Anchoring (NLP)
Encyclopedia
Anchoring is a neuro-linguistic programming
term for the process by which memory recall, state change or other responses become associated with (anchored to) some stimulus
, in such a way that perception of the stimulus (the anchor) leads by reflex to the anchored response occurring. The stimulus may be quite neutral or even out of conscious awareness, and the response may be either positive or negative. They are capable of being formed and reinforced by repeated stimuli, and thus are analogous to classical conditioning
.
Steinbach (1984) describes anchoring as one-trial learning which forms one of the basic presuppositions of NLP stating that "A therapist can teach a patient the association between one response and another, or between an external stimulus and an internal response in one trial."
Basic anchoring involves the associating a strong mental or emotional state, with an obvious stimulus (touch, word, sight) when a person is most likely to connect the state and the stimulus. In many cases, repetition of the stimulus will reassociate and restore the mental and emotional state.
There are refinements offered by setting anchors this way, and subtleties involved in order to both set them with precision, and to avoid accidentally neutralizing them in the process of setting them up.
Anchoring is a natural process that usually occurs without our awareness, and may have positive impact, or be maladaptive
.There are two broad types of anchors:
A voice tonality that resembles the characteristics of one's perception of an "angry voice" may not actually be as a result of anger, but will usually trigger an emotional response in the person perceiving the tonality to have the traits of anger.
Sometimes people have such an intense unpleasant experience - like fighting with their spouse or boss- that from then on, whenever they see the person's face, they immediately feel anger inside.
Phobias in this sense can be studied as one example of very powerful anchor - see spider, feel terrified and nauseated.
Comedians are masters of anchoring. Good comedians know how to use a specific tonality, phrase, or physiology to get laughs instantly. They do something to get you to laugh, and while you're in that specific intense state they provide a specific and unique stimulus, like a certain smile or facial expression, or maybe a specific tone of voice. They do this consistently until the state of laughter is linked with their expression. Eventually they can just make the same facial expression, and you can't help laughing.
If, when young, you participated in family activities that gave you great pleasure, the pleasure was associated with the activity itself, so when you think of the activity or are reminded of it you tend to re-experience some pleasurable feeling.
Flicking through an old family photo album stirs pleasant memories and some of the feelings associated with them.
A child's comforter in an unfamiliar situation.
An old love song re-awakens a romantic mood.
The smell of freshly baked apple pies brings back memories of a happy carefree childhood.
Revisiting an old school or a place with powerful memories
There are certain speculations as to what criteria must be met before an Anchor can be properly formed. Most agree that the trigger must be
It is also important that reinforcement of an anchor (in other words, repeated formation with the aim of reinforcement) should have a "break" between each repeat, since the neurological "lesson" is quite capable of working either way, and only one way is desired. In such instances precision and structure may determine the difference between success and failure.
An unusual use of anchoring was studied by Ellen Langer in her study of two groups of 75-80 year old men at Harvard University. For 5 days, both groups were isolated at a retreat, with one group engaged in a series of tasks encouraging them to think about the past in general (to write an autobiography, to discuss the past etc), and the other group engaged in a series of tasks which anchored them back into a specific past time - they wrote an autobiography up to 1959, describing that time as "now", watched 1959 movies, had 1959 music playing on the "radios", and lived with only 1959 artefacts. Before and after the 5 days, both groups were studied on a number of criteria associated with aging. While the first group stayed constant or actually deteriorated on these criteria, the second group dramatically improved on physical health measures such as joint flexibility, vision, and muscle breadth, as well as on IQ tests. They were anchored back physically to being 50 years old, by the sights and sounds of 1959. (Langer, "Mindfulness", Addison Wesley 1989)
Anchoring is used in NLP to facilitate state management
. When used this way, an anchor is created by a deliberately chosen stimulus and then linked by repetition to the desired state in order to provide easy access to that state at will. This may be used for Test Anxiety
, overcoming fear, creating an emotional state such as happiness or determination, or to remind an individual the benefits of a healthy habit. In Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention Karin Jordan (2006) states that "after the preliminary assessment has been completed, the therapist should help the client develop an anchor. The anchor concept is rooted in neurolinguistic programming (Bandler & Grinder, 1979) and can serve as a tool used by clients to get a break from the traumatic event
. To help the client work through traumatic events, an observable/concrete resource should be used as an anchor."
Anchoring is also used by skillful film makers to evoke suspense in the audience. Think of your own psychological changes that occurred when you heard the soundtrack’s amplified, pounding heartbeat rhythm in the moments leading up to each of the appearances of the huge killer shark in the movie ‘Jaws.’ What anchor was established in you by the crescendo of the sound of the music meeting the shark? Did your heartbeat increase? Did your palms begin to sweat? Did you have to see the shark, or was the thumping music enough to start your slide to the edge of your seat? Likewise the finale of classical symphonies, or "mood music" such as romantic, climactic, or apprehensive in films. Leitmotivs — recurring themes — in music and literature also serve to restimulate a previously established response.
For trauma
victims, sudden noises or movement can serve as terrifying anchors capable of recollecting the traumatic experience. In this context, amongst other approaches, NLP might be used in a slightly different way - to desensitize the stimulus and perhaps instead also sensitize it to some more neutral or positive feeling.
Instead of having them yell at each other, Virginia Satir has her patients look at each other as they did when they first fell in love. She asks them to speak to each other as they spoke when they first fell in love. And she continues throughout the session to stack positive anchors so that seeing each other's faces now causes them to feel great about each other. From this state, they can resolve their problems through clear communication, without harming the other person's feelings. In fact, they treat each other with so much caring and sensitivity that it sets up a new pattern, a new way to resolve problems in the future.
At its best, that process can create a healthy common bond of patriotism and rapport. At its worst, anchoring can provide frightening displays of collective ugliness. Hitler had a genius for anchoring. He linked specific states of mind and emotion to the swastika, goosestepping troops and mass rallies. He put people in intense states and while he had them there, he consistently provided specific and unique stimuli--like raising his open hand in the gesture of heil--to call up all the emotion he had linked to them. He constantly used these tools to manipulate the emotions, and thus the states and behaviors, of a nation. Hitler linked positive, strong, proud emotions to Nazi symbols for party members. He also linked them to states of fear in his opponents. Did the swastika have the same meaning for a member of the Jewish community as it did for a stormtrooper? Obviously not. Yet, the Jewish community took this experience in history and created a powerful positive anchor that helped them build a nation and protect it under what would seem like impossible odds. The auditory anchor of "never again" that many Jewish people use puts them in a state of total commitment to do whatever it takes to protect their sovereign rights.
Neuro-linguistic programming
Neuro-linguistic programming is an approach to psychotherapy, self-help and organizational change. Founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder say that NLP is a model of interpersonal communication and a system of alternative therapy which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective...
term for the process by which memory recall, state change or other responses become associated with (anchored to) some stimulus
Stimulation
Stimulation is the action of various agents on nerves, muscles, or a sensory end organ, by which activity is evoked; especially, the nervous impulse produced by various agents on nerves, or a sensory end organ, by which the part connected with the nerve is thrown into a state of activity.The word...
, in such a way that perception of the stimulus (the anchor) leads by reflex to the anchored response occurring. The stimulus may be quite neutral or even out of conscious awareness, and the response may be either positive or negative. They are capable of being formed and reinforced by repeated stimuli, and thus are analogous to classical conditioning
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is a form of conditioning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov...
.
Steinbach (1984) describes anchoring as one-trial learning which forms one of the basic presuppositions of NLP stating that "A therapist can teach a patient the association between one response and another, or between an external stimulus and an internal response in one trial."
Basic anchoring involves the associating a strong mental or emotional state, with an obvious stimulus (touch, word, sight) when a person is most likely to connect the state and the stimulus. In many cases, repetition of the stimulus will reassociate and restore the mental and emotional state.
There are refinements offered by setting anchors this way, and subtleties involved in order to both set them with precision, and to avoid accidentally neutralizing them in the process of setting them up.
Types of anchor
Anchors (the "trigger", or stimulus) can come in an infinitude of possible forms: verbal phrases, physical touches or sensations, certain sights and sounds, or internally, such as words one says to oneself, or memories and emotional states. Whenever a person is in an intense state where the mind and body are strongly involved together and a specific stimulus is consistently and simultaneously provided at the peak of the state, the stimulus and the state become neurologically linked. Then, anytime the stimulus is provided, the intense state automatically results. For example, on might sing the national anthem, create certain feelings in our body, and look at the flag. Eventually merely looking at the flag can automatically triggers those feelings. An expansive view is that almost everything one perceives acts as an anchor, in the sense that perceiving it tends to trigger reflexively some thought or feeling or response.Anchoring is a natural process that usually occurs without our awareness, and may have positive impact, or be maladaptive
Maladaptation
A maladaptation is a trait that is more harmful than helpful. It is a term used when discussing both humans and animals in fields such as evolutionary biology, biology, psychology , sociology, and other fields where adaptation and responsive change may occur...
.There are two broad types of anchors:
- Negative or unpleasant anchors- For example,
A voice tonality that resembles the characteristics of one's perception of an "angry voice" may not actually be as a result of anger, but will usually trigger an emotional response in the person perceiving the tonality to have the traits of anger.
Sometimes people have such an intense unpleasant experience - like fighting with their spouse or boss- that from then on, whenever they see the person's face, they immediately feel anger inside.
Phobias in this sense can be studied as one example of very powerful anchor - see spider, feel terrified and nauseated.
- Positive or pleasant anchors-
Comedians are masters of anchoring. Good comedians know how to use a specific tonality, phrase, or physiology to get laughs instantly. They do something to get you to laugh, and while you're in that specific intense state they provide a specific and unique stimulus, like a certain smile or facial expression, or maybe a specific tone of voice. They do this consistently until the state of laughter is linked with their expression. Eventually they can just make the same facial expression, and you can't help laughing.
If, when young, you participated in family activities that gave you great pleasure, the pleasure was associated with the activity itself, so when you think of the activity or are reminded of it you tend to re-experience some pleasurable feeling.
Flicking through an old family photo album stirs pleasant memories and some of the feelings associated with them.
A child's comforter in an unfamiliar situation.
An old love song re-awakens a romantic mood.
The smell of freshly baked apple pies brings back memories of a happy carefree childhood.
Revisiting an old school or a place with powerful memories
There are certain speculations as to what criteria must be met before an Anchor can be properly formed. Most agree that the trigger must be
- Specific - otherwise the subject will not begin to sensitize to it
- Intermittent - if it were constant then desensitization would eventually occur
- Anchored to a unique, specific and prompt reaction - otherwise the anchor will fail to elicit and reinforce any one single response due to many different reactions being associated to the trigger.
It is also important that reinforcement of an anchor (in other words, repeated formation with the aim of reinforcement) should have a "break" between each repeat, since the neurological "lesson" is quite capable of working either way, and only one way is desired. In such instances precision and structure may determine the difference between success and failure.
Usage
NLP-style anchoring is a process that goes on around and within us all the time, whether we are aware of it or not. Most of the time we are not consciously aware of why we feel as we do - indeed we may not realize we have responded in some cases, which makes it a much more powerful force in our lives.An unusual use of anchoring was studied by Ellen Langer in her study of two groups of 75-80 year old men at Harvard University. For 5 days, both groups were isolated at a retreat, with one group engaged in a series of tasks encouraging them to think about the past in general (to write an autobiography, to discuss the past etc), and the other group engaged in a series of tasks which anchored them back into a specific past time - they wrote an autobiography up to 1959, describing that time as "now", watched 1959 movies, had 1959 music playing on the "radios", and lived with only 1959 artefacts. Before and after the 5 days, both groups were studied on a number of criteria associated with aging. While the first group stayed constant or actually deteriorated on these criteria, the second group dramatically improved on physical health measures such as joint flexibility, vision, and muscle breadth, as well as on IQ tests. They were anchored back physically to being 50 years old, by the sights and sounds of 1959. (Langer, "Mindfulness", Addison Wesley 1989)
Anchoring is used in NLP to facilitate state management
State management (NLP)
State management, or sometimes called state control, as a neuro-linguistic programming technique is the act of actively trying to control the emotional and mental state of an individual. One method to actively achieve state management anchoring where an individual associates a particular physical...
. When used this way, an anchor is created by a deliberately chosen stimulus and then linked by repetition to the desired state in order to provide easy access to that state at will. This may be used for Test Anxiety
Test anxiety
Test anxiety involves a combination of physiological over-arousal, worry and dread about test performance, and often interferes with normal learning and lowers test performance...
, overcoming fear, creating an emotional state such as happiness or determination, or to remind an individual the benefits of a healthy habit. In Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention Karin Jordan (2006) states that "after the preliminary assessment has been completed, the therapist should help the client develop an anchor. The anchor concept is rooted in neurolinguistic programming (Bandler & Grinder, 1979) and can serve as a tool used by clients to get a break from the traumatic event
Traumatic event
A traumatic event is an event that is or may be a cause of trauma. The term may refer to one of the followiong:*Traumatic event , an event associated with a physical trauma...
. To help the client work through traumatic events, an observable/concrete resource should be used as an anchor."
Anchoring is also used by skillful film makers to evoke suspense in the audience. Think of your own psychological changes that occurred when you heard the soundtrack’s amplified, pounding heartbeat rhythm in the moments leading up to each of the appearances of the huge killer shark in the movie ‘Jaws.’ What anchor was established in you by the crescendo of the sound of the music meeting the shark? Did your heartbeat increase? Did your palms begin to sweat? Did you have to see the shark, or was the thumping music enough to start your slide to the edge of your seat? Likewise the finale of classical symphonies, or "mood music" such as romantic, climactic, or apprehensive in films. Leitmotivs — recurring themes — in music and literature also serve to restimulate a previously established response.
For trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
victims, sudden noises or movement can serve as terrifying anchors capable of recollecting the traumatic experience. In this context, amongst other approaches, NLP might be used in a slightly different way - to desensitize the stimulus and perhaps instead also sensitize it to some more neutral or positive feeling.
Relationship therapy
Virginia Satir, the world famous marriage and family counselor, uses anchoring in her work all the time. Her results are outstanding. In modeling her, Bandler and Grinder noted the difference between her style and that of the traditional family therapist. When a couple comes in for therapy, many therapists believe that the underlying problem is the suppressed emotion and anger that the couple have for each other, and that it will help them to tell each other exactly how they feel about each other, all the things they are angry about and so on. If the therapist encourages them to deliver the message of anger with force and vigour, they create even stronger negative anchors tied just to the sight of each other's faces.Instead of having them yell at each other, Virginia Satir has her patients look at each other as they did when they first fell in love. She asks them to speak to each other as they spoke when they first fell in love. And she continues throughout the session to stack positive anchors so that seeing each other's faces now causes them to feel great about each other. From this state, they can resolve their problems through clear communication, without harming the other person's feelings. In fact, they treat each other with so much caring and sensitivity that it sets up a new pattern, a new way to resolve problems in the future.
Political campaign usage
Throughout history, successful leaders have known how to make use of the cultural anchors around them. When a politician is "wrapping himself in the flag", he's trying to link himself to all the positive emotions that have been linked to the flag.At its best, that process can create a healthy common bond of patriotism and rapport. At its worst, anchoring can provide frightening displays of collective ugliness. Hitler had a genius for anchoring. He linked specific states of mind and emotion to the swastika, goosestepping troops and mass rallies. He put people in intense states and while he had them there, he consistently provided specific and unique stimuli--like raising his open hand in the gesture of heil--to call up all the emotion he had linked to them. He constantly used these tools to manipulate the emotions, and thus the states and behaviors, of a nation. Hitler linked positive, strong, proud emotions to Nazi symbols for party members. He also linked them to states of fear in his opponents. Did the swastika have the same meaning for a member of the Jewish community as it did for a stormtrooper? Obviously not. Yet, the Jewish community took this experience in history and created a powerful positive anchor that helped them build a nation and protect it under what would seem like impossible odds. The auditory anchor of "never again" that many Jewish people use puts them in a state of total commitment to do whatever it takes to protect their sovereign rights.
- During the 1988 presidential campaign, U.S. Republican partisans began employing an unusually skillful use of language and advertising technique. The Willie HortonWillie HortonWilliam R. "Willie" Horton is an American convicted felon who, while serving a life sentence for murder, without the possibility of parole, was the beneficiary of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program...
ads, for example, used an old NeuroLinguistic Programming (NLP) techniqueNeuro-linguistic programmingNeuro-linguistic programming is an approach to psychotherapy, self-help and organizational change. Founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder say that NLP is a model of interpersonal communication and a system of alternative therapy which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective...
of "Anchoring via Submodalities," linking Democratic presidential nominee Michael DukakisMichael DukakisMichael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
, at an unconscious level in the viewer’s mind, to Willie Horton by the use of color versus black-and-white footage, and background sound. After a few exposures to these psy-ops ads, people would "feel" Willie Horton when they "saw" Dukakis. - It was no accident. Toward the end of that campaign, I was presenting at an NLP conference in New York, and a colleague mentioned to me how the GOP had hired one of our mutual acquaintances to advise them on the tools of persuasion. http://www.buzzflash.com/hartmann/04/11/har04007.html