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In NLP Nominalization is a verb, representing a process, which turned into a noun or an event or a concept. This is something that is more easily dealt with as a verb/process, than a noun/event. We naturally nominalize things all the time. It is a nominalization, “if you cannot put it in a wheelbarrow.” First of all, people nominalize things to try to get a handle on the, or to be more easily able to refer to them in simpler terms.
Unfortunately, the result is often of even greater difficulty to deal with than whatever is nominalized. Doing this sends deceptive messages to our brains. For example, a “decision” is actually the process of deciding. A relationship is the process of relating to someone. By changing the process into a fixed static thing, we can feel it is unchanging and limit our choices for action.
Many people experience the best results while working with nominalizations, simply by denominalizing the nominalization. So, how does that turn out for you? Because it means, to turn the event or concept back into a noun. Like, turning back “love” into “loving”. Like, turning a decision back into deciding. Hence, be aware at this point that this technique is stepping beyond information gathering mode and moving into an intervention process. This causes strong shifts in a subject’s perceptions, even if they do not show you the results of this in obvious ways. Try to determine the ecology of such changes before you help someone with any perceptual changes. NLP Nominalization.
The nominalization “Love” denominalized is “Loving” or “To love”. So now you can make your own library of Nominalizations that you de-nominalize. Take the following short Statements (S) from the Client and Challenges (C) from the Coach:
As you start to wonder how you can explore this pattern in depth more, ask questions like:
Well, it is a very subtle little big deal when a process is nominalized. Think about it in the context of a relationship. Or maybe your relationship now we are talking about it. Representing a Process.
How much room do we give people we are in a relationship the flexibility they need to change? Often the thought of our significant other changing isn’t a comfortable one for us.
Yet, a relationship is a process of relating to another person and this involves change. Many people get into the default habit of using the word relationship which implies something that is more permanent than representing a process.
It transforms the process of relating from a verb into a noun. When such NLP nominalization occurs, all sorts of problems begin to raise their heads because the opportunity changes. Flexibility, and evolution have been placed outside of the relationship. Representing a Process.
If you can put it into a wheelbarrow, it is NOT a nominalization. For example: A drink is a noun, but it is not a nominalization because as it stays tangible. It can be put into a wheelbarrow and carried around. So now you can put it in a wheelbarrow it fails the wheelbarrow test and is a nominalization.
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