Clean language

Clean language is an approach to counselling or coaching that tries to minimise the content the facilitator introduces from their own 'maps' (metaphors, assumptions, paradigms, sensations) in order to allow the client to more fully explore their own maps (meaning schemas) without distractions. It is primarily designed for dialogic guided reflection, but clean language style questions can be used as prompts for solo reflection (see below).

The basic principles of the clean language approach are:

Acknowledge someone's experience just as they describe it
Accurately preserve and use someone's expressions of their experience
Pay attention to aspects of their experience congruent with those expressions
Only introduce assumptions that are likely to apply to every human
Do not intend to change someone, instead intend to provide a space where they could change themselves

Clean language questions

Clean language questions tend to have a number of characteristics which mean they can sound weird and ungrammatical compared to natural speech:

They start with 'And…' because they are intended to prompt a continuation of the person's thoughts rather than to introduce new thoughts
They avoid pronouns, especially those related to the facilitator (me, I) because the aim is for the clients to stay with themselves. Often this can also mean avoiding pronouns related to the client (you) as this is also introducing an external perspective.
They use the precise phrasing of the client — not paraphrasing. Their words, not your interpretation of their words.
They limit the use of verbs wherever possible, using mainly 'to be' (is) or 'to happen'.
They are mainly focused on the present, except when explicitly exploring temporal relationships.

Examples of clean language questions

And is there anything else about X?
And what kind of X is that X?
And whereabouts is X?
And what is X part of?
And how does X feel?
And is X a size or a shape?
And what is important about X?
And that’s X like what?
And how is X compared to other things?
And is X related to anything else?
And when X, what else?
And what happens just before X?
And what happens with X?
And then what happens after X?
And where is X coming from?
And what would X like to have happen?
And what needs to happen for X?
And which ways can X happen?
And can X…?

Using clean language in solo reflection

Start by describing the phenomenon you wish to reflect upon (possibly using straightforward journaling).
Choose particular aspects of your description to explore. This could be particular words, phrases or images you used in your description.
Ask a series of clean language question related to that aspect of your description (you can either work through the list above or have the questions come randomly).
See what thoughts the questions prompt. If nothing, move on to another question or another aspect. (Don't force it.)
If other interesting concepts or images emerge as a result of asking the questions, note them down so that you can use the questions on these too (iteration).

For more resources see: https://cleanlanguage.com/

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