NLP (neuro-linguistic programming)

1. Introduction

Version followed: "classic" ("first-generation") NLP change-work as Bandler and Grinder presented it in their seminar-transcript books (Frogs into Princes, 1979; Reframing, 1982) and as Bandler extended it in Using Your Brain — for a Change (1985). Later variants are named where used: the Andreas submodality patterns, Robert McDonald's kinesthetic swish, the NLP Academy / New Code commentary on the swish, and Gray and Bourke's Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM) protocol, which grew from the NLP "visual-kinesthetic dissociation" phobia procedure. The primary books themselves are not drawn on directly; their contents are taken from reviews, the developers' and trainers' own sites, and the RTM papers [uncertain where marked].

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 all Milton Erickson; reviewers also describe it as drawing on hypnosis and on a "parts" or subpersonality view of the mind [source: Rowan's 1979–80 review of Frogs into Princes; Wikipedia, Frogs into Princes]. Tosey and Mathison describe it as an "emergent, contested" approach, both a method and a conceptual framework, which they link to Bateson's epistemology and a methodology its practitioners call "modelling" [source: Tosey & Mathison 2010, abstract]. It is contested: reviews of research have found little support for its representational-system and eye-movement claims, and its theoretical statements below are reported as its developers' claims, not as established fact [source: Wikipedia, Frogs into Princes].

Core idea of change (as its developers state it). Bandler and Grinder held that people experience the world through sensory "representational systems" (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, gustatory) and that problems are maintained by the structure of these internal representations and by learned stimulus–response links, not by their content. On this view change comes from (a) altering how an experience is represented (for example watching it dissociated rather than reliving it associated, or changing its size and brightness), (b) building new stimulus–response links ("anchors") to resourceful states, and (c) honouring the "positive intention" of a problem behaviour while generating new ways to meet it (reframing) [source: Wikipedia, Frogs into Princes; Rowan review; NLP Academy swish article; Lee 2020]. Trainers also state that NLP treats physiology, state and representation as one interacting system, so changing one changes the experience [source: Lee 2020].

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 American Board of Hypnotherapy and NLP (ABH-ABNLP); online courses also cite an "International NLP Association" and ICF for coaching accreditation. The usual ladder is Practitioner (about 120+ hours), Master Practitioner (about 120 hours more), Trainer and Master Trainer; standards differ between bodies [source: Mind Is the Master, "What is an NLP certification?" (secondary)]. An NLP certificate is not a clinical licence: a psychotherapist uses these techniques within the scope of their own professional registration [synthesis].

2. Framework

NLP has no published phase model or fixed course of treatment comparable to a manualised therapy [uncertain]. 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 individual techniques (rapport and calibration; a sensory-specific target; the intervention; break state; test; ecology check) [synthesis, drawing on Rowan review, Lee 2020, Andreas kinesthetic-swish page, NLP Academy swish article].

Session count and format. Individual sessions; NLP training is commonly delivered as group seminars, which is where Frogs into Princes came from [source: Wikipedia]. 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 [source: Rowan review]. The RTM protocol (the most standardised NLP-derived procedure) is typically delivered in three 90-minute sessions, with SUD (0–10 distress) ratings used to track each cycle [source: Gray, Brookdale/HDIAC RTM materials]. For a psychotherapist, a realistic format is to use one or two NLP procedures inside an existing treatment plan, with review after each session [synthesis].

3. Guiding principles

Principles marked with a source are stated or built into procedures in the sources cited; the commonly taught list of NLP "presuppositions" is not given in any source cited, so it is not reproduced [uncertain].

• Work with structure, not content. Change the form of a representation or a response rather than analysing its story. Practically: you can run reframing without the client telling you what the behaviour is; Rowan notes the practitioner "need not know" the pattern [source: Rowan review].
• Every behaviour has a positive intention. Bandler and Grinder held that a problem pattern is produced by a part with a worthwhile purpose, so the behaviour and its purpose can be separated. Practically: ask what the response is trying to achieve for the client, then find new ways to meet it [source: Rowan review; Andreas kinesthetic-swish page].
• Sensory-based observation (calibration). NLP relies on close watching of the client's body and on using the practitioner's own body to influence rapport. Practically: judge change by what you see and hear (breathing, colour, posture, voice), not only by report [source: Rowan review].
• Precision about the trigger. Interventions are built on the exact cue that fires the response. Practically: get the first sensory cue (sight, sound, smell, body sensation), not an evaluation of the situation [source: NLP Academy; Andreas kinesthetic-swish page].
• Association and dissociation change intensity. Developers hold that seeing an event from inside your body (associated) intensifies feeling, and watching yourself in it (dissociated) reduces it. Practically: dissociate for distressing memories; associate for resources you want to strengthen [source: Lee 2020; NLP Academy; RTM materials].
• Test, don't assume. Every procedure ends with break state and a test. Practically: after each run, distract the client, then re-present the cue and observe [source: Lee 2020; Andreas].
• Ecology. Check that no part of the client, and nothing in their life, is harmed by the change. Practically: ask whether any part objects; if so, return to an earlier step [source: Rowan review (reframing step 6); Andreas ("ecologically sound")].
• Flexibility of the operator. Trainers hold that the practitioner's skill largely determines whether a pattern works, and that rote recipes underperform. Practically: adapt the modality (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) of a pattern to the client's actual experience [source: NLP Academy swish article].
• Client comfort and safety come first in trauma work [source: RTM materials ("Client comfort and safety are crucial")].
• Practise within your licence and with informed consent. Tell clients that NLP techniques are contested and are being used as adjuncts within your therapy [synthesis].
• Memories are the client's experience. Work with the memory as the client represents it; never use NLP, trance or imagery to "recover" or verify memories [synthesis].
• No use on identity or orientation. Parts work must never target sexual orientation or gender identity (see the visual squash entry) [synthesis].

4. Intervention inventory

Scope note: these are the techniques named in the sources cited. Where a source gave only a name or a one-line summary, the steps are written as [synthesis] (a clinician's working version consistent with that summary), not as the founders' wording. Example language is illustrative throughout. Trauma-related procedures (4.14, 4.15) follow the usual trauma safeguards: readiness first, dosing, grounding, closure.

4.1 Rapport: matching, pacing and leading

• Purpose / when: Build a working alliance at the start and whenever engagement drops. Bandler and Grinder held that rapport is built by matching the client's sensory language and non-verbal behaviour, after which the practitioner can "lead" toward a new state; NLP School lists "pacing and leading" and "micro-muscle modelling" as rapport techniques [source: Wikipedia Frogs into Princes; NLP School techniques page; Rowan review].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Notice the client's posture, breathing pace, voice tempo and volume, and the sensory words they use. (2) Pace: subtly match one or two of these (for example speaking at their tempo and using their kind of words) and reflect their own description back. (3) After several minutes, test by changing your own pace slightly (slower breathing, softer voice). (4) If the client follows, lead gradually toward the state the work needs (calmer, more curious). If not, go back to pacing.
• Example language (illustrative): Client: "I just can't see a way out." Therapist: "So right now the picture looks pretty dark, and you can't see where the path goes yet."
• Watch for: Mimicry the client notices feels manipulative and harms trust; keep matching subtle and secondary to genuine empathic attention [synthesis]. Working sign: the client relaxes, elaborates and begins to follow your pace.

4.2 Calibration (sensory acuity)

• Purpose / when: Read state changes without relying only on report; used in every procedure to detect the problem state, resource states and test results. Reviewers describe NLP as resting on close observation of changes in the client's body [source: Rowan review].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the client to think of something neutral, then of the problem situation, then of a good memory; watch skin colour, breathing location and rate, muscle tone around eyes and mouth, posture and voice for each. (2) Note the 2–3 cues that reliably mark the problem state. (3) Use them later as your test: if the cue is shown and those signs no longer appear, the response has changed. (4) Cross-check with a 0–10 rating.
• Example language (illustrative): "Just think of the meeting for a moment… good, and now let that go and think about what you had for breakfast."
• Watch for: Over-reading single signs. Always confirm by asking.

4.3 Representational systems and sensory predicates

• Purpose / when: Bandler and Grinder held that people mainly use one sensory system (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory or gustatory) to represent experience and that this can be identified from their words; they taught matching it to build rapport and choosing the system in which to build interventions [source: Wikipedia Frogs into Princes]. Reviews of research have not supported a stable "preferred system" [source: Wikipedia]. Use it as a description of how the client is talking right now, not as a trait [synthesis].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Listen for process words ("see / looks / clear", "hear / sounds / click", "feel / grasp / heavy"). (2) Reply in the same kind of words. (3) When a technique asks for an image, sound or feeling, start with the system the client already uses for the problem (see the NLP Academy point that not everyone's trigger is visual, 4.12).
• Example language (illustrative): "When that happens, is the first thing you notice something you see, something you hear, or a feeling somewhere in your body?"
• Watch for: Labelling the client ("you're a visual"). Working sign: smoother conversation; the client can easily answer questions framed in their own system.

4.4 Eye-accessing cues

• Purpose / when: Frogs into Princes taught that eye movements indicate which sensory system a person is accessing (for example remembering a picture vs building a feeling) [source: Wikipedia Frogs into Princes]. Research reviews found little support for this claim [source: Wikipedia]. Clinically it is at most a prompt to ask a question, never evidence of truthfulness or of what someone "really" remembers [synthesis].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Notice where the client looks while answering. (2) Use it only to frame a curious follow-up question about their experience.
• Example language (illustrative): "As you were thinking about that, it looked like you were picturing something. What was there?"
• Watch for: Never use it to judge honesty, to infer abuse history, or in forensic contexts [synthesis].

4.5 Meta model questioning

• Purpose / when: Clarify vague or limiting statements to get a precise, sensory-based description of the problem and outcome. NLP School describes the meta model as a way of examining language for deletions, distortions and generalisations, taught as 12 patterns each with set questions [source: NLP School techniques page]. The original source is Bandler and Grinder's The Structure of Magic (1975) [uncertain: the 12 patterns are not listed in the sources cited, so are not reproduced].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Listen for the three broad types: something left out ("I'm scared" — of what?), a rule stated as universal ("I always fail", "I can't"), or an inference stated as fact ("he made me angry", "she thinks I'm stupid"). (2) Ask a short, gently curious question that recovers the specifics. (3) Ask one question at a time, and stop when you have enough detail to work with.
• Example language (illustrative): "Always? Has there been a time when it went even slightly differently?" • "Scared of what, specifically?" • "What stops you?" • "How do you know she thinks that?"
• Watch for: A string of challenges feels like interrogation and can cause rupture; soften and keep empathy first [synthesis]. Working sign: the client's description becomes concrete and they discover exceptions or choices.

4.6 Well-formed outcome

• Purpose / when: Turn a complaint into a workable goal before any intervention. NLP School describes it as a set of questions that guide the client to a SMART-like goal and to the internal barriers to it [source: NLP School techniques page]. The specific conditions taught in trainings are not given in the sources cited [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: Ask, in sequence: (1) What do you want (stated in the positive, not what you want to stop)? (2) How will you know you have it — what will you see, hear and feel? (3) Where, when and with whom do you want it? (4) Is it something you can start and maintain yourself? (5) What resources do you have or need? (6) What might you lose or what might change if you get it, and is that acceptable (ecology)? (7) What is the first step?
• Example language (illustrative): "Instead of the panic, what would you like to be feeling as you walk into that room?" • "If you had that, is there any part of you that would have a concern about it?"
• Watch for: Goals that depend on others changing; return to what is in the client's control. Working sign: the client can describe the outcome in sensory terms and shows a positive shift in physiology when imagining it.

4.7 Anchoring a resource state

• Purpose / when: Give the client a quick, self-triggered way to re-access a useful state (calm, confidence) before or during a difficult situation; it is also a building block of 4.9–4.11. Trainers define it as deliberate stimulus–response conditioning, drawing on Pavlov, in which a chosen stimulus is linked to a state and later "fired" to bring it back [source: Lee 2020; NLP School: "creating easy-to-use triggers for desirable states"].
• Steps [source: Lee 2020, paraphrased]: (1) Choose the desired state; make it positive and strong ("unshakeable calm" rather than "okay"). (2) Choose an anchor: a touch, gesture, word or image; a kinesthetic anchor (for example pressing a specific knuckle) is easiest to learn. It must be distinctive, not something that happens by accident. (3) Have the client vividly recall a time they had the state, associated (seeing through their own eyes, hearing and feeling it). (4) Apply the anchor just before the state peaks, hold it through the peak, release just after. (5) Break state (stand, look around, an unrelated question). (6) Test: fire the anchor exactly as before and watch whether the state returns at similar intensity. (7) Repeat steps 3–6 until the anchor is reliable; adding further memories of the same state is a common extension [synthesis].
• Example language (illustrative): "Think of a specific time you felt really steady… go back to it as if you're there now, seeing what you saw… and as that steadiness builds, press your thumb and finger together… and let go. Now, what's the name of your street? … Press thumb and finger again just as before, and notice what happens."
• Watch for: Lee lists three reasons an anchor fails: the client was not associated into the state, the anchor was applied at the wrong moment, or it was not reproduced exactly (pressure, place, hand) [source: Lee 2020]. Ask permission before any touch and prefer client-applied anchors [synthesis]. Working sign: on test, the calibrated signs of the state return.

4.8 Break state and testing

• Purpose / when: Separate one state from the next and check whether a procedure worked. Used inside almost every technique here [source: Lee 2020; Andreas kinesthetic-swish page (count your phone number backward; "imagine a gentle rain")].
• Steps: (1) Interrupt the current state with something unrelated: a neutral question, standing up, counting a phone number backward [source: Lee; Andreas]. (2) Test by presenting the original cue again (imagined or, where safe, real) and noticing the response. (3) If the old response remains, Andreas advises asking for its positive intention, reframing to meet it, and, when ecological, repeating the pattern [source: Andreas].
• Example language (illustrative): "Before we check, tell me your phone number backwards… Now, think of the trigger again. What happens now?"
• Watch for: Testing too early, before a break state, gives false positives [synthesis].

4.9 Collapsing anchors

• Purpose / when: Reduce a stuck negative state by linking it with a stronger positive one. NLP School describes it as anchoring one negative and one positive state, then letting energy move from the negative to the positive [source: NLP School techniques page]. Detailed published steps are not drawn on here [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Anchor a strong resource state at one location (for example the right knee), and test it. (2) Break state. (3) Anchor a mild version of the problem state at a different location (left knee); keep it brief. (4) Break state. (5) Fire both anchors together, holding the positive one longer, and watch the client's face and breathing move through confusion toward the resource state. (6) Release the negative anchor first, then the positive. (7) Break state and test by asking the client to think of the problem situation.
• Example language (illustrative): "Just notice what happens now as both are there at once… and let it settle in whatever way it does."
• Watch for: The resource state must be stronger than the problem state; if the problem state dominates, stop, rebuild the resource with more memories, and use a milder version of the problem [synthesis]. Do not use this for traumatic memories; use stabilisation first [synthesis].

4.10 Circle of Excellence

• Purpose / when: Make several resourceful states available in a stressful situation; NLP School describes it as combining positive memories so they are available under stress [source: NLP School techniques page]. Steps are not drawn on here [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask the client to imagine a circle on the floor in front of them, with a colour or sound if they like. (2) Have them recall a time they had a needed resource; when it is strong, they step into the circle and fully experience it, then step out (break state). (3) Repeat with two or three further resource memories. (4) Ask when they will next need these resources; have them step into the circle while imagining that situation. (5) Test by stepping in again later.
• Example language (illustrative): "When that confidence is really there, step into the circle and let it fill you… now step back out and shake it off."
• Watch for: Clients with mobility needs can do it seated with an imagined circle [synthesis].

4.11 Change Personal History

• Purpose / when: Reduce the effect of past experiences on a recurring present response by revisiting them with resources the client lacked at the time; NLP School describes it as revisiting the past while acting as if you had those resources [source: NLP School techniques page]. Steps are not drawn on here [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Anchor the unwanted feeling lightly and ask the client to let it take them back to earlier times they felt that way (non-traumatic events only). (2) Break state. (3) Ask what resource they would have needed then; anchor that resource from another memory. (4) Holding the resource anchor, have them revisit each earlier event and notice how it goes differently with the resource present. (5) Break state, then test by recalling the events without anchors, and future pace by imagining the next occasion.
• Example language (illustrative): "Knowing what you know now, what would that younger you have needed? … Take that with you as you look at that time again."
• Watch for: This is change in how the client represents a memory, not discovery of new events. If unfamiliar or traumatic material emerges, stop, ground and do not explore it as "recovered" memory [synthesis].

4.12 Swish pattern (visual, classic)

• Purpose / when: Change habits and automatic responses (nail-biting, smoking cues, reactivity) by linking the trigger to an image of a more capable self. Bandler first published it in Using Your Brain — for a Change (1985), presenting it as generative (giving a new direction) rather than a simple replacement [source: NLP Academy swish article; Andreas].
• Steps [source: NLP Academy summary of Bandler 1985; Andreas, paraphrased]: (1) Identify the context. (2) Build the cue picture: what the client actually sees just before the habit starts (for nail-biting, the hand approaching the mouth), associated, big and bright. (3) Build the outcome picture: a dissociated, appealing image of themselves as the person who does not need the habit, with the new qualities, not a specific behaviour. (4) Place a small, dark version of the outcome picture in a corner of the cue picture. (5) "Swish": quickly and smoothly, the cue picture shrinks and dims while the outcome picture grows and brightens to replace it. Andreas stresses this change must be gradual (analogue), not a switch. (6) Blank the screen (or open eyes) and repeat; Andreas notes change is often present after the first swish and usually after about five. (7) Test by trying to get the old cue picture and the old response.
• Example language (illustrative): "See the hand coming up, big and bright… and down in the corner, a small dark picture of the you who's moved past this… now, swish — the big picture shrinks away as that you grows bright and close… blank screen. And again."
• Watch for: The cue must be a perception, not an evaluation (Andreas). Do not change the cue picture's features; keep it as the client really experiences it (NLP Academy). If size and brightness do not affect the client, try colour, distance or transparency (Andreas). For clients whose triggers are not visual, use a kinesthetic or cross-modal version (4.13). If the habit has a strong positive intention (smoking to manage stress), first meet that intention (4.16) [source: Andreas]. NLP Academy also notes the cue may come too late in the habit sequence; find the earliest trigger.

4.13 Kinesthetic swish (Robert McDonald)

• Purpose / when: As 4.12, for clients whose trigger is a body sensation; developed by Robert McDonald and published on Steve Andreas's site [source: Andreas kinesthetic-swish page].
• Steps [source: Andreas page, paraphrased]: (1) Pick a situation (past, future, or a feeling that can be located in the body). (2) Identify the cue sensation: where in or on the body it starts (a sensation, not an emotion word). (3) Break state. (4) Imagine a future self in front of you who is confident, resourceful, humorous and not perfect; sculpt the desired feeling onto them. (5) Imagine pressing that figure down into the ground like a compressed spring. (6) Break state. (7) Let the cue sensation begin; as it does, let it drain down through the body into the ground while the future self springs up; place your fingertips on its shoulders and feel its confidence. (8) Break state (imagine a gentle rain washing the figure away; arms to sides). (9) Repeat 6–8, three times slowly, then three times quickly. (10) Test; if the feeling remains, ask for its positive intention, reframe, and repeat if ecological.
• Example language (illustrative): "Where does it start — chest, stomach, throat? … As that starts, let it drain down and out through your feet, and up springs that future you."
• Watch for: Clients with body-based trauma may find focusing on sensations activating; titrate and ground [synthesis].

4.14 Submodality changes (general)

• Purpose / when: Developers held that the qualities of an internal image, sound or feeling (size, brightness, colour, distance, associated or dissociated, location) determine its emotional impact, and that changing them changes the response; this is the basis of 4.12, 4.13 and 4.15 [source: NLP Academy; Andreas; RTM materials].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Have the client bring up the experience and describe its qualities. (2) Change one quality at a time (move it further away, make it smaller, drain the colour, step out to watch it) and ask what happens to the feeling after each change. (3) Keep the changes that help; undo the ones that don't. (4) Test later in the session.
• Example language (illustrative): "As you see it, is it in colour or black and white? … What happens to the feeling if you let it move further away?"
• Watch for: Individual variation is large; follow the client's reports rather than assuming a quality will help [source: Andreas].

4.15 Visual-kinesthetic (V-K) dissociation / "fast phobia cure" (classic)

• Purpose / when: Reduce the fear attached to a specific phobic or frightening memory by having the client watch it from a doubly dissociated position and run it backwards. Wikipedia credits Frogs into Princes with first describing the "rewind", later expanded in Using Your Brain — for a Change; Rowan's review reports the authors' claim of removing long-standing phobias "in just a few minutes"; NLP School summarises it as identifying the event behind the phobia and distancing the current self from it [source: Wikipedia; Rowan; NLP School]. Bandler's own wording and steps are not drawn on here [uncertain]; for the step structure, use the standardised RTM version below (4.16), which grew out of this procedure (Gray and Liotta's "visual-kinesthetic dissociation protocol") [source: RTM materials].
• Readiness (applies to 4.15 and 4.16) [synthesis unless marked]: a specific, remembered event (single-incident or a clearly bounded episode); the client can rate distress 0–10 and can return to the room on request; stabilisation done; no current psychosis, active suicidality, substance intoxication, or severe dissociation (for example losing time in session); medical review for panic-like symptoms with a physical cause; informed consent that this is an NLP-derived, contested procedure delivered as an adjunct. RTM trials required a PTSD diagnosis and at least one flashback or nightmare in the past month [source: RTM materials].
• Watch for: see 4.16.

4.16 Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM) protocol (Gray & Bourke)

• Purpose / when: A standardised, NLP-derived procedure for intrusive PTSD symptoms (nightmares, flashbacks, reactivity) to a specific memory, developed by Richard Gray and Frank Bourke (Research & Recognition Project). The developers hypothesise that a brief recall makes the memory changeable for a period, and that rehearsing it in a dissociated, altered format during that window detaches the memory from its fear response [source: Gray, Brookdale and HDIAC RTM presentations]. That mechanism is the developers' hypothesis.
• Format and dosing: typically three 90-minute sessions; SUD ratings check progress at each cycle; the exposure at the start is deliberately brief and "non-traumatising" [source: RTM materials]. Numerical SUD thresholds for moving on are not given in the sources cited [uncertain].
• Steps [source: RTM materials, paraphrased; grounding and closure steps are synthesis]:
  1. Preparation [synthesis]: agree a stop signal; teach a grounding skill (feet on floor, naming objects in the room); identify the target memory by a title only.
  2. Brief exposure: the client briefly recalls the event, enough to activate it but not to relive it in full. Stop as soon as activation is visible; get a SUD.
  3. Break state / ground [synthesis]: bring the client fully back to the room.
  4. Dissociated black-and-white movie: the client imagines sitting in a cinema watching a black-and-white film of the event, starting before the danger and ending after it was over and they were safe. Depth and colour are removed, distance increased; it is repeated until it is comfortable to watch. (In the classic V-K version, the client also imagines floating out to the projection booth to watch themselves watching the screen [uncertain: not in the sources cited].)
  5. Associated, reversed run: when watching is comfortable, the client steps into the safe end of the event and experiences it running backwards to the start, in full sense detail, very fast (about two seconds). Repeat as needed.
  6. Alternative version: the client creates a different version of the event, as they would have preferred it, and rehearses it until it feels comfortable.
  7. Test: ask the client to recall the event; get a SUD and observe physiology. Then test with a future situation that used to trigger it [synthesis].
  8. Closure [synthesis]: grounding, brief debrief, plan for between sessions (what to do if nightmares or intrusions occur), and a check-in at the next session.
• Example language (illustrative): "Just see the title of the memory up there on a small screen in black and white… you're comfortably in your seat, watching from a distance. Run it from before it began to after you knew you were safe… What's the number now?"
• Watch for: Client comfort and safety are stated as crucial in RTM [source: RTM materials]. If the client re-associates (breathing speeds up, they describe it in present tense, they look away or freeze), stop the film, ground them, push the image further away and make it smaller, and resume only when SUD is back to a manageable level; if dissociation (glazed look, delayed responses, loss of contact) occurs, stop memory work for that session and do orientation and grounding [synthesis]. Treat the content as the client's experience, not as a fact to verify, and never use the procedure to search for unremembered events [synthesis]. Working sign: SUD drops across cycles and the client can talk about the event calmly; intrusions reduce over following weeks.

4.17 Six-step reframing

• Purpose / when: Change an unwanted behaviour or symptom that the client experiences as involuntary, by working with the "part" that produces it. NLP School reports Judith DeLozier describing creating it with John Grinder in NLP's early days; it is presented in Bandler and Grinder's Reframing (1982) and summarised in Rowan's review of Frogs into Princes [source: NLP School video page; Rowan review].
• Steps [source: Rowan's summary, paraphrased; signal method synthesis]: (1) Identify the pattern to change. (2) Establish communication with the part responsible; in practice, ask inside whether that part will communicate and notice any involuntary signal (a feeling, image or sound) that can serve as yes/no [synthesis]. (3) Separate the behaviour from the part's intention: ask the part what it is trying to achieve for the client. (4) Ask the client's creative resources to generate several new ways of achieving that intention. (5) Ask the part whether it will take responsibility for using the new choices in the relevant context. (6) Ecology check: ask whether any other part objects to the new arrangement; if so, return to step 2 with that part. Rowan reports the practitioner need not know what the pattern is, and that it can often be done in about half an hour (the developers' claim).
• Example language (illustrative): "Go inside and ask, respectfully: will the part of me that does this communicate with me? … And just notice whatever happens — a feeling, a picture, a sound." • "What is that part trying to do for you that's important?"
• Watch for: Clients with dissociative disorders may experience "parts" language as reinforcing fragmentation; use only with good stabilisation and in line with dissociation-informed practice [synthesis]. Working sign: clear yes/no signals; the client reports a felt shift when the intention is acknowledged.

4.18 Visual squash / parts integration

• Purpose / when: Resolve an internal conflict between two parts ("part of me wants X, part wants Y"). Rowan describes it as "pushing two subpersonalities into one", with the hands brought together; NLP School describes parts integration as identifying aspects of the personality, giving each a voice and leading them through a structured interaction [source: Rowan review; NLP School techniques page]. Detailed steps are not drawn on here [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Name the two conflicting parts. (2) Have the client imagine one part in each open hand, and describe each (image, sound, feeling). (3) For each, ask its positive intention, then the intention behind that, until both reach a shared higher purpose. (4) Ask each part what resources the other has that it could use. (5) Let the hands come together only as fast as feels right, and ask the client to bring the integrated sense into the body. (6) Test by imagining the old conflict situation.
• Example language (illustrative): "What does this part want for you that's important? … And this one? … Is there something they both want?"
• Watch for (risk flag): The case in Rowan's review applied the technique to a woman's conflict over her same-sex relationships. Using parts integration, or any NLP technique, to change or suppress sexual orientation or gender identity is a conversion practice and must not be done; work instead on the client's distress, safety and values [synthesis]. Working sign: the client describes feeling less torn and can name what both sides need.

4.19 Timeline work

• Purpose / when: NLP School describes the timeline as a spatial representation of time that is a component of many other techniques [source: NLP School techniques page]. The named timeline-therapy variants and their steps are not drawn on here [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask where the client senses the past and the future (behind/in front, left/right). (2) Optionally lay the line out on the floor. (3) Use it to locate events in other procedures (for example, walking back to an earlier time carrying a resource in Change Personal History, or walking forward to future pace an outcome). (4) Return to "now" and ground at the end.
• Example language (illustrative): "If you point to where your future is, where would that be? … And the past?"
• Watch for: Do not use timeline work to search for unremembered events [synthesis].

4.20 Logical levels alignment

• Purpose / when: NLP School describes Logical Levels Alignment as a meditative exercise that makes the client aware of six levels of motivation [source: NLP School techniques page]. It is commonly attributed to Robert Dilts, and the names of the six levels are not given in the sources cited [uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: Lay out the levels on the floor as stepping-stones. The client steps along them while answering questions about each, from where and when the goal happens, to what they do, the skills they use, what they believe and value, who they are, and what larger purpose it serves; then they walk back carrying that sense into each level.
• Example language (illustrative): "Standing here, what matters to you about this?" • "Bring that sense back with you as you step back into the situation."
• Watch for: Mostly a coaching and motivation exercise; it is not a treatment for disorder [synthesis].

4.21 Perceptual positions

• Purpose / when: Gain perspective in relationship conflicts by taking first (self), second (the other) and third (observer) positions. Steve Andreas published articles on "aligning perceptual positions" and "gaining additional perspectives in relationships" [source: Andreas site menu; steps uncertain].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Using three chairs, the client describes the situation from their own chair. (2) They move to the other person's chair and speak as that person. (3) They move to an observer position and comment on both. (4) They return to their own chair and say what is different.
• Example language (illustrative): "Sitting here as her, how does that conversation look and feel?"
• Watch for: Do not use second position with an abuser in cases of coercive control or violence; it can increase self-blame [synthesis].

4.22 Ecology check and future pacing

• Purpose / when: End every procedure by checking fit and generalisation. The ecology check appears as step 6 of six-step reframing and in Andreas's "when ecologically sound" [source: Rowan; Andreas]. Future pacing (imagining the trigger in coming situations) is a common NLP closing step [synthesis; the term is not defined in the sources cited].
• Steps [synthesis]: (1) Ask whether any part of the client has a concern about the change. (2) If yes, find its intention and adjust. (3) Ask the client to imagine the next time the trigger will occur, and notice how they respond. (4) Agree a real-world test and review it next session.
• Example language (illustrative): "Think of the next time you'll be in that situation… what's different?"

4.23 Hypnotic language ("Milton model")

• Purpose / when: Reviewers note that NLP draws on hypnosis and that Milton Erickson was the authors' model [source: Rowan]. The "Milton model" language patterns themselves are not drawn on here [uncertain], so no patterns are listed here. Any trance-based use should follow clinical hypnosis practice: consent, a stated induction, therapeutic suggestion, re-alerting and debrief, within the clinician's hypnosis training; never covert or consent-bypassing use; screen out psychosis and severe dissociation [synthesis].

4.24 Other named patterns (not described)

Named in sources only, so steps are not given [uncertain]: Andreas's grief-resolution, shame, self-concept ("not self", building self-concept qualities), responding to criticism, forgiveness and "decision destroyer" (trauma) patterns; the Disney process ("Imagineering") and Hero's Journey exercises listed by NLP School; the New Code "sanctuary" variant of the swish proposed by the NLP Academy author [source: Andreas site menu; NLP School; NLP Academy].

5. Handling problems

Most of this section is [synthesis]; source-based points are tagged.

• The pattern doesn't work on test. Source-based checks: was the trigger precise and the earliest one? ("if the present-state trigger isn't clear… we are working with fiction" [source: NLP Academy]); was the client associated into resource states, was the anchor timed at the peak and reproduced exactly? [source: Lee 2020]; does the response have a positive intention that has not been met? Ask for it, reframe, and repeat if ecological [source: Andreas]. Also try another sensory system (kinesthetic instead of visual) [source: NLP Academy; Andreas].
• A part objects (ecology). Return to step 2 of six-step reframing with the objecting part [source: Rowan]. Respect objections as information, not resistance [synthesis].
• Client can't visualise. Use sound or body-sensation versions (kinesthetic swish), or have them "just know" where the picture is [synthesis; source for kinesthetic version: Andreas].
• Client feels manipulated or sceptical. Explain what you are doing and why, share that NLP is contested and that you use it as one tool; never use covert techniques; rapport matching must be subtle and honest [synthesis].
• Overwhelm during memory or V-K work. Stop the procedure; open eyes; ground (feet, breath, naming objects); shrink and distance the image; resume with the cinema further away, or end memory work for the session. If the client dissociates, prioritise orientation and safety and review readiness before trying again [synthesis; RTM: comfort and safety are "crucial"].
• New or unclear memories appear. Do not explore or interpret them as recovered memories; acknowledge, contain, and return to stabilisation; take clinical supervision if needed [synthesis].
• Non-adherence with between-session practice (anchors, self-swish). Make the practice smaller (one anchor firing per day at a set cue), link it to an existing routine, and test it in session first [synthesis].
• Rupture. Meta-model challenging or quick technique-switching can feel dismissive. Name it, apologise, return to the client's agenda and to empathic listening before any further technique [synthesis].
• Rapid "cure" followed by relapse. Developers presented single-session change as common [source: Rowan]. Set realistic expectations, schedule follow-up, and re-test in real situations [synthesis].
• Requests outside scope. Decline any request to use NLP to change sexual orientation or gender identity (see 4.18), to treat physical disease, or to "recover" memories; refer to appropriate medical or specialist care [synthesis].
• Client trained in NLP elsewhere and expects quick fixes, or a coachee with clinical needs. Signs needing clinical care: suicidality, psychosis, severe trauma symptoms, eating disorder, substance dependence, or impairment that persists; do not continue NLP-only coaching in these cases [synthesis].
• Touch anchors. Ask permission before any touch; offer self-applied anchors; avoid touch with clients who have trauma histories involving touch [synthesis].

Sources

Sources

• Rowan, J. Review of Frogs into Princes (Self & Society)
• Andreas, S. "Kinesthetic Swish" (includes Robert McDonald's process)
• NLP Academy. "The Swish – an NLP antique or a dynamic process for generative change?"
• Lee, J. (2020). "A Neuro-Linguist's Toolbox – Self-Care and Improvement: Working with State (Part 1)", Kluwer Mediation Blog
• NLP School. NLP techniques overview page
• NLP School. Judith DeLozier on creating Six-Step Reframing (video page)
• Gray, R. M. Curing PTSD Through Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM)
• HDIAC webinar (2020). Transforming Traumatic Memories (RTM)
• Touro Scholar record: Gray, Budden-Potts, Schwall & Bourke (2021), RTM in military women
• Tosey & Mathison (2010), Surrey Open Research record (abstract only)
• Wikipedia. Frogs into Princes
• Ocean, L. (2020). "What is an NLP certification?", Mind Is the Master

Further reading (not drawn on)

• Bandler, R., & Grinder, J. (1975). The Structure of Magic I. Science and Behavior Books.
• Bandler, R., & Grinder, J. (1979). Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming (ed. J. O. Stevens). Real People Press.
• Bandler, R., & Grinder, J. (1982). Reframing: Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the Transformation of Meaning. Real People Press.
• Bandler, R. (1985). Using Your Brain — for a Change. Real People Press.
• Andreas, C., & Andreas, S. (1987). Change Your Mind — and Keep the Change. Real People Press.
• Gray, R. M., & Liotta, R. F. (2012). PTSD: Extinction, reconsolidation, and the visual-kinesthetic dissociation protocol. Traumatology.
• Gray, R. M., & Bourke, F. (2015). Remediation of intrusive symptoms of PTSD in fewer than five sessions: a 30-person pilot study of the RTM Protocol.
• Tosey, P., & Mathison, J. (2010). Neuro-linguistic programming as an innovation in education and teaching. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 47(3), 317–326.

Further reading (not drawn on): Andreas's grief-resolution page and NLP School's techniques index, the Tosey & Mathison full text, and full texts of the Bandler and Grinder books. Steps for collapsing anchors, Circle of Excellence, Change Personal History, visual squash, timeline, logical levels and perceptual positions are therefore [synthesis] and marked [uncertain].