The Progression Spread
In situations where your client identifies a frustrating lack of progress, lots of hurdles, bottlenecks or situations stalling, it can sometimes be tricky to get a handle on the 'fixables', so that the client can gain a measure of control, and start to take positive actions and make positive inroads into overcoming those obstacles to 'get things moving' again.
This simple spread can be used to gain clarity in multiple areas, allowing the needed space to gain perspective, take action and then allow the results of that action to filter through. The process, and the reading, can then be repeated to give further actionables for the client to work towards in a continuing process of self-improvement, issue resolution and change management.
The first card drawn should be the Assessment card (1), so that we can take stock of the situation, pause to really see what's going on, and what the issue is that needs to be tackled.
We can then follow that with the second card, the Hurdle (2), which allows us to see what is causing delays or holding our client back, and what they need to do or embrace in order to shake off that stagnation and get themselves moving again.
Finally, we draw a card to represent the Staging Post (3), and this will represent the message or situation that will be made clear to us, once we've overcome that Hurdle and are ready to progress further.
It can be very easy for a frustrated querent to say "yes, but i've done that" or "I've tried that so many times", but for them to fall back into similar patterns of behaviour as before, because the hurdle wasn't fully overcome and the universe didn't signal a clear green light to move forwards, and consequently good works at the hurdling stage can be undone when we hit a snag or need to repeat the lesson so that it's fully learned. Those setbacks can trigger negative reinforcements, making a client feel mired in their particular issues, and unable to find a successful solution to break free.
By utilising the Staging Post card, we wait for that signal from the universe to say "great, you've landed succesfully after tackling that hurdle, and now you're ready to look ahead at the next step" at which point the reading can be repeated, drawing another series of Assessment, Hurdle and Staging Post cards, so that further improvements can be made - by taking time at either side of the hurdle to ensure that we're lined up correctly for the next jump, and that we've landed safely, it can assist in reinforcing positive behaviours, ensuring progression is consistent, and reduce the risk of a negative spiral if the hurdle proves difficult or takes the client out of their comfort zone.
Multiple iterations can be drawn in tandem to tackle issues in different areas, if the client is feeling adventurous, and isn't likely to be overwhelmed by multiple strategies or targets, such as this example where we can draw three cards each, to tackle either separate issues, or different aspects of the same issue, where coming at the problem from multiple angles will assist in the client gaining control of their situation.
Clarifying cards can be pulled for each step if required, but for the sake of retaining focus, one or two cards at each step tends to ensure that we don't get bogged down in a level of detail that doesn't assist in facing the issue at hand.
I'd love to hear what you think about the Progression Spread!
