If the rooster crows and the sun comes up, was it the rooster that caused the sun to come up? Of course not! But if I say in an authorative tone, “look up at that light above you and as you stare at that light your eyelids will become heavy and you will want to close your eyes,” my words match your reality (staring up at a light does make you want to close your eyes) and I have set you up for a conditioned response. A conditioned response is one where the cause effect is repeated so that we respond automatically.

Stage hypnotists are masters of setting up cause-effect scenarios with naturally occuring phenomena. The hypnotist has no special power other than the power of knowledge about how the human mind proecesses information. It does make for a good show though, don’t you think?

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NLP allows you to do jut this because NLP (Neuro linguistic program) is an instruction manual on how to run your own brain. It also allows us to communicate effectively with others even if they have a different software configuration.‘Neuro’ refers to our mind-body system and recognises that communication is so much more than words. When we give or receive information our neurology and our physiology is affected. We re-present reality on the screen of our mind.

‘Linguistic’ refers to the way that words create meanings when they are used to communicate. Humans are meaning making machines and are eager to make ‘sense’ of any communication. In the urgency to make meanings from events or communication, dis-empowering conclusions are often drawn.

‘Programming’ infers that we can take control of this process and run it more effectively, just like computer software. With NLP, if something is not working for you it is possible to re-program your neurology and physiology to behave in a different and more empowering way.

The term Neuro Linguistic has been around since the 1930′s but in the late 1960′s and early 70′s Richard Bandler and John Grinder modeled some the language patterns of three effective therapists (Satir, Perls and Erickson) and coined the term Neurolinguistic Programming or NLP for short.

NLP is essentially a model of learning and demonstrates that we can model human thinking, behaviour and communication.

Initially the Neuro Linguisitic Programming model was used in therapy, but today NLP has many applications:

* NLP for business
* NLP for sales
* NLP for coaching
* NLP for communication
* NLP for training and education
* NLP for personal development

NLP takes a very different attitude from some of the old psychologies. In NLP, we do not start from the assumption that people are broken and need to be fixed; instead, in NLP, we assume the opposite – that people work perfectly well, that they have all the resources that they need, and that the only problem isn’t with them, but with their programming which can be changed (updated).

NeuroSemantics is a new model of NLP that emerged in 1995, but more about this in another post.

(This blog is copyright Andrew Bryant. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)