Neuro-linguistic programming

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a quasi-spiritual behavior-modification (or "performance psychology") technique whose crux is "modelling," or "NLP modelling" (Raso 2005). NLP practitioners most commonly define NLP as "the study of the structure of subjective experience". How do we do what we do? How do we think? How do we learn? And how do we connect with each other and our world on a physical and spiritual level? (O'Connor & McDermott, 1996) (Dilts et al 1980)(Milliner 1988). Thus, "NLP is about form and not about content" (Dilts et al 1980).

Principles and Presuppositions of NLP

The principles and presuppositions of NLP are sometimes described as an epistemology (the study of how we know what we know). NLP claims to study the way people take in information, how they describe it to themselves with their senses, filter it with their beliefs and values, and act on the result.

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There are a number of principles of NLP, many of them borrowed from other fields (Noam Chomsky, Milton H. Erickson, and Gregory Bateson), and others modeled from therapists (Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls). These have generally guided the development of NLP.

Related Topics:
Noam Chomsky - Milton H. Erickson - Gregory Bateson

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Practitioners often explicitly formulate these principles as "presuppositions" (Presuppositions(background beliefs) are treated 'as if' they are true).

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Two fundamental presuppositions are: (Dilts et al 1980)

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• The map is not the territory. According to "NLP epistemology" Alfred Korzybski and Gregory Bateson there is no such thing as "objective experience." The subjective nature of our experience never fully captures the objective world - and an experience differs from one individual to the next, sometimes radically, and can even differ for the same individual when compared across different contexts or time frames. NLP studys the "maps of the world" from which we operate, that differ from person to person. See also, Subjectivity, The map is not the territory.
• Life and 'Mind' are Systemic Processes. The processes that take place within a human being and between human beings and their environment are systemic. Our bodies, our societies, and our planet form an ecology of complex systems and sub-systems all of which interact with and mutually influence each other.

The other most commonly related presuppositions are:

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• Behind every behavior is a positive intention. This is a model taken from Virginia Satir's belief system, and means that whatever a person does, they're attempting to fulfill some positive intent (which they may not be conscious of). The current behaviour exhibited by a person represents the best choice available to them given their 'map' of the world (the information available to them at the time). Generating alternatives that fulfill the same adaptive function is thought by NLP proponents to be a useful way of helping people to change unwanted or undesirable behaviours.
• There is no failure, only feedback. If you think you've failed, consider instead what you've learned and how you might do it better next time (don't dwell unnecessarily on the failure).(a principle of feedback loop, borrowed from information theory. see, Asbby, Cybernetics).
• We already have all the resources we need to succeed. It is not argued that this is true, only that it is useful for the subject to believe it is true when attempting a change. Christina Hall has argued that peoples resources are their sensory representation systems and the manner in which they are organised.
• Multiple descriptions are better than one. One basic example in NLP training involves considering an experience (typically a relationship) from the perspective of self, other and a detached third person in that situation. by deliberately training oneself in moving between perceptual positions one can develop new choice of responses (Bostic & Grinder, 2002 p.247).