This article is a follow-on after my previous one on false memories helping to lose weight. NLP is a very extensive topic and could take an entire book if justice be done to it, as we know how subjective and extensive the scope of psychology is. And considering the subjectivity of this subject, I would limit this article to just a brief introduction of the topic under study, because if I start on its various theories and techniques, there won’t be left any space for anyone else to write.

Neuro-linguistic programming (usually shortened to NLP) is an interpersonal communication model and an alternative approach to psychotherapy developed in the early 1970s by Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder. Some consider NLP to be a set of techniques or strategies for enhancing communication and personal influence rather than a model or theory. As a theory, Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the study of the structure of subjective experience and what can be calculated from that, and is predicated upon the belief that all behavior has structure.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming helps by creating new ways of understanding how verbal and non-verbal communication affect the human brain. As such it presents us all with the opportunity to not only communicate better with others, but also learn how to gain more control over what we considered to be automatic functions of our own neurology. It uses a toolbox of strategies, axioms and beliefs about human communication, perception and subjective experience, and claims to help people change by teaching them to ‘program their brains’.

NLP’s core idea is that an individual’s thoughts, gestures and words interact to create their perception of the world. By changing their outlook, using a variety of techniques, a person can improve their attitudes and actions. It can be called “the study of the structure of subjective experience”.

NLP teaches that a person can develop successful habits by amplifying helpful behaviors and diminishing negative ones. Positive change can come when one carefully reproduces the behaviors and beliefs of successful people (called ‘modeling’). It also states that all human beings have all the resources necessary for success within themselves.

To make it easier to understand, consider instruction manuals that we get with appliances. We were given brains, but no instruction manual. NLP offers a user-manual for the brain. The brain-manual seems to be a metaphor for NLP training, which is sometimes referred to as “software for the brain.”

Furthermore, NLP, consciously or unconsciously, relies heavily upon (1) the notion of the unconscious mind as constantly influencing conscious thought and action; (2) metaphorical behavior and speech, especially building upon the methods used in Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams; and (3) hypnotherapy as developed by Milton Erickson.

One common thread in NLP is the emphasis on teaching a variety of communication and persuasion skills, and using self-hypnosis to motivate and change oneself.

NLP has its positives, but some of the assumptions used in the NLP are conflicting with reality, and I would rather say too optimistic and thus impractical. NLP has been very successful in helping individuals mould their personalities as well as made contributions to the corporate sector by improving attitudes and skills of employees, but as we all know that no theory 100% practical and effective, and so is NLP. We cannot program a brain like we program a machine. There are a thousand constraints which makes this technique unusable after a certain limit: where the brain cannot be programmed. Nevertheless, I would say that this is a very interesting subject, and would recommend to readers to do read about this. Contribution of any additional knowledge about the theory and its applications would be very welcomed as I myself am a learner, and would like to have anything that would add to my knowledge.

Cheers!

Sources

http://www.neurolinguisticprogramming.com/

http://www.wikipedia.org

http://skepdic.com/neurolin.html

http://www.nlpinfo.com/intro/txintro.html

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