1.1 What Is NLP
1.1 What Is NLP
1.1 What Is NLP
Richard Bandler, co-creator of NLP, once said that "NLP is an attitude and a
methodology that leaves behind a trail of techniques."
NLP does not propose what you should do but how you can do what you want to do.
NLP allows you to understand yourself and your fellow humans better, thus
increasing your ability to get along with a wide variety of people.
About 30 years ago, two slightly deranged geniuses (John Grinder and Richard
Bandler) decided to observe and model the results of a therapist that was getting
wildly successful results named, Fritz Pearls, the creator of Gestalt Therapy.
Fritz soon became one of many communicators and therapists modeled by John
and Richard. Among the individuals they studied included the world's foremost
medical hypnotherapist, Dr. Milton H. Erickson (master of abstract/vague language),
family therapist Virginia Satir (master of specificity in language), founder of
Provocative Therapy, Frank Farrelly, Moshe Feldenkrais, creator of the Feldenkrais
method for body awareness, and sales superstar, Ben Feldman. Famous
anthropologist, Gregory Bateson also influenced much of NLP, and served as a
guide for John's and Richard's journey.
This process of modeling was quite different from what anyone else out there was
doing. Instead of asking "why" or "why not," they focused on "how." And through
systematically removing every verbal and nonverbal behavior that was idiosyncratic
to the individual being modeled, they were left with a relatively clean model that
would get results.
This is a key distinction, because the people who were being modeled were trying to
teach others to do what they thought they were doing, but they could only teach
what they themselves were consciously aware of. This is where Richard and John's
new field was making headway. They had a systematic process to discover the
unconscious patterns of an individual and make it replicable.
As Bandler & Grinder studied more and more successful people in different fields
they noticed similar patterns of behavior. This powerful discovery led them to
develop some of the most effective models of human communication and
personal excellence. These models have been proven effective in almost all areas
of human achievement.
Over the years, many other people have contributed to the growth and development
of the field, known as NLP.
Today, NLP is widely used in almost all human endeavors including businesses,
sports, therapy, health care, education & learning skills and of course personal
development.
The presuppositions of NLP are simply beliefs or viewpoints held in mind by the
practitioner as they work work with an individual. They are neither true or false.
Simply useful.
The map is not the territory. The menu is not the meal.
Every behavior has a positive intention.
Experience has structure.
Every behavior has value in some context.
No one is wrong or broken. People work perfectly to accomplish what they are
currently accomplishing.
People already have all the resources they need in order to effect a change.
There is no such thing as failure. There is only feedback.
The meaning of your communication is the response you get.
In any system, the element with the most flexibility exerts the most influence.
Mind and body are parts of the same system.
People communicate on both conscious and unconscious levels.
You cannot not respond.