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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).

The methods of NLP involve programming and reprogramming engrams (Sinclair 1992) (Drenth 2003) treating traumas (Andreas & Faulkner, 1994) by reframing, and belief change methods (O'Connor and McDermot 1996). Originally developed for psychotherapy, NLP has expanded to include applications to a variety of contexts including business, sports performance, and the development of psychic abilities, and covert seduction techniques.

NLP was originally created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder PhD and has been further developed by a number of people since the 1970s, and is claimed to borrow from a great many sources and inspirations. NLP is also promoted by linguist John Grinder as an "operational epistemology" or a meta-discipline(Grinder & Bostic, 2001).

Reviews of the empirical testing of NLP have concluded that NLP is scientifically unsupported, and as such, NLP is classed as a pseudoscientific self help development in the same mould as that of Dianetics and EST (Lilienfeld 2003)(Williams 2000).

Overview

NLP is a method of programming the mind, emphasizing the mind-body-spirit connection. The term `neuro-linguistic programming' is designed to embrace three ideas: all behaviour starts from the neurological processes; we use language to organize our thinking and to communicate with others; and we can choose to `programme' our behaviour to achieve the results we desire (Partridge 2004).

NLP advocate, Robert Dilts asserts that NLP "is theoretically rooted in the principles of neurology, psychophysiology, linguistics, cybernetics, and communication theory" (Dilts et al 1980). NLP makes use of concept of the engram (Sinclair 1992) in relation to the mind/body connection, (Drenth 2003) for the utility of change, the development of unconscious competence, and the treatment or removal of traumas (Andreas & Faulkner, 1994). The engram is a patterned response, which has been stabilised at the level of unconscious competence. These engrams are beneficial if they involve automatic activities which are useful, but also comprise activities which are automatic and pernicious, such as addictive behaviour (Sinclair 1992). The concept involves the memory trace, can be located using the eye directionality, or other such cues, and then can be accessed and manipulated using changes in internal visuo-spatial imagery.

The engram concept is by and large scientifically unsupported. Aspects of Pavlov's classical conditioning could be used to explain NLP “anchoring” techniques. Some NLP spokespeople, such as Rex and Carolyn Sikes say "what occurs is a way of conciously creating the placebo effect", although most NLP proponents tend to avoid the theory question and state that they don't really have one (Singer and Lalich 1996).

Goals

The NLP practitioner’s goal is generally claimed to be: to change a person's state and “re-program” that person’s beliefs about themselves. By detecting automatic body changes such as skin color changes, muscle tension, and eye movements, as well as other physiological responses, the NLP practitioner attempts to discern how a client perceives and relates to identity, personal beliefs, and life goal issues. NLP practitioners claim to help clients to replace false or negative perceptions, with positive, life affirming beliefs, although some NLP patterns of persuasion within NLP seduction are designed to create negative beliefs.

NLP has been applied to a great many applications outside of therapy. These include the use of LGATs or large awareness training seminars taught by NLP practitioners such as Anthony Robbins in a similar manner to EST. NLP has also been used in a variety of different other related therapies and activities, such as power therapies (Gallo 2003), hypnotherapy, seduction, and other more fringe practices such as shamanism, and psychic development.

In this respect, there have been many extraordinary claims such as “NLP practitioners claim that it's not uncommon for the turnaround on a phobia such as heights or spiders to be under 10 minutes” and that you can "make someone fall in love with you in 5 minutes" and it is possible to "cure any psychological problem in a session " (Griffin & Goldsmith, 1985, p. 41). Tony Robbins has also claimed that through neurolinguistic programming (NLP), clinicians can "cure people of tumors and long-standing psychological problems, and NLP also has allowed him to "make a woman have an orgasm without touching her," and even "bring a person who was brain-dead back to life" (Leikind & McCarthy, 1991). And Bandler has claimed that he taught a novice woman martial artist how to beat an experienced martial artist by slowing down her perception of time (Bandler 1993. p105). Grinder describes NLP as "an accelerated learning approach for modeling human excellence" (Grinder 2003).

Principles and Presuppositions of NLP

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.

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

Two fundamental presuppositions are: (Dilts et al 1980)

• The map is not the territory. According to NLP “epistemology”, Alford 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. (see, Gregory Bateson).

The other most commonly related presuppositions are:

• 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. Note that "positive intention" is not related to whether the behavior is "good" or "evil."

• There is no failure, only feedback (in a learning context). If you think you've failed, find a way to get around it (Dilts et al 1980) (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 to believe 'as if' 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).

• Given two equally predictive theories, choose the simpler. But beyond mere utility, NLP aims for efficiency and elegance using Occam's Razor (Bostic & Grinder, 2002 p.55) to get a minimal description of a model that works. A process may have elements that are not required - and the goal is to find the necessary and sufficient elements for the process to be effective, removing anything that's not useful.

NLP Modeling

NLP modeling is considered by some practitioners to be at the heart of NLP. NLP aims to discover how experts or superior performers excel in a given niche, initially through observation and imitation and only when the skills can be replicated by the modeler explicitly coding "the difference that makes the difference", so that the difference can be taught to others (Bandler & Grinder, 1975). Modeling can be thought of as the process of discovering relevant distinctions within these experiential components, as well as relevant sequencing of these components necessary to achieve a specific result.

Grinder specifically teaches implicit NLP modeling, which involves attempting to enter a filter free state, with no preconceptions of how the model does what they do, from which to model. Grinder describes the modelling process as "an accelerated learning approach for modeling human excellence".

There are limitations to what can and can not be successfully modelled. There are also several methods of modeling practicised within NLP that differ from Grinder's approach (he does not consider these NLP modeling). For instance, some practitioners have attempted modeling someone through their biographies and other descriptions - Robert Dilts published models of Albert Einstein's and Nikola Tesla’s internal strategies. With limited, or no high quality video available, it is almost impossible to test whether the model is accurate, and within the field of NLP the modeling of deceased experts is criticized.

Note that the term "model" in Psychological Models is unrelated to NLP modeling.

Background of neuro-linguistic programming

One of the earliest influences on NLP were General Semantics (Alfred Korzybski) as a new perspective for looking at the world which included a kind of mental hygiene. This was a departure from the Aristotelian concepts of modern science and objective reality, and it influenced notions of programming the mind that NLP includes.

General semantics influenced several schools of thought, leading to a viable human potential industry and associations with emerging New Age thinking. By the late 1960s, self-help organizations such as EST, Dianetics, and Scientology had become financially successful, receiving attention and promotion from human potential thinkers such as Fritz Perls who had a great interest in the engram concept, and during this period, promoted and operated a Dianetics clinic (Clarkson and Mackewn 1993). The Esalen human potential seminars in California began to attract people, such as the aforementioned Fritz Perls, as well as Gregory Bateson, Virginia Satir, and Milton Erickson.

The first 3 people Grinder and Bandler modeled were

• Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy)
• Virginia Satir (Family therapy)
• Milton Erickson (Ericksonian Hypnosis)

(source Andreas & Faulkner, 1994)

All 3 were considered by Grinder and Bandler to be highly competent in their fields, and the patterns they detected in their therapy became the basis of NLP, along with influences from Korzybski and Bateson (who coined the NLP expressions "The map is not the territory", and "the difference that makes the difference", respectively).

Grinder and Bandler analyzed the speaking patterns, voice tones, word selection, gesticulations, postures, and eye movements of these individuals and related this information to the internal thinking process of each participant. According to their claims, Bandler and Grinder found that eye movements, posture, voice tone, word choice, and breathing changes reveal unconscious patterns affecting a person’s emotional state. For people experiencing emotional difficulties or physical illness, Bandler and Grinder suggest that once these unconscious patterns are discovered the client can be assisted I adopting new healthy patterns of thinking that trigger positive immunological responses and guide the mind and body to greater health and wellbeing.

The practice of neuro-linguistic programming attracted mostly therapists at first. The promise of effective communication patterns and the ability to influence people attracted business people, sales people, artists, and "new-agers" (Hall 1994). As time went by, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Judith DeLozier, Robert Dilts, and David Gordon made contributions and the seminars of Bandler and Grinder were transcribed into a book, Frogs into Princes. This became a popular NLP book and demand for seminars increased, which in turn became successful human potential attractions (Dilts, 1991).

NLP's core methods and hypotheses have been tested over the period from the early 1980's to the present and are scientifically unsupported. Presently, the field of NLP is classed as a pseudoscientific self help development in the same mould as that of Dianetics and EST (Lilienfeld 2003).

Following the influence of the Esalen Institute, NLP is often promoted in combination with New Age developments such as biofeedback, neurofeedback, intuition development, remote viewing, and psychic development. NLP claims to be nonjudgmental to all creeds and points of view (Andreas & Faulkner, 1994).

Eye accessing cues and the preferred representational system (PRS)

According to this core NLP model, upward eye movements indicate visual processing, eye movements down indicate somatic or kinesthetic processing, and eye movements to the sides indicate auditory processing. Also, eye movements to the left, or right indicate if a representation was recalled or constructed. NLP advocates connect this with brain hemispheric science of left and right brain dominance for certain skills, such as logic and mathematics for the left hemisphere, and creativity and imagination for the right hemisphere (O'Connor & McDermott, 1996) (Bandler et al 1975).

NLP practitioners also use other cues to understand the preferred representational system (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) of the person. For example, the posture of a person could be; head up and erect, swaying or tilted, rounded and head down to indicate visual, auditory or kinesthetic respectively (O'Connor and McDermot 1996).

Most evidence used by NLP practitioners to promote the use of NLP appears to be “unsubstantiated, uncorroborated or entirely anecdotal” (Platt 2001). However, NLP "models" have been rigorously reviewed and tested by independent scientists but the results show that NLP has “no significant scientific support” (Platt 2001). For example the conjecture that a person has a primary representational system (PRS) which is observed in the choice of words has been found to be false according to rigorous research reviews (Morgan, 1993) (Platt, 2001). The assertion that a person has a PRS which can be determined by the direction of eye movements found even less support (Heap 1988) (Morgan, 1993) (Platt 2001). The assertion that matching PRS will increase rapport with the client has also been found to be false. Research has indicated that therapists who match their clients' language using techniques proposed within NLP were rated by the client and external observers as being untrustworthy and ineffective (Heap1988) (Morgan, 1993).

Research into cerebral hemispheres has recently shown that early concepts of brain functioning are vastly simplistic, and the views of the original promotor (Sperry) have been found to be extreme by most neuroscientists (Sala et al 1999). However, popular conceptions of the brain continue to be promoted by pseudoscientific concerns such as NLP and EMDR (Drenth 2003).

Meta-model and Milton Model

The meta-model is a set of language patterns (from Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls and Transformational syntax) designed to challenge limits to a person's map of the world (Grinder & Bostic, 2001). Effectively the meta-model can be reduced to asking "What specifically", or "How specifically?" to challenge unspecified nouns or verbs. Other challenges are directed at distortions, generalizations or deletions in the speaker's language (Bandler & Grinder, 1975a Ch3). The reverse set of the meta-model is the Milton-model; a collection of artfully vague language patterns elicited from the work of Milton H. Erickson (Bandler & Grinder, 1975b). Together these models form the basis for the all other NLP models.

Mind, body and spirit

Similar to the followers other New Age disciplines some NLP practitioners consider the mind, spirit and physical body as a system; that is, each influences the other (Dilts 1992) (Lilienfeld et al 2003). This means that there needs to be a balance between the concious and unconcious mind (O'Connor and McDermot 1996), changes can be easier to make by working at a physical (body) level (letting the body inform the mind), as well as by dialog (mind informing emotions), and humans communicate by taking in information through the senses, but also by giving out communication as a kind of energy, and this can be considered the spiritual side of communication (Dilts 1992). This can be considered metaphorically in terms of the communication sender and recipient's mutual intention to spend energy on sending/receiving, and it can also be thought of as in the sense of a "thought field" or "thought energy" defined in the related subject of energy psychology (Gallo 2002). There are no physical correlates between these kind of energies and energy explained through physics (Sala et al 1999). Gregory Bateson stated that energy has no significance in behavior and communication (see for example, Steps to ecology, p.xxixi)...

"It would be more fruitful to think of lack of energy as preventative to behavior, since in the end a starving man will cease to behave."

Grinder & Delozier (p.xvi, Turtles, 1986) agree with Bateson stating ," was, for example intolerant of the fuzzy kind of thinking characteristics of the uncritical importation into discussions of mind the physical phenomenon of 'energy'." Also, Bandler states that "spiritualism" and "psychic energy" are strictly poetic or metaphoric (see example, Richard Bandler, foreward - p.xi, Therapeutic Metaphor, David Gordon, 1978). In contrast, Gallo uses NLP concepts of spirituality and energy within the subject of power therapies (Gallo 2002).

However, Virginia Satir stated that the spiritual side of NLP as being the humanistic soul of communication and therapy (Brothers, 1992). NLP spirituality is said to be fully accepting of any religion whether it be Christian, Buddhist, Occultist, Taoist, Rosicrucian, or any other (O'Connor and McDermot 1996).

The scientific testing of NLP

NLP has been empirically tested over many years, and it has been found to be largely ineffective (Thaler Singer & Lalich, 1996). The US National Committee was asked in 1984 to judge the various techniques, and they used 14 different judges in order to do so. A review of research showed that NLP is scientifically unsupported (Heap 1988).

The 1988 US National Committee report then reported that "Individually, and as a group, these studies fail to provide an empirical base of support for NLP assumptions...or NLP effectiveness. The committee cannot recommend the employment of such an unvalidated technique" (Druckman & Swets, 1988). In addition, Edgar Johnson, technical director of the Army Research Institute heading the NLP focused “Project Jedi” concern stated "Lots of data shows that NLP doesn't work” (Squires 1988).

Since then objective and empirical studies and review papers have consistently shown NLP to be ineffective and reviews or meta-analyses have given NLP a conclusively negative assessment (Bleimeister, 1988) (Morgan, 1993) (Platt, 2001) (Bertelsen, 1987), and the statement that there is no neuro-scientific basis for any of NLP’s claims (Thaler Singer and Lalich 1996)(Drenth 2003).

There are also scientific explanations for why some people perceive some aspects of NLP to work sometimes. This can be due to the placebo effect, authority expectation change, social pressure, superficial symptomatic rather than core treatment, distortion of fact through beliefs change distorting the value in the treatment, and overestimating some apparent successes while ignoring, downplaying, or explaining away failures (Beyerstein 1997).

Is NLP a science?

Grinder often claims that NLP is both an art and a science (Grinder 2003) and many NLP promoters and advertisers continue to call the originators "scientists" and to use such terms as "Science" to promote their ideas, "technology", and "hi-tech psychology" in order to sell NLP (Thaler Singer & Lalich, 1996). However Grinder more recently has been promoting NLP as an epistemology than a technology or psychological science.

NLP advocates attempt to associate NLP with great minds such as Einstein (Grinder & Delozier, 1987), and uses extraordinary claims of its efficacy. However, in distinct contrast with Einsteinian thought, NLP prefers to ignore Hume's dictum: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". NLP promoters have consistently failed to provide even normal scientific evidence. This includes the notion of adopting unconscious competence through the manipulation of the engram, which is also not supported by science.

NLP models contrast sharply with accepted psychological models of behavior, motivation or personality. Psychological modeling makes considerable effort to measure the existence and strength of the parts of the model for distinguishable constructs or factors, and takes great care to measure the distinct association between each proposed construct (Michie et al, 2005). NLP promoters make no attempt at all to do this, and NLP models cannot be verified, and so the techniques developed from them may have nothing to do with the models or their sources (Carroll, 2003).

The psycholinguist view is that "NLP is not informed about linguistics literature, it is based on vague insights that were out of date long ago, their linguistics concepts are not properly construed or are mere fabrications, and conclusions are based upon the wrong premises. NLP theory and practice has nothing to do with neuroscientific insights or linguistics, nor with informatics or theories of programming. NLP developers are not interested in the question as to how neurological processes take place, or in serious research" (Levelt 1995).

In sum, NLP promotes methods which are false, inaccurate or ineffective (Bleimeister, 1988) (Morgan, 1993) (Platt, 2001). From these models it develops techniques which may have nothing to do with either the models or the sources of the "models" (Carroll, 2005). NLP makes claims about thinking and perception which do not seem to be supported by neuroscience (Carroll, 2003) (Platt, 2001) (Druckman & Swets, 1988) (Bertelsen, 1987). And NLP has been marketed to the general public using a broad brush approach to solutions" (Carroll, 2003), and adopts conveniently broad and simple terms, popular psychology, and pseudoscience and myths about the brain to promote its claims (Drenth 2003).

NLP as a pseudoscience

NLP has been classed as a pseudoscientific self help development in the same mould as EST and Dianetics (Lilienfeld et al 2003) (Williams et al 2000)(Levelt 1995)(Drenth 2003). This is in part due to the fact that the reviews of research on NLP have not supported either the assumptions of NLP or the efficacy (Thaler Singer & Lalich, 1996), but similar to proponents of other pseudoscientific subjects such as Dianetics and EST, the NLP community continues to claim their assumptions and methods are powerful, relying only on testimonials and anecdotal evidence to support their claims.

Pseudoscience is also prone to certain fallacies and characteristics. These can be; Overgeneral predictions, pseudoscientific experimentation, dogmatic adherence or recycling of de-validated claims (Winn and Wiggins 2001).

The characteristics of pseudoscience have been identified in NLP promotion. These are (Lilienfeld et al 2003) :

• The use of obscurantist language and psycho-babble (eg metaprograms, parapragmatics, sub-modalities etc)
• The absence of connectivity (Levelt 1995)
• Over-reliance on testimonial and anecdotal evidence
• An overuse of ad hoc hypotheses designed to immunize claims from falsification
• Emphasis on confirmation rather refutation (eg reliance on asking how rather than why)
• Absence of boundary conditions
• The mantra of holism
• Evasion of peer review
• Reversed burden of proof (away from those making claim, and towards those testing the claim).

Pseudoscientific arguments tend to contain several or all of these factors, as can be seen in this example that shows ad hoc hypotheses and holistic argument as an attempt to explain away the negative findings, and an emphasis on confirmation and reversed burden of proof etc.

Criticism of NLP

There have been many criticisms of NLP from psychologists, management scholars, linguists, psychotherapists and cult awareness groups. Critics say NLP is simply a half-baked conflation of pop psychology and pseudo-science that uses jargon to disguise the fact that it is based on a bunch of banal, if not incorrect, presuppositions (Sanghera 2005). The criticisms range from the fact that it is ineffective, ethically questionable, pseudoscientific, full of unwarranted claims that lead to the sale of further dubious products, inconsistent, unscientific, and cult-like.

NLP and dubious new age remedies

Although NLP has been found to be largely ineffective, the general behavior of NLP advocates is one of wishful thinking and passing the buck that is often characteristic of quick fix schemes (Thaler Singer & Lalich, 1996). NLP has consistently been unequivocally promoted as a technology that promises solutions for everyone, far beyond the specific application of psychotherapy. As such, NLP is promoted by some for dubious treatments such as hypnotic breast enhancement, penis enlargement, remote viewing, covert seduction, and remote seduction. In close association with its New Age spiritual principles, it is often sold in combination with shamanic methods of magic or Huna witchcraft by original NLP developers such as Richard Bandler. Although Grinder claims that NLP epistemology does not encourage mysticism (Grinder & Delozier, 1987), shamanic metaphors from Carlos Castenada are used in his NLP seminars. NLP has also been promoted by the originator, Bandler, in his shamanism teachings, and he often used anecdotes about the occult in his workshops and large group awareness training LGAT seminars (Hall & Belnap, 1999). This is partly attributable to NLP's New Age spiritual appeal (Lilienfeld 2003).

Also, the modeling of deceased experts has been criticized even within the field of NLP. Robert Dilts published models of Albert Einstein's and Nikola Tesla’s internal strategies. With limited, or no high quality video available, it is almost impossible to test within the NLP modeling framework.

Unethical use of NLP

Some have criticized the manner in which NLP has been promoted. NLP trainers are often said to make unwarranted claims for the field in general or for the specific techniques that they teach. Ethical standards bodies and other professional associations state that unless a technique, process, drug, or surgical procedure can meet requirements of clinical tests, it is ethically questionable to offer it to the public, especially if money is to change hands (Beyerstein 1997). However, NLP claims are as yet unsubstantiated and the efficacy has not been seriously proven by NLP practitioners. Also, some trainers are secretive about their techniques, referring to them as "secrets" and only make them available through expensive training courses or products, making it hard to for customers to assess the validity of the techniques.

Ethical concerns of manipulation have also been voiced: “so long as the influenced party's outcome is achieved at the same time as the influencer, this is "influencing with integrity." However, "Achieving your own outcome at the expense of or even without regard for the other party constitutes manipulation. What makes this particular 'informed manipulation' so frightening is that people with these skills acquire such personal power that they are able to affect people deeply, and their capacity to misguide others is thereby increased to the point of evil." (Seitz and Cohen 1992). Concerns have also been raised over NLP's use in “speed seduction” methods proposed by NLP proponents such as Ross Jeffries in that may encourage manipulation and coercion.

NLP and cult characteristics

NLP has been associated with modern day cults (Tippet, 1994) (Langone, 1993)(Singer 2003), it is seen as an intrinsic part of modern ritual mind control tactics (Crabtree, 2002) and NLP has even been monitored by the Cult Awareness Network (Shupe & Darnell, 2000) and appears on some lists of cults (Howell, 2001). This has partly been attributed to NLP’s tendency to promote an “almost evangelical fervour” which makes practitioners unreceptive or even unprepared to countenance scientific reviews of NLP (Platt 2001).

The presuppositions of NLP create a background for reduced resistance in the guise of empowerment for the devotees. The presuppositional beliefs; in no fixed reality, positive intention regardless of negative action, and communication being the result of communication, leads to a fertile ground for manipulation on the part of cult leaders.

Certain cults use the belief systems and social control methods of NLP, in combination with the occult and pseudoscience to claim modern day miracles and induce dependence and compliance on the part of the cult’s victims. NLP hypnotic techniques are used by both mild cults and very aggressive cults to induce dependence on the cult, and to further provide conditioning to induce compliance within the cult (Langone, 1993). The resistance reducing mind control aspects of NLP are only effective in combination with the usual high social pressure, threats, and authority control used within cults or similar social situations, and make the victim passive and controllable. It is said that NLP is attractive to cult leaders due to its strong marketing push towards "the unfair advantage" (Langone, 1993). NLP also shares the same New Age philosophies that make it compatible with the occult mindset of cult acolytes and leaders (Barrett 1997).

Even NLP training programs used in the business sector have received complaints of undue and forced adoption of fundamental beliefs, intense confrontational psychological techniques, and coercion through NLP. Aside from complaining that they were being put through programs tantamount to a forced religious conversion, employees also objected to specific techniques being used including intense confrontational sessions akin to the "attack" therapy methods that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s and promoted within NLP by Richard Bandler and Frank Farrelly (Thaler Singer 1995).

Issues with buzzwords and trademarks

Consistent with other pseudoscientific developments NLP's existing patterns, processes and jargon are modified then rebranded for promotional purposes. Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, for example, uses NLP technology under the banner 'neuroassociative conditioning' and promotes using gimmicks such as firewalking as clearly explained by the humourist Dave Barry . Some terms or buzzwords, are invented such as anchoring (similar to conditioning), and embedded commands, which are actually only hypnotic suggestions. Other terms are used completely out of context from their originally intended areas such as applied psychology and linguistics.

NLP lacks a coherent theory that would explain its terminology and mechanisms of action, it uses anecdotal stories and testimonials as "evidence" and lacks empirical support. It is not surprising that NLP has many characteristics of other pseudosciences: scientific-sounding jargon, reliance on anecdotal evidence, unsubstantiated claims of rapid cures, absence of a sound theoretical basis, and over-promotion for financial gains (Krugman et al 1985). Nevertheless, the extended addition of pseudoscientific buzzwords and anecdotal promotion suggests that it will continue to operate on a commercial scale, with a disregard for objective proof of its proposed assumptions or claimed effectiveness.

References

See Neuro-linguistic programming: Bibliography for a fuller list of Books and articles not directly referenced on this page.

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• Bandler, R. (1993) Time for a change. . Publisher Cupertino, Calif. : Meta Publications.

• Barrett, D. (1997) Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook. Pub Blandford.

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Beyerstein. B.L. (1997) Why Bogus Therapies Seem to Work. Skeptical Inquirer magazine. September/October 1997

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• Robert Todd Carroll, Robert T. Carroll (2003) The Skeptic's Dictionary Publisher: Wiley; The Skeptic's Dictionary: neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

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• Brothers B.J. (1992) Spirituality and couples : heart and soul in the therapy process New York : Haworth Press.

• Clarkson, P, Mackewn, J SAGE Publications

Fritz Perls (Key Figures in Counselling) (1993) • ISBN: 0803984537

• Crabtree, Vexen (2002). Ritual Mind Control Tactics. Retrieved August 28, 2005.
  See about Vexen Crabtree Retrieved 28 Aug 2005

• . ISBN 0-9701540-0-3. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help) Two volumes, 1600 pages of "history, biography & related knowledge the steps to techniques and procedures".

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• Drenth, J.D. (2003) Growing anti-intellectualism in Europe; a menace to science. Studia Psychologica, 2003, 45, 5-13

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  See On-line edition pages 138-149. Retrieved 25 Aug 2005

• Gallo, F, (2001) Energy Psychology in Psychotherapy. Norton and Company publishers.

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• Griffin, N., & Goldsmith, L. (1985, March). The charismatic kid: Tony Robbins, 25, gets rich peddling a hot self-help program. Life, 8, 41-46.

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• Howell, Tom (2001). Cults and Small Religions. Retrieved August 29, 2005.
• Krugman, Kirsch, Wickless, Milling, Golicz, & Toth (1985). Neuro-linguistic programming treatment for anxiety: Magic or myth? Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology. Vol 53(4), 526-530.
• . ISBN 0393313212. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)

• Leikind, B. J., & McCarthy, W. J. (1991). An investigation of firewalking. In K. Frazier (Ed.)., The hundredth monkey and other paradigms of the paranormal (pp.182-193). Buffalo, NY

• Levelt W. (1995) Hoedt u voor Neuro-Linguistisch Programmeren! Intermediair 17 Nov pp113

• Scott O. Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, and Jeffrey M. Lohr (Eds.)(2003) Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology. Guilford Press, New York. ISBN: 1-57230-282-1,.

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  See Dylan Morgan bio Retrieved 25 Aug 2005 and Scientific Assessment of NLP Retrieved 24 Aug 2005.

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• Christopher, P. (2004) New Religions: A Guide : New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. Oxford University Press ISBN: 0195220420

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  See NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming or No Longer Plausible? Retrieved 24 Aug 2005.

• Sala, S.D, editor (1999) Mind Myths. Exploring Popular Assumptions About the Mind and Brain. Wiley.

• Sanghera,S (2005) Financial Times. London (UK): Aug 26, 2005. pg. 9

• Seitz, V A., Cohn, W A. (1992) Using the Psychology of Influence in Job Interviews. Business Forum. Los Angeles: Summer 1992.Vol.17, Iss. 3; pg. 14, 4 pgs

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• Sinclair. J. (1992) An ABC of NLP. Publisher: ASPEN ISBN: 0951366017

• Squires. S. (1988) The Pentagon's Twilight Zone. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. : Apr 17, 1988

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  See Margaret Singer and Excerpts from 'Cults in Our Midst' Retrieved 25 Aug 2005

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• Tippet, Gary (3 Apr 1994). "Inside the cults of mind control". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help) Retrieved 28 Aug 2005

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• Williams,W F. general editor.(2000) Encyclopedia of pseudoscience /

Publisher Facts On File New York.

• Winn, C.M , and Wiggins,A.W (2001) QUANTUM LEAPS..in the wrong direction: Where real science ends and pseudoscience begins. Joseph Henry Press.

See also

• List of NLP topics
• NLP map
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Communication
• General Semantics
• Hypnosis
• Humanistic psychology
• Large Group Awareness Training
• Linguistics
• Logical Positivism
• Personal development
• Persuasion
• Transformational-Generative Grammar
• Syntax

Developers

• Richard Bandler*
• John Grinder*
• Robert Dilts
• Leslie Cameron-Bandler
• Judith DeLozier
• Stephen Gilligan
• David A. Gordon
• Carmen Bostic St Clair

(*)Grinder & Bandler are considered the co-creators/co-originators of NLP.

People that NLP claims to have developed and borrowed from

• Noam Chomsky
• Gregory Bateson
• Milton H. Erickson
• Alan Turing
• George A. Miller
• Bertrand Russell
• George Lakoff
• William Ross Ashby
• Ronald Langacker
• Jay Haley
• Frank Farrelly
• Moshe Feldenkrais

External links

• Official Website of John Grinder; co-creator of NLP
• Official Website of Richard Bandler; co-creator of NLP
• Official Website of Robert Dilts
• Neuro-Linguistic Programming Research Database
• Reviews of NLP training and trainers
• Lee Lady's comments about history and development of NLP
• Criticism from Skeptic's Dictionary

• Parapsychology
• NLP
• Human communication
• Pseudoscience