NLP (neuro-linguistic programming)

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Richard Bandler, John Grinder · 1970

What it is

NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) is not a single psychotherapy. It is a set of communication, change and "modelling" techniques that Richard Bandler and John Grinder developed in the 1970s from seminars in which they presented patterns they said they had drawn from skilled practitioners, above…

Format

• NLP has no published phase model or fixed course of treatment comparable to a manualised therapy. What its sources describe is a repeating structure for a piece of change-work, used inside one session or across a few. The following sequence is assembled from the steps the sources build into…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Session count and format. Individual sessions; NLP training is commonly delivered as group seminars, which is where Frogs into Princes came from. Bandler and Grinder presented single procedures as brief — reframing "often in about half an hour" and phobia removal "in just a few minutes" in their demonstrations (as summarised by Rowan); these are the developers' claims. The RTM protocol (the most standardised…
• Who certifies it. NLP has no single statutory regulator or governing body. Certificates are issued by trainers affiliated with several competing associations, including the Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Bandler's licensing body, listed as founded 1978), the Association for NLP (ANLP, UK), the International NLP Trainers Association (INLPTA), the International Trainers Academy of NLP (ITANLP) and the…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• see 4.16.
• Over-reading single signs. Always confirm by asking.
• Do not use timeline work to search for unremembered events.
• Testing too early, before a break state, gives false positives.
• Clients with mobility needs can do it seated with an imagined circle.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.