Neuro Linguistic Programming
NLP is perhaps one of the most difficult sphere of hypnotherapy
to explain. In fact hypnosis is not always needed to administer NLP, but the two are closely related.
Many therapists or experts state that NLP means different
things to different people and decline to explain further. Others go into such an in depth jargon filled explanation that
everyone is left scratching their heads.
History
Neuro Linguistic Programming was developed in the mid
1970's by John Grinder, who was an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of California, and Richard Bandler,
a mathematician at the same University.
Much of early NLP was based on the work of Virginia Satir,
a family therapist and Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt Therapy. Over the years much development has taken place and today
there are many variations although the principle remains the same.
The Meaning
Neuro - how we use our five senses and
nervous system to translate experiences into thought processes both consciously and subconsciously.
Linguistic - the use of words to interpret
and communicate experiences to ourselves and others.
Programming - how we utilize our experiences
to achieve our desired goal.
What is NLP
NLP is mostly defined as the study of human excellence.
Take for example a person who has an exceptional ability at running, their ability is the result of a recipe of beliefs, thought
processes, physiologies and communication patterns.
Now if we form a model based on that individuals mental
approach, the resultant formula can then be applied using various techniques to another person who is seeking to improve their
own running ability.
Taking things a step further the formula for success
can be suitably adapted and applied to other areas of life which we wish to improve.
Techniques
1) Anchoring - gestures and/or words
that produce and stimulate a target response.
2) Language patterns - work with self
perception.
3) Metaprograms - the values and self-beliefs
which determines our understanding and relationship to the world and in turn affects the way we make decisions.
4) Strategies - a set of explicit mental
and behavioral steps used to achieve a specific outcome.
5) Reframing - a process used to separate
a problematic behavior from the positive intention.
6) Submodalities - the fine tuning of
our internal audio and visual representations.
The above is by no means a conclusive list of techniques,
these are the basics of which there are many varieties.
How does it work?
NLP works by addressing any problematic believes which
may exist on a conscious or subconscious level, these negative believes can sabotage the persons ability to progress or improve.
Once the problematic areas have been identified they
can then be replaced by a new belief that supports self-improvement.
The new belief can be developed with the use of a pre-existing
model of behavior and adapted to be compatible with the persons value system.
Depending on the persons original problem any number
of techniques can be used until they feel and behave in a way which supports achieving their desired goal.
Copyright, Mind Potion 2003 - 2008
