I know you are wondering, and it’s a good thing to wonder ….
NLP is a term that in personal development circles is often thrown around – but invariably the people talking about it often mean or understand different things about what exactly it is.
How can NLP benefit me?
• NLP can help you in your personal life and your business/career
• It can help you build stronger relationships
• It can help you overcome what is holding you back (such as Phobias)
• It can help you to maximise your potential
• NLP can ensure that you improve your health and fitness
• NLP can help you set goals that ensure you enrich your life by aligning your values and motivation behind your goal, making the achievement of it easier than to ever thought it could be!
Where did it all start?
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) was founded by Richard Bandler and John Grinder back in the 70’s in California (in some circles even this is contested, but thanks to a law suit this is now fact). Richard Bandler (a student of mathematics at the time) and John Grinder (a professor of Lingustics) were at the Univerity of Calafornia, Santa Cruz. Richard had a job and was transcribing some work by Fritz Pearls relating to Gestalt Therapy and Richard realised he was picking up the techniques that he was transcribing. Curious, he approached John in order to seek his help in really understanding what was happening and John agreed to help – and the 2 formed their connection.
Where did the name come from?
There are various stories about how the name Neuro-Linguistics Programming came about (watch an amazing little video of Richard talking about it here), but ultimately, regardless of who’s definition you listen to, NLP focuses on:
• Neuro – refers to the brain
• Liguistics – refers to the use of language
• Programming – refers to the way in which the brain operates
You can watch a fairly detailed video of John Grinder here, talking about what NLP is to him.
What is it really?
In layman’s terms it is all about an attitude of curiosity (we can all adopt that attitude, right?) and about a way of thinking. Many people mistakenly think NLP is just about a bunch of techniques. You see, NLP is based around the notion of ‘modelling’ – the ability of someone to REALLY understand how an expert in their field gets the fantastic and consistent results they do. With their agreement the modelling involves the NLP Master Practitioner breaking down the steps, thoughts, strategies, beliefs and values of that expert in a specific way, which enables a process or technique to be created that others can then easly be taught or learn and can be applied to achieve fantastic results. NLP has therefore left a trail of techniques, which I refer to as a manual for the unconscious mind, which enables people to achieve results they had not even dreamed they could.
So who were these early experts that Grinder and Bandler modelled?
They included:
- Virgina Satir (who got amazing results in family therapy by being very very specific with her language)
- Milton H. Erickson (one of the best hypnotherapists of all time, who got his results from being ambiguous with his language and allowing the unconscious mind to fill in the blanks)
- Fritz Perls (who got fantastic results using his theory and practice of Gestalt therapy – based on Significant Emotion Events (SEEs), and the notion that they are strung together to form a way of being or behaving over time – if the Gestlalt is broken significant change can happen)
The list goes on, and through the years many more people’s names such as Gregory Bateman, Alfred Korzybski, Tony Robbins, Tad James and others have added considerably to the field that is NLP. The exciting thing is that the field is still expanding and developing – there is always more to learn!
So, when you learn NLP you can be so very confident that you are learning from the best – and if you learn from the best that means you can become the best version of you!
How can I learn more?
Laura runs NLP Practitioner courses that are targeted at people who want personal development and who want to learn more about NLP with a huge focus on practice – there are way too many people out there that have a level of knowledge of NLP but struggle to put things into practice. Laura spent a long time researching who she would train with, so she could be sure she was able to become one of the best NLP trainers in the UK. This means that she can be sure she can provide you with quality, current and reliable training that consistently delivers results – there is not a minute wasted on our courses to ensure you get the maximum value for you!
If you are looking for a quick course that provide a certificate and you are not prepared to truly invest in yourself then thank you for your time, but our courses are not for you – they are only for people who show the passion and dedication to invest time and money in themselves – the people who truly want to unleash their potential, and the potential of others. If this is you … then what are you waiting for, call Laura to discuss our NLP courses further and take action NOW to become the best version of you!
