Changeworking

• Confidence & Self-Doubt in Coaching

  First: This is incredibly human. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re good enough, feared not being able to help, or felt pressure to deliver a result… you’re not alone. These are deeply human experiences. They don’t make you a bad coach—they just make you a person doing work that matters to you. That in itself is a good sign. Second: We don’t get to control complex systems. This is a foundational distinction for me. There are two types of systems in the world: • Complicated systems, like machines, where all the parts and dependencies are knowable and can be managed. • Complex systems, like people, where many of the interdependencies are unknown and even unknowable. Coaching lives in the domain of complex systems. We cannot predict what will happen. We cannot control it. What we can do is bring curiosity, responsiveness, presence, and creativity to the moment—and see what emerges. Third: You’re not the agent of change. You’re the catalyst. One of the most liberating frames I’ve ever adopted is that I am not the one who “makes” change happen. I don’t “fix” the client. I don’t “make” them change. That’s not my job—and it never was. Instead, I see myself as a catalyst—a participant in a co-creative flow. My job is to create conditions that support the client’s own generative intelligence—the deep inner faculty that actually does the learning, shifting, adapting. That creative intelligence lives in every client. It built their language. It built their identity. It knows how to build new responses. And our job is to help it come back online. Fourth: Let go of outcome pressure. There is no universal law that says, “You must get a result in every session.” That’s not how change work works. That’s not how life works. When we take excess responsibility for outcomes, we place ourselves in a trance—a controlling trance. And ironically, we do our worst work from that place. The more we can unhook from needing to “get it right,” the more creative, present, and effective we become. Instead of pressure, choose curiosity. Instead of control, choose participation. Instead of needing to prove something, choose to play. Fifth: If this is something you struggle with—beautiful. This is part of the work. This is part of the unfolding. You’re not behind. You’re not broken. You’re just walking a path that includes unwinding old conditioning, unhooking identity from performance, and coming back into relationship with the deeper intelligence in you and in your client. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to know everything. You don’t even have to feel confident. But you do get to keep showing up. You do get to bring presence, curiosity, and care. And you do get to let this work change you as you offer it to others.

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• Showmanship & Performance in Changework

  In this episode, Ruckus and James explore the idea of showmanship and performance in effective changework, drawing connections between hypnosis, shamanism, acting, and public speaking. The conversation covers practical techniques for incorporating performance elements into coaching and therapy, the distinction between information versus evocation, and how practitioners can expand their communication repertoire to create greater impact with clients. Timestamps [00:00:00] Introduction to showmanship and performance in change work [00:01:00] Why performers make better hypnotists - magic vs therapy backgrounds [00:01:45] The roots of showmanship in shamanism - "The Death and Resurrection Show" [00:02:30] Performance as suggestion beyond just words [00:03:30] Historical hypnotists and the ritual experience [00:05:00] Bandler vs Grinder - performer vs academic approaches [00:06:00] On-stage vs off-stage personas in hypnosis [00:06:15] Playing "one across" vs "one up" - Erickson as performer [00:08:45] Information versus evocation in communication [00:09:45] Performance pieces and marking significance [00:10:30] Street hypnosis and "witch doctoring" techniques [00:12:00] Head, heart, and gut - using tone for energy shifts [00:13:15] Ed Jacobs and impact therapy - standing out vs blending in [00:14:15] David Grove's quadrant model - conversational vs psychoactive [00:16:15] Steve Chandler - comedy preparation for coaching weekends [00:18:15] Martin Luther King Jr. and the power of moving people [00:19:45] The Meisner method - learning lines vs bringing them to life [00:21:00] Hypnotic language delivery examples [00:23:00] Acting and oratory training vs technique training [00:24:00] Theater, Toastmasters, and NLP trainer development [00:26:30] Teaching screenwriting with hypnotic language [00:27:30] Bandler and Grinder - "shell vs nut" in Erickson's work [00:28:45] Tai Chi teaching with Milton language patterns [00:31:15] Analog marking - feeling artificial at first [00:32:15] Clint Eastwood and Christopher Walken's performance styles [00:33:00] Anticipation hooks and pausing techniques [00:34:00] Storytelling order and performance impact [00:35:45] Pre-verbal sounds and emotional responses [00:37:00] Parking ticket story - nonverbal communication power [00:38:30] Jerry Spence and emotional communication [00:40:30] Animal sounds exercise for emotional release [00:42:00] Film pitching vs writing skills comparison [00:43:15] Willingness to perform - overcoming comfort zones [00:44:00] "Shatning" - William Shatner as performance model [00:46:15] Modeling and deep trance identification [00:47:30] Steve Chandler - "Practice makes the unnatural, natural" [00:48:15] Comedian mimicry and implicit learning [00:49:00] Comic timing as implicit vs explicit knowledge [00:50:45] Modeling Darren Brown and Richard Osterlind [00:51:30] Aesthetics vs pragmatics in hypnosis style [00:53:45] Closing thoughts on performance in change work

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• Identity: How shifts in self-concept can transform

  In this episode of Changeworking, Ruckus and James Tripp dive deep into one of the most fundamental aspects of human psychology: identity. They explore how who you think you are directly shapes how you behave, and why all meaningful change work requires some shift in identity. Ruckus discovers that simply changing the language from "identity" to "self-concept" produces completely different answers about himself—revealing the hidden power of words to unlock new perspectives. James shares why he believes "self-concept is destiny" and how our maps of self and world interact to create our sense of safety. Plus, Ruckus tells a surprising personal story from his own therapy sessions about a part of him that was sabotaging his progress because it feared losing its sense of who he was. Timestamps [00:00:45] What is identity and how does it affect changework? [00:04:00] How identity stabilizes our way of being and limits what we see as possible [00:05:30] The interaction between our map of self and map of the world [00:06:30] "Self-concept is destiny" - how beliefs about ourselves change everything [00:08:45] Using identity-level questions in change work [00:12:52] Are identity, self-concept, and ego all the same thing? [00:15:15] Ruckus's personal discovery - how different words unlock different answers [00:19:45] The power of language to evoke rather than just inform [00:24:00] Robert Kegan's "new language culture" and getting unstuck [00:27:30] Why there's no "getting identity right" - it must constantly evolve [00:29:15] Working with veterans - when old identity no longer fits new life [00:31:30] Should practitioners work directly on identity or indirectly? [00:35:15] Ruckus's therapy story - the part that sabotaged progress to preserve identity [00:37:00] The fear of losing yourself and "investing in loss" [00:40:00] Seven different ways to ask about identity

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• Psychoactive Facilitation

  What does it really mean when a client “goes psychoactive”? In this episode, Ruckus and James explore how deep engagement emerges — not from force, but from slowing down, dropping judgment, and leaning into possibility. From metaphors to memory reconsolidation, this conversation unpacks what makes transformation feel alive. ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro: What is psychoactive facilitation? 01:00 – James shares the origins of the term from David Grove’s quadrant model 05:00 – The difference between being in a state vs. describing one 09:00 – Ruckus connects psychoactive facilitation to immersive, imaginal states 14:00 – Psychoactive facilitation is dynamic dreaming — trance as co-creation 19:30 – Where psychoactive states meet changework 22:45 – How to tell when a client is going psychoactive 26:00 – Letting go of “what should happen” to allow emergence 31:30 – Being oriented toward possibility = psychoactive facilitation 35:00 – Creating conditions for unconscious engagement 41:50 – Stacking the odds toward psychoactive facilitation 44:00 – Closing thoughts and outro CONTACT Email: [email protected] Website: www.clientshifts.com Changeworking is produced by Ruckus Skye. #podcast #changework #hypnosis #nlp #coaching #coach #CoachingTools #ClientBreakthroughs

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• Beliefs, Truths, and Trances of Identity

  🎙️Where do our beliefs come from—and how many of them do we actually know we have?In this episode, Ruckus and James dig deep into the murky, layered world of unconscious beliefs and the way they silently shape our reality. From invisible operating systems to emotional trances masquerading as truth, this conversation unpacks the complexity of belief in changework. They touch on everything from Byron Katie’s process to Taoist ideas of truth and usefulness, all through the lens of real-world examples and client work.This one’s especially for the practitioners who want to help clients loosen the grip of what feels true—but isn’t necessarily serving. ⏱️ Timestamps:00:00 – Intro: Beliefs you don’t know you have01:00 – James’ lead guitar example: the trance of capability04:00 – Fairness, rights, and Byron Katie’s belief-turnaround process09:00 – Truth vs. usefulness: the map is not the territory14:00 – Worrying as a false strategy16:30 – Truth traps and psychological freedom20:00 – Chairs, clients, and belief as operating system22:00 – Key operational concepts: control, trust, and love27:00 – Blocky renderings vs. fluid metaphors in client beliefs30:00 – Speculative semantic modeling: guessing what makes a belief make sense34:00 – Modeling from people who live life differently38:00 – Self-osmosis and living into new beliefs40:00 – Closing thoughts: belief change as essential to transformation CONTACTEmail: [email protected]: www.clientshifts.com Changeworking is produced by Ruckus Skye. #podcast #changework #hypnosis #nlp #coaching #coach #CoachingTools #ClientBreakthroughs

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