NLP Collapsing Anchors technique

Overview

Although anchoring resourceful states plays an important role in helping people handle their emotions, states, and experiences, oftentimes, it is not enough to navigate through complex, painful states.  In such cases, the NLP pattern of the NLP collapsing anchors technique is used to interrupt people in negative or unresourceful states and bring them out into more resourceful states.

The pattern of the NLP collapsing anchors technique then enables people to change a response that does not work very well.

Scope – the NLP collapsing anchors technique

The negative states predominate whenever people experience lots of pain. To address that negative emotional state or situation, and to heal the person, you can use the NLP pattern of collapsing anchors.

The NLP pattern of collapsing anchors is thus used extensively in those interventions that aim at managing the state of consciousness and getting rid of unhelpful memories.

When people have two states conflicting and sabotaging each other or, if they have an unresourceful state (an old anchored experience) that interferes with life, and they can now let that response collapse into a more resourceful state, the NLP Practitioners and Master Practitioners can help them with this pattern.

Characteristics

The operating principle behind collapsing anchors pattern is that, when a person experiences two radically different states at the same time, the states tend to interfere or interrupt each other. When the neurology is forced to deal with the messages and experiences of the two states simultaneously, the two states and anchors collapse resulting in one response.

For example, you cannot think and feel calm and tense simultaneously. Or cannot think-and-feel joyful and afraid at the same time. If you try to do so, both the contradictory

states will interfere or interrupt each other. Even if you force your neurology to keep both the contradictory states, the states will collapse into one response.

Thus, when you fire the different anchors of different states simultaneously, it will result in tearing up or dispersing the neurological energies of the states. In simple words, the anchors and states will merge or collapse, and a greater concept will emerge. Sometimes this results in confusion, disorientation, interruption, and even some slight amnesia.

In order to help the people who had experienced a negative state and desire help, the NLP Practitioners and Master Practitioners usually use the NLP collapsing anchors technique. While using the Collapsing Anchors pattern, they pair a powerful negative anchor with a powerful positive one. Their interest does not lie in the content, but in the structure of the experience of these states. They stack the positive states so that when the collapse occurs, the other person will experience a positive state as a result.

It is worth mentioning that the other person will still remember that he had a negative experience. However, the procedure will give him or her new choices in response. He or she will not suffer from the negative feelings involved with that experience again.

The steps of the NLP collapsing anchors technique pattern are mentioned below.

1. Access an unresourceful state and set an anchor for it.

Often people who experienced much grief in the past notice that some strong negative feelings usually come along with the grief. These negative feelings throw them in unresourceful states, and therefore need neutralising.

Invite, elicit, or just catch a person in such a negative state and create an anchor for this unresourceful state.

To do this with his or her conscious awareness, invite the person to talk about the grief.

Or inquire of the state the other person wants to take the emotional charge out of.

Ask the person to notice the qualities, that is the sub-modalities of the sights, sounds, and sensations. Meanwhile, notice how much is he or she accessing that state right now.

When the person is accessing that limiting state at its peak, set an anchor for that state.

Anchor the state on the person’s left knee for instance.

2. Break state.

Interrupt the state.

Ask the person to do almost anything new, different, weird, or unexpected, like, stating the telephone number backwards, reading what’s written on the wall in the voice of Donald Duck, etc. to change the significant driving sub-modalities of the unresourceful state.

Interrupt the person’s mind-body system so that he or she no longer continues to create the negative emotions.  This is an important part of the NLP collapsing anchors technique, or any technique which involves two states.

3. Access a resourceful state.

Ask the person to identify the positive state(s) necessary to overcome the negative state. Have them think about a powerful resource state that they would prefer to operate from, when in the limiting state.

Gain clarity on what would the person like to experience when in that situation. For example, a person might want relaxation when experiencing lot of tension, or playfulness to get over too much of seriousness.

Once the person has identified the powerful resource state to overcome the limiting state, ask them when and where were they most fully and completely in that state, and what was the experience like.

Tell them to recall or create what they would see, hear, feel, smell, taste, or say to self, and have them experience the resourceful state fully.

Meanwhile, calibrate how much of the resourceful state the person is experiencing now.

4. Amplify and anchor.

As the person accesses the resourceful state, have him or her double the size of their pictures, make the voice stronger and more intense, and increase the intensity of the sensations. An important element of the NLP collapsing anchors technique is to amplify the resourceful state.

When the other person makes whatever sub-modality shifts he or she needs to do to amplify the state, the person will eventually reach a peak in this resourceful state.

When the person is fully associated with the positive state, provide a specific stimulus at the peak of the experience to create a resourceful anchor.

Anchor the positive state on the person’s right knee, for instance.

Follow all the proper procedures and criteria of the anchoring process, including testing. Ensure uniqueness of the trigger stimulus, the peak intensity of the state, purity of the experience, and precision of adding the trigger stimulus.

Once you have set an anchor for the resourceful state, check how well does it fire off when you fire the anchor.

Ensure that you obtain a powerful enough positive state to overcome the negative state. A good way to do this involves asking the client on a scale of 1 to 10 to rate the power of the negative state. Then stack several positive states on the same place by asking the person to recall several experiences of these positive states. With each of the positive states, stack a positive anchor on the same place with the same triggering stimulus. And, as you stack the positive states, ask the other person to rate each state on a scale of 1 to 10.

To obtain a powerful enough positive state that can overcome the negative state, the score you obtain for the positive state must be at least two numbers higher than the negative state.

Remember, the purpose is to establish a positive anchor sufficient in collapsing or overcoming the negative anchor.

5. Again break state.

Once again interrupt the mind-body state of the person by asking him or her to do almost anything new, different, weird, or unexpected like stretching, jumping, or taking a walk in the room.

6. Fire off the unresourceful anchor and then immediately off the resourceful anchor.

This is the most important part of the NLP collapsing anchors technique. Once you are convinced that the positive anchor had become stronger than the negative, fire off the unresourceful anchor and then immediately off the resourceful anchor.

For successful collapsing of anchors, let the person know beforehand that there is no need for him or her to do anything. They must just experience and just let things happen. Once the person is ready to collapse these states and notice what happens or what is the experience like, fire both the anchors.

Asking the person to just experience this state fully, hold both the anchors and let the neurological processing continue.

As you do this, usually, the mind of the person will go into a state of confusion and the person will experience all kinds of weird feelings. The person will not know what to think or feel. He or she will kind of feel the old feelings, but the experience will not be the same as earlier.

Watch the person’s physiology, face, breathing, muscle tone, etc carefully. Calibrate the responses as you will probably see signs of change. For example, the eyes will go around and around and from side to side as the brain completes the integration.

Utilise the meta-state language to enhance integration. Take the person through each state in turn by saying something like this-‘So you will find some times when you feel negative, and in these situations you would rather feel positive. Remember, you have all the resources you need to overcome your issues and get the desired results you want’. If required, repeat it a number of times without breaking state between them.

When the person has settled down, remove the negative anchor. Continue holding the positive anchor longer than the negative anchor.

Keep firing the positive anchor for about five extra seconds. Then, remove the positive anchor as well. The procedure will leave the person in a positive state.

7. Test your work.

Testing the NLP collapsing anchors technique. Once the person has broken the state, again fire the anchor for the unresourceful state. Alternately, ask the person to try and recall their previous negative state and check if the troubling negative emotions return. If they do not, then it means that you have succeeded in collapsing that unresourceful anchor.

Also, you will see the person go into a state somewhere between the two different states. Or, if you had set an especially strong positive anchor, the person will go immediately into the positive state.

Keep checking with the person for confirmation of their internal experience.

8. Future pace and refresh the resourceful anchor.

Future pace by asking the person to think of some situation in the near future where, before they had collapsed the anchor, probably would have felt negatively.

Ask the person to run through it in his or her imagination. Meanwhile, you can calibrate the state.

If you do not have satisfaction with their state or if they appear still unhappy, discover from the other person the resources they need in order to overcome that negative state, and then repeat the procedure.

The collapsing anchor pattern functions as a non-verbal form of communication. Until you see, notice, and enquire from the person about their internal state, you will never know what specifically happened. So, before you repeat the procedure, check where did their mind and emotions go, what trans-derivational searches they made, and what other resources they need to overcome that negative state successfully.

If and when you are satisfied with the person’s response or state, and you know that the other person could find the resources needed to overcome that negative state, re-anchor the resourceful state, as a good ecology process.

Ask the person to go back and re-access the resourceful state. You can have the person make the resourceful state more stronger, brighter, and bigger, by telling them to do whatever sub-modality amplification they need to do, in order to further intensify their resourceful state. Then, when the person is fully associated in the state, re-anchor it at the same place with the same triggering stimulus.

Summary – The NLP collapsing anchors technique

the NLP collapsing anchors technique works well for changing feelings and programmed behavioural responses resulting from prior old, unhelpful experiences. To heal people emotionally, and to help them bear with more complex and layered experiences efficiently, you collapse their unresourceful states or anchors.

When two opposing states anchored in two different locations are both fired simultaneously, there will be confusion or disorientation as the neurology tries to process both experiences at the same time. Even if you force your neurology to keep both the contradictory states, the states will collapse into one response.

To collapse states or anchors in someone who had experienced a negative state and desired help, anchor the negative state he or she desires to eliminate. Interrupt and have them set that state aside. Then, ask the person to recall a positive resourceful state that is contradictory to the unresourceful state and that will help in getting over the unresourceful state. Have them access several experiences of these positive states. With each of the positive states, stack the positive anchor. Calibrate the positive state, and ensure that you obtain a powerful enough positive state to overcome the negative state. Once you have established a positive anchor sufficient enough to collapse or overcome the negative anchor, break state. Next, fire off the unresourceful anchor and then immediately off the resourceful anchor. Hold both the anchors simultaneously. With both anchored and fired simultaneously, the negative state will collapse into the stronger positive state. Release the negative anchor once the person settles down. After approximately five more seconds, release the resourceful anchor. The processes and interventions will leave the person in a positive state.

Test your work the NLP collapsing anchors technique by either asking the client to access the problem state or by firing the negative anchor. Use feedback for learning and for enriching the experience. And, as a good ecology process, re-anchor the resourceful state using the NLP Anchoring technique.  To read about more NLP techniques visit the top 10 NLP techniques page.  NLP techniques are covered in our online ICF certification program, as part of NLP Practitioner curriculum.