Creating Change with Submodalities, Part 2
Contrastive analysis
One of the most useful techniques in working with submodalities is contrastive analysis, which can be used to find 'the difference that makes the difference' between two states or internal representations. Contrastive analysis is used in many NLP processes and is especially useful where one experience gives a desirable outcome and the other produces undesirable results.
If we experience one memory as emotional and one as neutral, there must be a difference in the way they are coded. By identifying the submodalities that are different - the critical submodalities - it's possible to effect a change, quickly and easily.
Exercise: Try it now for yourself. Choose one pleasant experience and one you find mildly unpleasant - experiences that seem to be of the same type, perhaps both relating to issues at work or at home.
Start with the pleasant experience, go 'inside', and, modality by modality, take note of the submodalities. You might find it easier to do this with your eyes closed. Once you've completed the process for the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic modalities, 'break state' by moving around for a few seconds. Then do the same with the unpleasant experience.
What you'll almost certainly discover is that at least one, and often more, of the submodalities are different. The unpleasant image may be closer, in a certain location, or have a particular sound or feeling associated with it.
Mapping across
Because the way in which we experience a memory depends primarily on the way it's coded, changing the submodalities of an unpleasant memory to those of a pleasant memory will mean it becomes, as far as our neurological system is concerned, a pleasant experience.
The process by which this is achieved in NLP is called Mapping Across. It simply involves 'copying and pasting' the submodalities that are different from the pleasant to the unpleasant memory. This is normally done one at a time, until what had been the unpleasant memory has exactly the same submodalities as the pleasant memory. Although it may sound complicated, or difficult, it's actually straightforward.
The driver submodality
Sometimes, as you transfer the submodalities, you'll change one and many others will change at the same time. This is called the driver submodality, and it is the most 'critical' of the critical submodalities. It's like a master switch that controls all the others. This is sometimes referred to as 'the domino effect'. There's not always a driver, but if you encounter one you don't need to complete the mapping across process - in a sense the job has been done for you.