User:GregA/NLP Overview

This is a work in progress - an attempt to shorten Neuro-linguistic programming. Please refer to the original as although the goal is simplicity, the work in progress may be messy.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an interpersonal communications model and an alternative approach to psychotherapy based on the subjective study of language, communication and personal change. It was co-founded by Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder in the 1970s with the modeling of three successful psychotherapists (Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls). Their goal was to be able to replicate the effective patterns of these therapists while recognizing unnecessary communication - the resulting "NLP processes" were presented as a method for personal change and communication.

Generally, the intent of NLP is to enable greater choice and flexibility through processes which change an individual's internal representation of the world. Common teachings of NLP include:
 * the assumption that emotion, thought and behavior comprise and are affected by the organisation of 'primary' internal representations (visual, auditory and kinesthetic)
 * the type and limits to the underlying mental representations is revealed by non-verbal cues (such as intonation; gesture; posture; facial expression and eye movements) and unconscious choice of words
 * specific classes of questions will help clarify internal thought processes. Meta-model questions seeks to recover what has been left out and to reframe faulty thinking when the communication is distorted or over-generalised
 * personal growth and potential can be enabled through distorted and over-generalised milton model language which allows the subject to choose their own resources & goals
 * sensory-specific submodalities (eg. brightness, size or location of visual imagery or sensory representations) can be altered to affect the intensity of mental states and affect changes in behavior.
 * resourceful mind-body states (eg. creativity, confidence, etc.) can be anchored, to make them available in situations where a person wants to act differently.

The field of NLP is not centrally controlled. As such anybody can call themselves an NLP practitioner or NLP trainer, and there are large differences in the depth and breadth of training and standards offered. Standards of NLP practitioners are sometimes loosely judged by the reputation of their trainers and who their trainers learned from - and some trainings have gained non-NLP recognition such as accreditation by external coaching or psychotherapy bodies, or through using registered trainers and being a recognised educational institution.

Psychology and NLP have different approaches in many ways - including the skills they consider important for change work, their attitudes towards 'truth', and how a change is studied & verified. Research summaries in the mid 1980's noted that psychological studies of NLP had an almost universal focus on a single assumption of NLP which they considered simple to control and test (testing that finding and matching a "Preferred Representation System" would increase rapport) - this research did NOT find support for that assumption. Some psychologists believed that this assumption was critical to NLP and their research concluded that the fundamentals of NLP were flawed - research interest subsequently declined. NLP practitioners disputed that the Psychological research was actually testing NLP, and psychologists criticised research by NLP practitioners as scientifically flawed. Research in the 1990s and 2000s on NLP processes & NLP outcome-based studies showed support for NLP in general - though no research summaries have been published, and no research to scientifically confirm whether NLP in therapy performs better or worse than common talk therapies.

Defining NLP
NLP is often understood & presented differently by different NLP trainers & practitioners, with a further variety of understandings by others including Psychologists & the media.

NLP can be described as
 * a method for modeling people who are exceptional in their fields
 * an alternative approach to psychotherapy (using NLP's collection of processes for change and influence)
 * a technique commonly applied to fields like coaching, personal development, and sales

Although these are common descriptions, most training courses do not teach NLP modeling and NLP proponents draw different lines between an application of NLP and NLP itself.

NLP has no central control or standards body to set what is considered NLP. If NLP is misunderstood or misrepresented by anyone (from journalists to other NLP trainers), other NLP proponents may respond but there can be no formal correction.

Modeling exceptional people
The co-founders of NLP, Bandler and Grinder, started by observing and replicating three successful psychotherapists, Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, and Fritz Perls. Fritz Perls was one of the founders of Gestalt therapy. Virginia Satir was the leading developer of family therapy. Milton Erickson was the founder of modern hypnosis and founding member of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis. Bandler and Grinder participated in collaborative studies with these individuals and reviewed many hours of audio and video material. In Frogs into Princes, Bandler and Grinder stated:

"'[we] build a model of what they do...we know that our modeling has been successful when we can systematically get the same behavioral outcome as the person we have modeled'."

- Bandler & Grinder 1979

In their studies, Bandler and Grinder aimed to identify the key strategies that set these therapists apart from their peers. But often an expert is not aware of what he or she is doing and in traditional learning, the learner's pre-existing beliefs can get in the way of learning new things. To avoid this, NLP modeling methods intend to suspend the learner pre-existing beliefs during the initial imitation learning. As Einspruch & Forman (1985) state:

""when modeling another person the modeler suspends his or her own beliefs and adopts the structure of the physiology, language, strategies, and beliefs of the person being modeled. After the modeler is capable of behaviorally reproducing the patterns (of behavior, communication, and behavioral outcomes) of the one being modeled, a process occurs in which the modeler modifies and readopts his or her own belief system while also integrating the beliefs of the one who was modeled.""

- Einspruch & Forman, 1985

The communications, strategies and language patterns discovered by Bandler and Grinder in the 1970s were adapted to form basic models of NLP. For example, the meta model was based on the sort of question that Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir would ask clients. The milton model was based on the hypnotic communication patterns of Milton H. Erickson. Another aspect of modeling is understanding the patterns of one's own behaviors in order to 'model' the more successful parts of oneself. But, NLP Modeling not confined to therapy, it is applied to the full spectrum of human learning.

NLP Modeling itself is usually taught as a supplement to regular NLP training. (See NLP Training)

Psychotherapy
NLP began with processes modeled from psychotherapists, and NLP teaches those processes. It is very often considered another form of psychotherapy (and some NLP training institutions have courses which meet the requirements of national psychotherapeutic associations).

NLP Processes are described in the next major section.

Applications of NLP
NLP Processes for change can be used in multiple fields including therapy, coaching, & self development - and also to influence people in advertising, sales, religion, seduction, and so on. Likewise, NLP Modeling can be applied to the full spectrum of human learning. None of these fields are NLP, but often where NLP is used is confused with what NLP is.

Self Development and Anthony Robbins
Self development products are often promoted as using or being based on NLP.

Personal development guru Anthony Robbins claims to have based many of his strategies and techniques on a synthesis of NLP and psychology. His first popular book titled, "Unlimited Power" featured NLP inspired ideas and techniques. It was a bestseller in the American self-help market.

Persuasion
Many of the techniques used in NLP aim to effect persuasion and influence change in belief in others. The use of language patterns, trance, therapeutic metaphor, anchoring, reframing and the like. These have been used for both beneficial (therapeutic) and manipulative purposes (sales or personal gain). NLP makes no bones that its techniques are claimed to be potent ones, the question then is, how have they been used in practice?

No central control
NLP has no central authority or standards body. The co-founders and their original students have followed their own interests and taken the initial body of NLP in different directions. Legal issues resulted in nobody controlling the term NLP and its usage. As such, NLP is often considered to be what the co-founders originally taught, combined with some of the early change processes added subsequently that are commonly taught.

Most trainers advertising NLP training teach to their own standard, and training standards vary widely. Branches of NLP have expanded on the original teachings, and some have created new names for what they teach which allows for control of their teaching. The background and experience of an NLP practitioner, and their understanding of NLP, can vary widely.

Beyond different standards, NLP often promotes "what works", which can lead to confusion over whether something is considered "true" or just "useful". Some NLP practitioners have made grand claims regarding the power of the mind that may be useful to help in a change but may not be truthful - and in tune with NLP teaching they act as if it is true. Whether or not something is true, and whether or not the NLP practitioner actually believes it or just acts 'as if' they believe it, is not clear. Some psychologists and journalists have said that NLP makes wild and unsubstantiated claims - and there is no central authority to put comments in context.

Common NLP Training & Processes
NLP training varies widely, there is broad similarities in what is taught, particularly with the early change processes agreed on by the co-founders.
 * In short NLP trainings, basic underlying skills with a focus on learning and applying quick change processes (most derived from the original psychotherapists)
 * Longer NLP trainings teach more change processes, and are more experiential, aiming throughout training to develop underlying practitioner skills for observing & understanding what is going on for a subject, and developing skills to help a client change states where useful and to fully perform a change process.
 * NLP Modeling is usually taught as a supplement - further developing the same practitioner skills for observing & understanding a subject and applying them to model patterns of excellence, while using regular NLP processes for a subject to learn and apply those new patterns.

Underlying Practitioner Skills
rapport (pacing, mirroring, cross pacing) state change for self and others (visualisation, anchoring, circles of excellence) association and dissociation perceptual acuity, and separating observations from interpretations and questions for clarification pattern recognition unconscious signals

Meta model
Bandler and Grinder believed that the words people use reveal underlying limited or faulty thinking. The meta model questions seek to recover unspoken information or challenge distorted information and hasty generalization that might be underlying restrictive thinking and beliefs, with the intent of helping someone develop new choice in thinking and behavior.

For example, if someone says, "Everyone must love me" the message is overly general as it does not specify any particular person or group of people. That is, the sentence is semantically ill-formed. It therefore raises the questions, "Which people, specifically?", "All people?", and what criteria or evidence this person would accept for "love". The modal operator ("Must") also indicates necessity or lack of choice and a response might be of the form, "What would happen if they did/didn't"?

The meta model was developed by Bandler and Grinder (1973-1975) based on their observation and imitation of Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir together with Grinder's work with transformational grammar. By listening to and responding to the distortions (generalizations and deletions) in a client's sentences, the practitioner seeks to respond to the form of the sentence rather than the content itself.

Milton model
The Milton model is a way of communicating based on the hypnotic language patterns of Milton Erickson. It has been described as "a way of using language to induce and maintain trance in order to contact the hidden resources of our personality". The Milton model has three primary aspects: First, to assist in building and maintaining rapport with the client. Second, to overload and distract the conscious mind so that unconscious communication can be cultivated. Third, to allow for interpretation in the words offered to the client. Communicating with metaphor was also an essential part of Milton's methods.

Representational systems
NLP teaches that the way ones sensory representation systems are organised (their visual, auditory, and kinesthetic representations) forms the conscious representation of experience. When people are thinking they form internal images and sounds, together with internal feelings - for example, if they are thinking of what their home looks like it is using the visual sensory mode.

In NLP, this notion is extended to the performance of any task - such as making conversation, talking about a problem, reading a book, kicking a ball or riding a horse - representations consisting of images, sounds, feelings (and possibly smell and taste) are constantly being formed and activated. It is claimed that the organisation of these representations have a unavoidable impact on performance. It is also claimed that knowledge of the underlying representations, as revealed through the use of spoken predicates, can assist someone in gaining rapport and influence in conversation.

Some of these ideas of this visual language and alike appear to have been imported from gestalt therapy shortly after its creation.

Submodalities
In the late 1970s, the developers of NLP extended the use of visual imagery (common in sports psychology and meditation) to other sensory modalities, and began manipulating the qualities/properties of these internal representations.

A representation's qualities are called "submodalities" (these are the 'structure' of the representation, rather than the object being internally represented). Each representational system has a wide range of submodalities.
 * internal images may be colored or grey, sharp or blurred, moving or stationary, have varying size, location, brightness, and so on
 * internal sounds may be stereo or mono, loud or faint, come from different directions, and so on.
 * internal sensations can have varying textures, movement, locations, and so on.

A typical submodality intervention involves increasing or decreasing the submodalities of internal representations. This, combined with hypnosis, is a feature of Richard Bandler's later work. For example, for some people an increased brightness of an internal image increases the intensity of their state. NLP applies submodality changes for therapeutic or personal development purposes, particularly phobias, compulsions and addictions.


 * preferred rep system
 * primary rep system

Swish
Swish is a process of disrupting a pattern of thought from one that leads to an unwanted behavior to one that leads to a desired behavior. This alters submodalities - it involves visualizing a 'cue' that is part of the unwanted behavior, such as a smoker's hand with a cigarette moving towards the face, and then 'switching' to a visualization of the desired outcome, such as a healthy looking person, energetic and fit. Sounds may also be imagined or recalled to enhance the exercise. Swish is one of the techniques that involves the manipulation of submodalities.

Reframing
In NLP, reframing is the process whereby an element of communication is presented so as to shift an individual's perception of the meanings or "frames" attributed to words, phrases and events. By changing the way the event is perceived "responses and behaviors will also change. Reframing with language allows you to see the world in a different way and this changes the meaning. Reframing is the basis of jokes, myths, legends, fairy tales and most creative ways of thinking." The concept was common to a number of therapies prior to NLP. For example, it appeared in the approaches of Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls and Milton Erickson and in strategic therapy of Paul Watzlawick. There are examples in children's literature. Pollyanna would play The Glad Game whenever she felt down about life, to remind herself of the things that she could do, and not worry about the things she couldn't.

Six step reframe
An example of reframing is found in the six-step reframe which involves distinguishing between an underlying intention and the consequent behaviors for the purpose of achieving the intention by different and more successful behaviors. It is based on the notion that there is a positive intention behind all behaviors, but that the behaviors themselves may be unwanted or counterproductive in other ways. NLP uses this staged process to identify the intention and create alternative choices to satisfy that intention.

Parts integration
Parts Integration creates a metaphor of different aspects (parts) of ourselves which are in conflict due to different goals, perceptions and beliefs. 'Parts integration' is the process of 'identifying' these parts and negotiating (or working) with each of these parts separately & together, with a goal of resolving internal conflict. Successful parts negotiation occurs by listening to and providing opportunities to meet the needs of each part and adequately addressing each part's interests so that they are each satisfied with the desired outcome. It often involves negotiating with the conflicting parts of a person to achieve resolution. Parts integration appears to be modeled on 'parts' from family therapy and has similarities to ego-state therapy in psychoanalysis in that it seeks to resolve conflicts that constitute a "family of self" within a single individual.

Well-formed outcome
In NLP this is one of a number of 'frames' wherein the desired state is considered as to its achievability and effect if achieved. A positive outcome must be defined by the client, be within the client's power to achieve, retain the positive products of the unwanted behaviours and produce an outcome that is appropriate for all circumstances.

Other

 * Unconscious communication
 * Ecology checks (systemic change)

Ecology and congruency
Ecology in NLP deals with the relationship between a client and their natural, social and created environments and how a proposed goal or change might relate to their relationships and their environment. It is a frame within which the desired outcome is checked against the consequences in the client's life and relationships. Like gestalt therapy a goal of NLP is to help the client choose goals and make changes that achieve a sense of personal congruency and integrity with personal and other aspects of the client's life.

Science, Psychology, and Reviews
NLP's main focus is on identifying patterns in individuals, and using change processes for an individual's goals. In theory, it does not consider whether a pattern or process fits with existing knowledge, just whether it produces the desired change in someone.

NLP is not a science, though some NLP authors refer to NLP as a science or technology. NLP's modeling is a systematic study of behavior, but not all NLP trainings teach modeling and no NLP trainings teach the scientific method of research.

In the 1980s, NLP was heralded as an important advance in psychotherapy and counseling, and it attracted significant interest from researchers and practitioners in these professions. NLP has been heavily criticised by Psychologists due to the lack of peer-reviewed research to support NLP claims, or that NLP research does not control extraneous factors effectively. NLP Practitioners have criticised Psychological research as not understanding what they were trying to test.

Psychologist research of the 1980s only studied one of NLP's assumptions (concluding no support for this or NLP). Later research of NLP processes and outcome based studies shows greater support but the research is not conclusive.

Associations with science
NLP's association with science has been complex and controversial. Robert Dilts and Judith Delozier claim "NLP is rooted in the synthesis of three areas of modern science: neurophysiology, linguistics and cybernetics (computer programming)." Grinder & Bostic St Clair (2001) make suggestions about what needs to be done next to "improve the practice [of NLP] and take its rightful place as a scientifically based endeavor with its precise focus on one of the extremes of human behavior: excellence and the high performers who actually do it." They ask those interested to work with researchers in cognitive linguistics and neuroscience to begin to improve the relationship with those fields. In the introduction to The Structure of Magic Series, Gregory Bateson says that Bandler and Grinder "create the beginnings of an appropriate theoretical base for the describing of human interaction......Grinder and Bandler "have succeeded in making linguistics into a base for theory and simultaneously into a tool for therapy."

However, psycholinguist Willem Levelt (as quoted in Drenth 1999) stated that "NLP is not informed about linguistics literature, it is based on vague insights that were out of date long ago, their linguistics concepts are not properly construed or are mere fabrications, and conclusions are based upon the wrong premises."... "NLP theory and practice has nothing to do with neuroscientific insights or linguistics, nor with informatics or theories of programming". Cognitive neuroscience researcher Michael C Corballis (1999) agrees and says that "NLP is a thoroughly fake title, designed to give the impression of scientific respectability."

1980s research into Preferred Representational Systems
1980s research focused on NLP's claim that careful tracking of eye movements & sensory-specific language predicates would reveal a Preferred Representation System in a subject (a preference for visual, auditory or kinesthetic expression), and that matching appropriate sensory predicates would improve rapport & influence in the client-counselor relationship. Research reviews in The Journal of Counseling Psychology and by the National Research Council (NRC) committee found little empirical basis for a Preferred Rep System, and very few research projects on the assumptions on which NLP was built - leading many clinicians & researchers to class NLP as a pseudoscientific and New Age form of psychotherapy. Einspruch & Forman (Psychologists who were also trained as NLP Practitioners) argued that most researchers did not have adequate training in, or understanding of, the complexities of NLP and the research had numerous methodological errors. . The lack of support in literature reviews marked a decrease in research in Preferred Representation Systems as well as general interest in NLP research.

The NRC committee were impressed with NLP modeling as an approach to expert modeling and it inspired further research by the NRC in that area. However, subsequent peer-reviewed research has been sporadic and spread across multiple disciplines. The majority of information on NLP has been published in books, multimedia products, and via workshops not subject to the rigor of peer-reviewed journals. Nevertheless, NLP remains widely supported by its practitioners in the field and has influenced other forms of brief and eclectic interventions.

Journal of Counseling Psychology
In 1984, Sharpley, researching for the Journal of Counselling Psychology, undertook a literature review of 15 studies on the existence and effectiveness of preferred representational systems (PRS), an important underlying principle of NLP, and found "little research evidence supporting its usefulness as an effective counseling tool" and no reproducible support for preferred representational systems and predicate matching. Einspruch and Forman (1985) broadly agreed with Sharpley (1984) but disputed the conclusions, identifying a failure to address methodological errors in the research reviewed. They stated that "NLP is far more complex than presumed by researchers, and thus, the data are not true evaluations of NLP" adding that NLP is difficult to test under the traditional counseling psychology framework. Moreover, they argued the research lacked a necessary understanding of pattern recognition as part of advanced NLP training, there was inadequate control of context, an unfamiliarity with NLP as an approach to therapy, inadequate definitions of rapport and numerous logical mistakes in the research methodology. Sharpley (1987) responded to Einspruch and Forman (1985) with a review of a further 7 studies on the same basic tenets (totalling 44 including those cited by Einspruch and Forman). This second review included Elich et al (1985), a study that found no support for the proposed relationship between eye movements, spoken predicates, and internal imagery. Elich et al stated that "NLP has achieved something akin to cult status when it may be nothing more than a psychological fad" (p625).

However, Sharpley (1987) stated that a number of NLP techniques are worthwhile or beneficial in counseling psychology, citing predicate matching, mirroring clients behaviors (e.g.rapport (NLP)), moving sensory modalities, reframing, anchoring and changing history, but said that none of these techniques originated within NLP: "NLP may be seen as a partial compendium rather than as an original contribution to counseling practice and, thereby, has a value distinct from the lack of research data supporting the underlying principles that Bandler and Grinder posited to present NLP as a new and magical theory". He concluded that "if NLP is presented as a theory-less set of procedures gathered from many approaches to counseling, then it may serve as a reference role for therapists who wish to supplement their counseling practice by what may be novel techniques to them."

National Research Council evaluation
In 1988 at the request of the US Army, the National Research Council evaluated several highly marketed "New age" human performance enhancement technologies. Druckman, one of the evaluators, said that "we found little if any evidence to support NLP’s assumptions or that it is effective as a strategy for social influence." Although it found little evidence for NLP in the existing research, it noted that the body of research had largely not tested NLP beyond the assumptions related to Preferred Representation Systems (matching the body of research referred to in the Journal of Counselling Psychology).

Druckman also said "we were impressed with the modeling approach used to develop the technique. The technique was developed from careful observations of the way three master psychotherapists conducted their sessions, emphasizing imitation of verbal and nonverbal behaviors (Druckman & Swets, 1988, Chapter 8). This then led the committee to take up the topic of expert modeling in the second phase of its work." However, the second phase on expert modeling, inspired by NLP, was done outside the field of NLP.

1990s and 2000s decrease in research interest
These mid-80s reviews marked the decline in research interest in NLP generally, and particular in matching sensory predicates and its use in counselor-client relationship in counseling psychology. .

There has been ongoing research by both NLP practitioners and Psychologists, including outcome-based research and research of therapies which share NLP processes, but there are no thorough reviews or meta-analyses of NLP's effectiveness.