NLP (Neuro Linguisitc Programming)
​NLP is based upon how we think (Neuro), how we communicate (Linguistic) and our patterns of behaviour and emotions (Programming), and is the system in which the brain encodes, stores and uses information.
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Working on the principle fact that all behaviour is learned, it is worth noting that unhelpful and negative behaviour can be un-learned. NLP can help you by rewriting the "stored programme", so that you automatically access new and positive emotions when faced by the old problematic experience.
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NLP is particularly beneficial in the treatment of: phobias, anxiety, confidence related issues and the boosting of the self-esteem; amongst others.
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A Brief History of NLP​
​Created back in the 1970s by the curious and questioning minds of Dr Richard Bandler (then a student psychologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz) and John Grinder (an assistant linguistics professor), NLP’s original purpose was to provide an answer to these simple questions:
How is it some people excel at certain things, when others do not?
What makes them different and what is it that they are doing differently?
To begin answering this, Bandler and Grinder fused their already extensive knowledge and began developing a methodology that would study the “language of change”. They focused on three unique individuals: Fritz Perls, a psychotherapist and founder of the Gestalt School of Therapy, Virginia Satir, a talented family therapist, and Milton Erickson, a world famous psychologist and hypnotherapist. At that time, each of the three therapists was considered a genius within their own chosen field of Change Therapy, and all retained a common theme that set them apart from their peers, in that they were all well known for being able to establish change within even the most difficult of patients, creating successful cases where other therapists had failed. ​
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Bandler and Grinder observed, recorded and modeled the work of this magical trio and, by carefully studying their specific use of language, behavioural thought processes and actions, the two researchers identified certain patterns and structures, that, once copied, would allow other individuals to produce similar astounding results (a process that would later be known as “modelling human excellence”). These findings were then compiled and delivered through Bandler’s Masters thesis and later published as The Structure of Magic. The foundations for a whole new school of therapy were now in place, and the methodology that is now known as Neuro Linguistic Programming came unintentionally into creation.
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As with many things, NLP has subsequently undergone its own natural evolution and is now trained, studied and used the world over. Countless books have been written on the subject; institutions have been established; further techniques, theories and structures are continuously identified and developed; and today NLP is recognised as one of the most effective and influential tools used in personal, social and corporate contexts.