NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)

Despite being a mouthful! NLP is a sophisticated area of applied psychology that covers modelling, techniques and strategies that help us understand & change human behaviour, both in our relationships with self and others, in order to bring about positive outcomes.

This area of study was created in 1970s USA when Richard Bandler (psychology & philosophy graduate) and John Grinder (linguistic professor) modelled the works of a lot of the earlier psychology that had come before them.

NLP is a dynamic area of both psychology and therapy which harnesses & studies the power of ideas, concepts of how we communicate & language itself, for self-improvement.

You can think of it as a much more advanced version of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) but richer, detailed & more dynamic; it is a way of modelling or conceptualising some of our own patterns of thinking and behaviour, or indeed the very words we choose to speak & communicate with.

As an example, I will always be on the alert for what are called ‘limiting beliefs’ when in session with clients. If I spot them, I may then choose to bring the limiting belief to the client’s attention, to challenge the belief with them, or simply to notice where else in their life they hold such views? I may then ask myself more questions: Are these beliefs helping or hindering the client? What else may this reveal about their thinking?

NLP is very much about holding a sense of wonder and fascination about how we as human beings, think, speak and communicate with one another.

Here's something for you to bite down on NLP related, the work of Albert Mehrabian who researched body language. He found that our communication with another person, specifically when we talk about how we feel, is made up of 55% facial expression, 38% tone of our voice, while only 7% are the words we actually use!