Seattle Changes - Answers to Questions about Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Frequently-Asked Questions about the Therapies and Treatments used at Seattle Changes. We specialize in treating fear, anxiety, and addictive behaviors with natural, noninvasive, drug-free treatments that target the body’s own healing system to bring about rapid, pleasant, and permanent change experiences. Frequently-Asked Questions FAQ about NLP from Seattle Changes Pioneer Square Neuro-Linguistic Programming Non-Invasive Natural Drug-Free Treatment Questions Answered Resources FAQ Certified Hypnotherapist CHt Hypnosis Hypnotherapy Cure Phobias Fear Anxiety Depression Addiction Problems Pain Obsessive Behaviors Rage Trauma Guilt Anger Stress Self-Sabotage Stop Smoking Cessation Become a Non-Smoker Fear Obsession Cravings Certified Hypnotherapist Hypnotherapy Hypnosis

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NLP

What is NLP? What does “NLP” mean? Where does NLP come from?		Is NLP the same thing as psychotherapy? Do I have to talk about my problems? Can NLP really help people make changes?
I’m not sure I believe any of this. Will NLP still work for me?

*What is NLP?* NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming, is the study of how we create the structure of our subjective experience, and how we can change that structure to create better states and better experiences. The study of NLP has resulted in a number of techniques or patterns that can increase effectiveness, help people think in more useful ways, and change behaviors they no longer want. *What does “NLP” mean?* NLP stands for “Neuro-Linguistic Programming,” a strange-sounding sort of name that a lot of people ask for a better explanation of: “Neuro-” refers to your brain and nervous system. NLP is the study of how to use your brain in ways that serve you better and make you more resourceful. “-Linguistic” refers to language. NLP involves the effects of our language on our nervous system, and teaches us to use it in more useful ways to create better states of body and mind. “Programming” refers to the idea that the things we learn are a sort of software for running our nervous system, and that we can replace software that no longer works well for us with more useful “programs.” *Where does NLP come from?* In the early 1970s Richard Bandler, a graduate student, and John Grinder, a linguistics instructor, teamed up to study the work of therapists who were doing outstanding work: Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir, and Milton Erickson, among others. What they discovered was a set of shared presuppositions about people and their problems, as well as very effective use of language that enabled rapid and lasting change. Bandler and Grinder developed the results of these studies into a core set of tools for change in every area of life. Using NLP techniques results in change that is faster and easier than ever thought possible before. *Is NLP the same thing as psychotherapy?* NLP is not technically therapy at all, but it can be used in a therapeutic setting to help people make changes, even when traditional therapeutic methods have not helped. Many NLP techniques deal with changing limiting beliefs and altering unwanted behaviors to obtain better states of mind and body, and better responses from the people around us. NLP is famous for the speed and efficacy of its phobia interventions, and is useful for treating the effects of traumas of all kinds, for building confidence in all kinds of situations, and for setting goals that work, among many other applications. *Will I have to talk about my problems?* The use of NLP techniques does not require you to tell your life story to anyone. Unlike some other therapeutic modalities, NLP-based therapeutic methods are not about the content of your experience, but about the process of how you structure experience and how that structure can be worked with to remove the emotional effects of traumas, reverse anxiety and depression without recourse to drugs, and remove the restrictions of disempowering beliefs. NLP will teach you new ways to communicate with your own brain to create better states of body and mind for yourself in the present without going endlessly over the past. *Can NLP really help people make changes?* NLP enables easier and faster change than any other form of changework or therapeutic intervention. Most NLP practitioners plan to see you no more than three times, and often not more than once to make a lasting change, depending on how many complex elements may be involved. You won’t spend years talking to a therapist about your past while remaining in a problem state. NLP changework aims to change your state from problem to solution as quickly as possible, because your brain actually likes learning new information and new instructions very quickly. *I’m not sure I believe any of this. Will NLP still work for me?* Belief in NLP is unnecessary to make lasting change with NLP. You need to be able to speak and understand English, and be able to follow instructions. It’s also important that any changes you come for are entirely your own idea.

Some Presuppositions of NLP

NLP presuppositions are not “laws,” or a description of “truth,” but they’re useful ways of thinking when adding resources and making changes.

The map is not the territory. The world as it is is not the world we experience. We create a representation of the world – an internal map. If we change the map, we change our experience of the world.

People make the best possible choices they can at any given time, based on the information they have.

You are not your behaviors. Your value is constant, and the value of any behavior depends on the context in which it occurs.

All behavior has, at its origin, a positive (functional) intention.

People will always make the best decision they perceive to be available to them at the time.

People are not ‘broken.’ They do not need to be ‘fixed.’

Mind and body are parts of one system.

The meaning of a communication is the response you get. If you don’t get the response you wanted, change your communication until you do.

The element of a system with the most flexibility controls the system.

Everyone already has the all resources they need to make changes, though they may not be consciously aware of them.

The perceived frame around a situation gives it its meaning.

All meaning is self-created.

Human beings are more complex than the theories that describe them.

There is no failure - only feedback. Failure is only possible if you set yourself a time limit.

If what you’re doing isn’t working, do something else.

Bridget McKenna, CHt - NLP Master Practitioner

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