WHAT IS NLP?

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is the study of subjective experience and of how excellence works.

It is a set of tools, models and concepts for understanding how our internal representations create the results we get in the world, and how changing our inner map and blueprint can change those results.

The Background of NLP

NLP was developed in California in the 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, who modelled the patterns of people who were exceptionally good at helping others change.

The three parts of the name:

• Neuro is the nervous system and how we take in the world through our senses.
• Linguistic is language, both the words we use with others and the words we use with ourselves.
• Programming is the habitual patterns of thought and behaviour that run beneath conscious effort, and that can be noticed and changed.

Note: NLP is not natural language processing, the computer science field concerned with how machines handle human language. The two share an acronym and nothing else.

Changing The Unconscious Blueprint with NLP

NLP provides psychological tools for updating the blueprint or the map of the world.

The result is a natural shift in thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

The phrase "the map is not the territory", from the philosopher Alfred Korzybski, is one of its foundations.

NLP does not claim that thinking differently removes real external constraints such as money, health or other people's choices. Its claim is that the map determines what you can see as possible, which options are available, and how you respond to and shape circumstances.

By changing the map you change your external world.

What does "the study of subjective experience" mean?

What does "the study of subjective experience" mean?

NLP treats the structure of experience as something that can be studied. Instead of asking only what someone thinks, it asks how they think: the sequence of internal pictures, sounds, self-talk and feelings that produces a particular result, such as confidence, procrastination, motivation or fear.

NLP helps make the structure visible, and once it is visible, it can be changed. Someone who gets anxious before presenting is running a specific internal sequence. Change the sequence and the result changes.

Want to explore professional certification? Discover the live ICF & ABNLP Accredited NLP Training Programme.

What is "modelling excellence"?

Modelling is the method NLP was built on.

Bandler and Grinder studied three exceptional practitioners, Fritz Perls (Gestalt therapy), Virginia Satir (family therapy) and Milton Erickson (clinical hypnosis), and asked what they were actually doing that made them so effective.

They identified the language patterns, beliefs and internal states behind the results and turned them into learnable models.

The same approach applies to any skill. You find someone who gets an outstanding result, work out how they think and act, then teach the pattern to others. This is why NLP is often described as the study of the structure of excellence.

What techniques does NLP use?

What techniques does NLP use?

NLP is a toolkit. Common techniques and models include:

• Anchoring. Linking a resourceful state, such as calm or confidence, to a specific cue so you can access it on demand.
• Reframing. Changing the meaning of a situation so that different responses become available.
• Submodalities. Adjusting the qualities of an internal image or sound, such as brightness, distance or volume, to change how strongly it affects you.
• The Swish Pattern. Replacing an unwanted habitual response with a chosen one by linking the trigger to a new internal image.
• Timeline work. Working with how a person represents past, present and future, to change the emotional weight of memories and expectations.
• Parts integration. Resolving inner conflict by recognising that each part of us has a positive intention and helping the parts cooperate.
• Perceptual positions. Looking at a situation from your own view, another person's view and an observer's view to gain flexibility.
• The Meta Model. Precise questions that uncover the assumptions, deletions and generalisations in the way someone describes a problem.
• The Milton Model. Artful, permissive language patterns, drawn from Milton Erickson, that work with the unconscious mind.
• Well-formed outcomes. A structured way to define a goal so that it is specific, within your control and ecological.
• Rapport. Building trust through attention to another person's pace, language and body language.
• Strategies (TOTE). Mapping the internal sequence a person uses to make decisions or get motivated, then redesigning it.

Interested in training? Explore the live ICF & ABNLP Accredited NLP & Life Coaching Programme to master these tools.

What are the core beliefs of NLP?

NLP rests on working assumptions called presuppositions. Among the most common:

• The map is not the territory.
• Every behaviour has a positive intention.
• There are no "bad" parts of us, only parts doing their best with the choices they have.
• People already have the resources they need.
• There is no failure, only feedback.
• The meaning of your communication is the response you get.

Practitioners treat these as useful operating principles, not proven laws.

What results do people report from NLP?

People who use NLP techniques commonly report:

• Greater confidence in speaking, presenting and social situations.
• Relief from long-standing fears and strong emotional triggers.
• Changes in habits and automatic reactions that willpower had not shifted.
• Clearer goals and a stronger sense of direction.
• More flexible communication and better relationships at work and at home.
• Quicker shifts in beliefs about what is possible, often described as happening within a single session.
• A stronger sense of choice in situations that previously felt stuck.

Many coaches and clients describe these changes as fast and lasting, and this is a large part of why NLP has remained popular for fifty years.

How is NLP used in Coaching? 

How is NLP used in coaching?

Coaching is a client-led process that helps someone clarify goals and take action.

NLP adds tools for working below the surface of those goals: the beliefs, internal states and habitual patterns that decide whether a goal is reached.

Coaching provides the framework and ethics, such as the ICF core competencies, and NLP provides the techniques.

Many professional coaches train in both.

What is the difference between NLP and therapy?

Therapy is a healthcare field aimed at treating psychological difficulty. NLP and coaching focus on present patterns, goals and choices. NLP is not psychotherapy and should not be presented as such.

Our diploma in Coaching and NLP is trauma informed. Nina Madden also works as an EMDR therapist but the two practices are kept distinct.

Is NLP regulated in the UK?

NLP, Coaching and Psychotherapy are not regulated in the UK.

Reputable NLP training is accredited by bodies such as the Association for NLP (ANLP), The American Board of NLP (ABNLP) and the International NLP Trainers Association (INLPTA) and, for coaching, the International Coaching Federation (ICF). When choosing a trainer, check the accrediting body, the number of live training hours and the trainer's professional experience.

How do you become an NLP practitioner?

NLP training is usually split into levels: NLP Practitioner, NLP Master Practitioner and, for some, NLP Trainer. Choose a live programme led by an accredited NLP trainer, with clear information about what the certificate qualifies you to do.

For those who want to coach professionally, Nina Madden teaches the ICF & ABNLP Accredited Diploma in Coaching and Advanced NLP Practitioner through Life Changes Coaching Academy.

It is delivered live online in small groups of 8 to 12 over five to ten weeks, followed by three months of ICF mentor coaching, and leads to the Professional Life Coach and Advanced NLP Practitioner certificates (eligible for ICF ACC). Details: ninamadden.com/learn

Frequently Asked Questions about NLP

What does NLP stand for?
Neuro-Linguistic Programming.

What is NLP in simple terms?
The study of how our internal representations create our results, and a set of tools for changing them.

Who invented NLP?
Richard Bandler and John Grinder, in California in the early 1970s.

What is modelling in NLP?
Studying how people who achieve excellent results think and act, then turning that into steps others can learn.

What are examples of NLP techniques?
Anchoring, reframing, the Swish Pattern, timeline work, parts integration, perceptual positions, and the Meta Model.

Is NLP scientifically proven?
Not in the sense of a validated theory. Practitioners and clients report strong results, but research has not established NLP's underlying theories, and evidence for specific health outcomes is limited.

Is NLP the same as hypnosis?
No. NLP drew on the language patterns of Milton Erickson, but it is a separate field.

Is NLP the same as natural language processing?
No. Natural language processing is a computer science field.

Can NLP be used in coaching?
Yes. It is widely used for goal setting, reframing limiting beliefs and changing habitual patterns.