TETRALEMMA

https://www.coaching-magazin.de/tools-methoden/das-tetralemma

Published in the coaching magazine issue 3 | 2012 on September 12, 2012

by Dorothe Fritzsche

Brief description

The tetralemma originates from Indian logic and was used there in jurisprudence. It was

introduced as an instrument for coaching primarily by Matthias Varga von Kibéd and Insa

Sparrer. A simplified version of the tool for decision-making situations is described here as a

ground anchor exercise.

Areas of application

The tetralemma is a pure decision-making list, which in this form enables a decision between

two options: A or B, yes or no, this or that. It is completely irrelevant whether these are

professional, personal or private issues. The tool can be used in any form of decision-making

that involves choosing between A or B. The use makes sense if the client can report that he has

thought through the options in all variants several times and discussed them with others

several times, but still cannot make a decision. It is also ideal for self-coaching, as it is quick and

easy, but extremely efficient.

Goal setting

The tool should lead the client away from the purely mental, rational level. A new weighing of
advantages and disadvantages does not help him anymore. Now it's about the body feeling level:
The client is made to feel in the body what is right for him. The body impulses experienced usually
give extremely clear indications and lead to clear decisions in around 85 percent of cases.

Detailed description

With the tetralemma as a floor anchor exercise, the client receives immediate feedback about his
somatic markers. According to Antonio Damasio, the so-called emotional experience memory is
communicated via a physical signal system that reports itself almost automatically and sends out
clear signals about “right” or “wrong”. The Zurich Resource Model® also works with the concept of
somatic markers. The sensed body impulses can also be seen as “affects” or “felt senses” in the
sense of Eugene T. Gendlin and Rainer Sachse, which are indicators of the client's motive system.
Accordingly, discomfort or tension indicate that an imagined situation is incompatible with the
needs and motives of the client.
The options

The tetralemma is carried out as a setup with ground anchors (moderation cards). Contrary to what
the name suggests, the tetralemma is based on five options, which are interpreted and dealt with
according to a fixed scheme.

The first and second position "The One - The Other"

This is the core alternative, i.e. the two poles between which the client commutes. It is very
important that these two alternatives can be clearly identified so that the coach can identify them in
the list.

The third position "both"

This position generally causes immediate irritation: “How is that supposed to work, both?” Here it is
important not to allow any discussions before or during the constellation. It's about just feeling, not
thinking. If this turns out to be the position with the most positive feelings, you can clarify in the
following coaching how "both" could work. If this position is perceived as positive, the client often
has a rather spontaneous idea of how "both" could work. But he hadn't even thought about this
option before.

The fourth position "Neither of the two"

When this position is felt to be positive, things get interesting. It can mean that the solution to the
problem lies elsewhere, or the client does not want to make up his mind. That, too, is an option to
be honored.

The fifth position "Not this and not that either"

This position is a kind of wild card position. It also leads the client out of the decision-making space
in a very specific spatial sense and enables him, as it were, to have a detached external position.
Everything is - and should - be possible here. Sometimes the solution to a decision problem lies in a
completely different alternative. This can be something the client has not allowed himself to think
about, or he has not allowed his imagination to think the impossible. Here he can, may and should
do it. If this position is felt to be positive, it becomes exciting in coaching.
Method
In the preparatory discussion, the coach should not go into the depths of the decision

topic, but rather quickly make the suggestion to look at the whole thing in a

constellation scenario.

Step 1
Build the scenario. You need five large round cards of the same color, which you label as

follows:

1. The one

2. The other

3. Both

4. Neither of the two

5. Not this and not that either

You place the cards crosswise on the floor, about a meter and a half away from each

other. Place the fifth card (“Not this and not that either”) outside the cross at a distance

of about one meter.

Warning: the scenario needs some space. Make sure that there is enough space around

the cross so that your client does not feel constrained by furniture or walls.

step 2
Ask the client to approach the card “The One”, you are standing on your side, he is

looking at the cross that has been laid out. Ask them to name the two alternatives again,

now with a keyword if possible. What exactly is “the one”, what exactly is “the other”?

When the client has chosen a keyword for both positions, ask them to close their eyes

for a moment and then name both positions again. Then ask the client whether that is

the case.
Step 3: the tetralemma begins
Ask the client to stand in a very relaxed position, with their arms hanging at their sides.

Now he should stand on the first card. Important: The client should and must stand on

the map, not in front of it, not their feet to the right and left of it. As a coach, you stand

half behind him and say in a quiet, calm voice: “This is the position 'The One'” and then

name alternative 1.

Take a step back. The client should be fully focused on himself and his body awareness.

He shouldn't look at you, he can look at the cross or close his eyes. Observe your client:

What posture is he now taking? Does he straighten up a bit, does he sag slightly, does he

start to strain from one foot to the other, does he sway slightly, does he breathe again or

does he catch his breath? Are the eyelids fluttering? Does the body stiffen or relax?

After a little while, ask him (if he isn't doing this anyway) to describe how he feels about

his body. He should pronounce all the physical sensations he has. Do not ask, in the

sense of: "I see you sway very easily". Leave it entirely to the client to listen to himself

and to describe what exactly he feels, which impulses arise in him. On the other hand,

this tracing should not take too long, as otherwise uncertainty and dilution of the

impulses can occur and there is a risk that people will “think” after all.

Now ask the client to move to the next position: the other. Make sure that the client does

not walk through the cross, but walks around the outside. Invite the client to stand on

the map and look at the cross. Stand halfway behind him and say, “This is the 'The

Other' position” and name the second alternative. Take a step back again and give the

client space and time to feel inside themselves.

Then lead the client to the position of “both”. This position is tricky, because it

immediately creates the question in the client: "How is that supposed to work?" but

only to feel once what it feels like. Again take a step back and let the client feel. Guide
him to the next position: "Neither". You just say this position like this: "This is the

position 'Neither of the two" "and step back again.

Then put the client in the "not this and not that" position with a view of the cross. Say,

“This is the 'no this and no that' position - whatever it is, anything is possible!” Step back

and watch what happens.

If the client has gone through all positions, the tool is finished. You ask him to get out of

the setting and sit down to evaluate it.

Example: The "Cologne or Stuttgart" case

Birgit S., 32 years old, business economist and has been working in personnel development
at a larger company for five years, receives an attractive job offer from her company: She
can become deputy HR manager, but has to move to the company's main office in Stuttgart.
She lives in Cologne, grew up here, went to school and studied here. She is single. What
should she do? If she stays, she has all the “home advantages”, but no attractive promotion
opportunities. If she leaves, she has to settle down completely on her own, but has made a
career step for it, and her career is important to her. Her family and friends sometimes
advise her, but sometimes they are also skeptical. Birgit S. doesn't know what to do next
and gets involved with the tetralemma with me.
Birgit S. is relaxed on the first card “The One”: Cologne. She closed her eyes. You can see
that the eyeballs move back and forth. After a few seconds she begins to speak: "It feels
nice to stand here ... so familiar and warm" - pause - "but also a little boring". She opens her
eyes, looks at the cross on the floor. “Yes, that's it.” I ask her to move on to the next position
with me: “The other”: Stuttgart. Here, too, she closes her eyes, the eyeballs move again, at
the same time I notice a very slight swaying. "Here my heart is pounding," she says and "my
feet are tingling ... that's really exciting ... new." She smiles, opens the door eyes, look at me
and nod.
Birgit S. runs through the other positions. “Both” feels empty and “neither” feels rather
uncomfortable. Even in fifth position, she has no significant momentum. We end the
tetralemma and sit down. The evaluation clearly shows: "Cologne" feels pleasant and
familiar, but "Stuttgart" clearly has the higher appeal. Birgit S. is now sure that she wants to
dare.
The evaluation options
If the client has already described all body sensations, you as the coach did not miss how he
felt which positions. Nevertheless, a follow-up discussion is necessary in any case in order to
reflect again on what has been experienced / felt.
1. One of the alternatives “the one” or “the other” was clearly felt positively, other positions
were neutral or negative. In that case, the body already knows and now the client has
clearly felt what is right. As a rule, this triggers great relief and joy, because the body
sensation is a direct measuring instrument and shows us the right direction. Nobody is
happy with a pure mental decision, which is why the client had his decision problem. Often
the real work in coaching only begins now.

2. The client felt “both” positively. Now it depends on whether he has a spontaneous idea.
In practice this is not uncommon because the client now realizes that there are aspects of
both alternatives that he needs both to be happy. If he lacks an idea, it is time to use the
imagination. Coach and client could now carry out a joint brainstorming session and
visualize it in an alternative bike and have it rated with points. In this case, too, there is a
need for further coaching.
3. "Neither" was positive. If the client has felt most comfortable on this card, there are
essentially two possibilities: The alternatives are not the right ones, there is something else
"else". Here the coach may have to look deeper again to see what the alternatives stand for,
whether other needs or fears are hidden behind what is offered, which have to be dealt
with in a completely different way. Another possibility is that the client himself notices that
the alternative has been wrongly chosen, that it is actually about other goals. Or he doesn't
want to choose. That is also possible, although he (or precisely because he) has been
thinking about it for so long and tinkering with the topic. Here it can be useful to look at the
background. But it can also be advisable to simply accept that no decision will be made. A
decision does not necessarily have to be made. Maybe the time is not yet ripe. It is crucial
that the client can accept this now. He no longer has to work on the topic, he can simply
take more time.

4. The position “not this and not that either” was positive. Now there is usually a surprise:
What exactly did your client feel here? Just tingling, energy, curiosity, joy? But he can't
specify? Perhaps behind this lies an ancient desire for something completely different,
perhaps the manager dreams of being a gamekeeper in Africa or the stewardess of opening
a colorful children's shop with a café. Whatever is behind this - now you and your client are
in a very exciting area. If he doesn't already know, go on a journey of discovery with him, it's
definitely worth it.

5. Nothing was positive or negative. Was your client really on the cards? Has he fully focused
on his body awareness? Was the atmosphere sufficiently undisturbed? If you have been
able to guarantee all of this, then there are basically two options: The decision does not
have a high emotional quality, that is, it does not really matter what the decision is made.
Or the client may not be good at accepting the tool. Then a look into the tool case is
required: Which alternative tool can you offer him now? And finally: what does this result
actually tell him? How does he interpret it?

Requirements / knowledge
• Occasions: all decision-making situations between two alternatives, if both have
already been reflected on in detail by the client

• Spatial requirement: floor area of at least three by three meters

• Material: five large round cards, markers

• Duration: about ten to twenty minutes without a preliminary discussion and

evaluation

• Prerequisites for the coach: Initial experience with inspecting ground anchors is

desirable.
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