Ever struggled to achieve a goal in your life because you have been procrastinating too often? Ever taken 2 steps forward towards achieving what you want, but only to retreat 3 steps later? If these and worse have ever happened to you, there’s a high possibility that you are experiencing some inner conflicts in your life. In fact, almost all of us possess some form of inner conflicts in our lives.
Known to be a very powerful NLP technique, Parts Integration (or otherwise known as Visual Squash) is one of the favourite NLP tool employed by most NLP coaches and therapists to help individuals handle and resolve their inner conflicts. Parts Integration is taught at almost every levels of a NLP training program, during the NLP Practitioner course and again at the NLP Master Practitioner level.
According to one of our more recent NLP graduates and certified NLP Practitioner Bharathi, the NLP Parts Integration tool has allowed her to be aware of a “baggage” that she had been carrying with her unknowingly for more than two decades. After an intense NLP coaching and therapy session, she was finally able to release the burden and face her own fears courageously. It was as if she felt a sense of freedom after the coaching exercise.
So What Exactly Is NLP Parts Integration About?
Most of the NLP tools that you learn during a NLP Practitioner Certification program mainly help you to deal with your behavioural problems.
When you move to the next level, NLP Master Practitioner, you will master more NLP techniques which you can use to tackle “deeper” issues within such as limiting beliefs, repressed memories etc.
Parts Integration or Visual Squash technique is one special coaching tool which you will be able to pick up even during your NLP Practitioner course.
This NLP technique will enable you to overcome a deeply rooted issue such as values conflict.
During a NLP coaching or NLP therapy session, a qualified NLP coach should be able to look beyond the “symptoms” of his/her client’s problem (which is usually more evident in his/her behaviour) and study the root cause of the problem.
For instance, I once consulted an insurance sales agent who complained about his lack of ability to hit his sales target. However, instead of helping him to work his NLP sales techniques, I was more interested to know if the issue was really just a matter of his ability.
After minutes into the consultation session, I realized that the real problem actually lied in the salesperson’s lack of motivation to achieve his goal due to his lack of product knowledge.
I knew it will be useless to equip him with more powerful selling techniques. Just helping him to improve his skills was not going to change the situation much.
So now back to the NLP Parts Integration, what are the steps involved in resolving any inner conflicts you or your client may be experiencing in your life now?
- Identify the 2 “parts” that are in conflict of each other. E.g. You need to feel connected in a relationship while longing to stay independent.
- Anchor each part separately on your hands
- Start to do a “chunk up” for each part. This means finding the higher purpose or intention of desiring that value or part. Ask questions like “Why is it important for me to feel connected in a relationship?”
- Continue to “chunk up” the part till you hit a threshold. Now, you should have a list of values that you have derived from the “chunking up” process. Take a deep breath and shift your attention towards the other part.
- Perform a “chunk up” for the other part as well. Stop only when you have reached the threshold.
- Using the values that you have elicited for the two different parts, identify the “common values”.
- Allow the 2 parts to integrate through the use of hypnotic language patterns (as covered in Milton Model)
- Anchor on the new positive feelings derived through the integration of the 2 previously separate parts.
- Break state and do a test and future pace.
For those who are new to NLP Parts Integration, it may appear to be a complex NLP tool. Yet, nothing is further from the truth!
Once you have mastered the fundamentals, you are most certainly going to enjoy your view from the top as a NLP Practitioner, NLP Master Practitioner or even as a NLP coach!