So what exactly is NLP you might ask?

Now you may have already heard of NLP and that’s why you are here, or perhaps you are just curious to know what it is and why a Hypnotherapist chooses to include it in their practice. So let’s cover a few of those points.

Firstly, NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. The Neuro part refers to the brain and it’s connections, that allow us to process external experience internally. These processed experiences are then recalled automatically for use in both present and future situations. We use our five senses to import experience and these are our sight, our hearing, our touch, our ability to smell and to taste.

Linguistic is the language that we choose to use, and this is not just the words that we say aloud, it is the dialogue, the talking that goes on in our own minds both encouraging and deterring. We also convey language in our facial and body movements, some of which we are consciously aware, and others go unnoticed by us. As there is a lot of language to process on a day to day basis, we have learnt to generalise, distort and even delete some of the information we receive.

Programming reminds us of the effect all this has upon us and how we respond as a result. We run programmes that allow us to deal with and process information based on past experiences and these learned responses.

NLP began back in the late 1970′s, when Richard Bandler, who was studying Computer Science, met John Grinder, a Professor of Linguistics. They went on to study therapists with the art of communication such as Dr Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls. Their studies showed that it was possible to model the processes of others and introduce that modelling into the lives of others, allowing them to make long and lasting changes in their lives.NLP has often been referred to as ‘The Study Of Excellence’

When introducing NLP strategies, they can be explored with the conscious mind and reinforced during the wonderfully relaxed and open minded state achieved during Hypnosis.