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This article is about neuro-linguistic programming. For neurolinguistics, a branch of neuroscience, see that article.

Contents

[edit] Overview

NLP is acknowledged by many authors to be unusually difficult to classify,[1] [2] partly because it is many things at the same time – philosophy, worldview, working methodology, and library of techniques being some of them.

NLP can be seen, or used, as a methodology or a technique. It is at least three things: 1) an approach to studying people's inner (subjective) realities designed for complex systems such as people and society, 2) a system that suggests how to identify "good" (pivotal) facts in human contexts, and also 3) a practical guide to the key strategies used by the world's most skilled experts in human change, to work effectively (semi-optimally, skillfully) with peoples' widely differing cognitive maps of the world.

[edit] Definition and scope of NLP

NLP attempts to understand and answer in a practical, useful and precise way (as opposed to vaguely citing "personality", "psychology" or "chance"), the internal structures and systems which explain why people differ in skill, accomplishment, and subjective perception.[3] It seeks to provide a general approach and practical skills, to help a competent guide to generatively and more capably guide others in a consistently more effective way, despite immense variability of people, psychologies and circumstances. It draws on anything that might shed light on human subjective functioning (ie how people see their own and others lives, or choose their actions and interactions), and is intended to be broadly applicable to anything within that same realm.

For this reason, NLP is goal not theory focussed. There is no "theory" of people as yet, only useful principles best discovered by examining those who have extraordinarily effective skills, and examining what it is that makes these people "effective". Likewise, NLP does not attempt to determine what is 'true', since people are far too complex to be sure of truth. Instead it attempts to find useful generalizations and working models. NLP approaches this task by examining how those people who have proved excellent at a subject, have developed their own ways to do it, and by attempting to make systematic observations which summarize those approaches and make it possible for others to obtain similar results. NLP's philosophy and attitudes are not secondary or ephemeral:- they are stated to be as crucial for "good" NLP as the scientific method is for "good" science.[4]

NLP's approach is iterative or heuristic, rather than deterministic. Its purpose is to function effectively (robustly, semi-optimally) within the wide ranging idiosyncracy of the human conscious, unconscious and social realms. It involves clarifying how individuals do what they do and create their own realities, whether excellent or dysfunctional. The central finding of NLP are as follows:

  1. The important features of human perception, emotion and cognition, which drive visible and inner behaviors and other subjectively important (conscious, unconscious, and abstract) internal processes, turn out to have a high level functional description and structure.[5]
  2. Although highly individual, these share many commonalities, can be pieced together through awareness of common patterns of speech and behavior, and are the unconscious basis of the approaches used by a wide range of the most expert communicators and therapists.
  3. The cognitively important functions and neurological and physiological processes which together create a person's inner experience, can therefore be usefully documented, described and employed in a cybernetics and systems sense, rather than merely categorized in a psychological (taxonomy) sense, and this is a powerful worldview for understanding people and their psychology.
  4. These internal behaviors and structures are not very hidden nor predetermined. They are accessible (and flexible) with the right skills. One can directly describe these patterns, and interact with them (and everyone does so), with varying degrees of competence, using the very same language, world-view, and patterns.
  5. The essential skills for this are sensory acuity and a willingness to consistently be extremely open and adaptable (both internally and externally).


Since each person creates their own views, skills and tricks of communication, some of which will give rise to new perspectives and efficiencies, NLP is by design very open to the development of new or improved models and concepts.

Note that NLP does not place a limit on what is capable of being represented within, by, or through, human bodily systems. So NLP considers it legitimate to study the subjective experience and processes, within anything that humans claim to experience. This has led to wide proliferation, for example:

Area of use Examples
Recognized communication phenomena Listening, negotiation, fact-finding, sales and management coaching, anger management, assertiveness, education (especially when problematic), parent-child and doctor-patient communication
Psychological phenomena Phobias, traumas, depression, self-sabotage, locus of control, mental health
Medical phenomena Pain control, ways to influence illness/wellness, aging
Phenomena mediated primarily by the unconscious Post-hypnotic suggestion, unconscious communications, trance induction and utilization, perceptional changes
Altered states Alcoholism, depression, dissociation, addiction, religious fervor
Broadly acknowledged but non-scientific phenomena Meditation, spirituality, ESP, enlightenment
Body and lifestyle change
  • Smoking, weight loss, relationships, goals, self-image, spiritual growth
  • But also: breast and penis enlargement, finding sexual partners, psychic manipulation [6]
Skills and expertise
  • Problem solving, decision making, creativity, skills enhancement, learning, metacognition
  • "Unpacking" of skills and situations[7] to reveal a way to make them separable, transferable, and examine them analytically
Modelling of famous people from descriptions Ie, identifying and proposing from what is known of them, detailed studies of their key inner experiences, beliefs and ways of thinking which enable them to be as they are/were) Examples: Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mozart, Nikola Tesla and Sherlock Holmes [8]
Methodological development Development and systemization of more efficient and varied approaches to work with human lives

[edit] Overview of training and development

Training in NLP usually centers upon four intertwined areas: - Learning neutral sensory-based observation and self-awareness until second nature; reacting creatively and with precision and elegance to others; practicing mixing into these a small repetoire of useful 'backbone' NLP techniques; and proactively developing and refining ones skills. NLP is almost always taught experientially by repeated practice, rather than conceptually.[9]

Development and refinement of NLP itself consists of identifying new useful generalizations (including generalizations and extensions to the methodology), and creating a library of both trusted and novel concepts and processes which are tested and refined over time, rather than creating a "theory" of behavior.

[edit] Meaning of "neuro-linguistic programming"

The term "NLP" itself signifies that at heart, it is a set of models and principles meant to explore how mind and neurology (neuro), language patterns (linguistic), and the organization of human perception and cognition into systemic patterns (programming) interact to create subjective reality and human behaviors, and beyond that, how people experience and can change the ways their interplay affects their bodies, emotions, skills, and lives. Some areas covered by the term include:

  • Neuro - neurology, the brain/body system, cognition, emotion, perception, and subjective experience
  • Linguistic - the powerful way that language and its various structures express and impact upon our thoughts, the translation process between thought and word, and how these can identify internal perceptions, manipulate, guide, or liberate, depending upon the listener.
  • Programming - habitual structures, cognitive processes, patterns, mental and physical habits, and the way that the brain in some respects can be effectively considered to be running "mini programs" for much of peoples' lives, which influence and can be influenced by human choices, experience, and communication.

[edit] Historical background of NLP

Main article: History of NLP

NLP was developed jointly by Richard Bandler and John Grinder under the tutelage of anthropologist, social scientist, linguist and cyberneticist Gregory Bateson, at the University of California, Santa Cruz, during the 1960s and 1970s.

Originally a study into how excellent psychotherapists were achieving results they did, it rapidly grew into a field and methodology of its own, based around the skill of modeling which was used to identify and confirm aspects of others behaviors and ways of thinking that led them to notability in their field.

The initial three individuals Grinder and Bandler modeled[10] were world renowned: Fritz Perls (gestalt therapy), Virginia Satir (family therapy) and Milton H. Erickson (hypnotherapy). Others considered highly competent such as Frank Farrelly (provocative therapy),[11] Moshé Feldenkrais (bodywork) and Feritz Climents[12] a secluded but exceptional therapist, followed. The consistent patterns and approaches they appeared to be using, became the basis of NLP.

Grinder and Bandler analyzed the speaking patterns, voice tones, word selection, gesticulations, postures, and eye movements of these individuals and related this information to the internal thinking process of each participant. These were the first "NLP modeling" projects. The findings of these projects have been widely used and integrated into many other fields, from health and disability, to law enforcement, to hypnotherapy and coaching.

Neuro-linguistic programming initially attracted mostly therapists, followed by interest from business, sales people, artists, and "new-agers" (Hall, 1994). As interest expanded,[13] others joined the core development group, including Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Judith DeLozier, Robert Dilts, and David Gordon. Early seminars were often published as popular books such as Frogs into Princes, by Grinder and Bandler and especially by Steve and Connirae Andreas.

With the 1980s, Grinder and Bandler fell out, and amidst acrimony and intellectual property lawsuits, NLP started to be developed haphazard by many individuals, some ethically, and some opportunistically, often under multiple confusing brand names. During the 1990s, attempts were made to put NLP on a more formal and better regulated footing, in countries such as the UK. Around 2000, the law suits finally became settled.[14]

[edit] Influences

The earliest influences on NLP, were the emergence of several influential schools of thought around 1950 - 1970, including Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics (unconscious filtering in human perception), Noam Chomsky's transformational grammar (language has both surface and deep structure), Bateson's own approach to studying behavior (as a cyberneticist and social anthropologist) including cultural relativism (meaning only exists within a context), and the growth in the 1960s of the human potential movement. The Esalen human potential seminars in California (where Grinder and Bandler were located) attracted a wide range of thinkers and lay-people, and NLP's first models stemmed from Bandler helping Fritz Perls transcribe his Gestalt seminars. Some people also trace a relationship with George Kelly, and experiential constructivism, in NLP.[15]

The founders also began with a philosophy of "doing" rather than "theorizing". This may have been due to the strong counterculture (anti-establishment) mood at the time.[16] Whilst there was respect for the scientific method (hypothesize, test, question),[17] there was less regard for the concerns and approval of mainstream science orthodoxy in doing so. Likewise there was little thought of control or standards, or of setting guidelines; the field was left open for those interested to explore.

A final set of influences were that dominant notions of behaviorism and determinism were rapidly becoming disfavored, and issues such as the subjective character of experience were becoming more accepted, bringing with it such questions as the subject-object problem, recognition of cognitive biases, and discussion of the philosophy of perception and the nature of reality. These undoubtedly influenced Grinder and Bandler to study the effectiveness of their subjects from an anthropological (observational) basis, seeking to understand what their behavior signified, rather than a psychoanalytic approach attempting to fit them into a theory.[16]

[edit] Self-descriptions and quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Bandler & Grinder:[18]

"We have no idea about the 'real' nature of things ... The function of modeling is to arrive at descriptions which are useful."

Bandler:[19]

"You want to become competent at whatever you do. That does not mean to get phobics, who shake in their boots while their blood pressure blows through the roof, to believe, "This is not fear." The object is to get them to stay calm and alert, and to stay in their own lane, and to drive across the bridge, which remains standing.
Ask yourself; "Can we build better?" To build those things we have to be able to suspend whatever belief system we already have. Keep it out of the way... Those things get very, very personal. We're talking about basic beliefs regarding human capability. Here's the only truth about that. Nobody knows."

Bandler:[20]

"The ability to change the process by which we experience reality is more often valuable than changing the content of our experience of reality"

Steve and Connierae Andreas:[21]

"We have presented these patterns as explicitly and systematically as we can, in order to make it easy for you to learn them. We have presented them in great detail, and warned you about all the mistakes we and others have made with them, to make it hard for you to use them inappropriately. Once you have taken the time to learn these methods thoroughly, you can become more flexible and artistic in utilizing them with clients, with confidence that your behavior will remain systematic and effective."

Bandler, definition of NLP:[22]

"an attitude and a methodology that leaves behind a trail of techniques."

[edit] No one "correct version" of NLP

Due in part to its roots, philosophy, cultural influences, and (later on) lawsuits regarding intellectual ownership, NLP became highly fragmented during the 1980's. Whilst there is strong consensus on most of what might be called "core NLP", many practitioners have used the existing approaches to extend this in their own preferred directions. There are diverse views within NLP whether this has had a positive effect, avoided stagnation and led to rapid exploration of the human experience, or whether the loss of regulation and a degree of central discipline and standard-setting has been harmful to the field.

Individual trainers have often idiosyncratically developed their own methods, concepts and labels, branding them under the "NLP" name, and often rebranding existing concepts in the process. Thus:

Many of the above terms are trademarked by their owners. NLP itself is a generic term, not owned by any one individual or group.[14]


[edit] NLP attitudes and worldview

NLP is notable for its core attitudes and philosophical worldview. These are variously called principles, fundamentals, working approaches, attitudes, or presuppositions, in different publications, and are usually cognitive science and other observations presented in the form of aphorisms (sayings).[23] Although most are commonly cited within NLP, there is no single authoritative list or wording.

It is important to emphasize that this is a purely conceptual division in order to cover the subject more effectively. NLP itself does not particularly compartmentalize its structures,[24] which are designed for use as an integrative whole directed towards a well-formed outcome (or conceptually "clean" goal). According to Jane Revell, a British NLP trainer:

"The presuppositions of Neuro-Linguistic Programming are not a philosophy or a credo or a set of rules and regulations. Rather, they are assumptions upon which individuals base future actions and plan for meaningful learning experiences..." [96]

For the purposes of this article, they are split into three sections:

  1. Worldview - the NLP worldview and the backbone of its philosophy
  2. Structural concepts - the core concepts and claimed discoveries about human cognition and experience, and the building blocks of its actual techniques and tools
  3. Working approaches and methods - how the skills and techniques are to be used, and the contextual frames, approaches and guidance to be adopted, to use NLP effectively and gain maximum benefit from it.

[edit] NLP's world view

Subjectivity

Unlike classical psychology, the subjective character of experience is integral to NLP. (Subjective in the NLP sense means "as internally experienced", rather than 'arbitrary' or 'whimsical'). It is taken for granted that what people perceive, believe and feel, is more significant to their lives than what is objectively 'true', and takes for granted that each person's awareness and inner world is different and unique. It is emphasized that one must leave ones' own preconceptions behind, and be willing to understand and work within the other person's "reality", to have any great effect, since no one map of reality can be said to be "true". There are only (in NLP's view) better or worse maps,[25] a concept taken from Korzybski's general semantics.

There is an order and a structured logic to it. But that order and logic varies individually and people interact and judge their (and others) lives and actions based upon their own understandings of the world, not upon some objective reality.

Human nature

NLP does not (subject to physiological pathology) consider people "broken" or "working". All people have a neurology, experience of life, and the innate ability to change their perspective on any aspect of their life, and the nature of neurology is very adaptable. They also have great wisdom in their unconscious minds, even if they do not seem to be able to always use it or it seems on the surface, dysfunctional.[26] [27] One does not have to be in trance for unconscious processes to be effective.[28]

NLP view human authenticity as bound up with the capability to respond and how much awareness of choice is experienced in actions and responses.[29] Bandler comments, "We're talking about basic beliefs regarding human capability. Here's the only truth about that. Nobody knows."

In NLP, "understanding" is less important than change.[30] Most human learning occurs outside consciousness, and some learnings may even be sabotaged by conscious attention. According to NLP, the brain is capable of learning (or re-learning) patterns extremely fast, and that change can happen quickly,[31] often without conscious mediation. Dysfunctional patterns can be addressed through cognitive routes (talking therapies) or non-cognitive routes (working with the body and unconscious mind), and particularly, by directly retraining the mind to use its innate capability to learn new patterns in a deliberate manner. NLP believes that "People already have all the resources they need, to change", that the mind/brain is very willing to change once it "knows" how, and that guided with skill and sensitivity, change provides an increased sense of control over ones' life.

A powerful demonstration of these interactions by Baxter (1994) found that NLP reframing used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder in place of Prozac, resulted in the same raised serotonin levels and reduced caudate nucleus activity as control subjects who took medication (as measured by positron emission tomography, a type of neural imaging).[32]

Systems view

People are complex adaptive (learning) systems and processes, and have a richness to them which no simple system can fully predict or capture. Our bodies, our societies, and our planet form an ecology of complex systems and sub-systems all of which interact with and mutually influence each other. "Intuitively obvious" results are not always to be expected. Positive and negative feedback, leverage points, interpretational context, and other features of complex systems will come into play. In humans, the body impacts on the mind, and the mind impacts on the body. Thought, emotional state, somatic awareness, perception, and body usage, as well as neurochemistry and other hormonal interactions, and external circumstances, are all profoundly interdependent and deeply connected, and any can influence or be influenced by another.

In NLP it is therefore seen as important not to make untested assumptions about individuals, that there are many more ways than the obvious to approach a seemingly intractable problem, it is understood there will usually be unconscious goals, limiting beliefs or secondary gains present in any situation, and that there is an art as well as a skill in perceiving how best to approach this.[33] Change is also systemic. That is, it does not happen in a vacuum and is not limited to the "problem area", but usually is connected to other aspects of life, which are part of the situation as well as a necessary part of any solution. Partly for this reason, NLP leaves deliberately open and unlimited, its areas of interest and its scope.

As a special case of systemic thinking, NLP emphasizes that change is relational. That is, change happens in a relational context, whether the self-relationship or the relationship with another person (parent, friend, partner, employer, co-worker, role model, clinician, trainer). Change happens in a relationship, and the quality of that relationship, known as rapport, is often critical to the ability to change.[34]

Meaning and context in communication

NLP views meaning as only existing within a given context, a view known as cultural relativism which is axiomatic in anthropology. Because of this, NLP states The meaning of communication is the result you get – it is not message sent, but message received, and willingness to set aside preconceived interpretive frames, which is most significant in communication.

The process of interpreting "meaning" from thought and speech is complex and (as pointed out in sciences such as cognitive linguistics, transformational grammar and general semantics) can involve a wide range of distortions, errors, and mistranslations because internal experiences, thoughts and feelings have to be translated back and forth through conscious perceptual filters, into crude symbols known as 'words'. The resulting patterns of speech are considered highly revealing of the unconscious perceptual filters involved.

NLP considers all behavior, at some level, communicative. Thus even undesired or clinical states such as depression and confusion have a structure, a purpose, and an underlying communication – or in other words, on their own terms, all mental states have a rational structure within their given context. Such states are often viewed by NLP not as problems, but as valuable resource states which are not being understood or acted upon, or a part of a person trying to grow or change, or which require a better 'map' of reality.[35] NLP also considers much communication metaphorical, and that even its own tools can be philosophically interpreted as metaphors used to guide useful responses, rather than literal objective 'truth statements'.[30] [36]

Form and content

In NLP, underlying subjective (perceived, cognitive) structure ("form") matters more than specific situational "content". The subjective structure of a perceived problem matters more than the situation in which it is embedded. This is an embodiment of the form/content distinction in philosophy, also favored by Western psychiatric medicine (an innovation first argued for by psychiatrists Karl Jaspers and Kurt Schneider), and is also a feature within cognitive linguistics.

NLP takes this principle into the field, with so-called "content free" work being a common respected NLP skill – that is, where no details of the situation are shared or sought, but only the cognitive features of how it is structured are relevant. Despite the practitioner lacking knowledge of the actual situation, knowledge of the structural aspects alone (modalities, strategies, outcome orientation and the like) are often sufficient by themselves to allow NLP to work with full effectiveness. Common rationales for working with reduced content in this manner are:

  • The less content is involved, the more the practitioner is client- rather than self- or interpretation-focussed
  • The less distraction (ie, loss of strategic focus) due to content is likely to arise.
  • Other than perhaps for rapport purposes, the extra information is generally not very relevant to NLP's strategic structural approach, so it is wasteful of time to dwell on it
NLP is in the present and oriented towards the future

No matter the personal history, the only memory of it is in the present neurology and life. The past has no existance independent of this. Therefore what is explored is the memory and impressions of events in the present – present experiences, present constructions, and present limits, including the present beliefs about their existance and origins. What is then aimed for is to build in the present, a changed future, where old, outdated, or dysfunctional beliefs and patterns are no longer an issue.

[edit] Common aphorisms (or principles)

The following are some of NLP's most recognized principles and presuppositions, in their well known aphoristic forms. They are often summarized as soundbites so as to be short, pithy, and memorable, and a fuller discussion of these (as well as some of the other common NLP sayings) is given in Principles of NLP.

Perspectives:

  • The map is not the territory [37]
  • People already have all the resources they need to succeed [or change]

Systemic view:

  • Life and 'Mind' are systemic processes

Information and interpretation:

  • Behind every behavior is a positive intention [38]
  • There is no failure, only feedback [39]
  • The meaning of your communication is the response you get [40]
  • Choice is better than no choice (and flexibility is the way one gets choice) [41]
  • Multiple descriptions are better than one
  • There are no resistant clients; there are only incompetent [less skilled] therapists

Working approaches:

  • If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got
    (or: If what you are doing isn't working, try something [anything] else)
  • Good NLP is 90% information gathering and testing, and 10% changework
  • Everyone is different
  • Use whatever works [42]
  • If something can be done effectively and ecologically in ten minutes, don't spend an hour doing it

[edit] Taxonomy (classification) and connected subjects

As described already, NLP has been called many things – methodology, displipline, study, toolbox, placebo, philosophy. Grinder makes a distinction between NLPModeling and NLPApplication [97]. Notable suggestions for classification include:

  1. NLP is described as an empirical epistemology; that is, a way of knowing with evidence obtained by experiment and observation rather than results derived from an overall theory.
  2. NLP is often described as an "art and science",[43] since (like the sciences) it requires a clinical approach and hypothesis-test cycle, but also (like the arts) it is not simply technique based; it is also dependent upon human artistry.
  3. NLP's approach and philosophy have also been described as closer to a technology or methodology, rather than a science, and often identified as similar to engineering, in the sense that its question is "what works" rather than "what is true".
  4. NLP is sometimes described as a "meta-discipline" or metacognition (gr: meta="beyond"), since its focus is around learning favorable ways to learn, knowledge about favorable ways to gather knowledge, skills for developing skills, and a study of useful approaches for good study. In this sense its definitional difficulty comes because unlike most fields it makes no rigid distinction between subject and object. (See Meta)

Within science, NLP has been considered to bear closest relationship to cognitive science,[44] whose central views on cognition it closely parallels.[36]

The UK Council for Psychotherapy, a regulatory body, classifies NLP therapy under Experiential Constructivism. The Association for NLP notes that classifying NLP was also "quite a source of debate within UKCP".[2]

[edit] NLP as a discipline

NLP lacks a central body able to speak for the field. Instead it has respected voices and a range of associations and practitioner bodies. Since the 1990s, various individuals and groups have attempted to address this, and in some countries NLP is professionally respected, however the field as a whole has historically lacked a firm disciplinary structure.

The British 'Association for NLP' is an example of one such body, whose professional structure includes:

  • Compulsary and highly regarded[45] codes for Conduct, ethics, disiplinary system, and professional supervision. [98] The Code of Conduct covers a range of professional conduct issues, including a requirement for continuing professional development, honestly representing their skills and NLP itself, and that NLP interventions should be represented "as an option and at no time as a certain solution."
  • Separation of training and counselling to a separate sub-body.
  • Criteria for NLP therapist application includes M.A. or equivalent, 400 hours formal training, master practitioner certificate, "knowledge of other psychotherapeutic approaches", indemnity insurance, 2 years supervised client work and ongoing development and supervision.
  • Validation panel comprising a majority (6 of 11) of external non-NLP examiners "chosen for their experience and reputation in the field of psychotherapy".

In 1994 the ANLP's Professional and Counselling Services was awarded a representative on the Governing Board of the UK Council for Psychotherapy, the regulatory body for psychotherapy in the UK.[46] The ANLP comments that it received above average scrutiny and skepticism before being accepted.[47]

[edit] Training and development structure

NLP is usually taught through courses and seminars, which may be independently run, tied into some specific professional training such as nursing, or teaching, or a syllabus option in some courses.

A significant aspect of NLP training is a focus on informal "practice groups", where people can meet and practice their skills, refine their observation, or learn from others. Given NLP's view that competence is the key rather than theoretical understanding of concepts, and that practice until second nature is the key to good NLP, a structured practice system is a means to meet that need outside any formal training.

In training terms, the basic NLP qualification is a "practitioners certificate",[48] followed by the more advanced "master practitioners" course[49] and various specialized or trainers training courses beyond these. The practitioners' certificate itself usually demonstrates a high level of competence at NLP, with trainings beyond it being further skills and refinement. However as there is no central curriculum or standard setting authority, in practice any person who wishes may set themselves up as a trainer and award these certificates; the reputation of the trainer determines the value of the qualification.

[edit] Distribution and applications

NLP is encountered as a skill, or an application. As an application, it is used by professional therapists, advisors, and communicators. As a skill, it is usually distributed via training courses:

  • NLP training itself; broad based training in the core NLP skillset.
  • Training of NLP 'as applicable to an area' such as sales, counselling, language teaching, or personal development. These may either teach a balanced view of NLP, or may take techniques out of context as pop psychology or manipulation.
  • Training embedded in some other course -- for example established NLP methods used as part of a communications or anger management course.
  • At an extreme, NLP has also at times been distributed charismatically or evangelistically, for example in LGATs (large group seminars). It has also been presented and used as a buzzword to imply a one stop solution to all problems. Some well known trainers have encouraged these trends and the resulting fragmentation and move towards "pop NLP" discredited the subject in the eyes of many people.[50] (This happened similarly in TA).[51]

In mainstream usage, NLP is widely used for communication, therapeutic, skills training and modelling, and clinical purposes, with much NLP targeting specialized markets (particularly commercialized, education, communications or self-help usage), as well as sometimes coaching and personal or business development. Some examples of the scope of NLP usage within credible bodies are given in the footnotes[52] and in Pasztor (1998).[53]

Much NLP has become integrated into the accepted wisdom of other spheres, such as education,[54] [55] clinical work,[56] and other modern therapies,[57] which incorporate and use its methods without attribution. For this reason, many end users are unaware when approaches taught to them are NLP-based, which means that the widespread adoption[58] of NLP approaches and technologies into fields such as education, law enforcement, business and management, and social work/healthcare often goes unremarked.

[edit] Criticisms from within the NLP community

Whilst supporting NLP itself, criticisms of current practices from highly respected sources such as Robert Dilts and Steve Andreas, have tended to identify serious concerns in the field:[59]

  • Lack of monolithic orthodoxy and community. Different groups which need to "[come] to agreement about what [NLP is] all about, and what constitute[s] appropriate ways to confirm theories, and so on. That is sorely lacking... [and] is an absolute prerequisite for... consolidation of the field."
  • Failure to "look on NLP as a field of inquiry, and not just a way to make a quick dollar".
  • "Quite a number of NLP trainers, including some of the bigger names in the field, are teaching unecological 'patterns' without any ecology frames whatsoever. That doesn't solve problems, it only exchanges one problem for another..."
  • Practitioner trainings, shortened to 7 days in some extreme cases, are often "accommodations to people's desire for a cheap training with a certificate, not the need for quality" (although in general, their effectiveness is still high[60]). Similarly, trainer training certification which needs to be of a very high standard given the NLP methodology, is often sacrificed for market accessibility and sold with exaggerated titles.[61]

[edit] Controversies

Cult use of NLP methods

Cult exit specialist Steve Hassan studied under Grinder, then left to study the works of NLP's original models more generally. In his book "Combatting Cult Mind Control", Hassan credits NLP's modelling approach with allowing him to "analyze and create a model for the process of change that occurs when a person goes into a cult group and then successfully leaves it." [62]

Hassan states that he does not believe NLP itself or its organizations to be a cult, but is however alarmed that NLP techniques are sometimes employed and misused by various cult leaders to control the minds of their followers. He adds in his book "Releasing the Bonds":[63]

"Although I am aware of several cult leaders specifically studying Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), I suspect that most cult groups use informal hypnotic techniques to induce trance states. They tend to use what are called "naturalistic" hypnotic techniques. Practicing meditation to shut down thinking, chanting a phrase repetitively for hours, or reciting affirmations are all powerful ways to promote spiritual growth. But they can also be used unethically, as methods for mind control indoctrination."
Mass marketing, questionable uses and unethical promotion

Due to several factors – open philosophy, encouragement of creative use, disciplinary fragmentation, lack of central control, and hype within pop psychology – NLP has also come to be adopted or used in a variety of questionable uses. In some of these it is unclear whether any benefit is realized, or if it is merely being used as a buzzword to sell in the mass market to the gullible, manipulative or desperate. A large number of these books are by one well-known author. [6];

A variety of researchers and users[64] as well as notable NLP practitioners,[65] have expressed alarm at the exaggerated claims made by some practitioners, in promotion of NLP as a part of their commercial or self-help interests. Often these involve dubious claims such as seduction, breast and other body part changes, spiritual healing, unethical uses of persuasion or sales techniques, or questionable spiritual and New Age approaches, which apply established NLP techniques to goals of uncertain morality, merit or efficacy.[citation needed] At times NLP is used as a "solve anything" quick-fix solution,[citation needed] and in some cases has been used in LGATs where emotional contagion and the placebo effect can be more relevant than detailed psychological and behavioral observation methods.[citation needed]

Steve Hassan, mentioned above, states[62] he ceased studying NLP directly in the 1980s, because "I became concerned about the ethics of what seemed to be a mass-market campaign to promote NLP as a tool for power enhancement."

Lack of critical self-evaluation of knowledge

Most fields which purport to be scientific, follow the scientific method and critical thinking is expected. This is far less common in the psychological fields, where definitive studies of efficacy and proof of concept are generally "fraught with difficulty," [66] but even so, there is a conflict between two views:

  • Historically, NLP's anarchic approach to development and self-regulation has been seen as fostering more rapid development of concepts, which then become established by informal consensus and usage in an evolutionary manner. In a version of survival of the fittest, poor ideas are left behind, whilst potent ones survive. Critical thinking is expected, but essentially comprises the whim of the individual developer and responses by others to their published works. In line with the philosophy that NLP is a methodology, and utilizes "whatever works", there is no formal testing, rejection or exclusion process for badly-founded ideas.
  • The scientific community's expectation is that serious subjects should actively self regulate, be mindful of placebo and other effects, and act conservatively when considering the use of unverified or anecdotal assertions from their literature and practices.
NLP responses

As NLP lacks any central organization able to speak for the field or discipline inept or unethical practitioners, there is no single response, nor controls established to address the above concerns. NLP practitioners continue to be trained and qualify under courses that vary widely as to scope, focus, and ethics of trainer. Anyone may call themselves an "NLP practitioner" or claim their material includes "NLP".

A degree of change is visible in this area however. A variety of national and international NLP organizations exist, which in effect have become de facto the sole (or one of few) representative bodies for the field in a given country or state. Thus in the United Kingdom, the only sizable body for NLP is the Association for NLP (ANLP), which operates its own membership standards, its own training and counselling arm, and which has representation on various other psychological bodies. In this system, whilst such bodies cannot force practitioners to be members (and many are not), equally those who refuse may find themselves at an increasing disadvantage when it comes to recognition. Similar bodies have come into existence in other countries.[citation needed]

A second approach has come from prominent individuals such as John Grinder, whose book "Whispering in the Wind" co-authored with Bostic St Clair, reviews the history of NLP and re-appraises NLP in the wake of Bandler's lawsuit failure, and what would be needed for NLP to develop.[67] They conclude that a degree of maturity within the field is essential if NLP is to enjoy a positive future.

[edit] See also

Philosophy relevant to NLP


Other developers and users


Systems thinking
Communication


Other topics

[edit] References

  1. ^ Most authors on NLP seem to have their own preferred definitions and classifications, often quite different, implying that no one consensus definition meets each authors' perception.
  2. ^ a b Classifying NLP was "quite a source of debate within UKCP": [1]
  3. ^ Bandler, Time for a Change (p.vii): "We all know of stunningly accomplished people... Some of them, even genuises, had less training, intelligence, talent... you name it, than many mediocre achievers in the same field. [...] The founders of NLP sought to answer that 'Why?' usefully. With a functional answer to that question, we could train people to perform like genuises."
  4. ^ Dr. Marion H. Love, Neuro-Linguistic Programming: A Basis for Language Learning, in The Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning and teaching, Vol. VI 2001: "NLP research and practice over the last twenty-five years confirms that achieving excellence is helped when we act as if we believe the presuppositions which the method promotes." [2]
  5. ^ Bandler: "[NLP]... is predicated upon the belief that all behaviour [ie, whether excellent or dysfunctional] has structure." [3], also cited in The Structure of Magic Vol.I
  6. ^ a b Many of the books on NLP covered in the context of exaggerated claims, seduction, and the paranormal, are written by one particular author, Ross Jeffries. Jeffries' books include titles such as Psychic seduction, Speed seduction, How to get girls into bed, Unstoppable confidence, Psychic influence, Advanced irresistible Arousal, Get people to do what you want, Speed marketing, and the like. Jeffries states that his books address the failings of traditional dating methods by attempting to build bridges between genders and "bring pleasure to both men and women". [4], and another practitioner, James Goodman, proposes a use of the Swish habit-change pattern as "A magical technique that will make your penis larger in its flaccid and erect states simply by using the power of your mind." [5]
  7. ^ Skills in this sense meaning "anything a person can do". Thus "skills" in NLP range from mostly conscious (selling, navigation, timekeeping) to mostly unconscious (photographic memory, human computer) abilities.
  8. ^ Robert Dilts, a well known developer of NLP, has made a hobby of analysing strategies and patterns of famous people from descriptions, in the series Strategies of Genius.
  9. ^ For example John Seymour, a renowned NLP author and trainer, states: "John Seymour Associates uses experiential learning techniques. This enables individuals to have concrete experiences [and] reflection... of themes discussed. Most participants would not have a cognitive recognition of this layered approach, as exercises are oriented to outcomes not to training theory." [6]
    Bandler uses the analogy installation to signify learning by practice until unconsciously competent, stating that well trained NLP trainers "will always teach" this way, not by "teaching technique after technique" [7]
  10. ^ Source Andreas & Faulkner, 1994.
  11. ^ Bandler's personal style as a therapist is often traced to Farrelly's confrontational approach: for example in Peta Heskell's review of Farrelly's work"As [Farrelly] began to speak, and as I watched and listened to the voice, the actions, the wild approach mingled with a wicked humour, it could have been Richard Bandler talking to me." [8]
  12. ^ Climents as a model is from Bandler, Time for a change, p.114-115: "Feritz was one of the most effective clinicians I ever met. He... batted about 0.800. He just had a private practice and didn't make a big deal out of it... He did some amazing things."
  13. ^ CITE NEEDED: "Dilts, 1991"
  14. ^ a b Bandler and Grinder court settlement agreement and UK court judgement. The US Superior Court (February 2000) and UK High Court (Clarkson v. Bandler) both concluded that NLP was a generic term not owned by any one person. The settlement between Bandler and Grinder, summarized in Appendix A of Whispering in the Wind (2001) stated that "they are the co-creators and co-founders of the technology of Neuro-linguistic Programming. Drs. Grinder and Bandler recognize the efforts and contributions of each other in the creation and initial development of NLP [....] Dr. John Grinder and Dr. Richard Bandler mutually agree to refrain from disparaging each other's efforts, in any fashion, concerning their respective involvement in the field of Neuro-linguistic Programming."
  15. ^ ANLP report on UKCP validation: "Finding a pigeon hole for NLP was quite a source of debate within UKCP [the UK Council for Psychotherapy] and we are now in a group called Experiential Constructivists which is made up of the ANLP and Personal Construct Psychology. PCP grew out of the work of George Kelly in the 1950s." [9]
  16. ^ a b Mathison & Tosey (2003) p. 9-10: "The origins of NLP in Santa Cruz, California, and its the explicit anti-theoretical stance in the early statements of the originators surely contributed to little support and lack of academic interest. Bandler and Grinder perhaps focused were more interested on observation and immersion in imitating their models and preference for experience first, rather than underlying concepts saying, We have no idea about the 'real' nature of things, and we're not particularly interested in what's 'true'. The function of modeling is to arrive at descriptions which are useful. (Bandler and Grinder 1979 p.7)"
  17. ^ NLP uses the T.O.T.E. testing model, which is iterative in nature, and observational awareness of consistent correlations in behavior and thought, for its hypothesize-test process.
  18. ^ Bandler & Grinder (1979) p.7.
  19. ^ Bandler, Time for a Change, 1993, p. 2-5.
  20. ^ http://www.purenlp.com/nlpresp.htm
  21. ^ Andreas, Change your mind and keep the Change, 1987, p. x - xi
  22. ^ http://www.masteringstuttering.com/NLPDefined.htm
  23. ^ Mathison and Tosey (2003 p.9-10) comment that NLP's preference for "aphoristic expression of the presuppositions... that had been generated through applications and experience" may have been a "contributing factor" to common perceptions of NLP, because they can be perceived as soundbites or buzzwords rather than axioms from cognitive science.
  24. ^ Steve and Connirae Andreas advocate this approach in explaining NLP: "We have presented these patterns as explicitly and systematically as we can, in order to make it easy for you to learn them... Once you have taken the time to learn these methods thoroughly, you can become more flexible and artistic in utilizing them". (Change your mind and keep the Change, 1987, p. x - xi).
  25. ^ In this context, the meaning of a "map" is ones understanding of the world and how it works, and ones beliefs about it and about oneself. These may be true or mistaken. The function of ones understandings and beliefs is to help one be capable of navigating that reality, or making competent choices in ones life. In this sense it is a "map" of reality.
  26. ^ Virginia Satir believed that if you dug deeply enough into any dysfunctional or damaging behavior, you would eventually find that the client was in fact trying to achieve a positive intent (often unconsciously ineptly or harmfully), and that the dysfunction could often be helped by finding other ways to honor that positive intention.
  27. ^ Psychiatrist R. D. Laing argued that the symptoms of what is normally called mental illness are often comprehensible reactions to impossible or conflicting demands.
  28. ^ Quoted from Bandler, Time for a Change, p.132
  29. ^ Bandler, Time for a Change, p.135-136: "Your ability to respond makes the difference between you and furniture... human means that someone of the appropriate sex can look at you in a certain way that starts the juices rolling... the problem isn't that you respond, it's how you respond. Being able to change from one response to another gives you the keys to... authenticity."
  30. ^ a b According to Haley, a well known writer on Milton Erickson, Erickson was notable amongst psychiatrists, because he would respond to metaphor with other metaphors, rather than by attempting to "interpret".
    "He does not translate unconscious communication into conscious form. Whatever the patient says in metaphoric form, Erickson responds [matches] in kind. By parables, by interpersonal action, and by directives, he works within the metaphor to bring about change. he seems to feel that the depth and swiftness of that change can be prevented if the person suffers a translation of the communication." (Haley, "Uncommon therapy", 1973 + 1986, p.28)
  31. ^ Bandler, Time for a change (1993) p.20:
    "It's easier to cure a phobia in ten minutes than in five years... I didn't realize that the speed with which you do things makes them last... I taught people the phobia cure. They'd do part of it one week, part of it the next, and part of it the week after. Then they'd come to me and say "It doesn't work!" If, however, you do it in five minutes, and repeat it till it happens very fast, the brain understands. That's part of how the brain learns... I discovered that the human mind does not learn slowly. It learns quickly. I didn't know that."
    The opposite philosophy is sometimes called no pain no gain, in which it is held that the genuineness of treatment (or change) is measured in part by the length and discomfort which is endured.
  32. ^ Baxter, 1994, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
  33. ^ It is for this reason that NLP considers itself a methodology or toolbox, and also an art or attitude, since one cannot tell in any situation what is needed, but the same generic approaches and techniques in various combinations seem to be consistently useful.
  34. ^ Example study: Guy's, King's & St.Thomas's Hospitals Medical & Dental Schools, highly reputed London hospitals, introduced NLP training to its staff in 2003, "[s]upported by the testimonials of GP's" (ie, general practitioners), commenting that "it is based on ... more than 400 patients whose recovery was considered to be extraordinary in the light of the diagnosis and prognosis they had received. From this it emerged that precise and consistent communication between doctor and patient appeared to be one of the most powerful components of the healing equation." [10]
  35. ^ Stephen Gilligan, a protoge of Erickson and renowned hyponotherapist in his own right, has spent many years developing this specific field, of "parts of a person trying to wake up and grow", under the title of Self-relations.
  36. ^ a b George Lakoff one of America's most renowned linguists, describes "the major findings of cognitive science" as: - "Abstract concepts being largely metaphorical", and "The mind being inherently embodied". These closely parallel NLP's own core principles, that "The map is not the territory" (descriptions are often metaphorical at some level), and "Body and Mind form a systemic whole". (Source: Lakoff, Philosophy in the Flesh (1999), introduction [11])
  37. ^ Source: General Semantics, the brainchild of Alfred Korzybski (1933), and built upon by Gregory Bateson's (1972, 1979) postulations that there is no such thing as "objective experience."
  38. ^ Source: Virginia Satir. In a similar vein, psychiatrist R. D. Laing has argued that the symptoms of what is normally called mental illness are just comprehensible reactions to impossible demands that society and particularly family life places on some sensitive individuals.
  39. ^ Source: Information theory and cybernetics. This principle is a statement about the importance of feedback loops to learning, borrowed from information theory. (Asbby, Cybernetics). cf. the story of Edison and the lightbulb.
  40. ^ Source: cultural relativism, axiomatic in anthropology.
  41. ^ Source: systems theory. Bandler words this, "The ability to change the process by which we experience reality is more often valuable than changing the content of our experience of reality" [12].
  42. ^ Source: utilization principle, from Milton Erickson. Erickson was famous for turning peoples self-perceived defects, or limitations, to positive use. Thus Erickson used a girl's poor dental appearance (which she was convinced made her deeply unappealing) as a positive means to find a husband, shock (via a couples' inhibitions about sexual language) as a means to enable them to relax enough to conceive, and a man's Jesus delusion to obtain him work as a carpenter as part of his eventual healing and rehabilitation into society.
  43. ^ Art and science, for example: [13] [14] [15] [16]
  44. ^ Patrick Merlevede, M.Sc., a cognitive scientist and NLP practitioner states: "Even if by today's cognitive science research standards some of the original NLP research must be called inadequate, we now can classify NLP research projects as fitting in the field of cognitive science." [17]
  45. ^ The ANLP comments that: "The documented descriptions of these codes and processes have been so highly received within UKCP that several other organisations have used them as models for their own standards and procedures." [18]
  46. ^ UKCP current membership: NLPtca.com website and UKCP 2005 members list PDF.
  47. ^ ANLP report: "[W]ithin the UKCP [UK Council for Psychotherapy] there are many, especially those from analytic backgrounds, who express strong concerns about the validity of NLP. More than once ANLP delegates... have had to defend the right of NLP to be represented at all. [...] ANLP delegates... have taken the time to pace the fears of the more traditional approaches to psychotherapy before putting our case for recognition... Our efforts have been rewarded, and for the first time the ANLP has a representative on the Governing Board of UKCP. This gives us an excellent opportunity to explain that the NLP model of psychotherapy is different, not invalid." [19]
  48. ^ The British Association for NLP states that a good practitioners course will usually cover: - setting well-formed outcomes, strategies to clarify goals and objectives, establishing rapport, understanding the five senses and how they affect communication, working with anchors, working with ones' own emotional states, changing of self-defeating behavioral patterns, working with beliefs, rules and values, creativity in increasing choice and flexibility in behavior, use of language patterns to cause change, congruence (full internal commitment to decisions), taking responsibility for ones' own subjective reality and inner state, ecology, modeling. [20]
  49. ^ Master Practitioner courses -- often advanced modeling and linguistic skills, much higher expectation of skills refinement and usage, and possibly specialist applications
  50. ^ Richard Bander and Anthony Robbins, for example?? ?CITE: Salerno? Eisner?
  51. ^ In common with other approaches such as transactional analysis which also became the subject of pop psychology, when NLP is treated as a set of techniques or a panacea, there is a corresponding loss of attention to underlying attitudes intended to provide contextual guidance, and a serious over-simplification, leading to loss of understanding and skepticism.
  52. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named example_users
  53. ^ INFO NEEDED ADDED
  54. ^ Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning and Teaching, Vol. VI, 2001: "During the past ten years, [NLP] has been quite influential in 'English as a second language' as taught in England and in Europe in general." [21]
  55. ^ Phonetics Teaching & Learning Conference 2001 proceedings: "New developments in pronunciation pedagogy have been affected by clear influences from other disciplines such as ... neuro-linguistics... the [NLP] perspective is also advocated as it deals efficiently with affective and emotional factors related to learning pronunciation and facilitates an accurate production of [second language] sounds..." [22]
  56. ^ The NLP models of Milton Erickson are part of the backbone and underpinning within almost every aspect of modern clinical hypnotherapy.
  57. ^ For example, "solution focussed brief therapy", founded in the 1980s, whose entire questioning and outcome model is a near-rebrand of patterns from NLP's meta model, well-formed outcome model, and as-if frame.
  58. ^ Major areas of adoption:
  59. ^ Criticisms from within NLP: taken from interview between Steve Andreas, and Chris & Jules Collingwood, 2001. [91]
  60. ^ Steve Andreas, NLPers Doing Therapy, Anchor Point, June 2000 Vol.14 No.6 pp.26-27. [92]
  61. ^ Sacrified: "In our entire career, Connirae and I have only certified twelve people as trainers, and that was always only after many years of practice with detailed video feedback.". Exaggerated titles: such as "Master Trainer Elite" (Both from [93])
  62. ^ a b Hassan, Combatting Cult Mind Control 1988 + 1990, p.32-33)
  63. ^ Hassan, Releasing the Bonds Ch.2, [94]]
  64. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named alarm
  65. ^ Whispering in the wind - cite needed
  66. ^ Mathison and Tosey, 2003, p.9-10
  67. ^ Grinder interview with Michael Carroll: "As most readers know, Richard Bandler filed a legal action (two, in fact)... Preparing an adequate response to these allegations required a deep and thorough review of the historical periods cited. This activity alerted the two of us to the overall development (or from our point of view, the lack of it in some cases) of the field of NLP. Once we worked our way through the material, it became very obvious to us what had succeeded and what had failed in the enterprise and that some precise proposals were in order if the enterprise was to thrive." [95]

CATEGORIES -- TO DE-COLON

Category:Human communication Category:Mind-body interventions Category:Neuro-Linguistic Programming Category:Neuro-Linguistic Programming concepts and methods Category:Psychotherapy Category:Nonverbal communication