Mindscapes – 3 Perspectives on Change

Just before Spring came the monsoons. It rained like crazy in New York the weekend of March 13th. All across the region there were trees down, basements flooding, power outages… it was extreme.

But inside the TRS suites in Manhattan things were warm and sunny. I was joined by Andrew Austin, author of “The Rainbow Machine – tales from a neurolinguist’s journal,” and Nick Kemp, creator of “Provocative Change Works,” to present Mindscapes – Three Perspectives on Change. This was an exciting experiment to create a dialog between three similar but different approaches to therapeutic change.

Friday night was a three way discussion about how to run a thriving private practice as a professional people helper. We were attempting to reveal some of our secrets to doing just that, and it was quite stimulating to find that, again, there were some things we all did and agreed upon, and some other things we did quite differently. In some ways the real “take away” for many people was that there is not just “one right way” to do things, but that every person can find a way that works for them as an individual. The other major learning  was that taking time to work ON your business and not just IN your business is an essential constant.

Saturday began with another three way discussion with the focus shifted to actually doing work with people. We wanted the seminar to cover some theory and technique, but also to allow a “peak behind the door” of the therapy space and witness what those techniques look like in practice. So we took requests about what issues people wanted to learn about and what some folks in the room actually wanted to work on.

As luck would have it, I drew the short straw and went first. (I love to go first) I elected to demonstrate a Neo-Ericksonian approach to pain management. Fortunately it went well and my brave volunteer responded nicely.

Later, Andy Austin revealed to us what he calls “Metaphors of Movement” and brilliantly taught what is all about while demonstrating how to use it with a participant in the audience. Fantastic stuff.

Nick Kemp deftly showed how his Provocative Change works while – at one point – working with one volunteer at the front of the room and simultaneously working with another participant in the audience. I can honestly say I’ve rarely laughed harder than when Nick was doing therapy. Isn’t therapy supposed to require cathartic weeping?

It was a remarkable weekend and I’m so pleased, honored and excited to be working with these brilliant innovators. I look forward to next year when we do it again in England.