NLP
Development
of NLP
Neuro-Linguistic Programming
(NLP) was developed in the mid-seventies by Richard Bandler, then a mathematician,
computer expert and psychotherapist, and John Grinder, an associate professor
of linguistics, through their work as 'behavioural modellers'. They were concerned
with how things worked rather than theoretical explanations of them.
The name reflects the
synthesis of the many fields they integrated:
- Neuro from neurology
- how the brain processes the five senses
- Linguistic - how our
thinking structures and is structured by language
- Programming - from
cybernetics and mathematics - how behaviour can be structured and sequenced
for ease of learning.
Operational
Presuppositions
There are a number of
Operational Presuppositions that are recommended
as the basis for applying NLP. They are drawn from the wide range of sources
that were integrated in the formation of NLP.
Benefits
of NLP
NLP emphasises the importance
of meeting clients at their model of the world. It provides skills and models,
rather than theories, to improve the quality and effectiveness of communication.
NLP can be applied in
all areas of communication and offers a wide range of specific behavioural
skills for interacting with clients to improve the effectiveness of our communication.
Through NLP we can become more flexible in our responses and therefore more
able to deal with situations which in the past may have proven difficult or
overly challenging.
