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Roots of Soulwork Systemic Solutions

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Soulwork Systemic Solutions

Soulwork is a complete system of changework, in which a person can evaluate and change life patterns. Changes are based on a person’s experience of connectedness and integrity, which we generally refer to as Soul. The theory and applications of Soul Centered Changework are described in articles available at: www.soulwork.net.

Some roots of Soulwork are in traditional Polynesian healing, particularly the groups of rituals known as Ho'oponopono and Ho'omanamana. I explored these rituals using modeling strategies from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and compared and contrasted the results with concepts from psychotherapy, particularly with the systemic family therapy of Bert Hellinger.

NLP is often described as an epistemology for evaluating subjective experience. NLP skills are useful for recognizing and duplicating performance – referred to as "modeling". NLP might also be called a brief, cognitive psychotherapy. (NLP changework is based on eliciting resources as a basis for programming a person’s unconscious strategies.)

Polynesian traditions include Ho'oponopono (translation: “making life right”) a healing tradition used by many native Hawaiian healers. Ho'oponopono is based on evaluating and changing a person’s connections - connections to other people, to spirit worlds, and to esoteric energies, in accordance with the “spirit” of the family.

Soulwork through NLP Eyes

In NLP terms, Soulwork operates at the logical level of Identity, with interactive reference to a super-Identity pre-verbal experience of multi-level connectedness that may be called “Integrity”. Access to this experience is required to effect long term change at the level of Identity. A person first resolves any current crisis and dissolves guilt and co-dependent relationships. This person can then follow a series of meta-positions of increasing abstraction to this pre-verbal experience. This future-positioning continues until a person can choose to simultaneously experience all "partial personalities" (called "parts" in NLP), providing that the person is willing to take responsibility for his or her own life, and that the person has not identified with another person.

Our basic trust building utilized some concepts from NLP “rapport” skills. Our goalwork incorporates the NLP “well-formed outcome” work. The integration phase of Soulwork redefines the NLP concept of “ecology” while echoing the “Vision” work developed by NLP trainer Robert Dilts. The relationship phase of Soulwork includes elements of the “relationship” work developed by Steve and Connirae Andreas. The trauma phase utilizes highly modified versions of the emotion-dissociating timeline research claimed by NLP trainer Tad James.

Soulwork through Huna Eyes

In Huna terms, Soulwork techniques utilize the hidden structure of creation, called Kumulipo, mediated by the Aumakua, or family guardian spirits. Soulwork requires the blessing of the person's ohana or community-family and the blessing of the person's kupuna – elders and ancestors. The goal is that a person aligns with family lineages. This alignment is not possible if a person has "lost" his or her uhane (spirit) or if a spirit of a dead person or a spirit-fragment belonging to a living person has displaced a person’s own spirit.

Hence the first step to health is Kala (cleansing forgiveness) leading to full conscious connection with aumakua  – using ho’omanamana (energy work) to access the wisdom of kumulipo (universal creativity) to do ho’oponopono (change relationships). Next follows a re-evaluation of ele’ele eke (traumatic events – literally “black bags”) and a re-evaluation of all kupuna (teachers).

Soulwork Systemic Coaching

Soulwork offers a complete format for individual, couple and family coaching. These skills allow a person to choose to live in such a way that maintains and increases an experience of integration and connectedness (Soul) while defining and fulfilling life goals.

I named this methodology Soul Centered Changework because a person's deep experience of integration is the organizing principal from which changework is made. Soul can be called an abstract relationship metaphor. Soul is not an emotional state, nor a resource – it is a basis for manifesting relationship qualities. (See the article Soul Centered Changework for a more complete description).

Why do people need Coaching?

If a changework agreement is made, Soulwork Systemic Coaching follows a general strategy:

1. Resolve guilt and any current crisis

2. Goal Coaching; Goalwork; Integration; Dreamwork

3. Resolve Identity Blocks: Lost Identity, Identifications and/or Identity Conflict

4. Relationship Work - Re-evaluate relationship bonds

5. Trauma Work - Create resourceful internal references

6. Mentor Work - Build internal trust and finding ongoing inspiration

Goalwork compared to NLP “Well Formed Outcome”

Most NLP training includes ways to recognize Well Formed Outcomes – usually using Blanchard’s SMART acronym (Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timed.) However, very few people can answer a goal question such as “What do you want?” with a “SMART” sentence.

Many people cannot complete a grammatical sentence beginning with “I want...” Instead, people give philosophical answers, or incomplete sentences, or conflicting goals, multiple goals, or negative goals, or abstract goals. Each can be dissolved. See Strategic Goalwork.

Identity Blocks

Lost Identity, Identifications and Identity Conflict refer to phenomena not described by NLP. Lost Identity refers to a person who basically has no sense of “self-ness”. For this person, the word “I” has no real meaning. Identification refers to the displacement of “self” by another personality, and Identity Conflict refers to at least two dominant personalities that cannot simultaneously co-exist.

For example, a mother-to-be has an induced abortion. Another child may sense a guilty hole" in the family system and, under stress, compensate for the missing person by becoming the missing person. We call this dead person identification. (In many cultures it would be called possession).

Changing Relationships

Thoughtforms was published in NLP World Volume 2, 1995. A "thoughtform" was a name for the limiting influence of another person, typically described by a person as a visual metaphor. A person may say, "It's like a black chain around my legs" or "It's like a grey cloud around my heart".

Working with relationship bonds is both delicate and dynamic. Relationship bonds interfere with thought and action. We help a person maintain a resourceful state and focus the bond from Soul, protecting the person from their thoughtforms, while we guide the person how to replace them.

A question such as, "Is your whole body free to dream about living Soul?” prompts a person to describe parts of the body that are represented as "unable to dream about Soul", parts that are somehow opposed to the person expressing their own integrity.

Trauma & Emotions

A person can now access integrity or Soul (i.e. no identity blocks) without resource anchors (ie: no limiting influences from other people). A person can choose "who influences me now".

Although past traumatic events may still be “current” for a person, dissociating unpleasant emotions is worse than useless. Within 3-12 weeks, dissociated emotions either return stronger than before, return as “foggy” depressions of life or return as physical symptoms.

Soulwork Mentorship

A person is coached to identify people they wish for mentors, and is guided through a process of accepting and using these mentors until it easy. In other words the person becomes internally and positively self-referenced, guided by questions such as:

1. What do my clients learn about themselves during coaching?

2. Would I want these techniques used on myself?

3. Am I a role model for what I talk about?

4. What do my clients learn from their relationship with me?

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