelling) is a process used in neuro-linguistic programming to discover and codify patterns of excellence, as demonstrated consistently by top performers in any field ideally via direct experience. ...

References

1. ^ ^a b c d Bandler, Richard & John Grinder (1975a). [- The Structure of Magic I: A Book About Language and Therapy]. Palo Alto, CA: Science & Behavior Books., ch.3. -.
2. ^ Grinder, John & Carmen Bostic St Clair (2001.). Whispering in the Wind. CA: J & C Enterprises, 127, 171, 222, ch.3, Appendix. -.
3. ^ Bandler, Richard, John Grinder, Judith Delozier (1977). [- Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D. Volume II]. Cupertino, CA: Meta Publications., -. -.