From the author: Introduction This article uses material from the website of the creators of Symbolic Modeling, James Lawley and Penny Tompkins, translated by Oleg Matveev. The main goal of Symbolic Modeling is to help the individual understand himself through the exploration of his metaphors. In the process of becoming aware of how one's system works, the conditions under which the desired change becomes natural appear. Rather than go into a description of the theoretical foundations of Symbolic Modeling, we will give you a practical example - a partial protocol that demonstrates this process in action. At times we will interrupt the protocol with meta-comments as the process progresses. (These comments were not part of the session itself, in reality). For simplicity, some wording has been clarified and shortened. The session uses Clean Language, which has a special syntax. The main structures of the CN in the session protocol below are highlighted in font. An example of a symbolic modeling session Client is a man about 50 years old. C1: I have a new girlfriend, but everything is so unstable in our relationship. They are "too good to be true." It's hard for me to enjoy them because when I'm not with her, I get terribly anxious. I suppress it. I have to hold back. I think she'll soon say, "I can't take it anymore." My last relationship broke up three years ago, and I was only able to maintain it for 2 weeks. When I fall in love, I get anxious. I'm starting to really hurt. So, perhaps, I myself am setting up the collapse of the relationship in order to get rid of this anxiety. And everything gets worse because I understand it all. A couple of times I barely managed to stay on the edge. T1: And what would you like to happen? C2: I need to give her space to love her back. T2: And you need to give her space to love her back. And when you need to give her space to love her back, is there anything else? C3: Feeling like I have to love her with all my might because she won't stay with me long. It's like wanting to eat all the candy today, even though there will be as much as you want tomorrow. "It's too good to be real." I don't believe that tomorrow will come. I am not destined to be happy, this is not for me. Love brings me happiness, but I cannot live with this happiness and joy. It's like I have to live my whole life in darkness.• As often happens, the client pours out a wealth of information about his situation, describing interrelated conflicts, dilemmas, impasses and paradoxes in one phrase. He uses many metaphors to describe his very complex relationship with the woman he loves: “instability”, “suppressing”, “being able to support”, “falling in love”, “setting up a collapse”, “staying on the edge”, “giving her space”, “eating all the candy", "love brings", "can't live with"; These are just the most noticeable ones. Finally, he settles on a metaphor that fits the larger context of his relationship—life—and he spells it out as “living in the dark.” And we invite him to start exploring this metaphor. T3: And when the desire is to eat all the candy today, and you're not meant to be happy and and you have to live your whole life in darkness, is there anything else about that darkness? C4: I don't even I remember when I was happy. I don't feel like I've ever had stable happiness—constant happiness. I felt alone, like a child. I don't feel like I've ever been happy. That's the feeling I have inside. T4: And you don't feel like you've ever been happy. And when you have this feeling inside you, what kind of feeling could it be?C5: Sadness.T5: And sadness. And when there is sadness, where is this sadness? C6: In the stomach. T6: And in the stomach. And when sadness is in the stomach, where exactly in the stomach? C7: Right here [touches stomach]. T7: And sadness is right here. And when sadness is here, is there anything else about this sadness? C8: I get sick, I feel sick. I can feel it right now. I feel very anxious.I hate this feeling. T8: And you hate that feeling of “getting sick and throwing up” and feeling very anxious. And when you get sick and feel sick and feel very anxious, does that “get sick, feel sick and feel very anxious” have a size or shape? C9: The size of your palm [makes a gesture with your right hand]. T9: And the size of your palm. And when [repeats the gesture], it's like what? C10: Like a flatbread. T10: And like a flatbread. And what kind of cake is this? C11: Dark, purple and black, and negative emotions ooze from it. I feel that if I got rid of this cake, everything would be fine. T11: And if you got rid of this cake, everything would be fine. And when the cake is dark and purple and black and negative emotions are oozing out of it, is there anything else about this dark, purple, black and oozing cake? C12: It is like a black or purple sponge, and liquid is oozing out of it, acid, and it burns me. T12: And a black or purple sponge, and liquid flows out of it, and acid, and it burns you. And when liquid flows out, where does that liquid come from? C13: From a constant supply, from a secret reservoir that is self-replenishing and never empties. When nothing comes out of it, I feel good. I’m so glad that you are not psychiatrists, otherwise you would probably have called the psychiatric hospital a long time ago... T13: [Laughs]. And when nothing comes out and you feel good, what happens to the cake? C14: It was always there, even when I was a baby. At first I was like this [points with thumb and index finger, fingers almost side by side]. Now taking up more and more space.• These pure questions invited the client to determine the shape of his metaphors and their location in his perceptual space. By doing this, he develops the embodiment of the sensation of this anxiety-creating, negative-emotion-emitting, acid-burning cake; probably with more awareness than ever before. And the cake hasn't just "always been there," the problem is now getting worse: It's "now taking up more and more space."• In C15-C28 (not included here), the client continues to grapple with the complex logic of time, space, and causality. investigative relationships in its Metaphorical landscape - in the context of which the change will occur. He discovers that his Landscape contains a "distant dark past" which is a "giant massive boulder of misfortune" that his father strapped to his leg when he was just a baby, and that this cake will "finish me."• We We continue the protocol from where the client discovers that before this cake entered his grandfather, it:C29: ...floated in space for thousands of years.T29: And it floated in space for thousands of years. And she floated in space for thousands of years like what? C30: Like a parasite that was looking for someone to attach itself to. T30: And like a parasite that was looking for someone to attach itself to. And when the parasite was looking for someone to attach itself to, what kind of parasite was it that floated in space for thousands of years? C31: Lonely, looking for shelter and love, warmth and comfort, while saying “I'm really friendly,” and then, when it hit someone, it began to release this acid. He needed to get rid of her, but he didn't want to do any harm by doing so. T31: And he didn't mean to do any harm by doing so. And lonely, looking for shelter and love, warmth and comfort. And he's friendly, but he needed to get off the acid. And where could this acid come from? C32: From the beginning of time. T32: And from the beginning of time. And when from the beginning of time, what kind of time is this - the beginning of time? C33: A huge black sphere. A huge black spherical sponge that one day exploded and gave birth to billions of lonely cakes. That's where it came from.T33: And a huge black spherical sponge that one day exploded and gave birth to billions of lonely cakes. And what happened just before the huge black spherical sponge exploded? C34: Behind her was the sun, it was shining on her from behind and she was so hot,that exploded, and then all the light passed through, and then suddenly it became light. T34: And when all the light passed through, and then suddenly it became light, what kind of light is that? C35: This sun brings light, and love, and warmth, and happiness, and peace, and I just want to sit and bask in the warmth of this sun, and the more sun I get, the smaller the cake becomes. (Face turned up, eyes closed, smiling).• The client discovers that the cake originally came into existence when “a huge black spherical sponge exploded” (C33). When his attention was on this "one day," he was able to realize what had happened just before this explosion: the sun was emitting light (C34). At this moment, time seems to collapse for him, and the client experiences how the sun “brings light, and love, and warmth, and happiness, and peace” (C35) in the here and now. As this happens, a change occurs spontaneously: the cake becomes smaller. Previously, he "could not live with this happiness", now he is basking in it.• We continue by inviting the client to notice what happens when the consequences of these changes begin to develop, unfold and spread to other parts of his Metaphorical landscape:T35: And the more sunshine you get, the smaller the cake becomes. And then take as much time as you need to just sit and bathe in the warmth of this sun, which brings light, and love, and warmth, and happiness, and peace. [Long pause before we notice the client's body moving]. And when you bathe in the warmth of this sun, would this sun, which brings light, and love, and warmth, and happiness, and peace, want to be interested in what is strapped to the baby's leg? C36: Definitely. T36: And can this sun that -what to do with the cobblestone?C37: Definitely.T37: And when this sun does something to this cobblestone, what happens then?C38: It melts and disappears.T38: And when it melts and disappears, what happens then?C39: The baby can crawl, stand up and play.T39: And the baby can crawl, stand up and play. And when the baby can crawl and stand up and play, what happens then? C40: All the cakes are gone. T40: And all the cakes are gone. And when all the cakes disappear, where do they disappear? C41: In the sun. The sun absorbs them, softly, painlessly, dissolves them with its light. T41: And when the sun absorbs the cakes, gently, painlessly, dissolves them with its light, do the cakes remain lonely? C42: No. • As the Metaphorical landscape changes, begins a new Landscape with a different organization will appear. In this Landscape there is sun, light, a baby without a pebble on his foot who “can crawl, stand up and play,” and “the sun eats up the cakes.” The protocol then continues (T42-C46, not shown here) with the client discovering the details and consequences of changes in its symbols in the Metaphorical Landscape. We continue by asking questions about what happened to the original symptoms now - when the cake has transformed and he has bathed in happiness and sunshine: T46: And when there is just happiness and sunshine and just happiness, what happens to the sadness in the stomach? C47: This cake is no more! All I can say is “just happiness.” T47: And this cake is no more. And is it just happiness that has a size or a shape? C48: Big, warm, glowing happiness, peace and tranquility. T48: And when there's big, warm, glowing happiness, calm and peace, what happens to the instability of the relationship and the fact that you suppress it ?C49: Just leaves. As if the sun had shone on both.T49: And what happens then?C50: They go forward, relaxed, confident, without anxiety, without worry, enjoying existence, peace, quiet, comfort.T50: And as they go forward, relaxed, confidently, without worry, without worry, what does it take for you to be able to live with all this enjoyment of existence, and peace and peace and comfort and happiness?C51: I need to go out into the sun.• Instead of a cake that was “dark, purple with black, and oozing with negative emotions" (C11), the client has a "big, warm,.