As part of my NLP Master Practitioner exam I had to detail a new technique.

This technique is one that I developed to help people who find themselves exhibiting quite different behaviours in their home environment compared to their work environment.  Whilst they are initially often unaware of any disparity, the situation invariably leads to a general unease or unhappiness about their life.

The initial assessment is based on the degree to which the six 'Team Me' Archetypes are active in their lives. This is done separately for their personal and professional lives.

Whilst it should be recognised that a degree of difference in archetypal influence can potentially be very necessary/helpful in these two arenas, where it’s clear the individual is not happy about the differences, then some sort of intervention may well be in order.

If it seems congruently desirable to continue, this is what we do...

Step 1

I name and explain 6 key personality archetypes (founded on the work by Jung). These being: the Sovereign, the Warrior, the Lover, the Mystic, the Sage and the Jester – helping my client to find times and situations when each have been in evidence.

Step 2

I explain that each archetype:
  • is merely a facet of their character, an expression of themselves
  • can, and does, ‘rise or fall in influence’ at various times
  • always has a positive intent and can achieve much good, yet can become a problem if too strong in its influence
  • can be called upon at any time when their specific strengths are required in a given situation

Step 3

I draw the following chart with them and ask that they grade the relative strength of each of their archetypes, on a scale of 0 to 10,  in their personal/home life.

A live session example response was as follows:

Step 4

After using a completely unrelated question to break their state and ‘clear the screen’, I then ask that they do the same exercise for their work situation – showing the degree to which each of these archetypes manifest their characteristic influence in their professional lives.

The below is from the same real life session.
This rapidly provides me with a highly revealing picture of the areas of greatest incongruence – those that need the most work.

Step 5

I highlight the archetype/s that have the greatest numeric discrepancy and, having enquired a little further into the situation, I ask if the client would like the power of their [named strong archetype] in their professional  world – for example - to share their influence with the [same archetype]  in their personal world.

In the live example above, whilst there are clearly big differences in several areas (including Warrior and Lover), the biggest discrepancy is found with the Sage – where it is evidently very strong in his professional life but weak in his life at home. Whilst this may have much to do with environmental conditioning, it was clear that he saw that addressing this was a matter of growth and maturity for him.

Step 6

Assuming the client does want to redress the imbalance that has been identified, an appropriate technique is employed.

What I have found to be most effective at this point is a Parts Integration. Parts Integration causes the apparent ‘internal partitions’ of the archetype’s influence to dissolve, enabling the archetype to freely perform its role in either sphere without the original (and unhelpful) limiting constraints.

Step 7

A supporting technique may also be employed such as an anchoring of the archetype ‘in full-swing’ – so that the client can trigger the state desired at any time. (In this example, this would be most useful in the Personal sphere, when the client had previously found themselves disempowered in this role of Sage.)

Step 8

Finally, as a test, we break their current state and future-pace, to test that the client genuinely feels the change has occurred.

In subsequent sessions we would discuss how the client’s behaviours have changed at home and/or at work in the light of the intervention.


Let me know if you've tried this yourself, or with your own clients.

 


Comments

29/10/2011 02:00

I don't know what to write except that I LOVE THIS! I love how it brings the information to light and truly amps up one's awareness of reality and not what they perceive. May be using this with some clients. Thank you for sharing this! All the best, Eric Johnson Finish Your Project.com
www.facebook.com/finishyourproject (If you're on FB, let's connect!)

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29/10/2011 06:52

Thanks for sharing and for making the process so easy to follow,will be using this with some of my clients.
have a great week
Jacqui.

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Alex
31/10/2011 11:25

Thanks for this. I like the sound of using archetypes in this way and will definitely explore it.

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Nat
05/11/2011 10:57

Thank you for sharing this information. Do you know where I can find a concise and reliable description of each arquetype on the Internet? Thank you

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Jo Stone
23/04/2012 12:40

Hi Nat, try Caroline Myss, "Sacred Contracts", or You tube, with her name and the name of each Archetype, for informative clips. Also Joseph Campbell, possibly "The Hero with a thousand faces".

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Pad
05/11/2011 15:30

Nat, I've found nothin gonline that's very reliable, to be honest. And you'll also find that every teacher provides different archetype names/divisions and thus some very different descriptions. Do check out Carol S Pearson - she's done some great work into the way that certain archetypes (different to my chosen 6) She does a paid-for online tool - but this will only explain in any detail the top 4 archetypes that appear in the profile of th eperson completing the form. (I've collated most of these from separate sources, but still haven't got them all.)

See also some much broader descriptions on this page: http://meta-religion.com/Psychiatry/Analytical_psychology/a_gallery_of_archetypes.htm

There are things I can't quite agree with from both these authors... but that makes for a richer learning experience. :-)

Hope that helps a little.

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06/11/2011 16:40

Pad,

Very interesting take on archetypes manifesting themselves differently between work and home. This is something I am definitely going to have to take a closer look at, and possibly implement it with some of my clients. Excellent explanation of your technique too!

RAL
http://richardaluck.com/

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16/11/2011 00:18

Thank you so much for this Richard. I have been looking to incorporate Archetypes into my work and this will help tremendously. Do you have a "print out" of this by any chance or a "product' you sell?

I am also an NLP Practitioner. Congratulations on this work, it will help many I am sure.

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Pad,
I like the simplicity and the 'fun' aspect of your work. It has to be simple to be effective, and I'm looking forward to exploring this further. Thanks!

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Lilian Tsertou
22/12/2011 10:33

I liked the technique and its simplicity. I will explore more on archetypes and then I will give it a try with some clients.
Bravo!!! Nice, simple, elegant!

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Marek Helstrom
22/12/2011 19:38

Just a question - why wouldn't one simply ask the client about behavioral discrepancies that they see in themselves as they show-up in their various environments and roles?

By the way, I really appreciate how you presented the technique! Kudos!

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Pad
02/01/2012 17:15

Thx for your patience.... Here's a late reply because of hols and a lack of automated notification (!)

Marek. Most of the time my clients don't seem to be able to articulate things very well and need a framework of some sort to get their heads around what's really happening. Since most of their behaviours are driven by the unconcious they simply have no clue that they are doing things in an unproductive manner. We all have blind spots like this and this approach offers a 'mirror' that reflects back to the client what they;re really like. In a way it's a 'reframe' that in itself can provide leverage. Hope that helps :-)

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Thanks for sharing this. I took an on-line quiz once that rated you for each of these archetypes (but I'm not sure I understood at the time where they came from). I can really see the value of rating yourself relative to other areas or situations in your life.

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Marcos fernando carvalho dos santos
25/12/2011 09:14

Can you explain the characteristic of each archetype? What is the personality of each one? I liked the process. Thank you.

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Pad
02/01/2012 17:19

Hi Marcos. It's true I've been assuming a degree of knowledge on these already - apologies if that's not been helpful. Best thing would be to sign-up (on the homepage www.team-me.biz ) for a free PDF description of each of these characters. I'm finishing up the full-length book 'Team Me' that will be launched very soon - but the PDF gives you the meat of one of the chapters, that helps explain both the mature archetypal states and thei shadow sides. Hope that helps. Pad

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26/12/2011 19:34

Hi Pad - happy holidays! Thanks so much for this simple (and no doubt powerful) tool. I use archetypes a lot in my coaching and love your approach and explanation for the client. Looking forward to being able to introduce it in my sessions.
warmest regards
Judy

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Coach Mihai
29/12/2011 11:35

Hi, Pad!


I've noticed in your slides that you use Tony Robbins' 6 Human Needs (certainty, variety, significance etc.) but it's not clear to me how you link them to the 6 archetypes. Could you please elaborate on this? Many thanks,
CoachMihai

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Pad
02/01/2012 17:26

Coach Mihai, Great question! :-) Yes, Robbins' 6 Human Needs is a remarkable framework that I use in many ways when coaching. I'm aware that my slides do little to explain the reasoning and dynamics I've been exploring...What I started to do was to map the 6 Archetypes I use against the 6 Human needs and began to find some very, very clear patterns. One day I promise I'll publish the full details for all to see... but it won't be immediate... I have a book and audio series to launch first! Still, I can always post something on this blog :-)

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05/01/2012 10:52

I completely agree!
that s also my method
very good!

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Anji
15/01/2012 13:31

Thanks very much for your exercise on archetypes - I love this area in coaching and belived it is very powerful. Also really appreciated your summary pdf. and other file shares on offer Thanks and good luck with your book sales!

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19/02/2012 10:53

Patrick
Great process: direct, clear and practical. Kudos!

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Tony
12/03/2012 17:51

Hi Pad,

I'm in my first week of training to become a Coach and an NLP Practitioner!
I'm certain that as my knowledge grows I will be able to fully utilise the technique described.
Any advice you can give would be very much appreciated. I can be reached on:
tonymunday1015@gmail.com.

Many thanks,

Tony

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28/04/2012 21:46

Daniel Levis describes 12 archetypes in detail. He talks about how to use them to sell to prospects--including 'embellishing' stories to engage people. I prefer to use them like you do, Pad, but it's very important for us as buyers to recognize that some marketing people are using these archetypes to develop totally fictitious stories to induce people to buy their products and services.

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29/04/2012 14:44

Eugenia. Yes, a very valid point. Archetypes connect with us at a very deep level, so those sneaky marketers have learned to tap their power to speak to us in a very persuasive fashion.

As with hypnotic language and anchoring techniques used in adverts, it's good to be aware of it so that we can make informed choices in our buying decisions.

Great to have your contribution here :-)

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Esther Verheul
24/05/2012 15:53

Thank you Pad, really interesting and love the way you have simplified. Good tool to bring up hidden inconsistencies and provide insight. Might be interesting to use it in conjunction with the Johari window.
Reading your site (were you mention the work is founded on the work by Jung) I remembered this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CIjH0iYjWE
It shows what could be and ideal life journey but could also be seen as the description of the best wished-for outcome of a coaching process with a specific goal. Jung works out his archetypes theories with the archetypes of the Tarot as a tool.

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19/07/2012 13:33

Thanks to your post, I found Weebly and made my own blog too, thanks.

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