The CODE Model™:
Powerful New Instrument for Change

by Celine Levasseur Burlock

In the health and wellness industry , where energy work is constantly evolving, I've noticed over the years that people open their minds to consider a variety of approaches to energy work for different reasons: to reduce stress, enhance health, deal with trauma and limitations; or to achieve an overall sense of well-being,. The majority of clients seeking energy work believe that mental, physical and spiritual healing can occur and that energy work could be what initiates it.

The History

The CODE Model, as a tool for rapid and profound transformation, is the result of a process journey of growth and evolution. It was developed in 1994 by Louise LeBrun, Founder of the WEL-Systems Institute, an Ottawa based company. The broad range of LeBrun's experience over more than two decades includes work in the field of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) as well as Huna and Reiki. Her original and ground-breaking work has contributed to the body of knowledge of NLP, including the addition of a 7th Logical Level of thinking (referred to as CHOICE). This would become the stepping stone, along with the systematic representation of the 7 chakras (energy centers in the body), in developing this conceptual structure for decoding the flow of information in the human body. ¹

What is The CODE Model?

CODE stands for Creation Out of Deep Energy. The CODE Model offers us a framework, or roadmap, for engaging the responses/sensations in the body, directly. These sensations, often experienced as 'waves' of 'emotion' in the body tissue/cells tap into the deep structure of reality or internal energetic configurations where the experience first originated. There are only three steps to follow in order to achieve remarkable results:

• Curiosity - required to open up SPACE (Breathing)
• Questions - and the willingness to 'make things up' to invite MOVEMENT (Follow the impulses)
• Staying deeply grounded in the body to encourage FLOW (keeping your attention at the base of the spine, deep inside the body)

Engaging at a deep level in the body allows us to access the energetic responses which were created by the original experience and often continue to be stored. The movement of the surfacing 'waves' promotes the alteration of the tissue of the body, inviting the desired changes that come from 'releasing' or 'letting go'. Encouraging this energy flow by making space in the body, "blockages" of energy are released. When this energy moves, it also alters the topography of the brain and makes room for us to both feel and think/perceive differently.

Change your thoughts = Change your life!

In a therapy model world view, these waves have been nominalised, categorized and labeled according to the intensity of the present response (anger, sadness and so on). In a different model of the world, The CODE Model is an invitation for the client to focus by scanning the body without detailing the content of the story. There is no need to talk or to reveal details. The words we use will never be the event or the item they represent.

We are well aware of the increasing variety of approaches that place importance on sustaining a healthy flow of energy in order to maintain wellness and vitality. New information and new thinking in cellular Biology brings irrefutable evidence to support the validity of this view. Dr. Bruce Lipton, PhD, cell biologist and a long-standing teacher of medical students, explains the concept that cells communicate and relate to each other using their receptors located on the external membrane. The CODE Model is a framework to access this deep communication in the body and is grounded in an AUTOPOETIC world view (natural processes that support the quest for structure, process, renewal, integrity. ² ).

Based on Quantum Science, we are multidimensional beings capable of perpetually changing and altering the tissue of our body thereby growing and expanding. After all, is this not the definition of a living entity? For generations, we have been taught to think in ways that lead us to considering that when we experience 'illness', that something is " wrong" with our body and we need to get it "fixed", just like any object. Instead, The CODE Model invites us to consider the "symptoms" as an opportunity for growth and curiosity. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

A CODE Model Coaching Session

A Certified CODE Model Coach would invite a client to sit comfortably. Once rapport is established and the client's intention or desired result has been identified, the client would be guided to position their attention deep inside the body, at the base of the spine. The client would then be encouraged to breathe - easily and deeply - with the Coach guiding the process all the way; inviting consideration of a variety of responses; perhaps exploring some and allowing others to simply drift by. Breathing becomes long and slow and deep in the body. The combination of intention, curiosity, exploration and a body in a growth posture, invites and encourages the body to open and energy to flow easily and comfortably. Without getting into a lot of linguistic detail and due to the uniqueness of each individual, the CODE Model Coach, who is well trained to engage this uncertainty, would ask the client to bring their awareness to what is being experiences in the body and where the sensations are occurring. Working with a combination of specific linguistic cues, metaphors and directed questions (see Model 1), the Coach is able to invite the client to attain higher level of thinking and corresponding deeper levels of mind. This process leads to and allows for (often) massive release of energy/information in the body, sufficient to allow for profound and generative change. It's that simple!!!

The CODE Model allows us to engage directly with the living system that is the body, bypassing language and content of the story. We already know that a lot of "blockages" we carry in the body are created from the way we communicate with ourselves and with others. The CODE Model is an invitation to discover these underlying pockets of information, stored deep in the body, and release ourselves from their accompanying limitations.
{Table 1 refers to descriptive words for guidance.}

Table 1

Who Uses The CODE Model?

The CODE Model has been around for almost 10 years. It has proven, time and time again, to be extremely effective in working with others to invite profound and generative change. For those already trained in a preferred field of practice ( i.e. massage therapists, teachers, reflexologists, doctors, MSW's, naturopaths, counselors, coaches, etc.), or for anyone involved in a career related to health and well-being (i.e. addictions, family systems, etc.), it is an excellent tool to bridge the gap between the way people think and the corresponding responses in their body. It allows us to put meaning, whether in the tissue of the body or the language of the conversation, to that which has often eluded us. It allows us to ensure that what we say and what we do work in tandem to support a client in moving with intention and flow towards a desired result. Is it safe to perform and requires no equipment. All that is required are client and Coach, both fully present and willing to engage. Magic and miracles abound!

Deepak Chopra once wrote in his first book Quantum Healing: "If you could see your body as it really is you would never see it the same way twice." We may finally be coming to discover that HUMAN BEINGS are magnificent processing devices. A good friend of mine often says that we didn't arrive on the planet with a manual but amazing discoveries are being made everyday. Consider the potential of who we can become. Are we ready to consider other ways to perceive ourselves?

¹ The CODE Model …energy, autopoiesis and alchemy e-book by Gwen McCauley, WEL-Systems Institute
² Igniting the Self… Awakening creativity and the ability to connect, The WEL-Systems Institute

Copyright © 2003 Celine Levasseur Burlock
This article may be reproduced, provided it is reproduced in full.