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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).

Originally developed for psychotherapy as theraputic magic (Bandler and Grinder 1975a), NLP uses sense based tenets such as preferred representational systems ((PRS) i.e. visual, auditory or kinesthetic modes of thinking), types of behavioral mirroring and pacing (body language), and transforming beliefs and traumas through methods of reframing (Andreas & Faulkner, 1994). 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 of NLP

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).

The theory of therapeutic NLP is handled quite inconsistently by the various NLP proponents. Most NLP proponents tend to avoid the theory question and state that they don't really have a theory (Singer and Lalich 1996).

However, 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). As such, the methods of NLP are explained in the literature using the neurological concepts of programming and reprogramming engrams (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) by reframing, and belief change methods (O'Connor and McDermot 1996).

Aspects of pavlovian 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 consciously creating the placebo effect".

Although engrams is not used by any of the NLP developers (Grinder, Bandler, Dilts, etc.), a small number of researchers have used the concept. According to Schacter (1997) engram is the neural network that represents past experience, and is sometimes thought of as kind of hologram containing information from the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) as well as whatever thoughts arose at the moment. Engrams give a patterned response which has been stabilised at the level of unconscious competence, and 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).

Derks and Goldblatt (1985) say that engram supports the NLP Swish pattern, and chaining states and chaining anchors. These patterns involve the memory trace which 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. Grinder & Bandler would disagree, preferring (especially Grinder) to use computationalism a form of cognitivism that states the mind is essentially a Turing Machine.

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.

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). Anthony 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

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.

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.

NLP explicitly formulates some of these principles as "presuppositions"(background beliefs) - Presuppositions are treated by the practitioner 'as if' they are true when working with a subject, with the intent to increase the effectiveness of change work.

Two fundamental presuppositions are: (Dilts et al 1980)

• 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:

• 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).

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 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.

Some practitioners have attempted to model someone through their biographies and other descriptions - Robert Dilts published models of Jesus of Nazareth's, Sherlock Holmes's, Albert Einstein's and Nikola Tesla's internal strategies.

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, and during this period, promoted and operated a Dianetics clinic (Clarkson and Mackewn 1993). Hubbard's methodology provide raw material for Frederick Perls' Gestalt therapy (Joyce 1989). 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)

But also two others were later modeled:

• Frank Farrelly (see eg. Provocative Therapy, a lesser known 4th model for NLP).
• Feldenkrais (eg. Feldenkrais Method, Bandler & Grinder modeled Feldenkrais, some says this is the NLP for the body).

These individuals 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. Lilienfeld (2003) classes the field of NLP as a pseudoscientific self help development. He also says it is 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).

Basic Tenets or Early Patterns of NLP

The basic tenets of NLP can be thought of as 5 elements that NLP proponents claim will indicate an individual's internal strategies. These all refer to a single notion of internal strategies being either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (with a less likely extra olfactory and gustatory).

1. body posture,
2. breathing,
3. gestures towards eyes ears or body,
4. eye movements (See eye accessing cues and PRS), and
5. language patterns (meta-model) and predicates such as "I see!" "Sounds right! or "I feel that..."(Dilts et al 1980).

Eye accessing cues and the preferred representational system (PRS)

According to this core NLP tenet, 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). 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).

Some NLP proponents, such as Bandler and Grinder (1975b) Dilts (1998) and Lewis (1985) use left/right brain hemispheric differences to explain how the mind works in relation to eye accessing cues and preferred representational systems. However, scientific knowledge indicates that these are simple Pop psychology and popular myths about the brain, and are oversimplified into a very crude binary system whereby a person appears pre-dominantly "left-brained" (logical), or more "right-brained" (creative) (Sala et al 1999)(Drenth 2003).

Similarly, some authors (eg Bradbury 1997) use internal VAK strategies in order to categorize people within a thinking strategies or learning styles framework, although these notions have also been largely discredited by scientific investigation due to their lack of scientific support.

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.

NLP Applications

NLP is open to any patterns of human experience, and has been applied to fields such as sales, therapy, communication, education, coaching, sport, management, business, occult practices, and spiritual development. This is both through the use of existing NLP patterns, and through modeling thought-to-be high performers in fields.

NLP has spawned a 'toolbox' of NLP patterns which have been used in various fields in different ways - some fields simply integrate useful patterns, sometimes NLP practitioners or groups focus on one specific application but still call what they do "NLP".

Psychotherapy

The first subjects of study were claimed by Bandler and Grinder to be experts in the fields of family therapy, hypnosis, gestalt therapy and provocative therapy. Some practitioners of counseling and psychotherapy take NLP training, although NLP certification does not require any professional qualifications. It has been said that exaggerated claims about NLP tend to be generated by the more professionally unqualified NLP certificated practitioners (Eisner 2000).

There are claimed to be various patterns (eg, the NLP fast phobia cure) for specific interventions. Most of the basic NLP techniques can be self applied, although qualified NLP practitioners can be hired for more complex NLP change work (Eisner 2000). Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy (NLPt) is being developed primarily in Europe. This was started in 1986, by the European Association for Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy.

Coaching / Change work

NLP methods and models are often applied by personal and business coaching for individuals and teams, and also in personal development fields in a similar way to EST seminars and other LGAT methods of dissemination.

Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, promotes 'neuroassociative conditioning'®, which is his form of NLP (Robbins sought to trademark his own personalized style of NLP when it became a generic term).

Energy, Spiritual Experience, & the New Age

The foundation for Bandler and Grinder's NLP is based in the New Age. Although, for so many years people would say the NLP didn't have anything to do with spirituality and yet the title of NLP Vol.1 is "The study of the structure of subjective experience", ... well if spiritual is a subjective experience how could it not be part of NLP." (Dilts, 1997).

Some NLP practitioners consider the mind, spirit and physical body as a system; that is, each influences the other (Dilts 1992). Humans communicate by taking in information through the senses, but also by giving out communication as a kind of energy. This can be considered metaphorically in terms of the communication sender and recipient's mutual intention to spend energy on sending/receiving, and can be considered the spiritual side of communication (Dilts 1992)

Bandler often uses shamanistic metaphors in his seminars (Hall & Belnap, 1999) and Grinder uses terms such as "first attention/second attention" (conscious/unconscious) and "stop the world states", terms borrowed from Carlos Castenada's New Age writings (see for example, Grinder & Delozier, 1987). Though Bandler has stated that "spiritualism" and "psychic energy" are strictly poetic or metaphoric (see example, Richard Bandler, foreward - p.xi, Therapeutic Metaphor, David Gordon, 1978).

"Shaman, philosophers, and prophets alike have intuitively known and used the power of metaphor. From Plato's allegory of the cave right through to Valitaire's Zagdig, from the teaching of Jesus (Dilts 1998) and Buddha to the teachings of Don Juan, metaphor is ever present as a tool for changing ideas and effecting behavior." .. And some believe that every (succesfull) healer must make use of principles that are similar to those used by wichdoctors and shamans (Derks and Hollander 1998). As such, the Spiritual Healing process has been developed by Dilts and McDonald for the Tools of the Spirit program (first conducted in 1992).

Energy psychology and energy as a concept is a popular subject with NLP trainers and practitioners, and some NLP practitioners combine NLP with spiritual beliefs such as Huna and witchcraft(Eisner 2000). For more information on this see, New Age, psychic energy, or energy psychology. Practitioners who apply NLP patterns in spiritual contexts are said to be fully accepting of any religion whether it be Christian, Buddhist, Occultist, Taoist, Rosicrucian, or any other (O'Connor and McDermot 1996).

Science

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).

NLP's claim to science

The areas of science that enjoy the greatest prestige at any moment are the most tempting targets for appropriation by pseudoscientists, and Beyerstein (1991) considers neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to be one of many riders on neurology’s coattails. 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). Grinder more recently has been promoting NLP as an epistemology (in contrast to a technology or psychological science which some might interpret it as).

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

NLP models of behaviour, motivation or personality (examples?) contrast sharply with accepted psychological models of behavior, motivation or personality. Psychological modeling distinguishes constructs or factors, it makes considerable effort to measure the existence and strength of the parts of the model, 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. Also, the topic "NLP modeling" is unrelated to "Psychological model" and can cause confusion. "NLP modeling" (of patterns of excellence, based on high-performance models) cannot be verified through statistical methods (Carrol 2003). Without verification through statistical/psychological methods he says the techniques developed from patterns may have nothing to do with the patterns or their source models (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 (Lilienfeld et al 2003) (Williams et al 2000)(Levelt 1995)(Drenth 2003), who each also put it in the same mould as EST and Dianetics. 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 the NLP community continues to claim their assumptions and methods are powerful, relying only on testimonials and anecdotal evidence to support their claims. NLP proponents are considered similar to proponents of Dianetics and EST. Dianetics and EST are considered pseudoscientific subjects.

Pseudoscience is 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. The characteristics of pseudoscience 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

NLP has been found to be largely ineffective. The general behavior of NLP advocates is one of wishful thinking and passing the buck(Thaler Singer & Lalich, 1996). Thaler say wishful thinking and passing the buck is often characteristic of quick fix schemes. 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). NLP often appeals to New Age spiritual people (Lilienfeld 2003), which this is partly attributable to.

The modeling of deceased experts has been criticized within and from outside 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 psychologically 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: Seitz and Cohen (1992) say that if an NLP pattern is used to influence people without regarding their outcomes, that is unethical. Concerns have also been raised over NLP's use in speed seduction methods proposed by Ross Jeffries (an NLP proponent) in that they 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). NLP is said 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.

NLP has belief systems and social control methods. Certain cults use these 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). NLP has resistance reducing mind control aspects. These 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). New Age philosophies are compatible with the occult mindset of cult acolytes and leaders (Barrett 1997), and NLP is said to share these.

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. Richard Bandler and Frank Farrelly promote within NLP "attack" therapy methods that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s (Thaler Singer 1995).

Issues with buzzwords and trademarks

NLP's existing patterns, processes and jargon are modified then rebranded for promotional purposes. NLP rebranding is considered similar to pseudoscientific rebranding. 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. Some 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 is said to have 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

• Beyerstein, B. (2001). Fringe psychotherapies: The public at risk. The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, 5, 70-79.

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• Bradbury, A (1997) NLP for business success. Kogan Page.

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

• . ISBN 0-9717223-0-7. {{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)

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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

• Derks and Hollander (1998) Systemic Voodoo. Isbn 1907388896

• Derks, L. & Goldblatt, R.,(1985) The Feedforward Conception of Consciousness: A Bridge between Therapeutic Practice and Experimental Psychology. The William James Foundation, Amsterdam.

• . 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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• Dilts, R. (1998) Modeling With Nlp M E T a Publications ISBN: 0916990419

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

• . ISBN 0309037921. {{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)
  See On-line edition pages 138-149. Retrieved 25 Aug 2005

• Eisner, D. A. (2000). The death of psychotherapy: From Freud to alien abductions. Westport, CT: Praeger.

• 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)

• Joyce, T, (1989) Gnosis no 12, Hubbards Ladder. Pub Chichester.

• 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

Overdurf, J, Silverthorn, J (1995) Training Trances: Multi-Level Communication in Therapy and Training Metamorphous Press; 3rd edition ISBN: 1555520693

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

• Raso. J. (1994) "Alternative" Healthcare: A Comprehensive Guide. Prometheus Books

ISBN: 0879758910 

• 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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• Schacter.D (1997) Searching for Memory: The Brain, the Mind, and the Past Publisher: Basic Books; (1997) ISBN: 0465075525

• 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

• NLP
• Parapsychology
• Human communication
• Pseudoscience