The 4 MAT system is an NLP training style that
allows the presenter to speak to all the di?erent
types of brains in the room at the same time. Bernice
McCarthy developed the 4 MAT system based on
other models of teaching. Basically, our clients ask
four di?erent questions as they go through the
learning process:
? Why? Want to know the reason for learning
(Divergers).
? What? Want to get the facts and concepts
(Assimilators).
? How? Want to practice and do something
(Convergers).
? What if? Want to try out variations
(Accommodators).
Yet another model is Anthony Gregorc, which is
based on a client’s evaluation of the world by means
of an approach that makes sense to them. There are
two perceptual qualities – concrete and abstract –
and two ordering abilities – random and sequential.
There are four combinations of perceptual qualities
and ordering abilities based on dominance.
So, which of these learning models should we
apply? Sadly, it seems none of them really work. A
report in 2004 by Co?eld et al identi?ed 71 di?erent
theories of learning style, but found that none of
the most popular learning style theories had been
adequately validated. Other researchers have tended
to agree. Oh dear! So, where does that leave us? Well,
right back where we started.
Continued over...
Then there’s Honey and Mumford’s model of
learning, which has four stages:
1.
Having an experience
2.
Reviewing the experience
3.
Concluding from the experience
4.
Planning the next steps.
Their styles were named Activist, Re?ector,
Theorist, and Pragmatist. There’s a Honey &
Mumford Learning Styles Questionnaire you could
use to ?nd out how your clients learn best!
26 Hypnotherapy Today
We know that human brains can learn, and change
when learning takes place. So we therapists can use a
repertoire of teaching methods in a scattergun way,
hoping that some of what we say will be accepted
by our client, and learning will take place, and
that wonderfully plastic brain will arrange its cells
appropriately and create more and more bene?cial
connections.
Remember, it seems people learn most when:
? They’re relaxed
? The information is organized and presented
in smallish chunks
? They’re not tired.
? The information is repeated
? There aren’t any distractions
? They’re motivated.
So perhaps that’s what we should focus on, and
not worry about knowing or trying to identify the
client’s learning style. The important thing is that no
matter how a client learns, given the right situation,
learning will take place – and those plastic brains
will get themselves into a good shape ?