What is NLP?

NLP was developed in the '70's by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, and stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. If the name hasn’t frightened you off already…. You may be interested to know it is the end product of a curiosity which began by asking "How do people do that?"

Bandler and Grinder started by looking closely at how people who were excellent in their fields achieved the results they did. They noticed certain patterns of human similarity and difference which could be used by others to improve individual performance in many areas. As a result of this initial curiosity a large number of techniques have been developed which can be used by people to improve their lives, and the lives of people around them.

Think about this:
• Doing something well, consistently, is not an accident, it is a process.
• Doing something badly, consistently, is not an accident, it is a process.

NLP provides the tools to understand these processes and develop the individual's ability to adapt whatever they do that does not bring them the results they want, into processes that do.

Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of how each individual makes sense of his/her world uniquely through different personality patterns and sensory filters.

Each person's memories, beliefs, values, decisions, favoured sense (Visual, Auditory, or Kinaesthetic), and what are called Meta-programs, develop over time into a unique 'model of the world'. Each of us uses this internal map to make sense of the world around us. This map has a profound effect on our thoughts and behaviour, and our relationships with others because we tend to think that our map is the same as everybody else's.

By understanding the structure of our map we can identify negative thought patterns that inhibit us (and change them); by understanding the structure of someone else's map we can assist them in doing the same thing, or use it to improve our relationship with them, whether in a business or personal context.

Why the name?

Neuro - the fundamental idea that all behaviour is the result of the information we receive from our 5 senses.

Linguistic - the fact that we use language to order our thoughts and communicate.

Programming - the ways we use the above to create our behaviour

It can be difficult to describe 'what' NLP is without placing it in a context. It is easier to describe 'how' it can help in a given situation. Its potential application is almost unlimited. It has been used to improve performance in sport; academic performance; sales; therapy, and self-development. It has the potential to improve any situation where communication is a factor, whether between you and someone else, or just with yourself.