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What is NLP?
Definition 1: As cofounder Richard Bandler says, “NLP is the study of the structure of subjective experience”
What is NLP? NLP uses how our brain and thought patterns naturally operate to make changes in our beliefs, skills, and habits. All human experience is subjective, and it all has structure. For example, to crave chocolate a person has to be picturing in their mind an inticing piece of chocolate over and over. This doesn’t mean it’s conscious. Our habits are often unconscious, but the images are there nonetheless.
Continuing with the chocolate example, NLP could utilize the image that keeps popping up to chain in a new response or new desired you image. That way, when chocolate does pop up you have a powerful picture of your ideal self and that’s what you go for. The craving for chocolate disappears. That pattern is called the Swish. There are dozens and dozens of great patterns in NLP. NLP is really even more than the patterns. It’s operating out of an attitude or way of being that let’s us be the most successful and our best selves.
Definition 2: Our brain’s users manual
What is NLP? NLP cofounder Richard Bandler often humorously says that people in this modern world spend more time discovering how to program their DVD players than they do learning how to run their own brains.
NLP is that long lost user’s manual. It gets the brain lined up where the conscious mind as well as the subconscious beliefs, intent, emotions and habits are all aligned with each other.
Definition 3: How we know what we know (epistemology)
This is another definition about what NLP is. NLP is less about the content and story of what we know and more about the structure – how we know what we know. It works above langua
ge and other maps that our mind uses and gives a whole new perspective to the thoughts, emotions, self talk, etc. that we have in our minds.
For example, another one of my clients wanted to get over chocolate (You can see how popular chocolate is). She would eat a big bar of really dark chocolate every day. Analyzing how her mind works (how we know what we know) in this context, we found that she was picturing a big, bright image of a partially eaten bar of dark chocolate. She was picturing it over and over again until she would go buy one. We did a process called the Swish with her, linking the chocolate image to a desired self image that had moved beyond chocolate and was much more resourceful. It worked beautifully.
Definition 4: NLP as modeling
This is one final definition for what NLP is. Modeling is not only the core of NLP but it is also what created NLP in the first place. Modeling excellence is where all of the great processes have come from over the years. NLP is about modeling not only excellence, but problems and poor performance as well so that they can be improved.
Modeling is the heart of NLP. It takes several trainings to be a good modeler. The NLP artist, like myself, learns to model every time someone comes in with an issue. We model where you are and where you want to go.
History
NLP started at UC Santa Cruz in 1974. Richard Bandler, a mathematician studying psychology, was studying great therapist and quickly learning to emulate them. He brought in John Grinder, a linguist, and they made a model of the language patterns of successful therapists like Frits Perls, Virginia Satir, and later Milton Erickson.
They coined the name neuro-linguistic programming to give tribute to the language, neurology, and patterning that was involved. The field grew quickly over the years up until now where there are more than one million people who have been through the NLP Practitioner Training.
Videos of Founders
Here are some videos by the two co-founders that discuss what NLP is.
NLP and Hypnosis
NLP is a lot like hypnosis. It began largely through modeling the hypnotic language patterns of Milton Ericson. NLP does what hypnosis does but in the waking state. You can even say that NLP deals with limiting beliefs a little better than hypnosis, but belief changes can be done in a trance as well. A lot of hypnotherapists actually do a lot of NLP under trance. It’s like to create change using hypnosis you use a syringe (hypnosis) and the medicine (NLP). Bob doesn’t put people under hypnosis very often, though sometimes he does. Most of the work is done at a fast pace in the normal waking state.
Application
NLP has been applied to:
- Health
- Wealth Building and Abundance
- Education
- Sales
- Executive Meetings
- Leadership
- Sports
- Spirituality
- Wellness
- And much more.
Processes
NLP has hundreds of processes that work on beliefs, habits, conflicts, forgiveness, etc.
For example, people have come in with everything from not being able to stop drinking diet soda to believing that they are not a good enough person to lose weight (that’s at the identity level)
For these varied outcomes, different processes are used.
Presuppositions
Example Presuppositions:
The map is not the territory
This presupposition displays how people respond to their map of the world and not the world itself. This is good news since maps can be changed!
Mind and body are one system
People’s minds and bodies work as a whole in one system. If you’re holding onto a deep psychological emotional belief, your body may keep holding onto it’s excess weight. Let the belief go through some coaching and some of the weight drops.
Examples
Some of the things that I’ve used NLP to work with are
- Overcoming food cravings
- Overcoming addiction to coffee
- Overcoming addiction to soda
- Creating an exercise schedule and enjoying it
- Letting go of limiting identity beliefs that can hold onto the weight
- Quitting alcohol to help with the weight loss
- Overcoming candy cravings
- Overcoming cravings to fried food.
- And many more.
NLP can help you lose weight or meet your goal. If you are struggling and can’t seem to get anywhere, use NLP to utilize the power of the subconscious mind to make some changes. The subconscious mind is where the control of the habits are and it also holds the secrets to changing those habits and beliefs.
