What Is Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and How Can It Help Me?

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a personal development system developed in the early 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, in association with Gregory Bateson. It uses a toolbox of strategies, axioms and beliefs about human perception and subjective experience.

NLP's core idea is that an individual's thoughts, gestures and words interact to create one's perception of the world. By changing one's outlook, therefore, a person can improve his attitudes and actions. These observations can be changed by applying a variety of techniques.

NLP teaches that a person can develop successful habits by amplifying helpful behaviours and diminishing negative ones. Positive change can come when one carefully reproduces the behaviours and beliefs of successful people (called 'modelling'). It also states that all human beings have all the resources necessary for success within themselves. (based on the idea that if you want to be successful do what a successful person does).

Bandler and Grinder credited three successful therapists Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson as NLP's major inspirations. They 'modeled' the therapists and developed special “patterns” for general communication, rapport-building and self-improvement. NLP author Robert Dilts calls the system "the study of the structure of subjective experience."

Techniques

Anchoring

NLP teaches that we constantly make anchors (associations) between what we see, hear and feel and our emotional states. While in an emotional state if a person is exposed to a unique stimulus (sight, sound or touch) then a connection is made between the emotion and the unique stimulus. If the unique stimulus occurs again, the emotional state will then be triggered. NLP teaches that anchors (such as a particular touch associated with a memory or state) can be deliberately created and triggered to help people access 'resourceful' or other target states.Anchoring appears to have been imported into NLP from family therapy as part of the 'model' of Virginia Satir.

Swish

The swish pattern is a process that is designed to disrupt a pattern of thought from one that used to lead to an unwanted behaviour to one that leads to a desired behaviour. This involves visualizing a 'cue' which leads into the unwanted behaviour, such as a smokers hand moving towards the face with a cigarette in it, and reprogramming the mind to 'switch' to a visualization of the desired outcome, such as a healthy looking person, energetic and fit. In addition to visualization, auditory sound effects are often imagined to enhance the experience. Swish is one of the techniques that involves the manipulation of sub-modalities.

Re-framing

Another technique, re-framing functions through "changing the way you perceive an event and so changing the meaning. When the meaning changes, responses and behaviours will also change. Re-framing with language allows you to see the world in a different way and this changes the meaning. Re-framing is the basis of jokes, myths, legends, fairy tales and most creative ways of thinking." There are examples in children's literature. Pollyanna would play The Glad Game whenever she felt down about life, to remind herself of the things that she could do, and not worry about the things she couldn't. Alice Mills also says that this occurs in Hans Christian Andersen's story where to the surprise of the ugly duckling, the beautiful creatures welcome and accept him; gazing at his reflection, he sees that he too is a swan.^[30]Reframing is common to a number of therapies and was not original to NLP.

Six step re-frame

An example of re-framing is found in the six-step re-frame which involves distinguishing between an underlying intention and the consequent behaviours for the purpose of achieving the intention by different and more successful behaviours. It is based on the notion that there is a positive intention behind all behaviours, but that the behaviours themselves may be unwanted or counter-productive in other ways. NLP uses this staged process to identify the intention and create alternative choices to satisfy that intention.

Well-formed outcome

In NLP this is one of a number of 'frames' wherein the desired state is considered as to its achievability and effect if achieved. A positive outcome must be defined by the client, be within the clients power to achieve, retain the positive products of the unwanted behaviours and produce an outcome that is appropriate for all circumstances.

Ecology

This is a frame within which the desired outcome is checked against the consequences in the clients life and relationships from all angles.

Parts integration

Parts Integration is based on the idea that different aspects of ourselves are in conflict due to different perceptions and beliefs. 'Parts integration' is the process of integrating the disparate aspects of the self by identifying and then negotiating with the separate parts to achieve resolution of internal conflict. Parts integration appears to be modelled on 'parts' from family therapy and has similarities to ego-state therapy in psychoanalysis.

VK/D

VK/D stands for 'Visual/Kinesthetic Dissociation'. This is a technique designed to eliminate bad feelings associated with past events by re-running (like a film, sometimes in reverse) an associated memory in a dissociated state. It combines elements of Eriksonian techniques, spatial sorting processes from Fritz Perls, re-framing and 'changing history' techniques.

Metaphor

Largely derived from the ideas of Bateson and the techniques of Erikson, 'metaphor' in NLP ranges from simple figures of speech to allegories and stories. It tends to be used in conjunction with the skills of the Milton model to create a story which operates on many levels with the intention of communicating with the unconscious and to find and challenge basic assumptions.

Keep it Hypnotic

David