Menu
Menu
Perhaps those who have heard of NLP don’t know what exactly it is. In fact answering that question is not really easy. In this article you are provided with the founders, the history of the term and the definition. Furthermore you will become familiar with the way it works and how learning that can benefit you.
In the 1970s, in California, a unique approach of improving behavioral and brain activities was developed by the association of Richard Bandler and John Grinder. The two researcher claim there is a special connection between neurological processes, language and behavioral patterns. After 36 hours of continues negotiation they came up with the term Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) for their newly developed approach.
At the age of 17, Richard Bandler became very interested in pop music. The wife of Dr. Robert Spitzer, an American psychiatrist, asked him to teach their son how to play drum. That was the time when Richard wanted to continue his education in California University. Therefor Richard as a janitor lived with the Spitzers. There he met Virginia Satir.
Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson were both well known for their special short-term treatment. Richard Bandler and John Grinder studied their ways of treatment and came to a conclusion that their treatment are pretty the same. So they started to categorize them then shared those categorized treatments to a group of psychologist. Much improvement was made with the new methods. This was the beginning of their research for analyzing the common traits of successful individuals in deferent fields.
Neuro: which is the first word of the term emphasizes the importance of nerves in this field. It points out that how the nerves system can get the needed information with the help of the five senses, conscious and unconscious mind and conative functions.
Linguistic: the second word of the term which refers to how language is used to change our thoughts and behaviors and how can it benefits us to communicate better with others.
Programing: the third word explains the way of organizing thoughts with the help of words. It also describes the direct effects of thoughts on words, attitude and behavior. The definition below was recently added to the Oxford dictionary by Richard Bandler:
Neuro-linguistic Programming: “a model of interpersonal communication chiefly concerned with the relationship between successful patterns of behavior and subjective experiences underlying them” and” a system based on alternative therapy in self-awareness and effective communication, and changing patterns of mental and emotional behavior.
NLP concerns the dynamic function between mind and language and its effects on body and behavior which enables an individual to increase their incentives. In other words learning NLP is like learning the language of your own mind! The following example will help you to understand better. Have you ever tried to communicate with someone who didn’t speak your language, and they couldn’t understand you? For instance when someone goes out to a restaurant in a foreign country and they think they ordered steak, but when the food shows up, it turns out they actually asked for pizza. This is the kind of relationship that we have with our own unconscious mind. In fact NLP teaches you how to order a steak and get the desired steak not a pizza!
NLP is a practical skill that allows everyone to recognize their ingenuity and achieve the ultimate success. Furthermore it gives you the ability to have the desired relationship with yourself as well as your relationship with others.
NLP says you are able to do things as well as other people with the same outcomes if you model them correctly. Also it teaches us how we can model patterns of our previous achievements in order to use them to gain more achievements.
