Thanks for posting. Because Neuro-Linguistic Programming has been such a huge help to me and people I know, and has the potential to help so many more, I am saddened that hype is turning so many people against NLP. Even when NLP can deliver 100%, people hyping it and claiming it can do 500% give it a bad reputation.

As an NLP modeler and developer, my experience with things like submodalities is that they do work and work well. But, and this is a significant but, they require a lot of precision to work reliably. Sloppy NLP relies on the client’s intuition to translate vague instructions into action steps that will work. Since people’s intuitions differ, some clients will intuit instructions that work, and some won’t. Hence NLP processes that “work great,” but only for some people some of the time. Precise NLP gives clients specific instructions so they don’t need to rely on intuition. Steve and Connirae Andreas are experts at developing NLP processes with very precise instructions that get results for a wide range of people. That’s why I often recommend their books, especially Heart of the Mind, Change Your Mind — And Keep the Change, and Steve’s Transforming Your Self: Becoming Who You Want to Be.

Joy

Your article is very interesting to me

I started counseling in the 80s and NLP training in the 1990s and had the same experience as you.

I wondered about the hype within other aspects of NLP. Namely, the hype within the other concepts, from submodalities to the metamodel.

After finishing a master course involving cognitive linguistics in 2000, I concluded NLP is just too full of hype to be long term useful.

So now my memories of NLP are of a time of great excitement (which I cherish), but ultimately lead to disappointment, in the same way a love relationship can end.

Keep truth seeking, Joy. Whether you stick with or move on from NLP, you will no doubt make your own endeavours your own.

You are SO right about diagnosis! I worked with one friend for over a year before I finally figured out the key self-reinforcing structure that was keeping him stuck. Prior to that, nothing I did could create the magnitude of change we both wanted for him. Once I had the key, I was able to intervene successfully via about three 10-minute phone conversations (as setup) and maybe an hour of face time.

Thanks for posting!

Joy

It actually may turn out that the fix becomes elegant and simple. It’s the detective work in the *diagnosis* that makes it so.

May I be so bold to suggest that a thorough Diagnosis is essential.

It may be a single session, or indeed, a series of sessions of evidence collecting, before the KEY underlying structure of the ‘stuckness’ becomes apparent.

I’ve seen people grab the first (read: only) piece of evidence and work on that and wonder why sometimes it didn’t ‘fix’ what the client wanted.

And as a PS; some people are quite comfortable to revert back to previous beliefs and behaviours if it serves them better – through values of familiarity or comfort rather than opportunity or result.

Thanks for writing so honestly.

Like you, I also had a response to NLP training that seemed almost like an addiction. Mostly for good reasons: things I’d struggled with all my life got resolved, or became easy. But there were also elements of power and arrogance.

I think society would benefit from far more NLP. But sane and reasonable NLP, with realistic expectations and good safety standards and protocols, not hype and wishful thinking. We get plenty of those from other sources.

I think you’ll find your balance soon. Your awareness that something seems off-kilter is a great place to start. That people treat you differently now is useful feedback that you can utilize to change your behaviors and attitudes for the better.

Joy

What an interesting and article.

I completed the NLP Practitioner course and TLT/Hypnosis course also. It took me three years to actually compelte the courses. I had been a fan of NLP for years – I wanted to experience the small amount of research I had carried out on the subject. In fact, what I had researched ws adequate to my needs, It enhanced my views and broadened my perspective. It was great.

After the NLP course, I wanted more. It almost felt like an addiction. I was ‘high’ on new information; it was amazing.

After my hpnosis,TLT course, I felt slightly different. I felt empowered yet cheated. I watched the film Inception the day after the NLP course and it was like an a lien being called by it’s spaceship after abadoning it. I wanted to go to it. I was hooked.

Now, three months one, I want more. I want to know more about NLP and the brain. Although, I do wonder Joy if I have become so sure of myself and so ‘aware’ of how ‘things work’, I feel that I am, in a way, superior to others. Of course, I know that I’m not; I just miss that innocence that I owned before.

I have noticed that people are treating me differently (not in a postitive light) due to my change in attitude.

Personally, I wonder if the film Inception is a way of telling its audience that there is not room in society for NLP – looking at some content and the ending, it wouldn;t surprise me.

NLP – friend or foe? It certainly changes your way of thinking – for the better? Not completely.l

Sometime it is just enough to use NLP and give to a client a hammer and let him figure it out what is a good use for it, when before he used to use his fist instead.

You are brilliant, my friend!

I love that you have taken the initiative to get an NLP practice group going in Atlanta. Practice groups are a great way to hone your NLP skills — especially if you bring in members of the public who are unfamiliar with NLP for your group members to work with. Working with people who don’t understand the NLP basics is great practice for real life. Well done!

Joy