Neuro-linguistic psychotherapy (NLPt)

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Peter Schütz, Jelem · 1995 · Austria

What it is

NLPt is the psychotherapy offshoot of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which Bandler and Grinder (with Pucelik) developed in the 1970s by modelling Erickson, Satir and Perls. NLPt has its own professional association, the EANLPt. The EAP describes NLPt as a "systemic imaginative method of…

Format

• NLPt is a framework that sequences NLP formats inside a psychotherapeutic contract. It is not a fixed manual. No session-by-session manual was found.
• Settings: individual, couple and group, within a therapy contract, a protective frame and professional confidentiality.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy (NLPt) as described by the European Association for Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy (EANLPt) and the Austrian training centre ÖTZ-NLP (Schütz, Jelem and colleagues; Schütz et al. 2001, Theorie und Praxis der Neuro-Linguistischen Psychotherapie). This is set out in the EAP modality page, the German socialnet lexicon entry and the method's self-description as summarised…
• What it is. NLPt is the psychotherapy offshoot of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which Bandler and Grinder (with Pucelik) developed in the 1970s by modelling Erickson, Satir and Perls. NLPt has its own professional association, the EANLPt. The EAP describes NLPt as a "systemic imaginative method of psychotherapy" with an "integrative-cognitive approach". Its developers explicitly separate it from NLP as a…
• Certification and accreditation bodies.

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

• each link should be accessible before chaining.
• stay at the level of process; avoid interpreting.
• each stacked state must be clean; test after stacking.
• rapid-fire challenging feels like interrogation; pace first (4.1).
• stories that feel like lectures. It is working when the client picks up the metaphor spontaneously.

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.