Dave: You know, there's a lot of confusion . . .

Therapist: You feel confused about what, Dave?

Dave: Dependency makes me feel confused . . .

Notice what has happened here: Dave uses a nominalization, confusion, which is somehow connected with a part of Dave's experience which he wants to change. The therapist applies the verbal de-nominalization. Dave responds by supplying one of the missing pieces; however, the missing piece which he provides is, itself, a

nominalization. The therapist alertly applies the verbal de-nominalization again:

Therapist: Whose depending on you makes you feel confused, Dave?

This kind of cycle is one which we find frequently in our family therapy work. By systematically applying the verbal de-nominalization technique to each nominalization, the therapist succeeds in assisting the family member in identifying by exactly what process he is perceiving or failing to perceive what he is experiencing. This process of cyclic de-nominalization (by tying the word description to things which are in the "real" world of experience) allows both the therapist and the family members to understand the specific experiences which they can create together to continue the process of change and growth.

A second important pattern in this portion of the transcript is contained in the statements which Dave makes:

Dependency makes me feel tight. . .

Dependency makes me feel confused . . .

These two sentences have the same form — each of them claims that there is something (dependency) outside of the person involved in the description which causes that person to experience a certain feeling. In other words, each of these sentences claims that there is a Cause-Effect relationship over which the person involved has no control and which, literally, makes him have a certain experience.