HYPNOTHERAPY

P R A C T I TO N E R D I P LO M A

REPRESENTATIONAL
PROCESSING
 REPRESENTATIONAL PROCESSING
Most problems we have in life are emotional, and the quality of our relationships rely
on our attunement to our emotions. Internal representational processing is how we
experience life on a sensory level (i.e. how we internalise our external experiences), and to
become an effective hypnotherapist you must first and foremost understand and identify
how you process your day-to-day experiences.

Our representational processing isn’t just limited to how we learn best, but how we react
to others and appreciate differences. On a global, social scale, we go to war with nations
because of difference. When people don’t unconditionally accept the differences of others,
dislike is born. Dislike turns to hate, and hate can turn to war. If we judge people by how
they look, sound, and even smell in accordance with our personal representational systems,
we will judge people on a bias and superficial level which doesn’t take into account more
meaningful aspects about who they are as a person.

The sections below break down the key representation systems you should be aware of as
a hypnotherapist. As you’re reading through them, try and identify which representational
system you employ the most, before taking our quiz below to find out if you were right or not.
You may find the results surprising!

REPRESENTATIONAL SYSTEMS

VISUAL: An individual who primarily operates from a visual representational system will
use their vision for memory and decision making, and their primary contact with the world
will be through their eyes.

Visual processing takes in lots of information, and a picture can carry more information than
sound or feeling. Individuals with this representational system preference are often very
skilled in being able to see the big picture and plan on a long-term basis. For example, Walt
Disney, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Albert Einstein were all accomplished visualizers.

Here are some other clues that might help you identify individuals who have a preference
for visual processing.

••You’ll notice that they pay particular attention to how they look, how their home looks
and how others look.
••They may find it difficult to concentrate with lots of visual activity.

••They talk quickly, breathe higher and often develop upper body tension. There is a lot
more information in a picture than a verbal description.
••They use visual information for remembering, planning, and making decisions.

••They more often than not need to see a picture of what you’re talking about.

••They are better at recalling faces than names.

••They prefer to see your facial reactions in person, as opposed to talking over the phone,
so that they can fully understand what you are saying.
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AUDITORY: Auditory system processing is linear and sequential. Visual system processing
handles a lot more information. It’s like a recorded message as supposed to a picture.

Someone who mainly operates from an auditory representational system will typically:

•• Be more aware of a subtle change in the tone of your voice and be more responsive to
certain tones of voice.
•• Be easily distracted by noise.

•• Learn best by listening and asking questions.

•• Enjoy taking part in discussions and prefer to communicate through spoken language
as supposed to writing.
••Talk through problems and prefer to have someone available that can bounce ideas off.

•• Be sequential in their thinking and are able to remember instructions and directions
more easily.
•• Need to be heard.

KINESTHETIC: Someone with a kinesthetic preference is mapping predominantly in feelings

and therefore has a high sense of body awareness.

Those with a kinesthetic preference will tend to:

•• Be more aware of their bodies and their feelings and respond to physical rewards and
touch.
•• Speak slower than others because they need time to get in touch with how they’re feel-
ing about the topic.
•• Learn by doing, moving or touching.

•• Make decisions based on how they feel.

•• Dress and groom themselves with more consideration for comfort than aesthetics.

Below are two exercises that you can use to start becoming more aware of representational
systems in the context of your own life:

1. Now that you have a better understanding of how different individuals operating from each
representational system tend to behave and the different words and phrases they tend to
use, start paying more attention to those around you. Observe your friends and family and
listen to the words and phrases that they predominantly use to see if you can identify their
preferred representational system(s).

2. Take two minutes to describe your home using only visual words. Then do the same
exercise again using auditory words, then finally kinaesthetic words. For example, when
writing your words for visual you could describe the different colours etc.
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IDENTIFYING YOUR REPRESENTATIONAL SYSTEM(S)

Each of us has a preferred representational system or way of representing the world to

ourselves. Understanding our preferred representational system allows us to set better, more
compelling goals for ourselves, and work in ways that suit our preference to improve our
performance.

Understanding what another person’s preferred representational system gives us a better

idea as to how we can communicate with them most effectively. From a hypnotherapist
perspective, understanding our clients preferred representational systems helps us to inspire
and motivate our clients, and give them clearer guidance as to how they can begin working
through their problems.

The following questions make up a VAK Preference Assessment and will give you an
indication of where your preference lies. In the video lectures, we explored Visual, Auditory
and Kinaesthetic preferences. However, this assessment includes one further category
known as Digital. This category refers to someone who is devoid of the senses, and whose
natural inclination is to focus more on facts, figures, logic and discrete words.

Please note: This assessment is not fully definitive as there are just 12 questions, but it
will give you an indication of what your preference is. It is helpful to bear in mind that your
preferred representational system is likely to change in different contexts or in different
periods of your life. Generally speaking, one representational system is not considered better
than another. However, if you score low in one or more of the systems, you may wish to take
time to explore how this may be affecting your communication with others and your life
experiences.

Instructions:

Consider each of the statements below and assign a number to every phrase. Use the
following system to help you determine your preferences:

1. Least descriptive of you.

2. Next best description.
3. Next best description.
4. Best description of you.

If you’re having trouble deciding between two different phases, then just go with the first
thought that comes to mind.

1. When on holiday by the beach, the first thing that makes me happy to be there is:
a ___ The feel of the warm sun, cool sand, or the sea breeze on my face.
b ___ The whistling wind, the roar of the waves, or the sound of the birds off in the distance.
c ___ This is the type of holiday that makes sense / the cost is reasonable.
d ___ The bright sun, the blue water and the scenery.

2. When I’m overwhelmed, I find it helpful if:

A ___ I can see the bigger picture.
B ___ I can hear what’s really going on.
c ___ I can get in touch with what’s actually happening.
d ___ I make sense of things in my mind.
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3. When I’m given an assignment at work, it’s easier to carry out if:
a ___ I can picture what’s required.
b ___ I have a feeling for what’s required.
c ___ I have an understanding of what’s required.
d ___ I have tuned into what is required.

4. I find it easier to follow a presentation if:

a ___ I feel in touch with the person presenting, and the content is within my grasp.
b ___ There’s a visual display so that I can visualise the concepts.
c ___ The presentation is logically presented and is based on figures and facts.
d ___ The person presenting speaks clearly with varying tonality or uses sound to emphasise
the message.

5. When I’m buying a car, I make my decision based on:

a ___ The safety features, gas mileage, purchase price, etc.
b ___ The feeling I get when I take it for a test drive or how comfortable the seats are.
c ___ The styling, colour, or how I would look in the car.
d ___ The sound of the stereo system, the engine or how quiet it drives.

6. I mostly communicate my thoughts through my:

a ___ Tone of my voice.
b ___ Words.
c ___ Appearance.
d ___ Feelings.

7. When I’m anxious, the first thing that I notice is that things:
a ___ Begin to sound different.
b ___ Begin to feel different.
c ___ Begin to look different.
d ___ Begin to not make sense.

8. During a discussion, I’m usually influenced most by:

a ___ The logic of the other person.
b ___ The tone of voice of the other person.
c ___ The energy that I feel from the other person.
d ___ Being able to picture the other person’s point of view or seeing the other person’s body
language

9. I determine how well I’m doing at my work based on:

a ___ My own understanding of what actually needs to be done.
b ___ How I see myself moving forward and making progress.
c ___ How things sound.
d ___ How satisfied I’m feeling.

10. One of my strengths is the ability to:

a ___ See the things that need to be done.
b ___ Make sense of new data and facts.
c ___ Hear what sounds right.
d ___ Get in touch with how I’m feeling.
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11. I enjoy:
a ___ Choosing some music to listen to.
b ___ Making a logical and compelling point.
c ___ Choosing clothes that I find comfortable.
d ___ Choosing clothes that I think look good.

12. If you agree with someone, you’re more likely to say:

a ___ This feels right.
b ___ This looks right.
c ___ This sounds right.
d ___ This makes sense.

Now copy your answers onto the table on the next page.
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Q NO. VISUAL AUDITORY KINAESTHETIC DIGITAL

1 d b a c

2 a b c d

3 a d b c

4 b d a c

5 c d b a

6 c a d b

7 c a b d

8 d b c a

9 b c d a

10 a c d b

11 d a c b

12 b c a d

TOTAL V= A= K= D=

NOW ADD UP THE NUMBERS IN EACH COLUMN. THE

HIGHER THE SCORE, THE HIGHER YOUR PREFERENCE
IN EACH REPRESENTATIONAL SYSTEM.