This means that you elicit a representation in each representational system, of both internal and external orientation, of what each of these states is or would be like for the individual:

For each of these states or conditions you will want to ask questions eliciting a representation of the experience from each modality. For example, for each state you will want to elicit the following information:

(A^e) What do you hear happening around you? What does your voice sound like?

(Aⁱ) What do you hear inside your head? Do you have any internal dialogue?

(V^e) What do you see around you ?

(Vⁱ) Do you have any internal pictures?

(V^C) What do you look like?

(K^e) What is your tactile or external body awareness ?

(Kⁱ) How do you feel internally?

(O^e) What do you smell? Are you aware of any tastes in your mouth?

(0ⁱ) Are you remembering any smells ?

Getting these representations will give you explicit information about the neurological nature of each state, and provide you with much insight into the states. Certain representations will be absent and/or out of consciousness and others will be readily available and/or more exaggerated. (As you elicit each of these representations, anchor them in the same place for each individual state, so that you will be able to retrigger them later — see the Utilization and Installation Sections of this book for a definition and exercises for anchoring.)

These reference structures will provide you and your client with an explicit means for getting feedback on the progress of your work, and will also provide explicit information on what kind of resources, in the form of representational systems, will be appropriate.

b. You can also access the positive pole of the conflict by having the individual exaggerate the congruent kinesthetic response to the initial verbalization. This can be most effectively accomplished by having the individual stop the overlapping of access cues that contribute to the simultaneous access of the interfering representations.

This exaggeration will also help to initiate a transderivational search through the kinesthetic system to previous experiences where congruent motivation has occurred.

c. You may again circumvent the problematic strategy by directly eliciting a motivation strategy that you know has been effective in the past by asking, "Has there ever been a time when you were really motivated to do something of importance for yourself?"

Or, to relate it more to the ongoing problem, you might ask, "Can you think of a time when you were really in a conflict with yourself about whether to devote your time and energy to some particular program of behavior that would have profound and lasting importance to you, and when you were able to resolve the conflict in the manner which turned out be the most beneficial to you and all others involved? How were you able to do that?"

Even though the two examples presented here deal with the behavior of single individuals, the same patterns, as we have said, will apply as well to families, groups and organizations. We will present some explicit examples of how to do this as we move onto the Utilization, Design, and Installation Sections of this book.

IV: UTILIZATION

A poet, it is said, was once strolling through the forest toward dusk when suddenly there appeared before him an apparition of the greatest of all poets, Virgil. Virgil told the awed poet that fate had smiled upon him and that he had been elected to be shown the secrets of Heaven and Hell. By magic Virgil transported himself and the poet, who was still dazed by the suddenness of this experience, to the ancient and mythical river which surrounded the underworld. They got into a boat and Virgil instructed the poet to row them across the river to Hell. When they arrived the poet was somewhat surprised to find the terrain much like that of the forest they had just left and not made of fire and brimstone nor infested with winged demons and slimy fire breathing creatures as he had expected.

Virgil took the poets hand and led him down a path. Soon the poet could smell, as they approached a barrier of rocks and shrubs, the scent of the finely cooked stew. Mingled with the smells, however, were the eerie sounds of wailing and the gnashing of teeth. As they rounded the rocks they came upon an unusual sight. There was a large clearing in which were situated a number of huge round tables. In the middle of each table was an enormous bowl of the stew the poet had smelled and around each table were scores of emaciated and obviously hungry people. Each person held a spoon which they were using in an attempt to eat the stew. Because the table was so large, however, and the spoons had to be made so long in order to reach the bowl in the middle, the handles of the spoons were twice as long as the arms of the people using them. This made it impossible for any of the hungry people to put food in their mouths. There was much fighting and cursing

as each person tried desperately to get even a dribble of the stew.

The poet was so moved by the terrible sight that he finally hid his eyes and begged Virgil to take him away. In a moment they were back on the boat and Virgil instructed the poet which way to row to get to heaven. When they arrived the poet was again surprised to find that the scene did not fit his expectations. This land was almost exactly like the one they had just left. There were no great pearl gates nor bands of singing angels. Again Virgil led the poet down a path where the smell of food eminated from behind a barrier of rocks and shrubs. This time, however, they heard song and laughter as they approached. When they rounded the barrier the poet was much surprised to find a set–up identical to the one they had just left; large tables surrounded by people with oversized spoons and a large bowl of stew in the center of each table. The one essential difference between this group of people and the one they had just left, however, was that the people in this group were using their spoons to feed each other.

Although there are a number of morals that may be drawn from this parable, it is essentially an example of how one group of people were able to turn what was an environmental variable for another group of people into a decision variable. It demonstrates that what is important in achieving an outcome is not so much what resources are available but how those resources are utilized. It is the process of how resources may be utilized that will be examined in this chapter.