A: First let me begin with a brief explanation of sequential and simultaneous incongruities for other readers. When a person either communicates or enters a state of mind and everything (verbal/nonverbal + intention) about that person says the same thing, we call that congruence. So when that doesn't occur, that simultaneous message in all representational systems (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory), we call that incongruence.
Now there can be simultaneous incongruence, that's when the incongruence occurs at the same time in the same person. You may more commonly know this as internal conflict. The other one is sequential incongruence, which is when a person is fully congruent at one point in time in a particular state, and then fully congruent at another point in time in a different state. Consider for example an alcoholic, who goes from the sober state to the drunk state. Neither state occurs at the same time. It remains sequential in time.
So now more specifically to your question as to collapsing the sequential incongruity into a simultaneous incongruity; and what is the best way to go about it. Let me say one thing here first. If the person is fully congruent sequentially, then you can bridge the sequences together. For example, if a person is congruent as visual blamer and then as a kinesthetic placater, then you can either bridge that using a modality which is being ignored (auditory). Another approach would be to pace the visual part and crossover to the kinesthetic and vice versa for the kinesthetic part, pace that part into the visual.
But if you want to collapse the incongruency using anchoring, then I would recommend using a physical anchor, so long as it is ecological for both of you. Because the reality is you can never tell how the person will respond to such a collapsing of states. Now it is best to stack them if it will help them access the states more fully. And just by stacking them, you will essentially be increasing the intensity. And if necessary, and if you are familiar with submodalities, you can use them to increase intensity as well. And it is a good thing to have the same level of intensity with both anchors. And if possible, intensify the more resourceful state even more than the other.
Now with a little practice, you should be able to calibrate quite easily. And once again, if you have trouble noticing the shifts, then use the submodalities to really crank up each of the states.
And with all this in mind, I would also recommend to use the Visual Squash instead of the Six Step Reframe. The main reason for this is to reduce the number of parts. The fewer the parts the better. More integration rather than less. This is something you might want to consider.
-Oz
