WHAT is NLP?

NLP is the practice of understanding how people organise their thinking, feeling, language and behaviour to produce the results they do. NLP can be used to provide people with a methodology to model outstanding performances achieved by geniuses and leaders in their field.

I use NLP as tool to improve low self esteem, distress, anxiety, difficulties with learning, motivation, goal setting, achieving personal targets and procrastination where change can best be achieved by channelling the five senses and modelling desired behaviours.

NLP is also used for personal development and for success in business 

A key element of NLP is that we form our unique internal mental maps of the world as a product of the way we filter and perceive information absorbed through our five senses from the world around us. This information can be auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, or kinesthetic. NLP practitioners believe this information differs individually in terms of quality and importance, and that each person processes experiences using a primary representational system . For an NLP therapist to work effectively with a person in treatment, the therapist must attempt to match that individual’s Primary Representational System to use their personal map. NLP practitioners believe it is possible to access representational systems using cues, such as eye movements. 

Neuro

Each individual has established their own unique mental filtering system for processing the millions of bits of data being absorbed through the senses. Our first mental map of the world is constituted of internal images, sounds, tactile awareness, internal sensations, tastes and smells that form as result of the neurological filtering process. The first mental map is called ‘First Access’ in NLP.

Linguistic

We then assign personal meaning to the information being received from the world outside. We form our second mental map by assigning language to the internal images, sounds and feelings, tastes and smells, thus forming everyday conscious awareness. The second mental map is called the Linguistic Map (sometimes known as Linguistic Representation)

Programming

The behavioural response that occurs as a result of neurological filtering processes and the subsequent linguistic map.

Preparing for NLP

Preparation for NLP and CBT, as with many “talking” therapies, involve similar preparation.

An important part of NLP therapy is goal setting.  We encourage you to think about specific changes you would like to make at school, university, at work, at home, or in your relationships.  Think about ways in which you would like your life to change or improve, or what symptoms you would like to decrease. 

As your therapist I will help you set specific goals and throughout therapy your progress towards these goals will be monitored and assessed. Together, we will develop an “action plan” to implement solutions to problems or to make changes in your thinking or behaviours. When treatment ends, you will be able to use the skills and tools you have learned in therapy in your day-to-day life.

How NLP works

A core concept of NLP can be summarised by the saying, “The map is not the territory,” because it highlights the differences between belief and reality. Proponents of NLP believe everyone’s perception of the world is distorted, limited, and unique. A therapist who practices NLP must therefore understand how a person in treatment perceives their “map” and the effect this perception may have on that person’s thoughts and behaviour. 

An individual’s map of the world is formed from data received through the senses.

NLP therapists work with people to understand their thinking and behavioural patterns, emotional state, and aspirations. By examining a person’s map, the therapist can help them find and strengthen the skills that serve them best and assist them in developing new strategies to replace unproductive ones. This process can help individuals in therapy reach treatment goals. 

Modelling is the core activity in NLP, and is the process of extricating and replicating the language structure and behavioural patterns of an individual who is seen as achieving success a given activity - whether that is success in studies, business or in personal development

Modelling, action, and effective communication are key elements of NLP. The belief is that if an individual can understand how another person accomplishes a task or behaviour, the process may be copied and communicated to others so they too can accomplish that task or behaviour.