Tailoring interventions to the individual client

We can and should guide the client with additional questions and further exercises developed specifically to match their struggles. Here are some ideas on how to develop those further inquiries.

1. When the client is stuck on a self-inquiry exercise

Paradoxical interventions – “Shocking” the client out of a mind-block by asking them to inquire into an absurdity. E.g. When trying to find the space between thoughts, ask the client to think non-stop for 30 minutes.

Opposites – Ask the client to prove the opposite of what the exercise is attempting to uncover. E.g. When inquiring into the absence of a doer/author, ask them to prove to you that there is a doer. Where is the doer? Can they prove this entity to you?

2. When the client is not “seeing it”

Looking again – Don’t hesitate to repeat the same inquiry again and again. Both you and the client need to know that it can be a question of completing the exercise again with a beginner’s mind. When the inquiry doesn’t work immediately, this is not an indicator of bad exercise design!

Looking deeper – Obviously there is no such thing. However, some exercises can be adapted to seem as though you are asking the client to look deeper, which can bypass the mind’s resistance to looking again.

Looking from various angles – Here we adapt an inquiry to make the client look in different daily situations (e.g. at work and at home, alone and with others), from different stances (e.g. for, against, or neutral), or from the “position” of a different part of who they believe themselves to be (e.g. a wiser self, a younger or older self, an enlightened self). Be careful with this last one as it can end up solidifying the idea of a separate self instead of helping to undo it!

Looking from the stance that it is already seen – This is a powerful one. Here, we ask the client to assume (to take the stance) that the insight has already been seen/gained and to see what it’s like to live from that stance. This can often be the breakthrough the mind needs.

3. When the client is stuck on a specific content issue

Reframing to the nondual “level”
Pointing back to awareness

4. Doing nothing

Not offering any further inquiry but leaving it where it is is always an option to consider. Never feel you need to “make” the client see anything at any point! Remember that you can’t possibly do that anyway. If we’re not careful, developing further exercises can become a type of cross-examination, where we get into a battle of arguments and end up in a fight with the client’s ego. If you feel any form of struggle around getting the client to “finally see it”, let it go and do nothing.