Neuro-linguistic programming

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Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is method proposed for programming the mind, often promoted for the use of self-help, therapy, NLP modeling, and new age spirituality. NLP promotes the use of body language and NLP language to find the patterns of how someone performs(whether to model them or help them change). NLP also claims to teach processes for influencing patterns of thought, state management, changing beliefs (O'Connor and McDermot, 1996), examining intentions and values, and changing habits.

NLP is based primarily on the communication patterns of three psychotherapists(Bandler and Grinder 1975 I). NLP adheres to the notion that people have visual, auditory, and kinesthetic elements of thinking, and communicate non verbally. Some NLP techniques include behaviour change, transforming beliefs, and treatment of traumas through techniques such as reframing (Andreas & Faulkner, 1994) and linguistic NLP "meta-modeling". The methods of NLP involve programming and reprogramming habits and mental associations, which some NLP practioners consider to involve the altering of engrams (Sinclair, 1992; Overdurf & Silverthorn, 1995; Drenth, 2003) . NLP has been applied to a variety of contexts including business, sports performance, the development of psychic abilities, and covert seduction techniques.

Scientific research on specific NLP processes generally concludes that NLP is scientifically unsupported (Heap 1988; Sharpley 1987; Lilienfeld et al, 2003). This has led to NLP being classed as pseudoscientific (Eisner, 2000; Lilienfeld et al, 2003) and a dubious therapy by the National Council Against Health Fraud (Loma 2001). Stephen Barrett MD of Quackwatch classes NLP as a mental help procedure to avoid.

Overview

NLP is most widely known as a self help development. NLP’s promotion through the advertisement and sale of books and seminars has become increasingly widespread through the popular psychology sections of bookshops and various media including infomercials and the Internet particularly by Anthony Robbins. It is also promoted in various specific forms including as a quick fix or lay therapy, in some management training programs, and for more fringe practices such as NLP trance seduction, and psychic or occult practices.

NLP emphasizes the mind-body connection (and some also include the spirit connection). The term "neuro-linguistic programming" includes three ideas:

Assumes that from birth, our unconscious creates and develops behavioral programs. Sometimes named automata, these programs are called thus in reference to the operation of the computers.
Any behavioral program rests on a neuronal basis; the product of an engram resulting from our sensory perceptions.
Language is a manifestation of the internal states of the person, internal states resulting from the neuronal or engram programs. NLP is thus proposed as a study of the way in which the human beings structure their perceptions.

Some NLP proponents state that they do not have a theory to explain neuro-linguistic programming (Singer & Lalich, 1996); focusing on modeling or mimicking. However, once modeled, some processes have been related to existing theories (or new theories have been developed). Robert Dilts asserts that NLP "is theoretically rooted in the principles of neurology, psychophysiology, linguistics, cybernetics, and communication theory" (Dilts et al 1980). Sinclair (1992) theorises that NLP processes are explained through the neurological concepts of programming and reprogramming engrams of the mind/body connection (Drenth, 2003) in order to effect change, to develop unconscious competence, and to treat trauma (Andreas & Faulkner, 1994). Some users explain anchoring as a form of pavlovian conditioning. Rex and Carolyn Sikes describe anchoring as "consciously creating the placebo effect". And NLP works through reframing and belief change methods (O'Connor and McDermot, 1996).

The engram is the neural network that represents past experience, and is sometimes thought of as a kind of hologram containing information from the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) and the present thoughts (Schacter, 1997). Engrams give a patterned response which has been stabilised at the level of unconscious competence. They involve beneficial automatic activities as well as pernicious ones like addictive behaviour (Sinclair, 1992).

For example, the Swish pattern and chaining states and anchors, are primarily focused on the perceptive aspects of engrams (Derks & Goldblatt, 1985). These patterns involve the memory trace which can be located through the direction of gaze in space, and then can be accessed and manipulated using changes in internal visuo-spatial imagery.

Goals

The NLP practitioner's goal may include changing a state of mind or "re-programming" their own or somebody else's beliefs and self concept. 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/subject or themselves perceive and relate to identity, life and personal beliefs, and life goal issues. NLP practitioners state they can often help clients or themselves to replace false or negative perceptions, with positive, life affirming beliefs. Grinder describes NLP as "an accelerated learning approach for modeling human excellence" (Grinder, 2003).

NLP processes have also been applied to replace false beliefs, though the same process could be used to create false beliefs. NLP has been applied to therapy, coaching, self development, hypnotherapy, sports performance, business, and the New Age. NLP has also been applied to LGATs or large awareness training seminars (taught by NLP practitioners such as Anthony Robbins), seduction workshops, and other more fringe practices such as shamanism, and psychic development.

Principles and Presuppositions

The principles and presuppositions of NLP are sometimes described as an epistemology. NLP studies 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. NLP calls some of these principles "presuppositions" - A presupposition (linguistic term) is a background belief and is treated by the NLP practitioner "as if" it is true when working with a subject, with the intent to increase the effectiveness of change work.

Presupposition can mean, a statement that one treats as true for the purpose of discussion, thus "Suppose money was no object, would you still want that?". This is a form of As-if, used with the intent to increase the client's ability to explore their options and feelings free from previous limiting preconceptions.
It can also be used in the context of a Metamodel pattern, in which an assumption about the world is made in a sentence. These could be manipulative "Have you stopped beating your wife?" (the question implies, but does not state explicitly, "You have at some time beaten your wife, the only question is whether you have stopped or not"), or beneficial "When you get off drugs what will you do next?" .

Two fundamental presuppositions in NLP are: (Dilts et al, 1980)

The map is not the territory. "NLP epistemology" follows Alfred Korzybski (1933) and Gregory Bateson's (1972, 1979) postulations that there is no such thing as "objective experience." The subjective nature of our experience never fully captures the objective world. It is assumed that each of us creates a representation of the world in which we live - that is, we create a map or model which we use to generate our behavior. Our representation or map of the world determines to a large degree what our experience of the world will be, how we will perceive the world, what choices we will see available to us as we live in the world (Bandler and Grinder 1975 I). Thus, the view of NLP assumes that individual people in fact do not in general have access to absolute knowledge of reality, but in fact only have access to a set of beliefs they have built up over time, about reality. From this presupposition, NLP practitioners considered it crucially important to focus on the understanding that their beliefs about reality and their awareness of things (the "map") are not reality itself and in order to adopt this presupposition they apply the attidude; as if.
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. This assumes that looking from different vantage points may result in quite different – and yet equally valid –descriptions and emphasis of what is important in the system. (Example: the description of a business problem and what is seen as relevant will be quite different depending if you ask the CEO, a worker on strike, or a client). So it is considered important to gather a lot of information from multiple viewpoints to gain a fully appreciation of the complexities involved, before intervening, and the same principle is believed true even when working with one individual person.

These presuppositions are considered groundbreaking by NLP proponents because they contradict the modern scientific Aristotelian view that reality can be objectively measured (Thaler Singer 1999).

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 are attempting to fulfill some positive intent (of which they may not be aware). It assumes that the current behaviour exhibited by a person represents the best choice available to them at the time. Generating alternatives from this point of view 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 have failed, consider instead what you have learned and how you might do it better next time (do not dwell unnecessarily on the failure).(This is a principle of feedback loop, borrowed from information theory. see, Asbby, Cybernetics).

We already have all the resources we need to succeed. It is argued that this is useful for the subject to believe when attempting a change. Christina Hall has argued that people's resources are their sensory representation systems and the manner in which they are organised.

Multiple descriptions are better than one. This makes use of the perspective of self, another involved individual, and a detached third person in that situation. By moving between perceptual positions it is asserted that one can develop new choice of responses (Bostic & Grinder, 2002 p.247).

Other more specific presuppositions can also be adopted for change in NLP. For example it has been claimed that the presuppositions of Jesus of Nazareth have been identified using NLP modeling . This means, a set of beliefs and a structure that a person could explore, to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus's inner world.

NLP Modeling

NLP modeling is a method of copying somebody's behavior. It is considered by some users to be at the heart of NLP.

NLP Modeling involves attempting to enter a special state of mind from which to model, which is purported to have no preconceptions of how the model does what they do. The aim is to discover how people perform in a given niche, initially through observation and imitation. NLP 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.

Several methods of modeling are being practicised within the NLP community, which often are combined while doing a modeling project. Analytic Modeling means applying the distinctions which are often used in NLP, such as the meta model, meta programs, values, beliefs, representation systems, etc in order to analyze the behavior of a model. When combined with research methodology from psychology, analytical modeling can be used for scientific research. (e.g. see the discussion on how to build Models of Excellence on jobEQ.com).

Many trainers stress that fully identifying with the model, which could be called embodied modeling is an essential part of the modeling process. However, when NLP practitioners do any modeling at all in practice, it is often "Analytic Modeling", wich Grinder now wants to exclude from his limited view on what may be called "NLP modeling". (announced October 17 2005-).

Sometimes strategy elicitation and modeling someone is done through their biographies and other descriptions. For instance, Robert Dilts published models of Jesus of Nazareth's, Sherlock Holmes's, Albert Einstein's and Nikola Tesla’s internal strategies. Some NLP proponents have criticised this activity, and believe that with no access to the model (nor quality video), it is not possible to test whether the model is accurate. Similarly, scientists have criticised NLP modeling on the whole, stating that it is impossible to determine a "correct" model, applying one particular model to everyone is over-simplistic, and will be no substitute for hard earned expertise (Carroll, 2003). That said, NLP denies the idea that there is one correct model, in the same way that there is no one "correct" approximation in any other field.

Background

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). 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

(source Andreas & Faulkner, 1994)

Two other people 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.

The practice of neuro-linguistic programming attracted mostly therapists at first although it eventually attracted business people, sales people, artists, and "new-agers" (Hall, 1994). As it expanded, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Judith DeLozier, Robert Dilts, and David Gordon made further contributions to NLP and the seminars of Bandler and Grinder were transcribed into a book, Frogs into Princes. This became a popular NLP book; 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, and as such, scientists class NLP as a pseudoscientific self-help development in the same mould as that of Dianetics and EST (Lilienfeld, 2003; Drenth, 2003; Levelt, 1995; Barrett, 1997; Carroll, 2003; Eisner, 2000; Raso, 1994).

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.

Basic Tenets

The basic tenets of NLP are thought of as 5 elements that NLP proponents claim can indicate an individual's internal strategies. These all refer to a notion that internal strategies are subjectively represented via the senses; either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (with a less likely extra olfactory and gustatory).

body posture,
breathing,
gestures towards eyes ears or body,
eye movements (See eye accessing cues and PRS), and
language patterns (meta-model) and predicates such as "I see!" "Sounds right! or "I feel that..."(Dilts et al, 1980; Dilts, 1998).

Eye accessing cues and the preferred representational system (PRS)

File:Eye accessing cuesG.JPG

Eye accessing cues of NLP

According to this core NLP tenet, upward eye movements indicate visual processing, eye movements down indicate somatic or kinesthetic (feeling) processing, and eye movements to the sides indicate auditory (hearing) processing. Also, eye movements to the left, or right indicate if a representation was recalled or constructed (created) respectively. NLP proponents also use other cues to try 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).

Similarly, some authors (Bradbury, 1997) use internal Verbal/Auditory/Kinesthetic strategies in order to categorize people within a thinking strategies or learning styles framework, although these notions also lack scientific support. A empirical study published in Journal of Marketing Communications (Skinner & Stephens, 2003) found for most effect in TV advertising, express the message predominatly in a persons preferred preferred sensory representational system.

NLP advocates connect this with brain hemispheric science of left and right brain dominance for certain skills, such as logic and mathematics for engram traces in the left hemisphere, and creativity and imagination for engram traces in the right hemisphere (Bandler & Grinder, 1975a; O'Connor & McDermott, 1996). 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 oversimplified and mythical popular psychology (Sala et al, 1999; Drenth, 2003).

Most evidence used by NLP users to promote the use of NLP appears to be unsubstantiated, uncorroborated or entirely anecdotal as testing of NLP "models" has shown that NLP has no significant scientific support (Heap, 1988; Platt, 2001). 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 (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; Platt, 2001). The assertion that matching PRS will increase rapport with the client has also been found to be false, and that therapists who try to match their clients' language using techniques proposed within NLP were rated by the client and external observers as being untrustworthy and ineffective (Heap, 1988). A personal opinion of NLP by hypnotherapist D. Morgan states that the methods of NLP are "devious, indirect, and dubious" (Morgan 1993).

Meta-model and Milton Model

The meta-model is a set of thirteen language patterns developed from Virginia Satir, and Fritz Perls designed to determine what a person believes about any given subject often in order to change those beliefs. These include distortions, generalizations or deletions in the speaker's language (Bandler & Grinder, 1975a Ch3). The meta-model can be reduced to the asking a subject "What specifically", or "How specifically?" to clarify what they are talking about.

The reverse set of the meta-model is the Milton-model; a collection of vague (not specific) language patterns elicited from the work of Milton H. Erickson. It is said that the vague language is used to cause the client to lead the client to come to conclusions using their own imagination.

Together these 2 models form the basis for the all other NLP models.

Example 1: Distortions - Presuppositions

Speaker: I'm afraid my son is turning out to be as lazy as my husband
Challenge: Is your husband lazy?

Example 2: Generalizations - Lack of Referential Index (never, nobody, everybody, all, ...)

Speaker: Nobody pays attention to anything I say.
Challenge: Who doesn't pay attention to you?
Speaker: My son and daughter.

Example 3: Deletions - Comparatives and Superlatives (best, worst, ...)

Speaker: I'm feeling better.
Challenged: Compared to what?

Recent Developments

Since the mid 1990s, as NLP spread, and following the example of Richard Bandler (who attempted legal action to claim the bulk of the field as his own personal intellectual and commercial property because he could not resolve the dispute through the use of NLP (Salerno 2005). The dispute between Bandler and Grinder over trademarks and copyright was resolved in court of California in 2000 who deemed NLP a generic term (Salerno 2005)(Appendix, Grinder & Bostic, 2001). NLP has undergone some changes in the following directions:

Individual trainers have often introduced or idiosyncratically developed their own methods, concepts and labels, branding them under the "NLP" name (Carroll 2003)
Much is now targeted for niche markets (particularly commercialized, cut down or self-help usage), and these often involve disagreements within the NLP world, and may be more controversial or esoteric, sometimes charismatically or evangelistically taught, or are proprietary and customized packagings (Eisner 2000).
Further to this, NLP methodologies, have increasingly been used to model more controversial phenomenae, such as psychic power, magick, physical body changes and other reported states and abilities. Often the results are marketed as a shortcut way to achieve these oneself, using NLP's "brand" for credibility.
Some of the original developers, noteably Richard Bandler and the stage hypnotist Paul McKenna, have encouraged these trends and the resulting fragmentation and move towards "pop NLP" has discredited the subject in the eyes of many people.
As time has passed, even trainers who teach basic NLP have often been drawn (or perhaps come under competitive pressure) to focus their trainings "on something", be it business use, medical use, or personal self-help use. This has also led to modern NLP to be seen not as the "toolbox", but as yet another new age fad.

NLP proponents claim that NLP is eclectic, open frame, and focused on what an individual practitioner feels "works". As such, it tends to be increasingly considered as pseudoscience (Drenth 2003; Lilienfeld et al 2003). Classical, core NLP - models, methodologies and applications which are common across the field, remain scientifically unsupported (Eisner 2000; Lilienfeld et al 2003). It is still taught using the claims to holism and eclecticism designed to immunize it from verifiable efficacy (Lilienfeld et al 2003). "New age" or "commercialized" NLP is increasingly targeted for saleability, and may be characterized as a blend of classic NLP, application specific training, possibly including personal theories and/or pseudoscience of the creator's choosing. Many such courses appear to depend more upon charismatic appeal, wish-fulfillment, quick fixes, and lack of critical faculty, than actual quantifiable results, and so are often considered pure pseudoscience. The original fad of NLP has undergone further controvercy and abandonment since the further realization that it is simply a faddy cult, and the divorce of Tony Robbins despite his commercial promotion of "Perfect Marriage" counseling has led to a great deal of disenchantment from his own followers (Salerno 2005). The various claims have no clinical support and are grossly missleading (Eisner 2000).

NLP Applications

NLP 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.

Psychotherapy

NLP developers modeled the first NLP applications after techniques used in family therapy, hypnosis, gestalt therapy and provocative therapy. Around 1978, NLP practitioner certification was set up as a 20 day program with the aim of training therapists. In Europe, the European NLP therapy association has been working to reform this training in line with European therapy standards. However, in the US, this certification still does not require any professional qualifications. It has been said that exaggerated claims about NLP tend to be generated by such NLP practitioners (Eisner 2000).

There are claimed to be various patterns (eg, the NLP fast phobia cure) which often help with specific goals. Most of the basic NLP techniques can be self applied, though working with a practitioner is said to be beneficial especially for less basic change work. Qualified NLP practitioners claim to be able to do more complex NLP change work (Eisner 2000).

Self Help and Inspirational Seminars

NLP methods and models are often applied by personal and business coaches, whether for individuals and teams. Many people learn NLP processes as a means of personal development, and do not themselves formally coach or counsel others. Motivational speakers such as Anthony Robbins, promote NLP through books, seminars, and other such information products. (Robbins sought to trademark his own personalized style of NLP when it became a generic term.)

NLP seminars often involve LGAT methods of dissemination, similar to Landmark Forum and and EST seminars. Some of these seminars involve day long, or several day periods of large group awareness activities including the introduction of well known guest speakers and promotion of New Age products.

Coaching and other HR applications

With the raise in populatity of topics such as emotional intelligence and coaching since 1996, many NLP trainers and consultants are now applying NLP techniques in HR application areas.

Energy, Spiritual Experience and New Age Movement

NLP often involves spirituality especially with reference to the logical levels view. Similar to other amoral pseudoscientific psychocults such as Dianetics and EST (Novopashin 2004; Eisner 2000), some NLP proponents include New Age notions of psychic energy. In addition, NLP is occasionally used with remote ESP influence (James and Shepherd 2001).

The foundation for Bandler and Grinder's NLP is based in the New Age (Williams 2000; Swets and Bjork 1990).

for so many years people would say 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.
— Robert Dilts, 1997

Some NLP users 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.

Bandler often uses shamanistic anecdotes in his seminars (Hall & Belnap, 1999) and Grinder uses terms such as "first attention/second attention" and "stop the world states", terms borrowed from Carlos Castenada's New Age writings (see for example, Grinder & Delozier, 1987). Shaman and philosophers have used metaphor and some NLP proponents believe that every (succesfull) healer must make use of principles that are similar to those used by witch doctors and shamans (Derks & Hollander 1998). As such, the Spiritual Healing process has been developed by Dilts and McDonald for the Tools of the Spirit program (1992).

According to some NLP proponents, using NLP, the release of energy through fantasy can be vast (Bandler & Grinder, 1975a), and psychic energy can be liberated from phobic responses and by focusing on pleasurable experiences (Bandler and Grinder 1979). It is claimed that NLP can be used to “create both positive (+) and negative (-) psychic energy which operate at polar opposites from each other” (Hall, 2001). Energy can be created by using the “right words” (Lakin 2000), and by using inner commitment (Andreas and Faulkner 1996), and rapport can create an alignment of energy levels in two different individuals regardless of physical state (Valentino, 1999). It is also claimed that by using NLP, energy can be directed outside of the body all the way to the very furthest reaches of the of the universe (James and Shephard, 2001).

Energy Psychology and the concept of energy is popular subject with NLP trainers and practitioners; some NLP promoters combine NLP with spiritual beliefs such as Huna and witchcraft (James and Shephard, 2001). Users who apply NLP patterns in spiritual contexts are often said any religion "whether it be Christian, Buddhist, Occultist, Taoist, Rosicrucian, or any other" (O'Connor and McDermot, 1996).

Science

Scientific Testing

NLP has been empirically tested over many years, and it has been found to be largely ineffective (Thaler Singer & Lalich, 1996). In 1984, the US National Committee, asked in to judge the various techniques of NLP using available research, and showed that NLP was scientifically unsupported (Heap 1988).

In relating to current understanding of neurology and perception NLP is in error (Bertelsen, 1987), and instead of being grounded in contemporary, scientifically derived neurological theory, NLP is based on outdated metaphors of brain functioning and is laced with numerous factual errors (Druckman and Swets 1988). There is no evidence to support either NLP assumptions or NLP effectiveness (Druckman, & Swets, 1988).

A single critique by Einspruch and Forman (1985) stated that Sharpley's review of NLP (1984) contained methodological errors. However, Sharpley (1987) refuted this and provided further experimental evidence to demonstrate that NLP is ineffective and in error in both method and model.

The 1988 US National Committee report found 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 stated that "Lots of data shows that NLP doesn't work" (Squires 1988). NLP has failed to yield convincing evidence for the NLP model, and failed to provide evidence for its effectiveness (Heap 1989). A personal opinion of NLP by hypnotherapist D. Morgan states that the methods of NLP are "devious, indirect, and dubious" (Morgan 1993).

Where controlled studies have been performed attempting to test NLP hypotheses, such as the proposed relationship between eye movement direction and preferred representational system, they have consistently failed to do so (Von Bergen et al 1997), therefore NLP does not stand up to scientific scrutiny (Von Bergen et al 1997).

Thus, 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 (Bertelsen, 1987, Bleimeister, 1988; Heap, 1988; Platt, 2001), and the reiterated statement that there is no neuro-scientific basis for any of NLP"'s claims, or any scientific support for its claimed efficacy (Thaler Singer and Lalich 1996; Drenth 2003; Lilienfeld et al 2003; Eisner 2000).

NLP has not attained sufficient scientific support and as such it is considered inappropriate for thorough clinical studies (Eisner 2000), and due to general disillusionment with NLP it’s mention in psychotherapy journals and books is becoming increasingly rare (Efran and Lukens 1990). Currently, NLP is only briefly mentoned in minor speculative discussion studies into business and human computer interaction studies with inconclusive findings.

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

Claims to science

NLP associates itself with science in order to raise its own prestige (Beyerstein, 1991). Grinder 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 the epistemological side of NLP in contrast with its methodological and technological aspects.

NLP advocates attempt to associate NLP with great minds such as Einstein (Grinder & Delozier, 1987), and to imply extraordinary efficacy. Einsteinian thought supports Hume's dictum: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", though NLP promoters have failed to provide normal scientific evidence for efficacy or validity.

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) and this contrasts sharply with NLP as most NLP promoters make no attempt to fulfill these requirements. A criticism has been that "NLP modeling" (of patterns of excellence, based on high-performance models) cannot be verified through statistical methods (Carrol, 2003). According to science, without verification through statistical/psychological methods 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).

Therefore, according to the principles of science, NLP promotes methods which are false, inaccurate or ineffective (Bleimeister, 1988; Heap, 1988; Platt, 2001), and develops techniques which may have nothing to do with either the models or the sources of the "models" and makes claims about thinking and perception which do not seem to be supported by neuroscience (Bertelsen, 1987; Druckman & Swets, 1988; Platt, 2001; Carroll, 2003).

Pseudoscience

NLP has been classed as a pseudoscientific self help development (Levelt, 1995; Williams et al, 2000; Lilienfeld et al, 2003; Drenth, 2003), who each also put it in the same mould as EST and Dianetics, also considered pseudoscience. 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.

NLP proponents appear to be resistant to subjecting their field to the scientific method (Levelt 1995). For instance, in Whispering in the Wind, Bostic St.Clair & Grinder (2002) say NLP modeling is not compatible with statistics.

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 meta programs, parapragmatics, sub-modalities etc)
The absence of connectivity (Levelt, 1995)
Over-reliance on testimonial and anecdotal evidence (Krugman et al 1999)
An overuse of ad hoc hypotheses designed to immunize claims from falsification (Singer 1999)
Emphasis on confirmation rather refutation (eg reliance on asking how rather than why)
Absence of boundary conditions
The mantra of holism (Claiming that NLP is unmeasurable due to too many factors(Eisner 2000)
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

NLP has been criticized by psychologists, management scholars, linguists, psychotherapists and cult awareness groups, on various grounds. These include inconsistency, ethical questions, cult-like characteristics, promotion of unwarranted claims, and ineffectiveness (see science section for pseudoscientific and unscientific information).

After researching for the Financial Times, Sanghera reported that Sanghera, S (Aug 26, 2005). "Look into my eyes and tell me I'm learning not to be a loser". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help) critics say that 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. Without the required scientific support NLP is just mass marketed psychopablum (Eisner 2000). The British Psychological Society classes NLP as "quintessential charlatanry" (Parker 1999). Most evidence used by NLP promoters to promote the use of NLP appears to be unsubstantiated, uncorroborated or entirely anecdotal (Platt 2001).

It is worth noting that NLP has been criticised for being both ineffective, and for being too effective (ie used for mind control and manipulation). This contradiction has not yet been resolved.

Unethical use

Ethical concerns of manipulation using NLP processes has been raised. NLP processes are intended for change work, and when used as a set of techniques directed towards specific goals, can become mechanistic ("this is how to do that") or manipulative ("this is how to make someone do something").

NLP Processes can be used with or without consideration for the subject (no 'ecology'). In fields such as sales, there is said to be little or no long term focus, and more an effort to get the 'customer' to buy. Similar concerns have been raised over NLP patterns being used in "speed seduction" (see Ross Jeffries and David DeAngelo) and 'optional' concern for the person being 'seduced'.

Therapy and coaching fields usually require an ethical code of conduct (eg: Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia Ethical Guidelines). The principle of Ecology in NLP covers many ethical considerations - this includes exploring a subject's wishes, and ensuring that any changes do not have a negative effect on a subject's long term wellbeing. However, ecology is not intended to cover all medical ethical considerations, and few NLP trainings teach a specific code of ethics for the fields a student might apply NLP to, such as confidentiality in the clinical field.

"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). NLP claims are as yet unsubstantiated and the efficacy has not been psychologically proven by NLP promoters. In general, it is seen as unethical to use an NLP process to influence people without regarding their outcomes (Seitz and Cohen 1992).

New age

NLP is often criticised as being a dubious new age therapy. This is often as a result of users attempting to model spiritual experiences lacking scientific support. Also, some people who sell psychic services such as remote viewing or remote seduction, sometimes promote this via a connection with NLP.

NLP is sometimes sold in combination with shamanic methods of magic (by Richard Bandler) or Huna (by Tad James). According to Singer & Lalich, (1996), NLP has been found to be largely ineffective, the general behavior of NLP advocates is one of wishful thinking and passing the buck which is characteristic of quick fix schemes.

Bandler often used anecdotes and metaphors about the occult in his workshops and large group awareness training LGAT seminars (Hall & Belnap, 1999).

Cult characteristics

NLP methods have been associated with modern day cults (Langone, 1993; Tippet, 1994; 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" and some practitioners are 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 - positive intention regardless of negative action - are commonly utilized in other communication and therapeutic fields, but lead to a fertile ground for manipulation on the part of cult leaders.

NLP has belief systems and social control methods which certain cults use in combination with the occult and pseudoscience to claim modern day miracles and induce dependence and compliance on the part of their 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.

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 (Thaler Singer, 1995).

Extraordinary Claims

Numerous extraordinary and unsupported claims have been made by some NLP promoters.

NLP is often promoted as "the study of the structure of subjective experience" but as yet no scientific evidence has been presented in order to support such a structure (Carroll 2003). In "The Charismatic Kid: Tony Robbins", the authors refer to statements such as "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" (Griffin & Goldsmith, 1985, p. 41). Anthony Robbins has also claimed that through neurolinguistic programming, clinicians can "cure people of tumors and long-standing psychological problems", and that 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). Also, 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).

File:Scientology of achievement.JPG

Critical view of NLP and pseudoscience

Dubious treatments such as hypnotic breast enhancement and penis enlargement often claim to use NLP in order to produce this effect.

Buzzwords and trademarks

NLP's existing patterns, processes and jargon are modified and rebranded for promotional purposes. Motivational speaker Anthony Robbins, for example, uses NLP technology under the banner "neuroassociative conditioning" and has used unconventional methods such as firewalking to get people's attention (). NLP has created its own technical vocabulary, and some terms are used with a different definition than was originally the case in areas such as applied psychology and linguistics. But in some cases, NLP trainers have created obvious "buzz-words" which are not as much descriptive, as marketing-led.

Many trainers and authors still use the generic term NLP (eg: Robert Dilts, Steve Andreas), though in response to Bandler's legal attempt in the 1990s to gain the use of the term "NLP" as personal property, several others were legally advised to train under a different name while still referring to NLP as the basis for this:

John Grinder teaches New Code of NLP
Anthony Robbins teaches NAC (Neuro Associaive Conditioning)
Michael Hall teaches Neuro Semantics
Tad James teaches Advanced Neuro Dynamics & Time Line Therapy
Richard Bandler himself now teaches his own offshoot of NLP, called DHE (Design Human Engineering)

"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 lacks a coherent theory that would explain its terminology and mechanisms of action; it uses anecdotal stories and testimonials as "evidence", while lacks empirical support. 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).

Notes

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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.
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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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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.
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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
Christopher, P. (2004) New Religions: A Guide : New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities. Oxford University Press ISBN: 0195220420
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
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See On-line edition pages 138-149. Retrieved 25 Aug 2005
Efran, J S. Lukens M.D. (1990) Language, structure, and change: frameworks of meaning in psychotherapy / New York : W.W. Norton
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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See
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Hall, M (2001) The Spirit of NLP. Crown House Publishing ISBN: 1899836047
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Heap,M. (1989) Neurolinguistic programming: What is the evidence? In D Waxman D. Pederson. I, Wilkie, and P Mellett(Eds) Hypnosis: The fourth european congress at Oxford (pp 118-124) London. Whurr Publishers.
Howell, Tom (2001). Cults and Small Religions. Retrieved August 29, 2005.
Science and Sanity An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics, Alfred Korzybski, Preface by Robert P. Pula, Institute of General Semantics, 1994 (first published 1933), hardcover, 5th edition, ISBN 0937298018
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.
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James T, Shephard. D, (2001) Presenting Magically: Transforming Your Stage Presence with NLP Crown House Publishing ISBN: 1899836527
Joyce, T, (1989) Gnosis no 12, Hubbards Ladder. Pub Chichester.
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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,.
Loma.L. (2001) National Council Against Health Fraud. : Jul/Aug 2001 Vol.24, Iss. 4; pg. 1, 1 pgs
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Novopashin. A. (2004) "Totalitarian Sects and the Democratic State. "International Conference in Novosibirsk: 9-11 November 2004
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Overdurf, J, Silverthorn, J (1995) Training Trances: Multi-Level Communication in Therapy and Training Metamorphous Press; 3rd edition ISBN: 1555520693
Parker, I. (1999) Annual Review of Critical Psychology.

Vol. 1, pp. 3-18 (ISSN: 1464-0538)

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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.
Salerno, S(2005); Sham : How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless. Crown Publishers

Sanghera, S (Aug 26, 2005). "Look into my eyes and tell me I'm learning not to be a loser". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)

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
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Sinclair. J. (1992) An ABC of NLP. Publisher: Self-published (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
Valentino, A (1999) Personality Selling : Using NLP and the Enneagram to Understand People and How They Are Influenced Vantage Point Publishing ISBN: 0966773233
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Winn, C.M , and Wiggins,A.W (2001) QUANTUM LEAPS..in the wrong direction: Where real science ends and pseudoscience begins. Joseph Henry Press.

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