Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP)

 

What is Neuro-Linguistic-Programming?

Neuro – The nervous system through which experience is received and processed through the five senses – Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic (feeling), Olfactory (smell) & Gustatory (taste).

Linguistic – Language and non-verbal communication systems through which neural representations are coded, ordered and given meaning.

Programming – The ability to organise our communication and neurological systems to achieve specific desired goals and results.

Neuro Linguistic Programming, (NLP) began as a model of how we communicate to ourselves and others and was developed by Dr Richard Bandler and John Grinder. NLP is based on the principle that all behaviour has structure which can be modelled, learned, taught and changed (re-programmed). Practitioners can organise information and perceptions in ways that allow them to achieve results that were once inconceivable.

Each one of us is unique in the way we experience the world. The external world is far too rich in information for us to take in all of it. So our brain uses the five senses – seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting (called representational systems) to take in some information and leave out the rest – this way, we can “make sense” of the external world.

What makes us unique is the distinctive way we each use our senses to filter. We all have a preferred way of filtering. For example you may be predominantly visual or auditory or kinaesthetic. Do you prefer to learn by seeing, hearing or doing? You are probably a bit of all three, however you will favour one of these more than the others.

The information from the outside world (in-put) is internally processed "re-presented" and hence translated into corresponding sensory representations that form a map of the original external world. We then “re-present” to the outside world (out-put). For example "The map is not the territory" or "The menu is not the meal". And so the internal representations that we make about an outside event are not necessarily the event itself – just a filtered representation of it.

Typically, what happens is that there is an external event and we run that event through our internal processing. We make an Internal Representation (I/R) of that event. That “I/R” of the event combines with a physiology and creates a state. "State" refers to the internal emotional state of the individual - a happy state, a sad state, a motivated state, and so on. Our “I/R” includes our internal pictures, sounds and dialogue, and our feelings (for example, whether we feel motivated, challenged, pleased, excited, and so on). A given state is the result of the combination of an internal representation (I/R) and a physiology.

So what happens is that an external event comes in through our sensory input channels and it is filtered (we process the event). As we process the event, we delete, distort, and generalise the information that comes in, according to any number of several elements that filter our perception.

Deletion: Deletion occurs when we selectively pay attention to certain aspects of our experience and not others. We then overlook or omit others. Without deletion, we would be faced with too much information to handle with our conscious mind.

Distortion: Distortion occurs when we make shifts in our experience of sensory data by making mis-representations of reality. In Eastern philosophy there is a well-known story of distortion in the rope versus snake analogy. A man walking along the road sees what he believes to be a snake and yells "SNAKE." However, upon arriving at that place he is relieved as he discovers that what he sees is really only a piece of rope.

Generalisation: The third process is generalisation, where we draw global conclusions based on one or two experiences. At its best, generalisation is one of the ways that we learn, by taking the information we have and drawing broad conclusions about the meaning of the effect of those conclusions.

So, the question is, when two people have the same stimulus, why don't they have the same response? The answer is, because we delete, distort, and generalise the information from the outside. Normally, the conscious mind can only handle 7 (plus or minus 2) items of information at any given time. Of course, many people can't even handle this number, and I know people who are a "1 (Plus or minus 2)." How about you? Try this: Can you name more than 7 products in a given product category, say scottish whisky? Most people will be able to name 2, maybe 3 products in a category of low interest and usually no more than 9 in a category of high interest. There is a reason for this. If we didn't actively delete information all the time, we'd end up with much too much information coming in. In fact, you may have even heard that psychologists say that if we were simultaneously aware of all of the sensory information that was coming in, we'd go crazy. That's why we filter the information. We are hit by more information in one week than our great, great grand-parents had in a life time...

We delete, distort and generalise the information that comes in from our senses based on one of the following five filters. The filters are, Meta Programs, belief systems, values, decisions, and memories.

Meta-Programs: The first of these filters is Meta Programs (wee stories we tell ourselves). Knowing someone's Meta Programs can actually help you clearly and closely predict people's states, and therefore predict their actions. One important point about Meta Programs: they are not good or bad, they are just the way someone handles information.

Values: The next filter is values. These are essentially an evaluation filter. They are how we decide whether our actions are good or bad, or right or wrong. And they are how we decide about how we feel about our actions. Values are arranged in a hierarchy with the most important one typically being at the top and lesser ones below that. We all have different models of the world (an internal model about the world), and our values are the result of our model of the world. When we communicate with ourselves or someone else, if our model of the world conflicts with our values or their values, then there's going to be a conflict. Richard Bandler says, "Values are those things we don't live up to."

Values are what people typically move toward or away from (see Meta Programs). They are our attractions or repulsion's in life. They are essentially a deep, unconscious belief system about what's important and what's good or bad to us. Values change with context too. That is, you probably have certain values about what you want in a relationship and what you want in business. Your values about what you want in one and in the other may be quite different. And actually, if they're not, it's possible that you may have trouble with both. Since values are context related, they may also be state related, although values are definitely less related to state than are beliefs.

Beliefs: The next filter is beliefs. Beliefs are generalisations about how the world is. One of the important elements in modelling is to find a person's beliefs about the particular behaviour we are trying to model. Richard Bandler says "Beliefs are those things we can't get around." Beliefs are the pre-suppositions that we have about the way the world is that either create or deny personal power to us. So, beliefs are essentially our on/off switch for our ability to do anything in the world. In the process of working with someone's beliefs, it's important to elicit or find out what beliefs they have that cause them to do what they do. We also want to find out the disabling beliefs, the ones that do not allow them to do what they want to do.

Memories: The fourth element is our memories. In fact, some psychologists believe that as we get older, our reactions in the present are reactions to gestalts (collections of memories which are organised in a certain way) of past memories, and that the present plays a very small part in our behaviour.

Decisions: The fifth element, and related to memories, is decisions that we've made in the past. Decisions may create beliefs, or may just affect our perceptions through time. The problem with many decisions is that they were made either unconsciously or at a very early age, and are forgotten.

State: These filters (pictures, sounds, feelings) will determine our internal representation of an event that is occurring right now.

The state in which we find ourselves ----> will determine our behaviour. So what creates these neuro-physiological states?

2. Our internal dialogue (voice or critic).

Remember that in this model the map, the I/R, is not the territory. Our every experience is something that we literally make up inside our heads. We do not experience reality directly, since we are always deleting, distorting, and generalising. Essentially, what we do experience is our experience of the territory and not the territory itself – so why not make all experiences positive experiences...

Non-verbal Communication

As early as the late 60's and early 70's communication studies indicated that non-verbal behaviour played an important role in communication. Researchers determined that just

7% of what we communicate is the result of the words that we say, or the content of our communication.

38% of our communication to others is a result of our verbal behaviour, which includes tone of voice, timbre, tempo, and volume.

55% of our communication to others is a result of our non-verbal communication, our body posture, breathing, skin colour and our movement.

The match between our verbal and non-verbal communication indicates the level of congruency. Therefore, with a well focused "state" you can communicate whatever state you want to the world and behave in exactly the way you want to.