clean language

Clean Language
Devised by the highly gifted therapist David Grove, Clean Language is a way of asking questions that keep the questioner's assumptions out of the interaction.

Because the person asking the questions does not 'muddy the waters' with
their assumptions, the client is able to freely explore their experience in
a way that is meaningful for them.

Symbolic Modelling
Penny Tompkins and James Lawley expanded on Clean Language by developing
Symbolic Modelling. This extends the form of Clean questioning to help people
explore and develop their metaphors for their experience.

Metaphors are a useful way of understanding and experiencing one kind of thing
in terms of another. For example, I would be using a metaphor if I described my
life as a 'voyage of discovery'.

Metaphors can be extremely useful when dealing with sensitive issues or to reach
common understandings. Exploring them can be highly illuminating and can also be
a lot of fun!