Shortly after the meta model group started, I had the opportunity to visit Richard about a relationship problem. It was at that time that Richard showed me the name on his new office which was "Neuro-Linguistic Programming." The model had a name. Cards were also printed up with MM for Meta Model which was later to become the logo for Richard and John's publishing company, Meta Publications.
Very intensive experimentation and modelling was the order of the day at this time. The crux of the model was that what ever works, works! The old rules about the warm, empathic and genuine therapist went out the window, and in its place a model developed called, "if what your doing isn't working, do anything else."
The NLP seeds which grew and later flourished are beginning to germinate. During this time the idea of the parts, based on Fritz Perls topdog-underdog and Virginia Satir's model; the concepts of reframing which developed through the integration of the Gestalt Model, the elaborate reframes of Virginia Satir's parts' party and the use of symptom substitutions in hypnosis all contributed to the model of NLP. Some NLP techniques developed as an evolution of these basic models. However the techniques should not be confused with the model itself. NLP is about modelling, not therapy.
The genius of Richard Bandler and John Grinder has been their ability to take any act or behavior and to be able to model it in a way that it can be taught and incorporated in other people. This is in fact what they did with the brilliance and genius of Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir, and Milton H. Erickson. They often had us doing deep trance identification with these people at some of the workshops.
Chapter Fifteen. Milton
Gregory Bateson who was a neighbor of Richard's suggested John and Richard visit Milton. They made several trips to Phoenix, Arizona where Milton lived and spent many hours talking and taping Milton's sessions. Milton is quite a character himself. With two bouts of polio, being tone deaf and color blind, you would think that there wasn't much of a person there. You only have to see him once to feel the tremendous personal power that he harnessed.
With Milton you inevitably did more listening than talking. Milton taught through his stories. He spent hours each day telling stories about his clients and his family. You would fall in and out of trance continually. It was helpful to bring a tape recorder with you if you wanted to make sense out of the sessions with him.
Richard was unable to go into trance with Milton. You see Richard didn't want to miss a thing so he would program himself for consciousness so every time he began to slip away, he would snap back into being alert. Milton invited his wife to the office to teach Richard auto hypnosis.
She began with saying, "Now I am aware of my breathing, my eyes focusing in and out, the weight of my body on the chair................"
Richard was in a trance in about two minutes from when she started her description of going into a trance.
The meta model is now well on its way. The seeds of reframing are germinating. The idea of representational systems with more research and wild experimentation are developing. A lot of experimentation was going on regarding accessing cues. Researching the physiology of the eyes, ears, the tactile and visceral feeling system, the olfactory and the gustatorial system. Observing the behavioural correlations in the models . which they had begun to recognize.
Chapter Sixteen. Acorn Hollow
Richard was currently living in an area just off Alda Road in the Santa Cruz mountains in a place called "Acorn Hollow". The hollow is located half way up the mountain from Ben Lomond. It is situated amongst second growth redwood trees organized by nature in groves after the slash and burn logging techniques that created the timber for the city of San Francisco at the turn of the century.
There were three or four dwellings and a few sheds in the hollow with a small orchard and vegetable garden. Richard's abode consisted of a four walled, hard backed tent. It was partitioned for bathtub, toilet facilities, kitchen, bedroom, and the office. Things at that time were a bit spartan as far as living accommodation. The central focus of the tent was an old wood burning stove, the only source of heat where Richard did most of his writing in the evenings. These evenings by the way extended to the early hours of the morning.
One of the most useful learning strategies is to teach what you have learned. John and Richard began teaching workshops having to do with therapeutic change and modelling applications of hypnosis. It was approximately six months after the meta model group that another group located at a retreat centre in the Santa Cruz mountains commenced.
This group experimented with the rudimentary patterns of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and also hypnosis language patterns and techniques. The groups were like party night. It was a lot of doing. We experimented with the deep trance phenomena of positive and negative hallucination, time distortion, amnesia, and deep trance identification. There were always several side "shows" going on simultaneously because group members were doing different things at the same time.
Richard having a certain attraction for thick lipped blonds became more acquainted with Leslie and that association later turned into a loving relationship with Leslie moving in with Richard into what was called "The Big House" at Acorn Hollow. The big house then consisted of three rooms. A large living area with an open kitchen, one bedroom and a small bathroom that functioned most of the time providing there was enough water in the well. It became a larger house as Richard and John's business began to prosper. First adding on a consulting room to see clients and play music in. The hardwood floor would be replaced by plush carpeting, antiques and other furniture would follow. When Richard moved into the big house, John moved into the hardback tent and was later joined by Judith.
The introduction of Milton Erickson brought in a whole new perception to the traditional models of changing behaviour. Many of the techniques of NLP were brought about because of Richard and John's curiousity with hypnosis. You could say that the NLP techniques are the conscious mind's model of how the unconscious mind works in hypnosis. Many of the NLP techniques such as reframing were developed because of the professional communities rejection of hypnosis. The NLP techniques were a successful attempt at bootlegging hypnosis into a form that would be acceptable.
Chapter Seventeen. Lake Tahoe
The skill of both Richard and John was advanced to the point where they could conduct several activities at one time and still be completely involved in the task at hand.
I went to visit them at Acorn Hollow with a question involving my ability to see clearly once again without the need of corrective lenses and I also wanted to understand more about therapeutic metaphor. At this time John was visiting Richard and they were having a guitar session together.