Presuppositions · Pattern 3 of 9
Cause & Effect
One thing is presented as directly producing another — an external or internal cause is credited with creating a response.
What it is
Cause & Effect language presupposes a working causal link. In client language it often hands control of an internal state to someone or something outside the client: "My boss makes me feel incompetent." The link is a construction in the map, not a proven mechanism.
Recognition / tip-offs
What is being presupposed
- The causal link is real and reliable
- The effect follows automatically, with no choice in between
- The cause is sufficient on its own
Client-language use
Clients explain their states by pointing at causes: "traffic makes me furious", "his tone made me shut down". Exploring the link often reveals a choice point the client had not noticed.
How to challenge it
Ask how specifically the cause produces the effect, and look for counterexamples where the cause was present but the effect was not.
- “How specifically does what your boss does cause you to feel incompetent?”
- “Has there ever been a time he did that and you didn't feel that way?”
- “What happens between what he does and how you feel?”
- “Does that always cause that?”
Practitioner judgement: challenge what is useful, not every pattern you can hear.
Purposeful practitioner use
Practitioners can connect a practice with a resourceful outcome while leaving the client free to test it: "As you keep practising this, you may find it easier to notice what you actually want." Offer the link tentatively — no promises, no imposed agenda.
Client autonomy first — offer language the client can verify and decline.
Examples
“My boss makes me feel incompetent.”
Presupposed The boss's behaviour directly and reliably produces the feeling of incompetence.
Challenge: “How specifically does what he does cause you to feel that way?”
“Whenever she raises her voice I shut down, because that's how I am.”
Presupposed Raised voice causes shutting down, and an unchangeable identity causes that response.
Cause & Effect twice, plus Complex Equivalence in 'that's how I am'.
“As you slow your breathing, you may notice it becomes easier to think clearly.”
Presupposed Slowing the breath is connected with easier thinking.
Tentative wording ('may notice') keeps it testable rather than asserted.
Common mistakes
- Confusing Cause & Effect with Complex Equivalence — X causes Y, versus X means Y
- Accepting 'because' as an explanation instead of exploring the mechanism
- Challenging useful causal links the client is using resourcefully
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