Presuppositions · Pattern 7 of 9
Adverb & Adjective
An adjective describes a noun; an adverb modifies an action or verb. Both smuggle in a description as though it were settled, and shape the internal representation.
What it is
"My life is incredibly hard" presupposes hardness and only argues about how much. "Notice how easily you can let go of that" presupposes both the letting go and its ease. Descriptors are how experience gets coloured in.
Recognition / tip-offs
What is being presupposed
- The quality described is a given
- Only the degree is open to discussion
- The action being modified is happening
Client-language use
Challenge the accepted descriptor rather than the volume: "My life is incredibly hard" → "Hard how, specifically?" "My whole life is messed up" → "Messed up how specifically?"
How to challenge it
Ask for the specifics behind the descriptor, and for the comparison it hides.
- “Hard how, specifically?”
- “Messed up how specifically? Which parts?”
- “Compared with what?”
- “How would you know it was becoming easier?”
Practitioner judgement: challenge what is useful, not every pattern you can hear.
Purposeful practitioner use
"Notice how easily you can begin to let go of that old pattern" directs attention to how easily while presupposing that a process is underway. Choose descriptors the client can verify in their own experience.
Client autonomy first — offer language the client can verify and decline.
Examples
“My life is incredibly hard.”
Presupposed Life is hard; the only question is how hard.
Challenge: “Hard how, specifically?”
“My whole life is messed up.”
Presupposed The entire life is in that state.
Challenge: “Messed up how specifically? Which part first?”
“Notice how easily you can begin to let go of that old pattern.”
Presupposed Letting go is underway and it is easy.
Also Awareness ('notice'), Time ('begin', 'old').
Common mistakes
- Debating the degree ('is it really that hard?') instead of asking for specifics
- Missing adverbs because attention is on the nouns
- Piling on descriptors that reinforce the problem representation
Practice this pattern
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