One of my first step when working with depression is often reframing the issue and challenging the nominalization.

What is a nominalization? it’s a term developed by the creators of NLP, Bandler and Grinder that describes how an action has been transformed into a noun. Such as the action of failing, that became the noun “failure”. The ultimate way to figure this out is to use the wheel barrow test: If you can’t put it in a wheelbarrow it’s a nominalization!

What’s the point in spotting nominalizations? When you transform an action into a noun, it gives it permanence and a solid existence independently of you. And when you say “I’m a failure” It defines your identity rather than your behaviour (I failed at something). An action on another hand completely depends on you, as you’re the person performing it, therefore you’re the one who has got control over it.

So when working with depression, I start with explaining what a nominalization is, engaging the client in discovering why that can be a problem. When they recognize that applies to their specific situation, I ask them the very powerful Meta-model question: “ what’s depressing you?” This question is essential, as when a client comes into your practice and tearfully tells you how they feel everything is wrong in their life, that they have depression and they’re very unhappy, it may be overwhelming for both you and the client, and quite challenging to find a way to tackle this. On another hand when you narrow it down to what specifically has a negative impact in their life, it makes it much easier to address and can reduce drastically the issue.

Once again a few weeks ago I saw a client who came to see me with depression, diagnosed by her GP and given some antidepressant. We were at our fourth session then, and once more, I heard her reporting she was feeling already so much better; to use her words “I so am on the roll!” And the reason for that is simply that during our first or second session by asking her what was depressing her, she recognized it was her critical inner voice that made her life miserable. Of course, if you’re constantly living with someone who puts you down and criticize you 24/7 how are you not going to feel depressed?! And this simple realization, with the help of some coaching, allowed her to start shifting her internal dialogue, with the immediate effect of altering her feelings and improving her general mood.

After seeing this client for about three months, she completed her treatment last week, concluding she was now totally satisfied with her life. She spontaneously came off the antidepressant tablets a few weeks ago and was feeling very stable. She couldn’t identify anything else she would want to change, as she was thrilled to recognize that the past few weeks had been what she always had wanted her life to be.

So where do you use nominalizations in your life? How could you change them to start turning things around for the better?