Neuro-Linguistic Programming
What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming?
I'm Chris Meaden, a hypnotherapist. NLP™ was co-created by Dr Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s. I use it inside The Meaden Method®, to look at how a problem is put together, not only at the story of it.
What it is
How experience is structured.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a way of studying experience. The Society of NLP™, which licenses my certificates, describes it as the study of how subjective experience is structured, and of what you can work out from that structure.
NLP Seminars Group International, where I did my trainer training, describes behaviour as something with a structure. On that account, Dr Bandler built formal models from the language and behaviour of therapists already known for their work, among them Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls. The same account says NLP is not a diagnostic tool. It is something you apply, not a label for a person.
The name is a guide. It pays attention to how you think, not only to what you think.
The way a thought runs.
The useful question is often how a thought runs, not only what it is about. Two people can share a story and organise it very differently.
The words in the pattern.
The words you use, with other people and with yourself, are part of how an experience takes its shape.
A response that has become familiar.
A familiar way of responding can run on its own. NLP is a way of noticing that pattern, and of practising another one.
Plain English
What the three words are pointing at.
This is the model I was taught. It is a way of practising. It comes with no promise of a result.
Neuro. Experience is organised.
What you see, hear and feel is already arranged in a particular way. A fear, a stuck mood, a habit. There is the story, and there is the structure of it. Neuro points at the nervous system, and at that organisation.
Linguistic. Language is part of it.
How you describe it, to me and to yourself, is part of how it keeps its shape. In the name, language bears on the nervous system, and on what you do next.
Programming. A pattern you can work with.
Programming, here, means those patterns of behaviour. We can practise a different one. I can guide that. I can't do it for you, and I can't tell you how far it will go.
A session with me
Inside The Meaden Method®.
NLP is part of how I work. It sits inside The Meaden Method®, with clinical hypnotherapy. Havening Techniques® may be part of the same plan. So may Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® and Design Human Engineering®, when they fit what you came for.
We talk first. I want to understand what is happening, and what you would like to be different. If we use NLP, we stay with how the pattern runs: what you notice, the words around it, and what you do next. Not only the story of it. We go at your pace. You can read what hypnotherapy is like if you want the wider session.
I will not promise a result, or a number of sessions. If I am not the right hypnotherapist for you, I will say so on the consultation call.
- We start by talking.
- You won't be asked to relive anything you don't need to.
- The Meaden Method® is the plan. NLP is one tool inside it.
Who I see
When the same response keeps happening.
I work with adults. People who come to me are often living with anxiety, panic or trauma. They can explain the problem. The same response still keeps happening.
The pattern that arrives on its own.
A racing body. A familiar dread. Panic that arrives on its own. NLP is one way I look at how that pattern is organised. It is not the whole of the work.
A response you already know.
A fear you know too well. A habit of thought. The work is with the pattern, at the point it runs, rather than only with the story around it.
This sits alongside your care.
Keep any care you already have. See your doctor or consultant as you usually would. This is not a medical treatment, and it is not a cure.
Where I learned it
Licensed by the Society of NLP™.
I am a Licensed Practitioner of NLP™, and a Licensed Master Practitioner of NLP™. I trained as a practitioner with Paul McKenna, Dr Richard Bandler and Michael Neill. I trained as a master practitioner with Paul McKenna, Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle.
I am also a Licensed Trainer of NLP™. I qualified with Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle, at NLP Seminars Group International in Orlando. On my qualifications list, that is the Charisma Enhancement® train-the-trainer course.
My certificates are licensed by the Society of NLP™. The Society says the certificates from its licensed trainers are signed by Dr Richard Bandler. John La Valle is the Society's president.
The training, as I record it
- Licensed Practitioner of NLP™, with Paul McKenna, Dr Richard Bandler and Michael Neill
- Licensed Master Practitioner of NLP™, with Paul McKenna, Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle
- Licensed Trainer of NLP™, with Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle, in Orlando
- Licensed by the Society of NLP™
The same list, with the rest of my training, is on the qualifications page.
Related approaches
Later work by Dr Bandler.
Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning and Design Human Engineering came after NLP. I trained in both with Dr Bandler and John La Valle. Each has its own page.
Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning
Hypnotic work from Dr Bandler. It starts with feeling. I use it inside The Meaden Method® when that is the right tool.
Design Human Engineering
Another development of his, after NLP. I trained in it with Dr Bandler and John La Valle.
Questions
Questions I get asked.
What does NLP stand for?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming. The short form is NLP™. Neuro is the nervous system, and how experience is organised. Linguistic is the language you use with other people and with yourself. Programming is the patterns of thought and behaviour that follow.
Who created it?
Dr Richard Bandler and John Grinder co-created it in the 1970s. Dr Bandler has since developed further work, including Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® and Design Human Engineering®.
How is it different from NHR and DHE?
NLP is the earlier work. Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® came later. It uses hypnosis, and it starts from feeling. Design Human Engineering® is another later development by Dr Bandler. There is a page on what NHR is, and a page on what DHE is.
Is a session with you hypnotherapy?
The work sits inside The Meaden Method®, and clinical hypnotherapy is part of that. NLP is a way of working with how you think, how you use language, and the pattern that follows. Sometimes that is in the conversation. Sometimes it is inside the hypnosis. There is a page on what hypnotherapy is like.
Do I have to go back over the story?
I need enough to know what we are working with. I will not ask you to relive anything you don't need to.
How many sessions will it take?
I can't say until we have talked, and I won't guess. People differ. I can't guarantee a result, or a timescale.
Can this replace my doctor?
No. Please keep seeing your doctor or consultant. This sits alongside that care. It is not medicine, and it is not a cure.
Where did you train in NLP?
I trained as a Licensed Practitioner of NLP™ with Paul McKenna, Dr Richard Bandler and Michael Neill. I trained as a Licensed Master Practitioner of NLP™ with Paul McKenna, Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle. I qualified as a Licensed Trainer of NLP™ with Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle, at NLP Seminars Group International in Orlando. My certificates are licensed by the Society of NLP™. The full list is on my qualifications page.
A first conversation
Book a consultation call
We can talk about what you want to change, and whether this kind of work is a fit. If I can't help, I will tell you.
Licensed Practitioner of NLP™, Licensed Master Practitioner of NLP™ and Licensed Trainer of NLP™ are Society of NLP™ certification titles. Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® and NHR® are registered trademarks of John La Valle.