Signature Method
SIM-Translation: the conversation becomes observable
The emotional layer of a discussion is translated live into an image the whole group can look at together — there, where words alone no longer suffice.
When words no longer help
- Negotiations stall not on the content, but on the mood in the room
- The real issue is never spoken aloud — yet everyone feels it
- Conversations circle because everyone feels slighted
- Conflict between people blocks the matter at hand
What SIM-Translation makes possible
- The emotional layer is translated live into an image everyone looks at together
- The conflict no longer sits between the participants, but in front of them
- What could only be sensed becomes discussable — free of judgement and manipulation
- It surfaces not only the conflict but also common ground and possible ways forward
- A way forward, precisely where conversations are stuck
A PDF to discuss the value internally
The method explained clearly and compactly — to share and review together as a team.
SIM-Translation — Sound-to-Image Translation — is Christina Wessendorf’s signature method. As a conversation unfolds, a “conflict picture” takes shape in real time: a visible translation of what is actually being negotiated between people but rarely spoken aloud. In this way the conflict is lifted out of the space between people and turned into a shared object of attention — a “third instance in the room”. This image shows not only the conflict but equally the common ground, the overlaps and possible ways forward. For organisations where negotiations stall not on the content but on the emotional layer, this opens a way forward precisely where conversations keep circling.
What the method is — and is not
SIM-Translation is explicitly not graphic recording. Graphic recording visualises information — it records what was said. SIM-Translation visualises the emotional layer: tensions, stances, hidden agendas and the unspoken material beneath the surface. The emerging image neither judges nor manipulates; it makes discussable what until then could only be sensed. A dispute that plays out between people becomes an object everyone can look at together.
The process in three steps
First, translate live. Simultaneously with the discussion, an image emerges that makes connections, tensions and stances visible — free of judgement and manipulation. Second, look together. The group turns away from standing against one another and towards the image; the conflict no longer sits between the participants but in front of them. Third, work with the image. In facilitated dialogue or one-to-one coaching, participants communicate with the conflict picture and meet each other on a deeper, more human level.
An interdisciplinary lineage
SIM-Translation did not arise from a single theory but from the meeting of different disciplines, each of which, in its own way, seeks to make the invisible visible and discussable. It brings together the precision of science, the depth of therapeutic practice and the power of inner images. The lineage below shows the currents the method draws on.
Ethical and societal inspirations
Beyond these disciplinary influences, Christina Wessendorf’s understanding of peace, humanity and social responsibility is shaped by people too — the Dalai Lama’s radical humanity and compassion, Martin Luther King Jr.’s struggle for equal worth and reconciliation, Mother Teresa’s conviction that peace begins in small, concrete acts, and Albert Einstein’s trust in the power of imagination.
The same work with inner images — one to one
-
Christina was full of joy, energy and inspiration. Before the session, I didn’t know how one hour could remove a fear that had lasted for years. By the end, I took off the black hat of ‘fear’ and put on a new one, full of colours and energy. Her words motivated me to face my fear. I highly recommend her sessions.
Nadaa 1:1 coaching · Alexandria (2018)
Lineage of inspiration
- Allan Paivio — Dual Coding Theory Cognitive science: people process experience not solely through language but also through inner images and representations.
- Robert Kegan & Lisa Lahey — Immunity to Change Developmental psychology (Harvard): lasting change requires engaging with implicit beliefs and competing inner commitments.
- Intercultural communication studies — Hall, Hofstede, Bennett Surfacing implicit cultural assumptions and fostering understanding across difference.
- Business and organisational studies — Drucker, Schein Attention to the unsaid and to the dynamics beneath the surface of teams and organisations.
- David Cooperrider — Appreciative Inquiry Organisational research: generative questions as the starting point for collective development. “We live in worlds our conversations create.”
- Michael White & David Epston — Narrative Therapy The externalisation of problems. “The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem.”
- Virginia Satir — Family Therapy Family sculptures and making relational patterns visible. “Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated.”
- Richard Schwartz — Internal Family Systems Working with inner parts as a path to integration and healing.
- Hal & Sidra Stone — Voice Dialogue Dialogue with inner voices and the development of a conscious observing self.
- Vernon Woolf — Holodynamics Visualising inner potentials and working dialogically with emerging possibilities.
- Dr Rod Newton & Ilona Selke — Living from Vision Conscious work with images of the future and inner visions as orientation for processes of change.
The conflict is no longer between us. It becomes something we can look at together.
If you would like to facilitate a conversation in which the unspoken becomes observable, let’s talk about it.
Start a conversation Home