1. Milton- Erickson- Institut Heidelberg
Dr.med.Dipl.rer.pol.Gunther Schmidt
www.meihei.de mail: office@meihei.de
sysTelios- Klinik
für psychosomatische Gesundheitsentfaltung
69483 Wald-Michelbach/Siedelsbrunn
www.systelios.de
The sysTelios-model:
an attempt of a system organisation for
dignity, competence, cooperation,
creativity and goal-effectiveness

2. Some basic premises:
Autopoiesis: living systems organize their
experiences autonomously- the meaning and
effect of a communication always is defined
by the receiver- never by the sender!
Consequence: an „intervention , also a
„leadership decision is created by the
receiver- not by the sender of the message.
In that way the original meaning of suggestion
is dissolving.  So we need feedback,
feedback, feedback…

3. The sender can only make offers/
invitations which are accepted or
rejected autonomously by the
invited person. If somebody leads in this
interaction at all it is the client with his
feedback to these invitations.
In the same way also a person in a
„leading position (which is a different role of
course) has to respectfully pay attention to the
feedbacks of his teams.
The „leader is always at least as dependent
of the „guided ones as these participants
are.

4. In research many times proved assumption of
Ericksonian therapy:
• The competences for a helpful and more healthy
solution pattern are already „stored as experienced
competences in the unconscious „archives of a
• person and of a system. During the living of the
problem patterns they are just dissociated but still
existent.
• So the main task is to invite to and to support the
re- association, activation and the long- lasting
building in these competences into the contexts in
which the person needs them.

5. • As brain research, priming research and all
experiences of hypnotherapy and hypnosystemic
concepts show:
All experience is a result of focussing of
attention on all sensory levels, consciously and
unconsciously.
• The therapy so gets the meaning of a „learning
from himself for the client-
• the therapist is the expert for supporting this
„learning from himself and for invitations to
focussing of attention which helps for that - not for
knowing from the outside.

6. General goals of psychotherapy:
• Strengthening of autonomy/ Self- responsibility
• Sence of coherence (salutogenesis  Antonovsky)
• Self- confidence and experience of self-
competence and competence to guide the own life
and manage impulses in a constructive, healthy
way
• Enlarging of possibilities of choices (H.v. Foerster)
• Appreciation of the way of living up to now (also for
the „problem patterns )

7. Transparent Meta- communication
with the invitation to respectfully appreciate the
intuitive answer of the organism  „somatic
markers which give feedback about which of the
offers are fitting serves as a very effective way to:
• learn about the autonomous intuitive competence
• build up respectful cooperation with involuntary
processes
• strengthen the competence as meta- observer who
can manage experience and impulses in a healthy
way  (not the content of a phenomenon but the
relationship of the observer to it defines the effects)

8. • Experience is produced second by
second in a new way via processes of
fokussing of attention, voluntarily and
much more involuntary (and
unconsciously)  construction of
networks
• We create our experience ourselves-
in inner autonomous self-
determination!
• VAKOG

9. • Every episode of experience
(emotionally „loaded ) will be stored as
network of experience in us and can be
reactivated, e.g. already by activating
just one or more of the elements of this
„network in the present time (in the
„here and now ).
• This activation can also happen totally
on an unconscious level- and
unconscious and involuntary
processes are always quicker and
stronger than voluntary processes.

10. • Hebb´s law = „cells that fire
together wire together- and cells
which are wired together are again
firing together .
• The direction of the focus of attention
determines which network will be
activated and also which ego state
(what we usually call our ego/ „that´s
me! )-
we are all „multiple personalities with
multiple ego states.

11. The way in which a system is organised has intensive
effects on the way how participants focus their
attention and on the way how and which „networks of
experience (experiential patterns) are triggered
unconsciously and involuntarily.
The „system is an tremendously important
environment for the participants and simultaneously
these perticipants create and re-create the system in
interdependence- they are also always environment
for each other and so in a circular way create
themselves, contribute to the creation of the system
which influences (invites) them…
The system can be understood as the everyday
„trance-inviting context for the participants.

12. Total potentiality of
experience: „The
cosmos of potentials
dream-process
Wanted focus of
attention Multiplicity
The experiencing „observer Prinziple of
literalness
Meta- Position/ associated
Dissociated/ Lucid competence- hypothesis
Actual focus:
Goal always: to direct the „habituated reality
focus of attention as
much as possible towards
wanted patterns of Dr.G.Schmidt
MEI Heidelberg
experience which are
activated in this way

13. Ego 1
Ego 1
Ego 2
Ego 2 „Director-
„Director-
Ego
Ego
Ego 3 Ego 3
Ego X
Ego X
Ecosystemic context
If we are „multiple personalities we also encounter other people not
always in the same ego but depending on situations/ contexts/needs/
topics- and the others are also encountering us with multiple egos.
Which of your ego´s /which of your „inner parliaments are just
interacting with which of the ego´s of other persons? In which context,
related to which topics? 13

14. Construction of the antagonistic
poles of experience („Problem )
Way of description Way of description
Observer
Labelling associated?
dissociated? Labelling
Validation
Validation
Explanation
Explanation
Conclusions How How it
it is should Conclusions
Self-relation be
Self-relation
Comparison with others
Comparison with others
Experience/validation of Experience/validation of
own sensory signals own sensory signals
Emotions,Submodalities,
Attempted solutions Emotions,Submodalities,
Physiology, Body Physiology, Body
coordination coordination
Solution supporting Problem stabilizing

15. Therefore the central task is:
To build up goal-serving systems
(on an interactional and internal level)
Instead of: „How is the system organised? to
„For which/ whose goals
should the system be
build up/ organised in
which way?
15

16. But also:
„And how should we cope with the
present (and past) system (e.g.
utilisation/ pacing, pattern-
disruption, appreciation of it/
acknowledgement of loyalities etc.)
would be goal-serving?
(Dwarfs on the shoulders of giants)
16

17. Optimizing of internal processes of
participants / submodalities/ cooperation Relevant paricipants
of the „optimal-egos
Rules for managing differencest/ Rules of decision making/
„conflict -management rules of hierarchy
Interactions between executing managers Processes of goal development
and staff
goal-communication
Borders and coordination Goal- processes
of interfaces to the outside world Development of goal
of a system
(diverse stakeholders) serving steps
„What for?
Informal „rituals for
encounters Rules for how and about
what should be communicated
Rituals of appreciation, sponsoring-,
motivation/ building up pf meaning
Definition of roles/tasks/
building of internal borders
Rules for agreements/ balancing
feedbacks Coordination of interfaces
17

18. Important basic needs of human beings in
relationship systems:
• Affiliation/ security in relationships
• Orientation, transparency, to be included
• Clarity of roles and tasks
• Appreciation of the specific own
contributions and simultaneously
experience of being related to important
„others

19. • Possibilities for own actions/ selbst-
effectiveness/ meaningful experiences/ self-
empowerment
• Autonomous possibilities of choice and
appreciation for the own definition of reality
• Being challenged in a stimulating way, with
clear, direction giving objectives,

20. è Appreciation of ambivalences,
utilized as informations about needs
è Clear meta- communication of
double-binds with focus on „tit for tat
and a perspective on effects/ „role-
perspective;
è Focus on „patterns of success ,
meaning-creating values which generate
cohesion;
è Continuiously feedback-
loops with acknowledgement for the
„messengers of bad news ;

21. Situations of uncertainty, lack of orientation and of
information, confusion are always rather more
associated with reactions of fear and/or anger or
possibly (if escalated) with „freeze -reactions
(amygdala- aktivity).
But anger, fear or freeze-reactions constrain
thinking processes. The tendency goes more to fight
or flight, „either- or, all or nothing… etc.
21

22. Anger, fear, confusion, uncertainty are
mobilising involuntary processes (also
hormon reactions, chnages of the immun
system etc.) in a way that one becomes more
rigid, narrowed and impuls-directed.
If anger and/or fear is dominating, one
becomes for these moments just more stupid
(and also often a little bit more paranoid.
(although one has much more competences
and intelligence!!!)
22

23. That also means:
Leadership means important obligations for
e.g. :
A person in a leading position is experienced
as an „agent , „an embodied model , a
„screen for projections of helpful priming/
focussing of attention, e.g. in their teams.
They are whether they want or not,
„Directors of orchestras and
„Context-architects .
23

24. Context-architects can contribute acticely to
contexts of:
v Appreciation
v Focussing on patterns of success
v Competence-focussing
v Goal development with optimal self-
effectiveness of paricipants
v Encouragement, curiosity, joy of
discovering
24

25. v Fostering/supporting of openness for
learnings with respectful feedback of
„mistakes and rewarding of joy and
courage to experiment
v Activating challenging
v Communication which triggers powerful
imaginations, goal developments and
visions
v Consequent „I-messages and need-
focussing feedback- culture
25

26. Additionally e.g. the SCARF-Modell (D.Rock)
suggests:
Brain research shows that central context
conditions for motivation, fulfillment of meaning,
supporting of accomplishments are obviously e.g.:
 Status
 Certainty
 Autonomy
 Relatedness
è Fairness

27. And:
Healthy and long lasting and motivating
competence-development will only be able,
if the diverse important areas of
life-topics, interests and values of people
will be respected in optimal balance.
27

28. If one wants flow in relationships, it has to be
taken care of a specific ritualistic creation of
contexts of encounters;
For that e.g. all participants (and also all ofd
there „parts - as impulses!!)
have to be accepted in there „being just so",
in their needs and emotional reactions.
But: on the level of actions only
those actions are accepted which
have constructive effects, which are
goal-serving and do not harm
oneself or others.

29. www.meihei.de
www.systelios.de

30. Construction and maintainance of a
„problem
© Dr.G.Schmidt, Milton-Erickson-Institut Heidelberg, www.meihei.de
1. Experience „it
is how it is
2.
„How it
should
„How be
it is
Attempted solutions

31. Further elements of patterns
Categorizing Way of communication
(god/bad etc.) Observer:
associated? Content of communication
dissociated?
Place of experience
Time of experience Ideas about relationsships/
How it Expectations to them
How often How should
it is be Way/ Intensity of
Intensity feedback
Duration of
phenomenons Style of dealing with „mistakes
Experience of time/ Validation/ awareness
focus of time of wanted outcomes
More voluntary/ Needs/ Longings which
More involunatry motivate
Reactions of others
Reactions towards
(Validation/ giving Ritualization of the
others (Validation/ of meaning/ problem/ of the solution
giving of meaning/ behaviour
behaviour