Neuro-Linguistic Programming - NLP

What is it?

NLP is it one of those anachronisms that you may of heard of but know little about?

NLP is a way of understanding more about who we are through our brain programming and our language, which translates into our actions. Some of these actions are great and some may be unhelpful and even harmful. The more we understand about ourselves the more we can alter patterns that normally take us down the same path and ends up with the same results.

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”

Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Usually people come to a Therapist or Life Coach because those patterns no longer achieve the results that they want or indeed never have!

Who invented it?

Co founders of NLP Dr Richard Bandler & Dr John Grinder devised NLP after studying many luminaries in the fields of Psychology and Hypnotherapy such as Dr Milton Ericsson and Virginia Satir. They formulated their NLP techniques in such a way that they helped to achieve change in a very short period of time, often with people who had spent years in “conventional therapy”.

How do I use NLP with clients?

As an NLP Master Practitioner I will listen closely to what clients say, how they phrase their language, how they refer to themselves, what metaphors they use, and what generalisations, deletions and distortions they use to view their map of the world. Eye accessing cues are used to observe, calibrate and to remain in rapport. Sometimes we may even briefly need to break rapport in order to break a recurring pattern.

There are many fabulous techniques to be used. We don’t require a hypnotic state, as much of the work is cognitive and yet the focus allows clients to relax and access their unconscious resources. I like to get up and move myself and clients around during sessions which can be great fun and really animated. Who says therapy has to be deadpan and serious! Laughter is one of the best ways of accessing resource states as we laugh at around 5Hz which is in the Theta Brain Wave frequency where we learn deeply, regenerate and heal ourselves.

As an NLP Master Practitioner, I help clients by applying a mixture of therapeutic skills which are bespoke for the individual and teach clients to use these techniques for themselves in their daily lives.

NLP is interwoven into all of my work wether this be Talking Therapies, Life Coaching or Complementary Therapies because having an awareness of how people see their world can help enhance the success of an outcome.