To break state is to move out of any state into a more neutral state. Use break states when you want a person to be in a neutral state because you need to test an anchor and when a person is distracted and you want to get their attention.

A pattern interrupt is an intervention to move someone from an intense negative state to a neutral state. Use pattern interrupts when you want to break a strong negative state and going directly to a positive state would be too great a step.

There are many ways to break state:

• Tell a joke.
• Call a person's name.
• Ask them to move or walk, to change their position.
• Distract them:
  • Visually - show them something interesting.
  • Auditorily - make a noise or play music.
  • Kinestheticallly - touch them (if this is appropriate).

Break states and pattern interrupts are both useful for getting out of stuck states. You can recognize a stuck state in someone when:

• They have a fixed physiology.
• They always sit or go to the same place in a room.
• They do not move very much.
• They say the same things or repeat movements.
• They go round in circles in a discussion or argument.