NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) is very much like hypnotherapy. In fact, many of the therapists who practice NLP are also hypnotherapists. There are many definitions of NLP, the most ppopular being the psychology of achievement. Other definitions are the science of how the brain encodes learning and experience; the study of the structure of human experience. One I like is the difference that makes the difference. Based on the ideas that if one person has exceptional skills, then anyone can be taught these skills readily. This has been called the modelling of human excellence. The originators of NLP, Richard Bandler and John Grinder came from very different backgrounds. Bandler was a mathematician with an interest in computer science, and Grinder was an assocoate professor in linguistics. In the early days of NLP the originators tested their theories by having groups of people attempt to perform skills that seemed imppossible to them. Taking the results of these experiments and making a "performance soup" of them gave unexpected answers which were then used and modified. Perhaps the most important research was the study of such geniuses as Milton H. Erickson, Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, and Walt disney, analysing those neurological and linguistic properties that made these people different, then training or programming others to adapt to the same processes. NLP blossomed as a new therapy in the 70's and 80's, and is still alive and well in the 21st. century. Bandler and Grinder separated and went in different directions. Bandler is still producing books and courses on NLP and hypnosis. There are many practitioners, trainers and master practitioners in Canada, the USA and UK that are actively producing books and workshops, although perhaps the edge has rubbed off a little as practitioners have modified the approach to fit their own ideas.
My very good friend and co-director of the "Milton H. Erickson Institute of British Columbia", Justis Chase CTNLP is a wizard who with great ease and skill using NLP as just one of the tools in his bag of change practices, helps people to accomplish what they had only dreamed possible. Justis has created a program called the "T. A. L. A. M. Program - The Secret To Abundant Living" through which participants are enabled in creating and manifesting skills and abilities that seem like magic. For a look at Justis's program just click on the link that follows.
