The term NLP (neurolinguistic programming) has become widespread in our lexicon relatively recently. Scientifically, this is one of the areas of psychotherapy and practical psychology, which examines the copying of verbal and non-verbal behavior of people, as well as the relationship between forms of speech, movements of the eyes, body and hands, with the influence on others. NLP techniques are successfully used in everyday life.
My conviction is that no man loses freedom except through his own weakness.
Mahatma Gandhi
Why do you need NLP?
In its popular version, NLP is success modeling technology, when any person, with the correct use of programming techniques, is able to significantly improve his success in his chosen field. Moreover, regardless of what it is connected with - sales, politics or helping the elderly. Basically, such communication is taught in the field of sales, since it is in this area that the material return is most noticeable, which is why interest in increasing the effectiveness of communication increases noticeably.
The science of personality programming has gone through a long period of development; its history has not only positive milestones. But, despite its status unrecognized by official science, development continues with huge strides, regularly offering more effective methods of influencing the individual.
History of the development of the science of NLP
The term NLP, as well as the science itself associated with neurolinguistic programming, appeared, according to open sources, in 1976, when a certain Richard Bandler and John Grinder decided to thoroughly study the influence of certain actions on the individual’s consciousness and carefully record everything in a scientific work .
Their research at that time was greatly influenced by the teachings of Milton Erickson, who, using similar principles, created a system for immersing a person in a trance state, although he did this for psychotherapeutic purposes. The basis of the methodology was the use of various linguistic and communication techniques that directly influence people’s consciousness. More precisely, temporarily turning it off and opening access to the most intimate of every person - the subconscious. After all, everything that we are unconscious of comes precisely from it. In practice, this is the same as mastering skills “automatically,” when the arms and legs “know how to do it themselves.”
The basis of the NLP technique is often called Ericksonian hypnosis, which is not far from the truth, because the overwhelming number of “altered” states for setting tasks was caused precisely by the use of a trance state. Exactly the same as what is observed when communicating with gypsies.
The process of creating “science” was partially influenced by such scientists as:
- Virginia Satir is a family therapy specialist. Fritz Perls - this psychotherapist practiced gestalt therapy.
Little by little, the technique of copying human behavior was adopted from everyone, both at the level of verbal communication, that is, with the help of words, and non-verbal communication, which implies the same thing, only uncontrolled hand movements, facial expressions, etc. become the “carrier of information.”
As soon as it became clear that the experiment was a success, and it was possible to identify a whole host of patterns, many of which were confirmed experimentally, the developers had a conflict that escalated into litigation. The latter lasted almost 20 years and were completed in early 2001 (the disputes began in the 80s of the last century) without much success on both sides.
Today, the science of NLP has almost reached its apogee. In almost all areas, certain methods based on known patterns are openly used.
For example, in telephone conversations, word forms are used that influence who is on the other end of the line. There is an art to actually forcing your opponent into a real meeting during the first conversation on the phone.
The same can be said about personal meetings. They are not always desirable for the opponent, but you still need to come to an agreement, because business does not tolerate stagnation. Thanks to imperceptible at first glance and persistent manipulation, the interlocutor is able to turn his negativity into at least the so-called active neutrality, when, at least, he will not interfere in the situation. For example, when the purchasing department places an order on not the most favorable terms.
In addition to work matters, using at least one NLP technique in communication at home with parents or children helps to achieve calmer relationships and calm down those household members who are eager to enter into conflict. And you yourself will become much calmer and more reasonable. After all, when almost any relationship between words spoken and deeds done can be explained scientifically, then there is simply no reason to be nervous.
How does it all work?
Even before the principles of NLP were formulated, attention was paid to the fact that people are divided into certain categories according to the type of perception:
- Visual perception means the predominant receipt of information about the world around a person through visual images.
- Sound perception- the same thing, but only through sounds.
- Kinesthetics– the main source of information is touch.
From the perspective of neurolinguistic programming techniques, having determined one of the highest priority types of perception, it is possible to purposefully influence the interlocutor by means of adjustment. Dominant perception makes a person more vulnerable, so to use NLP elements in communication, it is enough to be attentive to your opponent’s communication:
- For example, the predominance of phrases in conversation that mean the action “look” leads to the conclusion that we are dealing with a person with a predominant visual perception.
- When the subject “hears” more, then sounds are more important to him.
- What remains is only the one who primarily “feels” with his tactile sensations.
Break pattern
The next step after identifying the most obvious point of influence is an NLP technique that is often called “pattern breaking.” In this case, neurolinguistic programming is carried out at the moment when the subject, while in a stupor due to the atypical behavior of the interlocutor, perceives incoming knowledge not with the mind, but directly with the subconscious. For example, during a handshake, you can say something rude instead of extending your hand, and even pat yourself on the head “for it” or do any movement/action that the hypnotized person does not expect.
The duration of the period during which a person is most susceptible can be within 30 seconds, but in practice this depends on the individual, to the extent controlled, sensitivity. At such moments, any words are laid directly into the subconscious as a program, the execution of which the vast majority cannot even comprehend, let alone remember its essence.
In the process of suggestion, other rules can be applied, for example:
- exclude from the conversation phrases suggesting an apology or disdain for the interlocutor. For example, “Sorry if I disturbed you” or “Let’s quickly go over everything with you”; Avoid “attack” phrases such as “What the hell is going on here?”
It is better to resort to using phrases that evoke positive emotions:
- mention in a conversation an anecdotal situation that happened to you or someone you know (the second option is even preferable); ask a couple of personal questions that encourage the interlocutor to be frank (for example, about the weather, children, etc.).
The most striking example of the action of this technique in NLP is gypsy hypnosis.
Thanks to properly organized communication, they often manage to rob their interlocutor or impose on him a completely unnecessary and useless purchase. At the same time, they surround the client from all sides and begin to speak in different voices almost simultaneously, which inevitably drives the person into a stupor, where he is given commands like “open your wallet, take off all the gold,” etc.
One example of real life is the playing of the same type of music in all stores of a particular retail chain, which leaves an indelible mark in the subconscious of every visitor. Thus, an “anchor” is set for more frequent visits to stores and, accordingly, for a loyal attitude towards them.
What can NLP give in everyday life?
There is an opinion that in everyday life we are constantly surrounded by elements that mainly resemble unconscious attempts to manipulate relatives. This is especially noticeable in child-adult relationships. For example, when the phrase “don’t scream” is said, the little one is thereby “invited” to continue screaming, which he does.
A lot of attention is paid to technical details, for example, how exactly to touch the interlocutor when pronouncing the “command”. At what points in the conversation should you repeat touches that consolidate the achieved effect (this method is called “setting an anchor”).
In general, in order to get an acceptable result, which would not only manifest itself, but also be consolidated, you should constantly train. For example, think about your every step, every action and every word spoken. It is the latter instrument that has an extremely “magical” effect. Everything else (touches, facial expressions, etc.) is just a means for more successful perception of the main information.
When mastering NLP techniques, programming those around you can significantly simplify the solution of many important issues for yourself. Thus, a person who has mastered the basics of NLP can count on being able to:
- mention in a conversation an anecdotal situation that happened to you or someone you know (the second option is even preferable); ask a couple of personal questions that encourage the interlocutor to be frank (for example, about the weather, children, etc.).
NLP today is one of the most popular areas of existing applied psychology. The scope of its application is very extensive: psychotherapy, medicine, marketing, politics and pedagogy, business, advertising.
Unlike most other practically oriented psychological disciplines, NLP provides operational changes and solutions to problems of both an individual and society as a whole. Moreover, everything is carried out in an unconditionally effective environmental regime.
Introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming
It’s worth starting with the fact that NLP is a kind of art, a science of excellence, the result of a study of the achievements of outstanding people in various fields. The positive point is that absolutely anyone can master such communication skills. You just need to have a desire to improve your professional
Neurolinguistic programming: what is it?
There are various models of excellence built by NLP in the field of communication, education, business, therapy. Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) is a specific model for structuring individual people’s unique life experiences. We can say that this is only one of the many ways of understanding and organizing a complex but unique system of communication and human thoughts.
NLP: history of origin
It appeared in the early 70s, the result of the collaboration of D. Grinder (at that time an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of California at Santa Cruz) and R. Bandler (a student of psychology there), who was very passionate about psychotherapy. Together they examined the activities of 3 great psychotherapists: V. Satir (family therapist, she took on cases that other specialists considered hopeless), F. Perls (innovator of psychotherapy, founder of the school of Gestalt therapy), M. Erickson (world-famous hypnotherapist) .
Grinder and Bandler discovered the patterns used by the above-mentioned psychotherapists, deciphered them, and subsequently built a fairly elegant model that can be used in personal change, as part of accelerated learning, and even to obtain greater pleasure in life.
Richard and John at that time lived not far from G. Bateson (English anthropologist). He was the author of works on systems theory and communication. His scientific interests were very extensive: cybernetics, psychotherapy, biology, anthropology. He is known to many for his theory of the 2nd connection in schizophrenia. Bateson's contributions to NLP are extraordinary.
NLP has evolved in two complementary directions: as a process for identifying patterns of mastery in all areas of human life, and as a fairly effective way of communication and thinking that is practiced by outstanding people.
In 1977, Grinder and Bandler conducted a series of successful public seminars across America. This art is spreading rapidly, as evidenced by the statistics that to date approximately 100 thousand people have undergone training in one form or another.
Origin of the name of the science in question
Neurolinguistic programming: what is it, based on the meaning of the words included in this term? The word “neuro” refers to the fundamental idea that human behavior originates in neurological processes such as seeing, tasting, smelling, touching, hearing, and feeling. The mind and body form an inseparable unity - the essence of man.
The “linguistic” component of the name demonstrates the use of language in order to organize one’s thoughts, one’s behavior in order to be able to communicate with other people.
“Programming” implies indicating how a person organizes his actions and ideas in order to obtain the desired result.
NLP Basics: Maps, Filters, Frames
All people use their senses to perceive the world around them, study it, and transform it. The world is an endless variety of sensory manifestations, but people can perceive only a tiny part of it. The information received is subsequently filtered by unique experiences, language, values, assumptions, culture, beliefs, interests. Each person lives in a certain unique reality, which is built from purely personal sensory impressions and individual experience. His actions are based on what he perceives - on his personal model of the world.
The world around us is so large and rich that people are forced to simplify it in order to comprehend it. A good example of this is the creation of geographic maps. They are selective: they carry information and at the same time miss it, but still act as an incomparable assistant in the process of exploring the territory. The fact that a person knows where he is trying to get depends on what kind of map he draws up.
Humans are equipped with numerous natural, necessary, beneficial filters. Language is a filter, a map of a particular person’s thoughts, his experiences, which is separated from the real world.
Fundamentals of neurolinguistic programming - behavioral frameworks. This is the understanding of human actions. So, the first frame is focus on results, and not on a specific problem. This means that the subject searches for something to strive for, then finds suitable solutions, and subsequently applies them to achieve the goal. The problem focus is most often referred to as the “blame frame.” It consists of a deep analysis of the existing reasons for the impossibility of achieving the desired result.
The next frame (second) is to ask the question “how?”, and not “why?”. It will lead the subject to an awareness of the structure of the problem.
The essence of the third frame is feedback in return for failure. There is no such thing as failure, only results. The first is a way of describing the second. Feedback detains the goal in
Considering possibility rather than necessity is the fourth frame. You should focus on possible actions, and not on existing circumstances that limit a person.
NLP also welcomes curiosity, surprise instead of pretense. At first glance, this is a fairly simple idea, but it has very profound implications.
Another useful idea is the ability to create internal resources that a person needs to achieve his goal. It is more likely to believe in the correctness of actions than to assume the opposite will help you achieve success. This is nothing more than neuro-linguistic programming. What it is has already become clear, so it’s worth moving on to considering its methods and techniques.
NLP methods
These are the main theoretical and practical aspects of using neurolinguistic programming. These include:
- anchoring;
- submodality editing;
- flapping techniques;
- work with obsessive, problematic, phobic conditions.
These are the basic methods of neurolinguistic programming.
Changing the perception of an event
This is one of the exercises using the simplest techniques of neurolinguistic programming. For example, jealousy. It proceeds in 3 sequential stages: visualization (presentation of a scene of betrayal), then auditoryization (presentation of the sound accompaniment of a scene of betrayal) and at the end - kinesthetic perception (the appearance of a negative feeling of betrayal).
The essence of this technique is the violation of one of the stages. In this example, this may be a conviction that the scene of betrayal is far-fetched at the first stage, at the second - presenting it accompanied by funny music, which leads to a change in the perception of the whole picture as a whole at the third stage (it becomes funny). This is how neuro-linguistic programming works. A variety of examples can be given: imaginary illness, the power of photographic memory, etc.
Pedagogy as a field of application of NLP
As mentioned earlier, there are a large number of areas where neurolinguistic programming is used. Training can also take place using NLP methods and techniques.
Scientists argue that through neurolinguistic programming, a significant part of school material can be mastered much faster and more effectively without the formation of school phobias, mainly due to the development of student abilities. With all this, this process is very exciting. This applies to any teaching activity.
The school has its own unique culture, which is formed from several subcultures that have their own patterns of nonverbal communication.
Due to the fact that school educational levels are differentiated, each of them generates its own patterns of effective learning styles. These levels are grouped into categories:
1. Primary school. At the age of 6, children leave the walls of kindergarten and enter 1st grade as a so-called kinesthetic creature. Educators know that children perceive the real world through touch, smell, taste, etc. In elementary school, a typical practice is to go through procedures - kinesthetic learning.
2. High school. Starting from the 3rd grade, adjustments are made to the learning process: the transition from kinesthetic perception to auditory perception. Children who find it difficult to adapt to this transition remain to finish their studies or are transferred to special classes.
3. High school students. There is another transition from auditory to visual perception. The presentation of school material becomes more symbolic, abstract, and graphic.
These are the basics of neuro-linguistic programming.
Corridor and conveyor
The first concept is the place where the development of the student's lagging modality occurs. In other words, the corridor is process-oriented, while the conveyor is content-oriented.
With an emphasis on the latter, the teacher must use neurolinguistic programming: teaching through multisensory techniques in order to provide each individual student with the opportunity to choose the process that is familiar to him. However, as a rule, a “conveyor” teacher builds the learning process in the first modality, while a “corridor” teacher will need to choose an individual approach to each student (corridor). Thus, the ability to establish an appropriate learning style is the basis for success.
Application of NLP in sects
There are also areas of life where neurolinguistic programming acts as a lever for negative manipulation. Various examples can be given. Most often these are sects.
Alexander Kapkov (cult expert) believes that at one time, secret methods of neurolinguistic programming were quite often used in various kinds of religious groups, for example, in the sect of Ron Hubbard. They are very effective for quickly and effectively zombifying adherents (they allow you to manipulate a person). The effects of psychotechnics in sects are passed off as the condescension of grace.
The article explained what neurolinguistic programming is (what it is, what methods and techniques it uses), and also provided examples of its practical application.
Contents of the article
NEUROLINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING (NLP), a direction in theoretical and, above all, practical psychology, which differs from similar psychotherapeutic methods - psychoanalysis, group psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy - by focusing on the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention. According to one version, NLP arose as a theoretical generalization of the characteristic features of the practice of famous psychotherapists, which appears to the inexperienced viewer as magic. Hence the title of one of the books by R. Bandler and J. Grinder - Structure of Magic. From the point of view of psychology as a science, the theoretical innovation of NLP lies in changing the focus of attention of the researcher and, as a result, the psychotherapist: instead of deviations of the mental state, NLP recommends paying the main attention to the norm, and not just to the norm, which, strictly speaking, does not exist, but on examples of successful human behavior in crisis situations. According to the founders of NLP, only by studying how a person manages not to go crazy can one develop methods for improving the condition of people with certain mental disorders. Another important feature of NLP is the connection of NLP provisions with language and knowledge about the peculiarities of the functioning of the language system. The founding fathers of NLP include, first of all, Richard Bandler, John Grinder, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, David Gordon and Michael Sparks.
NLP as a psychotherapeutic method.
NLP proceeds from the fact that the functioning of human thinking is to a certain extent reminiscent of the work of a computer, but not in the sense of the trivial computer metaphor on which modern cognitive psychology grew (cf. the analogy between computer memory and human memory, computer processor and cognitive system), but in the sense that human thinking is programmable. The whole question is to correctly formulate the program and make it accessible to the conscious and subconscious mind of a person. Hence the concept of modeling: the therapist (and more broadly, the communicator) tries to identify the best way in which a person performs a certain task, and tries to make it available - to that person or to another person. The way to verify the resulting model is not to argue whether it is correct, whether it corresponds to reality, but to ensure that the model successfully performs its functions. According to NLP, in the psyche it is generally difficult to talk about the correctness or correspondence to reality of any experience. At best, we can only say that some experience belongs to a shared reality, i.e. to a set of more or less generally valid ideas about the world around us.
The modeling process goes through several stages. At the first stage, information is collected about the client’s current state and the desired state - in fact, about the very essence of the impact. At subsequent stages, the essence of the desired state is consistently clarified. At the second stage, rapport is established - a state between the communicator and the client in which there is maximum mutual trust between them. Achieving rapport is the most important goal of NLP. Rapport is achieved at a conscious or unconscious level when the communicator joins the client's representational systems, reflecting them in his verbal and nonverbal behavior. In NLP, a representational system (RS) is a way of representing and understanding one’s experience of interacting with the world around us. This can be visual MS (experience is represented as a sequence of visual images), auditory MS (experience is conceptualized as a sequence of sounds of different types), kinesthetic MS (experience is represented as tactile sensations) and olfactory-gustatory MS (experience is perceived by a person as a sequence of smells and taste sensations). ). By reflecting the client's reactions in each of these systems and adapting to them, the communicator can achieve rapport with him. Reflection can be verbal (the communicator repeats certain features of the client’s verbal behavior) and non-verbal. In the latter case, the communicator adapts to important elements of nonverbal behavior that indicate the leading (most important for the subject) MS - breathing rate, gestures, eye movements, etc. Achieving rapport can be a rather lengthy procedure, but in some cases it is achieved very quickly - it all depends on the skill of the communicator and the complexity of the case.
Once rapport is achieved, the communicator must establish what the client really wants. In other words, what should be a well-formulated result of modeling, which should not contradict one or another aspect of the client’s personality and cannot harm his immediate environment (hence the concept of environmental friendliness of modeling).
When exploring a person’s representative systems to subsequently achieve rapport, the communicator, in addition to the nonverbal aspects of the client’s behavior (in particular eye movements, gestures, breathing), must pay special attention to linguistic behavior. For this purpose, NLP has developed a so-called meta-model of language. The underlying assumption of the meta-model is that language—like many forms of social experience—acts as a filter that distorts experience, or at least structures it. The meta-model draws the communicator's attention to those properties of the language system that most often distort perception. As will be shown below, in terms of content, the meta-model is a summary of the results from grammatical theory, the theory of speech influence and pragmalinguistics, adjusted to the goals of psychotherapeutic practice; The ideas of “general semantics” also had a certain influence on the formation of NLP. Explicit clarification and identification of distortions introduced by language constitute a significant part of the psychotherapeutic procedure. In other words, a meta-model of a language is not a model of a language at all and not a model of its individual subsystems, but a model of the behavior of a communicator in relation to the natural language used in the process of communication with a client.
Once a “well-formulated result” has been established, methods of therapeutic intervention are selected and the client is transferred to the desired state using a set of selected techniques. One such technique is anchoring. An anchor is any stimulus that allows a person to transfer his previous experience to the present and experience the same psychological state (both positively and negatively colored). For example, some melody may evoke associations in a person associated with past experiences, or a randomly found thing will remind one of some childhood event, etc. In fiction, the anchoring procedure, as a rule, attracts the attention of writers with a “psychologism” mindset. (Cf. a typical example from Nabokov: “She blew her nose, rummaged in the dark, pressed the button again. The light calmed her down a little. She looked at the drawing again, thought, decided that, no matter how dear it was to her, it was dangerous to keep it, and, tearing the paper into shreds, threw them through the bars into the elevator well, and for some reason it reminded her of her early childhood. – V.Nabokov. Camera Obscura.)
The almost arbitrariness of the anchor and at the same time its effectiveness in inducing a mental state are widely used in NLP as a tool for influencing the subject. An anchor stimulus can be established during a therapeutic procedure verbally (for example, by pronouncing certain words, verbal sequences, changing the tone of voice), non-verbally (by shaking hands, shoulders, knees; changing the position of the communicator’s body, etc.), as well as by a combination of verbal and non-verbal elements . It is clear that installing an anchor is possible only if stable rapport is maintained, otherwise the connection between the anchor and the experience will not arise.
Anchoring should be based on identifying the resources of a given individual to solve a problem situation. Awareness of the resource, the understanding that the problem can be solved, is achieved through expanding the model of the human world. The role of the communicator at this stage is to identify in the client’s experience something that can be considered as a resource. In NLP, to find a resource, both techniques are used that involve the client’s conscious participation, as well as his immersion in a trance and working with the subconscious. The latter in many cases turns out to be significantly more effective. Next, a person's positive and negative experiences are anchored. Consistent - in different combinations - use of anchors and, thereby, mental states allows the communicator to eliminate unwanted connections, form new ones and, as a result, program a person for the behavior he himself desires, defined in NLP as a “well-formulated result.” Anchoring, the anchors themselves, the sequence of their use are actually similar to the algorithms of a computer program, with the exception that, unlike computer programming languages, in NLP during a therapeutic procedure, operators (anchors) are determined for each client individually.
Among NLP methods, there are techniques that enable the communicator to work not on one client problem, but on a complex of similar problems, as well as on such complex situations when a certain type of behavior in itself is not a psychological problem, but becomes one in a certain context. For example, fear is a very useful and necessary feeling, but it turns into a painful state, into mania, if the fear is not justified or spreads to everyone around. One such technique is reframing. The essence of reframing is to modify the client's behavior caused by a certain stimulus or set of similar stimuli, limiting this behavior only to those situations where this behavior is really necessary.
In general, it should be noted that the main books on NLP (primarily those written by the founders of this direction) themselves represent a brilliant example of the application of NLP techniques to influence the reader. Here you can also find anchoring techniques, for example, with the help of interesting (usually funny) examples from practice, as well as reasoning leading to “expanding the positive experience” of the reader, and reframing in the form of appropriate instructions - both explicit and hidden.
Linguistic aspect of NLP.
The interpretation and use of language knowledge in NLP is carried out by non-professional linguists (with all the ensuing consequences). Therefore, the description of the linguistic component of NLP within the framework of the linguistic paradigm itself requires a certain correction of those linguistic categories, appeal to which is used in the original works of representatives of this direction.
The main linguistic postulate of NLP can be formulated as a hypothesis about the inadequacy of language as a means of reflecting reality and human experience. Words are just artificial shortcuts for experience, and language itself is a filter that allows the cognitive system to cut off all that is unnecessary from experience so that the system does not become overloaded and functions adequately. However, this useful function leads to the fact that a person’s consciousness ignores important parts of his experience, which leads to the formation of a significantly impoverished list of alternatives when solving problem situations. The meta-model of language allows us to identify the most typical cases of distortion and correct them, enriching a person’s positive experience.
The second postulate seems to be directed in the opposite direction from reality - it determines the nature of the connection between language and psyche. This is a postulate about the iconicity or isomorphism of language, on the one hand, and mental and/or thought processes, on the other. According to this postulate, linguistic forms regularly reflect the characteristics of a person’s thinking and mental state. By paying attention to the characteristics of the client's speech, the communicator is able to identify his leading representative system, as well as identify areas of omission of important experience. In other words, language and speech are considered as the most important sources of information about a person’s mental state. The opposite is also true: although excessive use of any one linguistic device is unlikely to lead to illness, nevertheless, a complex of corresponding linguistic expressions makes it possible to induce the required mental state. That is why therapeutic effects are generally possible with the help of language.
An important consequence of the postulate of iconicity is the principle of psychological differentiation between the surface and deep structures of an utterance. Interpreting this opposition in the spirit of transformationalism (sometimes in the sense of generative grammar, and sometimes in the sense of generative semantics), NLP proponents attribute to the surface structure the function of reflecting consciousness, and the deep structure the function of reflecting the subconscious. The deep structure contains the actants of those variables that must be explicitly filled in to identify the actual, real-life client problem and create a picture of the “well-formulated outcome” of the simulation.
Linguistic phenomena in the theory and practice of NLP.
Let us briefly consider specific language structures that are used at different stages of neuro-linguistic programming in different NLP techniques. In fact, these linguistic phenomena form the meta-model of language that underlies NLP.
Metaphors.
Metaphor is one of NLP's favorite tools. It is no coincidence that D. Gordon's famous book is called Therapeutic metaphors. However, this category is interpreted differently in NLP. The closest thing to a linguistic understanding is that metaphor is used in the meta-model of language. As was already said above, this is not a model of language as such, but a model of behavior of a psychotherapist, a communicator, when he collects information about a client or establishes rapport with him. At this stage, the communicator must determine which representational system, e.g. the way of comprehending experience is most strongly developed in the client and, therefore, most often used by him. If we turn to the tools of cognitive linguistics, we can say that a representative system is a structure of knowledge, frames, in terms of which a person comprehends his experience and structures it, gives it meaning. At the surface level, at the level of verbal behavior, these frames can be represented by metaphors, or more precisely, metaphorical models.
As already noted, NLP distinguishes four types of representational systems: 1) visual RS, which allows you to structure and comprehend experience as a sequence of visual images, “pictures” that appear in the human mind; 2) auditory MS, within which experience is structured as sequences of sounds of various types, music, noise, etc.; 3) kinesthetic MS, which allows you to comprehend experience as a change in body sensations, and, finally, olfactory-gustatory MS , recreating experience as a sequence of smells and tastes. One of the MS is primary, the most important for a person. This is what the communicator should identify at the stage of collecting information about the client. In this case, both verbal and non-verbal behavior of the client is analyzed. The nonverbal component is the study of access keys, which are eye movements. They are completely specific for each type of MS. When studying verbal behavior to identify MS, analysis of the metaphors used by the client is of great importance. In NLP, these expressions are often called "process words." In fact, we are talking about metaphorical models embedded in the figurative meanings of words and in the client’s original metaphors. For example, visual PC is established by expressions such as I I see that he doesn't understand me;I vaguely I understand that something is wrong here;To me Seems that everything is against me;This painting so it stands in front of me.
Auditory MS manifests itself in metaphorical models, the source of which is the area of sound, as well as in extensive comparisons with the same source. For example, This simple but clear thought is just stunned me; Memories of that summer remain like a round dance discordant sounds above the surface of the river at dawn[K. Paustovsky]. Kinesthetic MS is established by the meanings of words, which are based on metaphors with a source - a region of sensations: I feel that you are right/wrong;I groped there is something needed in my memories, but I can’t do it grab ;Mom was always there dry with me and didn’t notice what I did for her. Olfactory-gustatory MS is found in statements like My childhood always makes me feel bitter memories;I I'll try concentrate, but I'm not sure I can do it now;Something about you today sour ;Didn't leave my father's face sour mine. Identifying the primary MS allows you to both establish rapport with the client, adjusting verbal reactions to his primary MS, and expand the client’s space of choice, transferring the understanding of experience to other types of MS.
Superficial vs. deep structure.
One of the main ideas of the transformational model of language is that the same deep structure can be realized on the surface by different surface structures, while the deep representation - the basic structure in early versions of TPG - turns out to be poorer, simpler than the surface one. NLP proponents are not very interested in such variation. In fact, what is important for them is not transformational grammar in the spirit of N. Chomsky, but generative semantics, which works not so much with syntax as with the semantics of the statement. From the point of view of NLP, at a deep level a complete, fairly rich representation of a problem situation is always built, but at a superficial level it becomes impoverished as a result of a number of alternative choices, as a result of various transformations. For example, a sentence John bought a car in the deep structure contains information about who the car was purchased from, for what amount and when. In other words, at a deep level there is always a verb control model with obligatory and optional valencies that describe the corresponding situation in more detail. The impoverishment and reduction of the surface form occurs, as a rule, unconsciously. In the process of therapeutic intervention, the communicator must restore at the surface level all the important deep elements - the missing valences and, above all, the actants that fill them.
From this point of view, of significant interest to NLP are certain transformations that regularly “collapse” richer content (see the concept of “cancelling” transformations in the verbalization of meaning discussed above). These include, for example, the transformation of omission in dialogues like Client:Well, I'm not really sure.Therapist:Not sure what? Client: What should I say about this?. Therapist: What about« this"? In the first response of the client, the entire component that realizes the obligatory valence of the verb is eliminated, and in the second, the syntactically component is there, but it is replaced by an anaphoric pronoun, but the anaphora is not disclosed. These cases are described in NLP as utterances with missing referential indices. It is assumed that in the deep structure there are always referential indices and the therapist must, in the process of interviewing the client, explicate these indices, restoring omitted antecedents and omitted components. It should be borne in mind that the referent structure is understood in NLP very broadly and includes the communicative and cognitive contexts of the utterance, the person’s feelings regarding the problems being discussed, and ideas about how other participants in the communication perceive what is happening.
Nominalization.
A similar phenomenon of content collapse is observed during nominalization. As is known, structures like Refusal of the agreement led to the failure of negotiations hide propositional forms like “someone refused the agreement” in the deep structure. Nominalizations – in NLP terminology – impoverish the client’s experience, since they not only translate some important aspects of the situation into an implicit form, but also represent some controlled processes in the form of uncontrollable events that have already occurred. So when the client says My abilities are not recognized, then he is in captivity of the “magic of the word”, since he understands the word confession as an accomplished event. In this case, the client’s attention should be drawn to the procedural nature of the situation, its controllability, as well as the existence of valencies in the verb confess or expressions find recognition using questions like From whom do you not find recognition?? or Can you imagine a situation where you found recognition[from colleagues or smb. more]?
Modal operators.
A typical linguistic manifestation of impoverishment of one’s experience and, as a consequence, narrowing of the space of choice is the use of constructions with modal words like Required P,Should P,I have to P,I need to do P. The meta-model of language in NLP attributes to these constructs the deep structure "Modal operator P, otherwise Q". The therapist must push the client to move beyond his limited experience by focusing on an alternative Q: What happens if you don't do P?;What would happen if you gave up P? For example, to the client's response You can't love two women at the same time the therapist can answer What's stopping you from doing this?? or What happens if you love two women at the same time?;Why is it impossible to love two women at the same time?? Understanding the alternative Q will expand the client’s conscious experience and contribute to solving the problem that has arisen.
Expressions with a universal quantifier.
Distortion of experience, its incorrect interpretation can be associated not only with omission, elimination, but also with unfounded “completion”, “enrichment” of ideas about reality. A typical source of this type of distortion is improper generalization or generalization. In natural language, expressions like Always P interpreted either in a “weakened” quantifier sense “Usually P/More often P/As a rule P", or in the “strong” logical sense (something like “for any moment of time from the selected time interval, P holds”). It is clear that statements with a universal quantifier in the weak sense can always be questioned from the point of view of their own logical meaning. This is very important for the psychotherapeutic procedure, since the client’s generalized statements, as a rule, relate to his negative experience and represent an interpretation of his emotions, impressions of reality, and not actual knowledge. Thus, a statement. I've never been to Paris is completely verifiable, since it reflects the real experience of the subject (“knowledge by acquaintance” - in Russell’s terms). However, client statements like Nobody understands me represents the result of a “naive, natural conclusion” and reflects a catastrophic perception of reality. To reduce the significance of the client's negative experience and focus on positive experience, the therapist questions the client's statement from the point of view of logical understanding: Are you really sure that no one understands you??;Wasn't there a time when at least someone understood you??
Causal connections.
Awareness of reality necessarily entails the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships between events. Since the very essence of NLP is to rethink experience, establish new connections between phenomena and feelings/cognitive states, working with causal constructs turns out to be an effective tool for influencing the addressee. The communicative technique for discussing causal relationships assumes that the psychotherapist draws attention to the lack of a necessary connection between events that are put into a cause-and-effect relationship. For example, a client's statement My wife makes me angry with her behavior hides a causal dependence like “My wife does something to make me angry.” Here it is necessary to find out on what basis the client decided that his wife is deliberately making him angry, whether it is possible to explain his wife’s behavior with something else, whether the wife’s behavior always causes a feeling of anger in the client, etc. A similar technique is used for statements with more explicit causal connections like I want to become different, but my parents are stopping me,I needed to leave home, but my wife was sick. In all these cases, the communicator's goal is to question the existence of a necessary connection between cause and effect. This can be done by identifying cases where there was no connection ( Does this always happen?), drawing attention to the fact that the situation could have arisen unintentionally ( Did your wife deliberately want to make you angry??), trying to reverse the causal relationship ( If your wife weren't sick, you would definitely leave?).
Hidden performativity.
For NLP it is important that any statement a person makes makes sense only within the framework of his own model of the world. Failure to understand this is another source of misconceptions that limits the field of choice of alternatives when making decisions in problem situations. In these cases, it is useful to explicate the deep performative, which, according to performative analysis, is represented in the deep structure of any speech act. For example, transforming a statement It's bad to annoy others with your own problems. into a form with an explicit performative I maintain that it is wrong to annoy others with your own problems. immediately reduces the scope of applicability of the statement, limiting it to the speaker’s own model of the world. In fact, this is equivalent to removing the inappropriate generalization.
Meta-model of language.
The natural language model in NLP is a set of instructions with which the communicator controls the communication process, and also identifies those parts of the discourse that indicate the characteristics of the client’s thinking (identifying the primary representative system) and limit his positive experience. The phenomena discussed above form parts of the meta-model, which is first used to collect information about the client, and then for verbal influence. Note, however, that often these stages are not opposed in time and occur simultaneously.
The significance of NLP practice for language theory.
The linguistic postulates of NLP clearly indicate the existence of isomorphism between linguistic/speech phenomena - such as metaphor, consequence, deep and surface structure - and thought processes. In theoretical linguistics, hypotheses have been repeatedly expressed about the existence of such a connection, but practical proof was impossible. The experience of successfully using the principles and discursive strategies of NLP turns out to be extremely important in this sense. The hypothesis about the psychological significance of almost any variation in linguistic forms, at least at the lexical level, is also of considerable interest. In particular, the unconscious variation of metaphorical models represents a vital source of information about the ways in which people make sense of the world.
Literature:
MacDonald W. Guide to Submodalities. Voronezh, 1994
Bandler R., Grinder D. Reframing: personal orientation using speech strategies. Voronezh, 1995
Gordon D. Therapeutic metaphors. St. Petersburg, 1995
Bandler R., Grinderg D. Structure of Magic. St. Petersburg, 1996
O'Connor J., Seymour J. Introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming, ed. 2. Chelyabinsk, 1998
Bailey R. NLP consulting. M., 2000
Dilts R. Tricks of the tongue. Changing Beliefs Using NLP. St. Petersburg, 2000
In recent years, throughout the world in various fields of social activity, such a method of influencing the human psyche as neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP, is increasingly being used. The theoretical and practical foundations of NLP are presented in various monographs.
Widely used in business, politics, education, medicine, advertising and other areas of public life, NLP methods use various techniques designed to change the chain of mental processes leading to one or another form of behavior, to change the strategy of human behavior. To do this, a rich arsenal of means is used to penetrate a person’s unconscious, designed to ensure good contact during work, in particular, to “merge” with him, forming, if possible, a single whole with this person. These actions are called synchronization or tuning in NLP.
However, long-term practice has shown that various specialists who use NLP methods in their work, much more often themselves experience serious changes in well-being, depression occurs more often, and fatigue appears. Clients also often experience changes that cannot be caused by the methods used. It is clear that interaction occurs between people according to parameters still unknown in NLP. Experience suggested that this could be a bioenergy-information exchange.
It is known from physics that when adjusting, when synchronizing two or more objects, they enter into resonance and form a single system in which “alignment” of energies occurs. And this, in the case of people, leads to the transfer of emotional, mental and physical states from one person to another, which already poses a serious danger to the health of these people. And studies were presented to assess the degree of danger of using NLP methods for all participants in this process. Research methodology
The study consisted of recording changes in the electromagnetic manifestations of a person’s biological field (aura) using the Kirlian method. The principle of this method is that the radiation of the biological field, depending on the mental and physical state of a person, has different intensity and spectrum of radiation. This radiation is recorded on photographic or film film and carries information about the functioning of both individual organs and the mental and physical-chemical processes of the body. By observing the dynamics of a person’s field radiation from Kirlian images when interacting with external factors, one can judge the degree of their influence on the body of this person.
The condition of the specialists and their patients before, during and after the adjustment was recorded. The specialists were mainly psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and teachers, and their patients were alcoholics, drug addicts, and people with serious mental and physical health problems. Some of the patients were people who did not have serious health problems, but who came in for stuttering, weight loss, or, for example, consultation. Studies have also been conducted on changes in the mental state of consumers under the influence of television shows and films. Their condition was also recorded before, during and after the session.
While the patient's radiation begins to resemble that of a healthy person, the powerful and bright energy of the therapist begins to resemble the aura of a very sick person. That is, after adjustment and formation of a single system, the energy of the specialist and his patient merges. Having become a single whole, they adopt each other’s mental and physical states, and energy exchange occurs with all vital functions. Moreover, the higher the body weight of one of the parties, the more pronounced the changes in his aura and the longer this person is in his current state, the stronger he energetically influences his counterpart. That is, its energy potential depends both on body weight and on the “experience” of the disease. This fits into the laws of physics.
Figuratively speaking, the human body is like a battery or capacitor. The larger its capacity and the longer the charging time, the greater the changes it will cause when connected to any system. It follows that the child’s condition can be changed much faster. A psychotherapist, having worked, for example, with a drug addict and adopted his state, can transfer this state to a teenager who comes for consultation, who has every chance of also becoming a drug addict. Additional studies have shown that drug addicts have such a strong deformation of energy structures that people who are in close contact with them (what is this not adjustment?) - relatives, friends, co-workers often experience the same changes in well-being as the drug addicts themselves. And, trying to overcome these changes, they are often simply forced to turn to drugs for help.
Even C. G. Jung wrote about his observations in the clinic: The influence to which a doctor or nurse is exposed can be very profound. I know of cases where, when working with borderline cases of schizophrenia, short periods of psychosis were actually “taken over”, and the patients felt better than usual during these periods. I even encountered a case of secondary paranoia in a physician who was analyzing a woman who was experiencing the early stages of latent persecutory mania. This is not surprising, since some mental disorders can be extremely contagious if the doctor has a hidden predisposition of a similar direction.
So, to create a hidden predisposition of a similar orientation, adjustment and guidance techniques are used in NLP.
Moreover, not only mental disorders can be contagious. Observations have shown that many diseases are transmitted in a similar way, including oncology (the deformation of energy structures in cancer patients is often even stronger than, for example, in drug addicts), as well as various life circumstances - all that is usually called fate. That. not only a doctor, but also, for example, a businessman who uses NLP techniques as a means of communication and persuasion of partners can easily adopt not only illnesses, but also a “black streak” in business from his less fortunate colleagues.
Concepts such as TRANSFERENCE and ENGAGEMENT are familiar to anyone who is at least interested in the basics of analytical psychology, and mean the same phenomena as described above. However, even the authors of psychoanalysis, S. Freud and C. Jung, not to mention their followers, always considered these phenomena extremely undesirable and fought against them in every possible way. And they are still fighting. The creators of NLP and their numerous supporters, in order to obtain quick results and immediate benefits, not only turn a blind eye to these phenomena, but even elevated them to the rank of Law. And although they then check their work for environmental friendliness, many changes in the body appear only a long time later, so such an environmental test is often just a meaningless formality.
Like a hidden infection, NLP methods are a transmission link for many ailments and serious illnesses, and any person, be it a businessman, a politician, or a teacher, who uses these methods in his work, risks himself and poses a serious danger to the mental and physical health of the people around him. Those people who actively use these methods in their work are exposed to the greatest danger.
You've probably noticed that lately proposals for mastering various technologies for personal growth and self-development have been popping up at every step. One of them includes neurolinguistic programming. But the question arises: how beneficial or harmful is its use?
With the development of technology and expanding access to the World Wide Web, the majority of the world's population has the opportunity to look at a life other than their own: through social networks, YouTube, Instagram. And, looking at photographs of celebrities and rich people, many people began to ask themselves questions: “why am I worse?”, “what can I do to have the same?”, “what qualities is this person superior to me?” And this is just one example of topics that concern modern people and are closely related to the personal perception of one’s place in the world.
It is no secret that dissatisfaction with oneself or the events occurring around oneself often leads to the development of depression, immersion in melancholy, or even the development of personality disorders.
Here psychological science comes to the aid of a person, including such areas as Gestalt psychology, humanistic psychology, transactional analysis and others. However, in addition to generally recognized scientific schools, there are many that are notorious due to the fact that, instead of a positive result, their use can lead to disastrous consequences. One of these is neuro-linguistic programming, or NLP. We'll talk about it today.
What is NLP?
Neurolinguistic programming, in the words of its creator Richard Bandler, is “an attitude and a methodology.” Despite this, both proponents and opponents of NLP call it a practical direction in psychotherapy, however, their opinions differ when it comes to the effectiveness of NLP practices.
At its core, NLP uses a whole range of different scientific and pseudoscientific areas, including psychotherapy, Gestalt psychology, hypnosis, programming and linguistics.
The main goal of NLP is to help a person become a better person.
Of course, one can object here and say that the main goal of NLP is to make money, but we will discuss this issue at the end. It is based on a model that allows everyone who is willing and able to reproduce patterns (schemes, models, ideas) of mastery based on the subjective experience of successful people. Simply put, if a famous billionaire sits with his left leg crossed over his right, you need to do the same. This is the simplest and crudest example, but it reflects the content of NLP: If you want to become better, focus on those who are better.
The creators of NLP argued that our brain is capable of acting like a computer, which can be programmed for a certain model of behavior and life.
History of NLP
Without historical information and a description of the personalities who were at the heart of the creation of NLP, it is impossible to understand its essence and the reasons for its criticism. NLP first emerged through the collaboration of three individuals: Richard Bandler, John Grinder and Frank Pucelik. Considering that the latter is mentioned extremely rarely and reluctantly, he is not included among the founders of NLP. It is believed that it was Bandler, who was involved in programming, and Grinder, a psychologist and linguist, who developed the first theoretical model of human “language programming.”
Richard Bandler
Richard Bandler is an extremely controversial figure these days.
But back in 1972, he was an interested student who devoted himself, in his free time from programming and mathematics, to the study of Gestalt psychology, which was practiced in intensive group seminars. It was during heated discussions that the theoretical basis of NLP was born. Bandler, despite the fact that he was still a student, actually led the group and was Grinder’s “model” on which he had to rely. That is, Grinder had to imitate Bandler's behavior. In this not yet formed concept, created by the second, the first introduced linguistic content.
The very figure of Richard Bandler is extremely contradictory: he was rude, arrogant, quarreled with his colleagues, took cocaine, and even tried to prove in court that the intellectual rights to NLP belonged to him, but lost. Today, he is one of thousands of personal development coaches who tell people that to be productive, you need to work, and to not be sad, you don't need to be sad. But the theory itself is worthy of discussion.
The essence of NLP
It should be noted that the titles of the first books published on NLP indicate their focus: “The Structure of Magic. Volume 1-2" (1975, 1976), "Milton Erickson's Hypnotic Technique Templates. Volume 1-2" (1975, 1977). They were not deeply scientific, just as the theory of NLP itself is not today.
According to the creators, the books were intended for “ordinary” people. And this is their peculiarity.
Neurolinguistic programming is not a part of psychology or psychotherapy, it is a technique, a collection of tips, practical recommendations and, as mentioned above, a position. NLP is not afraid of criticism; on the contrary, it welcomes it. And its representatives call empirical methods, that is, experience and its results, the main factor in the success of their practices. To successfully master this technique, you need to be ready to experiment, since NLP does not provide the answer itself, but only a series of recommendations for your own search.
Let's take a closer look at the basic postulates of NLP.
Postulate 1. Every person has a representative system
We receive information about the world through sense organs called representational systems. The resulting data is transmitted to the central nervous system, where it is processed into data that serves as the basis for developing behavior.
This way, you can determine which one you and other people use. For example, if a person in his speech focuses on the words “I look at this issue the same way,” he uses the visual system, if “I feel the same as you,” he uses the kinesthetic system. Similar pointers are predicates, or specific language keys in human speech, which can also be called linguistic markers.
By defining a representative model of a person, it is possible to carry out 3 types of actions that will help us enter into rapport with him (a trusting relationship). Firstly, this accession, in which you match your model with that of another person, that is, you use linguistic patterns and vocabulary to imitate the model of your interlocutor. For example, if a person says to you: “I see that you haven’t eaten your porridge,” you can answer: “Yes, it really looks like that.” Or, the second option is to say: “Yes, I hear your argument and agree with it” and disconnect.
The third option is called mirroring and involves maximum imitation of human behavior. If joining implies that you share the person's representational system as a whole, then to mirror you need to act exactly like him. That is, if your interlocutor scratches behind his ear, you must (after a certain time, of course, so that he does not think that you are teasing) do the same.
The main tool for defining a representative system is sensory acuity, or a person's ability to notice external behavioral cues and interpret them.
It is achieved simply - through daily training, which consists of observing breathing, changes in complexion, muscle tone, position of the lower lip and tone of voice. In the process, in order to “join” a person, you need to calibrate your behavior, depending on the patterns of behavior of your interlocutor. 
Why is this necessary? People who think and behave alike are more likely to be attracted to each other.
Postulate 2. “Map” is not “territory”
There are two levels of perception of reality: internal and external. We construct reality at the internal level (internal representation) through the receipt of data by the senses and their subsequent processing. However, our internal interpretation of an event is not its real reflection. Therefore, the “map” that is created within us is not the “territory” that exists outside.
Postulate 3. A person’s behavior corresponds to his “map”
The perception of reality, and therefore our actions, depends directly on our internal “map”. They consist of our beliefs, values, so they are positioned as our “thoughts”. Thus, NLP practitioners argue that changing the “map” contributes to the formation of a new model. To put it simply, there is objective reality, it is not a matrix, but we still perceive it incorrectly. So why not program perception with more practical thoughts?
Postulate 4. Consciousness and body directly influence each other’s state
The placebo effect clearly demonstrates the fact that the presence of beliefs can lead to changes in physical condition. And if the mind can heal the body, then the reverse process is also possible. That is, if we feel moral pain in our hearts, then there will be a threat of the formation of a real disease, as NLP practitioners claim.
Postulate 5. We must respect the model of the world, or “map”, of other people
Subjective perception really exists and will cause a considerable amount of controversy, usually associated with an attempt to convince a person or with a lack of understanding of why he thinks this way and not otherwise. For an NLP professional, an important basis for interacting with people is accepting the possibility of their “map” and respecting it. Moreover, when trying to influence the “card,” a defensive reaction may arise, and most likely will occur, which will negate efforts to establish rapport.
Postulate 6. Personality and behavior are not the same thing
An individual's moral values are not determined by actions, which may depend on a particular context. It should be expected that a person’s behavior in the same situations, but under the influence of different factors, may differ. Thus, behavior does not define the person himself.
Postulate 7. The main result of communication is not the delivery of thoughts, but the reaction
Due to subjective perception, information provided by one person may be interpreted by another in a completely different way. Communication is not a monologue, and the reaction of your interlocutor determines the effectiveness of your ability to convey a point. If a person does not react in the way you want, then you should change not his model of perception, but your model of behavior and communication.
Postulate 8. There are no defeats, there is feedback
One of the main tenets of NLP is that there is no such thing as defeat. If during the communication you were unable to convey the idea, then this should be feedback, that is, the opportunity to analyze your mistakes and correct them. NLP practitioners often cite the example of Thomas Edison, who conducted more than 10,000 unsuccessful experiments and said that he did not fail, but discovered 10,000 options for what should not be done. As a rule, failure is perceived as a reason to retreat, while it should provide an opportunity to adapt one's behavior. 
Criticism of NLP
Before we talk about criticism of NLP, we need to consider two points. Firstly, like any other science, psychology is open to new ideas and experience, because without this development is impossible. But psychologists as its representatives are a different matter. It is no secret that it is easier to criticize than to build your own scientific theory, and therefore in science there are often cases when the H-index, or the scientific citation index and the main indicator of a scientist’s success, is created solely thanks to critical works.
And secondly, NLP is a theoretical framework that anyone can use. Like one of its two creators, Richard Bandler, proponents of NLP can get a bad reputation for misusing or selfishly using their knowledge. For example, the same personal development trainers who call NLP a unique way to turn an ordinary person into a successful billionaire.
In general, three main positions can be distinguished:
- Supporters are those who fully share the ideas of NLP.
- Opponents are those who believe that the theoretical basis of NLP is seriously undermined and can harm not only the person himself, but also the people around him. They, as a rule, choose the pretentious and unscientific language in which NLP is described as the main target of criticism. Neurolinguistic programming promises a lot, which is why the requirements for results are too high.
- Realists have the most non-conflict position of those presented. Realists simultaneously see both the pros and cons of NLP. They highlight the weak effectiveness, underdeveloped theory, and inflated promises of the creators and supporters of NLP, but note the scientific validity of the first works on NLP and the possibility of achieving a positive result from the use of certain techniques.
What can you say on the merits?
In this article, we did not discuss specific methods of “achieving happiness” and turning oneself into a “successful businessman”; let personal development coaches do this. We have analyzed some of the postulates of NLP so that each reader can define whether to agree with these theses. 
NLP has attracted a huge amount of criticism, although it has never tried to reach the stars from the heavens. A person who understands the postulates of NLP and shares them will not enter into disputes, because he has made his own choice.
It is the idea of perception and choice that runs through the entire concept: if you don’t want to understand, don’t do it; if you want, do it.
The very essence of NLP is the assertion that we cannot completely recreate reality within ourselves, but it gives us the opportunity to decide for ourselves how we see it. Hence, by the way, the widespread dissemination of personal training based on NLP, the creators of which do not have a specialized education and are interested in making a profit.
Of course, too much passion for other people's practices can lead to instability of your internal state, but NLP teaches a person to be successful and at the same time respect other people's perception of the world. Quite adequate postulates, right? This is how the author of the article sees the concept of NLP. What you see depends on you.
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