Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or Neuro-Linguistic Psychology, or NLP as it is more often called, is a very effective, scientific method of altering behaviour, so any negative or unwanted behaviours can be changed. 

There are lots of scientific explanations on the Internet, but I prefer to explain it in a more user-friendly way. Put very simply, our unconscious mind is programmed by repetition and emotional impact. The nervous system is where all of this programming is stored, because it is the instrument through which we interpret reality and where consciousness flows.

For example, when you experience a significant emotional event, it creates a neural pathway which then entrenches in your nervous system. Have you ever wondered why you can still feel strong emotion many years after an event occurred? Have you noticed how hearing a particular song or smelling a particular smell, or seeing something that reminds you of a past event can bring it flooding back?

This can be fine if it's a nice memory, but if it's something that negatively impacts on us we can often suffer the ill effects far longer than we'd like to. It influences our emotions and behaviours - bringing us results we don't want and preventing us from achieving what we desire. Phobias are an extreme example of this, where it can impact severely on a person's life. Post-traumatic stress disorder is another example of when trauma becomes locked in the nervous system and causes the emotion to re-surface frequently. Everyone has experienced how emotion affects the body in all sorts of ways, like a churning stomach, raised blood pressure, insomnia, tears, angry outbursts and so on.

Repetition also creates neural pathways, which essentially 'trains' your body into an automatic response by your nervous system. Brainwashing is an extreme example of this (and it's far more common than you think!). Limiting beliefs fall into this category. If you believe that you're not good enough, or smart enough, or that you'll never get ahead in life, be assured that this was conditioned into you. Most of our 'programming' has been completed by the time we are 7 years old, and we are destined to follow that pattern our whole lives - unless we can break the pattern. This is where NLP comes in. We use NLP to break the old programming by scrambling it up in the neurology, and replace it with new programming that is constructive and helps us move forward.

NLP provides a mixture of techniques to do this (often used in combination) - hypnotic language, anchoring (remember Pavlov's dogs?), modelling (not the catwalk version!) time-based techniques and sub-modalities (the nervous system's way of categorising our experience). It also places a huge emphasis on  moving towards what you want rather than away from what you don't want, and on how you think and what you say - being aware of how your thoughts shape you - because this is the way we program ourselves.

If you have ever seen the TV program 'I can change your life', that offers good insight into what is involved. Paul McKenna is a UK based hypnotherapist, though he uses a lot of NLP.

Some people can get an instant result with one session of NLP, some require a few sessions to get the result they're looking for. In some cases NLP doesn't appear to get a result. It totally depends on the person, their experience, their attitude and unknown factors that are in the realm of the mind and which we may never understand. There is also a risk that once the patterning has been broken, a person can re-program themselves! A good NLP coach ensures you understand that and how to work with it on an ongoing basis. I provide you with some self-processing tools so you have the option to work with NLP yourself on an ongoing basis.

If you'd like to find out more about NLP and how it can apply to you, contact me.