What Is NLP All About?

"The greatest discovery of our generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their states of mind." – William James 

If excellence, self-awareness, and progress are of interest and value to you, Neuro-Linguistic Progamming is a useful school of thought for you to explore. Not sure what NLP is all about? Read on to explore this fascinating discipline and understand how it can enhance your life.

At its most basic level, NLP is about:

•  How the human brain works.

•  How people think, learn, motivate themselves and change.

•  A model of competent, charismatic communication.

•  A how-to process to guide personal change.  

So, what exactly is so compelling about NLP?

NLP continues to be a source of motivation to thousands of people who have benefited from its positive and far-reaching effects. “It does offer impressive potential for making changes and improving communications. More compelling is the promise and example it allows for increasing options...and for enlarging choices of behavior... (NLP) affords the opportunity to gain flexibility, creativity and therefore greater freedom of action than most of us know.” - Training & Development Journal  

Who can benefit from NLP?

Coaches, doctors, nurses, executives, lawyers, managers, sales-people, ministers, and therapists to name just a few have all joined the growing ranks of “NLP’ers.” If your work or business requires skills in effective communication, you will immensely benefit from studying NLP. You will also discover how quickly training in NLP can dramatically maximize your potential and improve your performance in any desired area of life.  

Erickson's commitment to NLP

NLP is an integral part of our philosophy; we use it to promote the evolution of human knowledge and experience by recognizing, modeling, and teaching patterns of creativity and personal excellence. At all times, our commitment is to maintain the highest standards of quality and professionalism and to ensure that NLP is communicated with responsibility and respect for the integrity of the individual.  

NLP is a Synthesis

NLP could be the most important synthesis of knowledge about human communication since the explosion of humanistic psychology in the Sixties. – Science Digest

A remarkable integration of several disciplines such as neurology, psychology, linguistics, cybernetics and systems theory, the name was chosen by the co-developers of NLP to reflect that unique synthesis.  

Neuro... because all of our experience, conscious and unconscious, is derived from and through our senses and central nervous system. 

Linguistic... because our mental processes are also coded, organized, given meaning and transformed through language.

Programming... because people interact as a system in which experience and communication is composed of sequences of patterns or programs. NLP is used in the widest possible range of situations and personal concerns. New ways of thinking, reacting, relating and living are developed from the natural abilities you have within you.  

NLP Is an Interactive Model 

Equally as important as realizing what NLP stands for is also the knowledge that NLP is:  

An Attitude ...characterized by a keen sense of curiosity about people and an approach to others that considers each experience as a rare and unprecedented opportunity to learn. Because the more you learn about any process, the more you can successfully influence it and engage in other processes that are synonymous with being a more competent and happier person.  

A Methodology ...based on a way of interacting with people that reveals a startling and revolutionary premise: behavior, communication and change have a structure, as does every human endeavor; a structure that can be modelled, learned and taught. Based on the evidence since its inception, NLP can be used to reproduce any form of excellence in human behavior.  

A Technology ...with innovative, reliable and proven techniques that allow you to organize your perceptions and behavior to get extraordinary and ecological results designed to preserve the integrity of the person.

If you're interested in understanding how NLP could support you in reaching your objectives and improving your self-control, explore our NLP Practitioner Certification course. 

Learn how to live up to your highest potential and discover your very own “states of excellence.”