NLP stands for 'Neuro-Linguistic Programming' and was created in the 1970s in California by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. At the time John Grinder was an adjunct professor of Linguistics at the University of California in Santa Cruz. Richard Bandler, already trained in mathematics, was a graduate student of Linguistics. NLP is based on research, but not ‘clinical research’, instead the research was the standard that is normal in postgraduate studies in the Arts (which is a really high standard, but not ‘medical’).
They had success in focussing on the HOW of people’s mental processes, instead of the WHY. They studied how some of the top therapists at that time helped their clients create transformational change through conversations (a process). They distilled findings into a ‘language model’ that could be learnt by others, who could then replicate creating positive change with others in conversation. This meant that people with an interest in helping others could make a difference in a conversation with very little psychological theory at all – just an understanding of what to ‘listen for’ in how the other person ‘made meaning’.
As a result, NLP was born as a kind of cross between Linguistics and Psychology. The ‘N’ in NLP stands for ‘Neuro’ because they went on to explain many of the changes that occurred as a result in terms of neuroplasticity (by talking about the wiring and rewiring of neural networks).
As a result of its focus on creating new meaning and change in thinking, NLP is a kind of ‘alternative psychotherapy’– it is not taught in psychology courses and is a kind of ‘competitor’ with mainstream therapeutic theories. It is more closely aligned to cognitive science because it has a focus on the HOW (the process of thinking) and creating change in that, rather than the WHY (the origins of the thinking pattern/emotion) that is at the root of so many forms of therapy. In its’ focus on the HOW of thinking/feeling/behaving as a process, NLP is similar to Cognitive Science (a field that did not exist at that time).
NLP has always had an interest in creating change, as opposed to developing theory, so it is ‘light on theory’ and extremely high on processes and procedures that create specific change outcomes. When people learn NLP a lot of the learning time is spent experiencing and practising a toolkit of change processes. These include things like:
- creating a change in a belief so that it ‘no longer feels true’ at an unconscious level (20 – 45 mins)
- resolving an internal conflict by ‘integrating’ what seem to be two opposing views within one person (30 – 45 mins)
- creating a ‘high-performance state’, or just states like calm, confidence & focus that someone is able to access by choice, as they need to, such as when public speaking, or doing an exam (20 mins).
- clear a negative emotion, without the client having to share difficult memories from the past, using eye-movements, or a relaxed 'conversational trance' process (10 - 20 mins).
The process that NLP was made famous by the ‘Fast Phobia Cure’. At the time that it was created, people could spend years in therapy seeking to change a phobia. This process is well known to achieve the same outcome in a single appointment. The process itself can be performed by an experienced NLP Practitioner in 20 minutes. Click through here to learn more.
Because NLP is ‘non-diagnostic', and solution focussed, it has become a very popular method with Coaches. Of particular interest to Coaches is the capacity to create change in internal barriers (unresourceful emotions, limiting beliefs etc) without the client needing to share stories from memories of the past. In this way, NLP helps Coaches create changes whilst staying 'present and future focussed'.
If you would like to learn more about how NLP is used by Coaches, click through here to discover our free e-learning ‘Introduction to Coaching’, which includes a Lesson on NLP as a Coaching Methodology. This program is free and includes the opportunity to join a live group training online to practice creating a compelling goal, using the ‘Well-Formed Outcome’ process.
