Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is a method, set of techinques, or personal development system developed in the early 1970s by Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder, in association with Gregory Bateson. It uses a toolbox of strategies, axioms and beliefs about human communication, perception and subjective experience.
NLP's core idea is that an individual's thoughts, gestures and words interact to create their perception of the world. By changing their outlook, using a variety of techniques, a person can improve their attitudes and actions. I call it "the study of the structure of subjective experience".
NLP teaches that a person can develop successful habits by amplifying helpful behaviors and diminishing negative ones. Positive change can come when one carefully reproduces the behaviors and beliefs of successful people (called 'modeling'). It also states that all human beings have all the resources necessary for success within themselves.
Bandler and Grinder credited three successful therapists — Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson — as NLP's major inspirations. They 'modeled' the therapists and developed special "patterns" for general communication, rapport-building and self-improvement.
What is NLP?
Neuro: The nervous system senses signals to the mind, through which our worldly experience is processed via five senses:
• Visual
• Auditory
• Kinesthetic
• Olfactory
• Gustatory
Linguistic: Language and other nonverbal communication systems through which our neural representations are coded, ordered and given meaning.
Includes:
• Pictures
• Sounds
• Feelings
• Tastes
• Smells
• Words (Self Talk)
Programming: The ability to discover and utilize the programs that we run (our communication to ourselves and others) in our neurological systems to achieve our specific and desired outcomes.
In other words, NLP is how to use the language of the mind to consistently achieve our specific and desired outcomes.
When was NLP created?
NLP was initially created in the 1970’s by Richard Bandler a student of mathematics and gestalt therapy and John Grinder a Professor of Linguistics at The University of California Santa Cruz. They began modeling and duplicating the "magical results" of a few top communicators and therapists.
Some of the first people they studied included Hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, gestalt therapist Fritz Perls and family therapist Virginia Satir. Since then, many others have contributed to the growth and development of the field.
What are some beliefs of NLP?
(This is a short list summarizing some of the thinking behind NLP)
• People are not their behaviors. Accept the person; change the behavior
• People have all the resources they need to succeed and achieve their desired outcomes
• The meaning of the communication is the response you get
• Everyone is doing the best they can with the resources they have available
• We are in charge of our minds and therefore our results
• There is no failure, only feedback
Bioenergetics
Bioenergetic Analysis is a body-oriented psychotherapy based on the expression of feelings and the re-establishment of energy flow in the body. Developed out of Wilhelm Reich's character analytic technique of vegetotherapy by Alexander Lowen and others, it is practised under the auspices of the International Institute for Bioenergetic Analysis. Bioenergetic Analysis recognises several clearly circumscribed human character structures, each able to be "read" in the form and posture of the individual's body: schizoid, oral, masochistic, psychopathic, rigid and narcissistic. Bioenergetic treatment involves the adoption of one of a number of "stress positions" designed to promote confronting the individual with his or her structure, and the repressed emotions holding it together. The most common position is standing upright, knees slightly bent, weight on the centre to outside of the feet, belly relaxed (the"grounded" position); then fists pushed into the middle of the back (to open the chest region}; and head up and chin pushed slightly forward (assertion of the right to be/feel). Bioenergetic Analysis is practised as an individual and as a group psychotherapy.
In therapy groups, the most common application of bioenergetics is in exercises such as beating a pile of mattresses with a tennis racquet or the fists, or lying on the back on a mattress kicking and yelling. This method is thought within co-counselling movements like Re-evaluation Counselling to be based on promoting bodily emotional discharge. The basic tenet is that when a person breathes deeply, he or she can begin to feel deeply, and that with deep feeling comes a resurgence of repressed feelings and lost memories, which need to be understood both on the feeling and reflective levels through catharsis, verbal processing and physically grounding the individual in emotional reality.
Hypnotherapy
What is hypnotherapy?
The term "hypnosis" is derived from the Greek word hypnos , meaning "sleep." Hypnotherapists typically use exercises that bring about deep relaxation and an altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance. Many people routinely experience a trance-like state while they are watching television or sitting at a red light. A person in a trance or deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image, but this does not mean that a hypnotist can control his or her mind and free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness. By doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses
What is the history of hypnosis?
Throughout history, trance states have been used by shamans and ancient peoples in ritualistic activities. But hypnosis as we know it today was first associated with the work of an Austrian physician named Franz Anton Mesmer. In the 1700s, Mesmer used magnets and other hypnotic techniques (hence the word, mesmerized ) to treat people, and while he achieved a number of dramatic "cures" for blindness, paralysis, headache, and joint pain, the medical community was not convinced. Mesmer was accused of fraud and his techniques called unscientific.
Hypnotherapy regained popularity in the mid-1900's due in to the notoriety and career of Milton H. Erickson (1901-1980), a successful psychiatrist who used hypnosis in his practice. In 1958, both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association recognized the therapy as a valid medical procedure. And since 1995, the National Institutes of Health has recommended hypnotherapy as a treatment for chronic pain. Other conditions for which hypnotherapy is frequently used include anxiety and addiction; see the section entitled What illnesses or conditions respond well to hypnotherapy?
How does hypnosis work?
When something new happens to us, we remember it and learn a particular behavior in response to that circumstance. Memories stored in our mind hold the original physical and emotional reactions that occurred when the given memory was first formed. Each time similar events occur again, the physical and emotional reactions attached to the memory are repeated. These reactions may be inappropriate or unhealthy. In hypnotherapy, the trained therapist guides you to remember the event that led to the first reaction, separate the memory from the learned behavior, and reconstruct the event with new, healthier associations.
During hypnosis, a person's body relaxes while his or her thoughts become more focused and attentive. Like other relaxation techniques, hypnosis decreases blood pressure and heart rate, and alters certain types of brain wave activity. In this relaxed state, a person will feel very at ease physically yet fully awake mentally. In this state of deep concentration people are highly responsive to suggestion. If you are trying to quit smoking, for example, a therapist's suggestion may successfully convince you that in the future you will have a strong dislike for the taste of cigarettes.
There are several stages of hypnosis. The process begins with reframing the problem; becoming relaxed, then absorbed (deeply engaged in the words or images presented by a hypnotherapist); dissociating (letting go of critical thoughts); responding (complying whole-heartedly to a hypnotherapist's suggestions); returning to usual awareness; and reflecting on the experience.
What happens during a visit to the hypnotherapist?
During your first visit to a hypnotherapist, he or she will ask you questions about your medical history and what brought you to see them – in other words, what condition it is that you would like to clear up. The specialist will then, likely, explain to you what hypnosis is and how it works. You will then be directed through relaxation techniques with a series of mental images and suggestions intended to change behaviors and alleviate symptoms. For example, people who suffer from panic attacks may be given the suggestion that, in the future, they will be able to relax at will. The hypnotherapist may also teach you the basics of self-hypnosis and give you an audio CD for home use. This enables you to recreate the feelings you experienced during the session and reinforce the learning on your own.
How many treatments will I need?
During your first visit to a hypnotherapist, he or she will ask you questions about your medical history and what brought you to see them – in other words, what condition it is that you would like to clear up. The specialist will then, likely, explain to you what hypnosis is and how it works. You will then be directed through relaxation techniques with a series of mental images and suggestions intended to change behaviors and alleviate symptoms. For example, people who suffer from panic attacks may be given the suggestion that, in the future, they will be able to relax at will. The hypnotherapist may also teach you the basics of self-hypnosis and give you an audio CD for home use. This enables you to recreate the feelings you experienced during the session and reinforce the learning on your own.
What illnesses or conditions respond well to hypnosis?
Hypnosis is used in a variety of settings – from emergency rooms to dental offices to outpatient clinics – to relieve conditions with an emotional or psychological component. Studies suggest that hypnosis may improve immune function, increase relaxation, decrease stress, and ease feelings of anxiety.
Hypnotherapy is effective in reducing the fear and anxiety that accompany pain and uncomfortable medical or dental procedures. For example, when used during an operation, hypnosis may improve recovery time and decrease anxiety as well as pain following the surgery. Clinical trials on burn patients suggest that hypnosis decreases pain (enough to replace pain medication) and speeds healing. Generally, studies indicate that using hypnosis can lessen your need for medication, improve your mental and physical condition before an operation, and reduce the time it takes to recover. Dentists also use hypnotherapy to control gagging and bleeding.
A hypnotherapist can teach you self-regulation skills. For instance, someone with arthritis may be told that he or she can turn down pain like the volume on a radio. Hypnotherapy can also be an effective tool for managing chronic illness. Self-hypnosis can enhance a sense of control, which is often eroded by chronic illness. Children may benefit the most from hypnosis, probably because they are most easily hypnotized.
Studies on children in emergency treatment centers show that hypnotherapy reduces fear, anxiety, and discomfort and improves self-control and cooperation with medical personnel.
In another study, 83 percent of children significantly or completely recovered from the following:
• obesity
• asthma
• fecal incontinence
• anxiety
• pain
• problematic habits (sleep walking, thumb sucking, nail biting)
Other problems or conditions that respond well to hypnotherapy include:
• inflammatory bowel diseases (namely, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis)
• sleep disorders, including insomnia
• addictions
• warts
• bedwetting
• fibromyalgia
• irritable bowel syndrome
• phobias
• labor and delivery
• fractures
• skin disorders (such as acne, psoriasis, and eczema [atopic dermatitis])
• migraine headaches
• stress
• tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
• cancer related pain
• weight loss
• eating disorders, namely anorexia and bulimia
• indigestion (dyspepsia)
Techniques
_ Age regression - by returning to an earlier ego-state the patient can regain qualities they once had, but have lost. Remembering an earlier, healthier, ego-state can increase the patients' strength and confidence. _ Revivification - remembering past experiences can contribute to therapy. For example; the hypnotist may ask "have you ever been in trance?" and then find it easier to revive the previous experience than attempt inducing a new state. _ Guided imagery - a method by which the subject is given a new relaxing and beneficial experience. _ Parts therapy - a method pioneered by Charles Tebbetts to identify conflicting parts that are damaging the well being of clients, then helps those parts negotiate with each other through the therapist to bring about a resolution. _ Confusion - a method developed by Milton H. Erickson in which the subject is more likely to be receptive to indirect suggestion due to an altered state of confusion. _ Repetition - the more an idea is repeated the more likely it is to be accepted and acted upon by the patient. _ Direct suggestion - suggesting directly. "You feel safe and secure". _ Indirect suggestion - using "interspersal" technique and other means to cause effect. _ Mental state - people are more receptive while relaxed, sleeping, or in a trance. _ Hypnoanalysis - the client recalls moments from his past, confronting them and releasing associated emotions, similar to psychoanalysis. _ Post-hypnotic suggestion - a suggestion that will be carried out after the trance has ended. "When you re-awaken you will feel refreshed and happy!" _ Visualization - being told to imagine or visualize a desired outcome seems to make it more likely to actually occur.
1 comment:
This kind of reminds me of cognitive behavioral therapy. Except there's something more metaphysical to it than that.
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