Origins and History:

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a model of therapy that focuses on resolving problems by identifying the way that individuals create and also maintain their problems through the way they think and what they believe. The problem then can be resolved by changing the patient's though patterns and mental strategies in order to give the patients more and better choices. NLP uses patterns of though that can influence individual's behaviour as a means of improving the quality and effectiveness of their lives. NLP offers a paradigm of how the brain works (neuro), how language interacts with the brain (linguistic), and how individuals sequence their actions in order to obtain the desired results (programming). Programming has nothing to do with computers. Instead, the idea of NLP is an effective and proven vehicle for accelerated human change, a vehicle that radically alters the perceived need for lengthy psychotherapy.

NLP was initially created by linguist John Grinder along with computer scientist and Gestalt therapist Richard Bandler, along with their associates, principally Robert Dilts. Together they produced a linguistic model based on the language patterns of psychotherapists, principally the work of the following people: Hypnotherapist Milton Erickson; Fritz Perls, the originator of Gestalt Therapy; anthropologist Gregory Bateson; and Virginia Satir, who was the pioneer of family systemic therapy. The common factor amongst these people who were orignially modelled was their success in their respective fields. Their findings were partly published in the two volume work Structure of Magic in 1976. The synthesis of their findings, which are a blend of cognitive science and behavioural science, resulted in the technology that is now known as Neuro Linguistic Programming. Although the original research and work relating to NLP was performed more than 20 years ago, the NLP model continues to develop and evolve.

Mechanism of Action According to Its Own Theory.

NLP is defined as the study of the structure of subjective experience, in other words how we make sense of our experiences and construct our mental world. When used in therapy, NLP uses these principles to give patients more choices in their own frames of reference. It does not seek to impose a theory or practice that the patient must accept in order to proceed.

According to NLP, thought is a representation of sensory experience. The five sense (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, gustatory) are known in NLP as the five main representational systems. NLP proposes that the way we think is shown by our words, body language, and eye movements. It instructs in ways to use the mind to achieve specific and desired outcomes consistently. The practitioner models how the patient produces the presenting problem by listening to the patient's spoken language, watching the patient's body language, and asking specific questions to identify the patient's values and beliefs. When the patient and practitioner both understand how the problem is produced, the can work together to resolve it.

Because NLP began from modelling excellent communicators, it is heavily based in communication theory. Unlike many forms of psychotherapy, NLP can also be used in non therapeutic contexts, uch as business, sales, sports, education and training.

NLP shares many aspects of solution orientated therapy and cognitive brief therapy. The patient's goals are carefully considered and evaluated. Additionally, NLP uses some approaches and language patterns from Ericksonian Hypnotherapy. Many hypnotherapists train in NLP to help them to become more effective at trance work. NLP has its roots firmly in clinical hypnosis, but NLP therapists do not usually perform formal hypnotic inductions or use trance explicitly. However, as in many forms of therapy NLP uses the natural occurring trance states of the patient to explore the inner experience of the problem.

Office Applications:

NLP has been useful in treating the following conditions, beginning with those most likely to respond and progressing to those less likely to respond. As with all alternative therapies, use of NLP does not preclude the use of mainstream medical therapies.

Phobias: The NLP model has been used to treat most identified types of phobia. The success rate is high because NLP helps the patient to rationalise and resolve the phobia, thus allowing the patient to release the unrequired fear. It is also a short procedure and lasts no longer than a half hour in most cases.

Limiting Beliefs: NLP is very effective in these conditions by bringing limited beliefs into awareness so they can be resolved.

Smoking Cessation: NLP allows patients to change their response to cigarettes, thus allowing them to cease smoking. This is not done through substitution, but through values and belief changes. Through these changes, secondary issues related to smoking cessation, such as weight gain and irritability, can be reduced if not totally eliminated.

Stress Management: Through strategy elicitation, patients are taught how to recognise stress causation and manage its effect in a more healthy way. In some cases this can induce a modest reduction in blood pressure.

Assertiveness: NLP deals with assertiveness by linking the specific situations and interactions with identified intrapsychic resources.

Neurosis: NLP helps patients to recognise the causes of their neurosis. By getting patients to acknowledge and take ultimate responsibility for the causes and take ultimate responsibility for it, NLP give the patients the necessary tools to use their own resources to overcome the neurosis.

Weight Control: NLP can be used to teach patients about changes in their behaviour in ways quite unrelated to dieting alone.

Performance Enhancement: NLP allow patients to reach their maximum potential in sports and other areas.

Gender Dysphoria: NLP is used to reconcile patient's "parts" so they can cease to be in conflict with each other, thus allowing patients to accept who they are without some of the tendencies related to this condition. Parts refers to the different personality elements. An example of this could be the part of me that wants to smoke while another part of me wants to quit. Through a process known as chunking both parts are taught that they have the same ultimate purpose so that there is no need for conflict.

Schizophrenia: NLP has also been used to help schizophrenics to improve. This is not to say NLP has cured psychosis, but it has in some cases helped to alleviate some symptoms associated with these conditions.

NLP is used primarily either within hypnotherapeutic interventions or as a stand alone therapy. NLP is a rapid form of therapy, with a series of techniques that are very easy to understand. NLP can be used by a variety of practitioners who need to elicit information from patients and use forms of suggestion therapy. Use of NLP techniques can help therapists make more effective suggestions to their patients.

NLP is a rapid form of therapy. Furthermore, the linguistic model (Meta Model) is extremely useful in eliciting problems and also getting patients to become clear about their desired outcome for the treatment. The model of hypnotic language (Milton Model) is very effective in eliciting resources of which the patient has been unaware.

The most reliable way to choose a practitioner is to see if the person is certified through one of the main certifying bodies or trained by one of the accepted developers of NLP. Additionally, the practitioner should belong to an existing professional body for NLP, such as NFNLP, ABNLP, The Society of NLP, or INLPTA.

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