The NLP Practitioners

By Aaron Morgan

About Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a model of psychotherapy that believes a person can overcome a wide range of problems by adjusting the way they think about the issue. NLP believes patients have programs in their mind that dictate the way the patient reacts to certain outside factors. It comes down to one basic formula. In the patient's mind, they see 'Factor A' - for argument's sake, let's say Factor A is a snake - and a subconscious program in their mind tells them the result of 'Factor A' is 'Outcome B'. Staying with the snake example - the patient sees a snake and the program tells them they are going to get bitten. The problem therein, is that Factor A is not always going to bring Outcome B. NLP seeks to change that program so instead of responding to the snake with terror and panic, the patient will instead react with caution.

Anchoring

Anchoring is similar to classical condition in that you change the reaction to a trigger (or the anchor) by causing your mind to associate it with something else. In the case of the above mentioned snake, anchoring takes the fearful reaction to the snake and changes it to something more positive or at least something more manageable.

By anchoring the snake to another stimulus - something more positive like a comforting tone of voice or something soothing to the patient - the NLP practitioner is able to change the way the patient reacts to the trigger.

Reframing

Reframing is a communication technique that shows the patient how to see a 'frame', an idea, belief or stimulus, differently by putting it in a different context. By doing this, the NLP practitioner can help open their patient up to a wider range of possibilities. Reframing is designed to help the patient see things more clearly and better understand the opportunities available to them. A situation that may seem overwhelming and unsolvable becomes more manageable. New choices become available because the patient has a new way of looking at the situation.

Submodalities

Submodalities are a way for the NLP practitioner to see into a patient's mind and identify the things that need to be changed. This is done through targeted questions and careful observation of what the patient says and how they respond to the targeted questions.

Submodalities are the messages sent between the subconscious and conscious mind regarding remembered sights, sounds, tastes, feelings and smells. All of these things are extremely important in how people will react in certain situations. By working with the patient to identify these things, the practitioner can greatly affect the patient's ability to change.

Perceptual Positions

Perceptual positions are how individuals look at situations. Because everyone is different, everyone is going to have a different perceptual position of a situation. NLP practitioners use this as a tool to help their patients see things from different perspectives.

Perceptual positions help people recognize there are more ways to look at a problem than the way they feel they have to look at it. It opens up their mind to a greater realm of possibilities and helps them identify a better solution. Perceptual positions also help the patient step back from the problem - to get distance from it - to allow them more room to deal with it.

Representational Systems

Representational Systems allows the NLP practitioner to examine how a patient's mind is processing information. NLP teaches how to recognize how the mind processes information from all of the senses - how it sees, feels, hears, tastes and smells. This is valuable in interpreting responses. - 31857

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