Robert Dilts – Dealing with Double Binds

Robert Dilts – Dealing with Double Binds

Arichive : Robert Dilts – Dealing with Double Binds

Dealing with Double Binds“No Win to No Lose”Sian Pope with Robert DiltsYou don’t need double-sided coins or a magician’ssleight of hand to untangle ‘Heads I Win, Tails YouLose’ scenarios – subtle yet simple language skills have their own magic to unpick knots with eleganceand gracefully achieve “Everybody Wins”

20resource –summer 2004nlp at workWith a long list of books and semi-nars to his name, as well as world-wide training courses and the NLPtraining centre at the University ofSanta Cruz, Robert Dilts is an exem-plary leader in the field of NLP. Hehas modelled and taught the skills ofleadership for over twenty years invarious application areas – business,teaching, therapy, health and person-al development. He has been a pio-neer for a very long time, andthrough his consistent application ofhimself to NLP produced remarkableresources that can be shared world-wide.Now anyone with access to the inter-net can get hold of the online encyclo-pedia of NLP, and there are interactiveCD’s forming part of the Practitionerand Master Practitioner trainings atNLPU in Santa Cruz. He has beenthorough and persistent and generouswith his passion for NLP and hisresources; part of his contribution hasbeen in articulating and exploringissues about being a human, makingdiscussable the language of spirit andcommunity, both inside organizationsand in his worldwide seminars andtrainings. Inspired by his father’s work withpatents for inventions, Dilts hasbecome fascinated by creativity andgenius and this has been a major threadof his work. He has produced threevolumes about Strategies of Genius,from modelling the thinking processesand cognitive strategies of AristotleSherlock Holmes, Walt Disney, MozartEinstein, Freud, Leonardo da Vinci andNikola Tesla. Dilts has been able todescribe the structure of thinking inthese men who changed history, andpresent his findings in creative andunderstandable techniques for changingbehaviour and beliefs.Some of his more recent work oncoaching and sponsorship has beendeveloped with Steve Gilligan, a hyp-notherapist who was a student ofMilton Erickson. Both Dilts andGilligan studied with anthropologistGregory Bateson in the 1970’s, some ofwhose thinking about epistemology liesin the roots of NLP. Bateson was interested in doublebinds, which are particular kinds of no-win conflict situations, and he and hiscolleagues put forward a theory thatthese formed the basis of both geniusand psychosis. Being mentally andemotionally trapped in double bindscan lead to mental illness, or if they aredealt with successfully and transcend-ed, genius and creativity. Double bindscan sap creative energy, stop individu-als expressing who they are and whatthey do, and can lead to feelings ofconfusion and helplessness. Dilts isinterested in learning and creativity,and has investigated how to transformdouble-binds practically using thethinking and tools of NLP.“In my work with people from manywalks of life, I have noticed that dou-ble-binds can come up in many ways –business related, personal, health-relat-ed and emotional. They are challeng-ing, and difficult to address. Yet whenyou get beyond them it often leads tointegration, productivity and creativesolutions. Everyone gets into double“In my work with people from many walks oflife, I have noticed that double-binds can comeup in many ways – business related, personal,health-related and emotional. Finding ways toget out of them is one of the most importantthings anyone can do, whether for themselvesor as coaches, counsellors, therapists, parents,teachers, and consultants.” Dilts.