What is NLP?
What is NLP?
If you’ve ever wondered what NLP is, you’re not alone. While it’s a fascinating and effective approach to therapy, the answer isn’t as simple as a one-liner. NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming, offers a deep understanding of how the mind works, along with powerful tools and techniques to shift unhelpful patterns in thinking and behaviour. One of the remarkable things about NLP is that after a session, you might just walk away feeling different—without being entirely sure why. And because you feel differently, you’ll naturally start responding to situations in new, more positive ways.
A Brief History of NLP
NLP was developed in the 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. They examined some of the most effective therapeutic methods of the time and created a new model. The term “Neuro-Linguistic Programming” refers to the relationship between the brain (neuro), language (linguistic), and the patterns we create in our lives (programming). Essentially, NLP is about how we process and store information from the outside world through our five senses.
How NLP Works
NLP is built on the idea that humans don’t experience reality directly. Instead, we create internal models of the world based on how we perceive it, and these internal models shape our experiences. In therapy, NLP explores this inner world—helping you understand and change the way you process reality.
The NLP Communication Model
NLP begins with the premise that information reaches our brain through our five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell). However, before we store this information as an internal representation, it goes through filters. These filters are shaped by our personal values, beliefs, attitudes, and past experiences. This explains why two people can experience the same event in entirely different ways. Some of these filters are conscious, but many are unconscious. There’s no one “true” reality—only our individual perceptions of it.
This insight alone can be transformative. It helps clients recognize that their beliefs about themselves and the world aren’t fixed truths, but interpretations—interpretations that can be changed.
The Nature of Memory and Perception
When we recall an event, what we’re remembering is not an exact replica of reality, but rather our filtered version of it. Imagine looking through a piece of old, cloudy glass—the image you see is distorted. That’s how our mind processes reality.
What we store as memories can be made up of visual images, sounds, words, feelings, or a combination of all these, depending on which senses dominate our thinking. Most of this happens outside our awareness, but NLP helps bring these processes to light.
Changing Your State with NLP
One of the core ideas in NLP is that our internal representations (how we remember or perceive an event) create specific emotional states. Whether a state is ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ depends on how we’ve processed that event internally. By exploring and changing these internal representations, we can alter the way we feel about things. And this is where NLP’s real power lies—by shifting how you think and feel about something, you also change your physiology, as thoughts and emotions trigger chemical responses in the body.
In therapy, NLP helps you examine your subjective experiences in detail, allowing for the opportunity to shift emotional states and behaviours to something more helpful and desirable.
The impact on behaviour
Our internal states naturally influence our external behaviour. By addressing how information is coded and stored in both the conscious and unconscious mind, NLP can create profound changes in how you feel, act, and live. This makes NLP particularly effective for issues like phobias, panic attacks, anxiety, and other emotionally-rooted challenges. One of the best aspects of NLP is its versatility and the speed at which results can be seen—often much faster than with more traditional therapeutic methods.
A Tool for Lasting Change
In addition to helping you transform how you think and feel during sessions, NLP is something you can take home with you. I often teach clients certain techniques so they can continue to use these tools on their own between sessions, giving them the ability to make lasting changes in their everyday lives.
How I Use NLP
As a therapeutic coaching practitioner, NLP is one of the many tools I use. In some cases, it’s the main focus of our work, while in others, it complements other methods to provide a well-rounded approach to your personal growth and healing.
If you’re curious about how NLP can help you or have any questions, feel free to contact me. I’m always happy to help!
