NLP techniques are being used to create almost immediate and lasting change in people’s lives all over the world. Fears disappear, confidence returns, and marital break-ups and break-downs are halted. Through the power of NLP, people are putting negative eating habits behind them, getting fit and healthy. Spirits are being lifted, and happiness is being returned to those who have felt unworthy and unloved for years. Yes, NLP can be that powerful. From popular personal empowerment self-help guru Anthony Robbins to down home “regular Joe’s,” a wealth of positive change is being created in people’s lives through the knowledge and practice of neuro-linguistic programming.
What is a technique? In reference to NLP, a technique is a specialized way of doing something in order to get the desired change or result you are after. Techniques are used as a way of accomplishing the goal. A technique is the “thing you do” paired with the “special way you do it” to “achieve the desired result.” And there are techniques for changing or bettering practically all aspects of your life. Such as the NLP Phobia technique to get rid of fears. The NLP Confidence technique to help you feel and become more confident. And let’s not forget the popular “re-framing” technique which basically helps you to be able to see an experience from a different angle or perspective, which in turn allows you to assign different meanings to it, and therefore, experience a different (hopefully more positive) response to the experience.
For example: a friend of mine complained that her step-mom was never there for her when she needed her most during her growing up years. She saw her as uncaring. I explained a bit of background to her, re-framing her view of her step-mom. Re-framing, like all NLP techniques, is used to bring about positive change. In this case, the lady in question had no kids of her own, had never been in a position of having to deal with kids when she was young (no babysitting or the like), and so she really didn’t know what to do when my friend came into her life. She was just as scared, uncertain, and confused as my friend had been. And once I “re-framed” her picture of her step-mom and she began to understand.
For the beginner, techniques like NLP eye movements, mirroring and matching, and state management are probably ideal and the best places to start with neuro-linguistic programming. Once these techniques have been grasped, more advanced techniques can be explored. There are many books published on the subject, and even training sessions offered in various places around the world you can attend for certification as a practitioner, trainer, and NLP master. While books are great, there is nothing like attending live training sessions for hands-on experience of the techniques being taught. But let’s move on …
Some of the more recognizable terms or “buzzwords” associated with the use and practice of neuro-linguistic programming refer to popular NLP techniques. A quick list, right off the top of my head, reads like this: anchoring, re-framing, and sub-modalities, rapport-building, presupposition, NLP eye movements and patterns, and matching and mirroring. But there are literally hundreds of techniques which exist to help change and improve almost every part of a person’s life, with a range of methods starting from basic fundamental constructs which progress to advanced level concepts, moving all the way up to NLP mastery.