About Us

Apricot Island was founded in 2001 by Marian Way, a skilled facilitator and trainer, who specialises in clean approaches to learning and development such as Clean Language, Symbolic Modelling and Clean Space.

Our Philosophy

All our trainings and workshops are designed and delivered by experienced trainers who believe that your learning and development is best supported by a 'clean' approach, which means...

• respecting our participants' needs and honouring diverse opinions
• creating an atmosphere of sharing, trust and openness - so we talk about the real issues, not just what's happening on the surface
• believing in you and your ability to learn and develop and achieve your goals
• really listening and paying attention to your map of the world, and working from the inside out, building on your insights and realisations as we go
• utilising the language, and especially the metaphors, you use to describe your experience - they're rich with meaning and potential
• introducing new ideas, skills and information at appropriate times so you have the best chance of assimilating and therefore benefiting from them
• challenging any assumptions that may be limiting your progress - in a respectful way
• working at a deep level, so your learning sticks and the changes you make last

This approach to learning and development is based on the principles of Clean Language, which was developed by psychotherapist David Grove. He had discovered that asking about people's problems (which were often described in metaphor) using their exact words, encouraged new insights and possibilities for change. He experimented with different questions and found that questions which 'interfered' with the client's experience the least were in fact the most effective in bringing about change.

Penny Tompkins and James Lawley spent several years studying David's methods, observing therapy sessions and studying transcripts. They developed a model of David's work, which they called Symbolic Modelling, to enable others to get similar results. This model is described in detail in their book, Metaphors in Mind and there is a wealth of related information on their web site.

At Apricot Island, we sometimes use Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling in their purest form - for example when working one-to-one with coaching clients or when finding out about participants' desired outcomes. And when we're introducing new skills or information to our participants, we do so with the principles of 'clean' in mind.

Trainers & Workshop Leaders

	Marian Way Marian started her career as a teacher and later worked in Weight Watchers - as a group leader, a trainer, and finally as Programme Development Manager of Weight Watchers UK, where she and a colleague developed the POINTS diet. Marian founded Apricot Island in 2001. A skilled facilitator and trainer, she works with individuals, couples and groups to enable them to achieve their goals. She is an NLP Master Practitioner and Trainer who specialises in applications based on Clean Language, Symbolic Modelling and Clean Space. She has developed and delivered training programmes which have benefitted thousands of people. During the last year, she has trained Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling in Belfast, in Portland, Oregon, USA and in Moscow as well as in England.
	Penny Tompkins Penny is a UKCP registered psychotherapist, coach in business, and runs trainings and workshops internationally. She has co-authored Metaphors in Mind: Transformation through Symbolic Modelling, the definitive guide to working with the symbolic domain of experience using metaphor, modelling and Clean Language. More information about Penny can be found here.
	Phil Swallow Phil has always been fascinated by words, metaphor and meaning. For a time, he taught English as a Foreign Language then worked in the corporate communications industry before going on to build a background in NLP and hypnosis. Specialising in Symbolic Modelling and Clean Space, he has trained and supervised Clean practitioners in English and French and used Clean Language and Symbolic Modelling with clients in several languages. He now co-hosts a yearly residential retreat in France for Clean facilitators and clients. At home, Phil designs websites, has a private coaching and therapy practice in London and the Forest of Dean, and runs cleanforum.com, a free resource for all things Clean.