Clean language

Clean language was devised by David J. Grove [fr] in the 1980s as a result of his work on clinical methods for resolving clients' traumatic memories.

[2] Psychotherapist Cei Davies Linn was closely involved in the early evolution and development of Grove's work such as Clean Language and Epistemological Metaphors.

[9] Clean language originated with New Zealand-born and educated David Grove, who drew on his bi-cultural Māori/British roots when designing therapeutic and coaching methods.

[10] Grove served as a consulting psychologist with the London Phobic Trust, and published a book with Basil Panzer, Resolving Traumatic Memories: Metaphors and Symbols in Psychotherapy (1989/1991).

[11][12] Grove's clean language was initially designed to address the needs of patients who were suffering from traumatic memories, particularly to facilitate in their capability to resolve blocks and phobias.

[3] Clean language offers a template for questions that are as free as possible of the facilitator's suggestions, presuppositions, mind-reading, second guessing, references and metaphors.

[1] Clean language questions are designed to reduce to a minimum any influence from the facilitator's "map of the world" via his or her metaphors, interpretations or unwarranted assumptions.

[20][21] Research projects have used clean language interviewing: for example, exploring the subjectivity of coachees' experience and outcomes;[22] comparing the evidence of coach competency from three perspectives;[23] and investigating tacit and explicit knowledge acquisition among student teachers.

[24] David Grove researched with the help of Pam Saunders, new perspectives of clean language by using mathematical models such as chaos theory, fractal geometry and some physics principles such as location and momentum and developing a mechanical device to use movement with the aim of accessing deeper mind structures.