What is NLP?
Unlike video recorders and flat pack furniture, we humans, do not come with an instruction manual. If we did have a manual (and if we read it) we would understand that it is possible to make numerous changes in the way we think, the way we act and the way we feel about most things in life.
This instruction manual, if it were to be produced, would probably be called NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming – the study of how our mind and body behave and how all our thought processes operate. Simply put, it is the study of how the mind and body best collaborate to achieve change and success.
It is the scientific study of how we think, how we organise our mind, our memories, how we perceive the world internally and how we make decisions about what we believe or not. NLP is also the study of communication – how we communicate with our selves and with others and how we choose to interpret what others say.
Sometimes our thoughts are not positive or ineffective at motivating us to do what we want, and occasionally we just don’t know what we actually do want. By using the tried and tested NLP techniques we can make elegant changes very quickly, for example: it is possible to overcome phobias, increase your self-confidence, extinguish bad memories from the past or even set beautiful new goals for the future.
The work that we do together involves some visualisation, awareness of our thoughts and feelings and dialogue with that voice in your head – all leading to a more positive outlook on life and remarkable changes in how you feel about the things that used to bother you.
What does NLP do?
So, if NLP is the study of how the mind and body collaborate to give you a certain set of outcomes – it stands to reason, that if you change the way that the mind and body collaborate and process information, then it is possible to get a whole new set of responses that include; new feelings, emotions, reactions, habits, desires, phobic responses etc.
By understanding how other people overcame their problems and then copying what they did, what they said, how they felt – by capturing their unconscious processes and documenting them, it has given us a powerful tool to replicate the same change in other people who are currently struggling with an unconscious strategy that is not working.
These tools include language patterns for what we say out loud and what we say internally, they map how we store information, do we prefer to remember sounds? Or do we find it easier to remember pictures or feelings? If we keep remembering a past event as a big bright picture in our mind and that fires off bad feelings – then using NLP techniques, we would be looking to make that picture smaller – further away, or turn up other modalities like the sounds, so you may experience that past event in a new way if you choose to remember it and usually this time it has a different, less intense, set of emotions attached.
Realistic expectations
There is a lot of hype around NLP and a few people make some very profound claims about what is possible within minutes – my experience is that NLP techniques are an elegant psychological intervention that really do produce great results when used at the right time within the therapeutic process and when you know, not only the responses that you don’t want anymore, but also, the new more appropriate responses that you do want – it’s not productive jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire!
That’s why my style of therapy looks at the whole you – Self awareness, Therapy & Direction – and I use a whole range of solutions that certainly does incorporate a lot of NLP.
Neuro Linguistic Programming is a profound tool for personal change, which is rapid to use and fun to work with. When we learn to master our own thoughts, we empower ourselves – one day, I am sure that NLP will be taught to our children during their schooling, until then, let me help you to make the changes you have been looking for.