Some of you will know my admiration for Gregory Bateson (1904-1980). I discovered Bateson’s work in the early 90s when I first read Structure of Magic Vol 1. ‘Magic’ was Bandler & Grinder’s first text about what was then called ‘META’, later evolving into what became known as ‘NLP’. The book described the linguistic patterns found from modelling the originator of Gestalt Therapy Fritz Perls, family therapist Virginai Satir, and world famous hypnotherapist Milton Erickson.
Bateson had been a significant influence on Bandler and Grinder’s work. He also offered access to an impressive network of contacts. It was Bateson who first introduced Bandler & Grinder to Dr. Erickson.
I have a keen interest in ‘the source of the source’ and wanted to know more about Bateson and his background as I did Satir, Perls, Erickson, Frank Farrelly (Provocative Therapy) and many other names I was stumbling across during my studies.
Bateson intrigued me. Here was a man who appeared from my research to be a true polymath, that is, an expert in many different fields of endeavour. He started out as an anthropologist and evolved into a thinker, researcher and commentator on a diverse range of disciplines including psychology, systems thinking and cybernetics, ecological integrity and environmentalism.
His concept of ‘Mind’ in nature was fascinating; the idea that an ecological collective of animals, plants and an eco-system could adapt to an environment. He referred to a Mind as ‘…an aggregate of interacting parts or components’.
The most intriguing of all Bateson’s ideas was his reference to what he called Patterns Which Connect. He highlighted how patterns in nature are repeated in diverse sets of animals, plants and organisms. He identified patterns which connect in language, in communities and in communication. He proposed that connectivity and patterns are everywhere!
Continue & Begin Fast Coaching® is one such Pattern Which Connects.
Continue & Begin® is what Milton Erickson called ‘content free’, that is, there is no specific situational message. It is a framework which can be applied in a diverse range of circumstances with an equally diverse range of ‘players’. The beauty of Continue & Begin® is the emphasis on ego-strengthening, celebration of success (no matter how small) and the stimulation of a renewed confidence to take on fresh ‘Begin To’ challenges. It doesn’t matter what the context is, or the subjective content, or the individual coachee.
Continue & Begin Fast Coaching® is now used in commercial and public sector business, in family support agencies, in care and support organisations, in housing, in sport, and in education. It is a Pattern Which Connects.