Was ist NLP?

NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming, a strange title for something that is very useful and utterly fascinating. "Neuro" refers to the mind and how we organize our mental life. 'Linguistic" is about language, and how we use it and how it affects ouurselves and others. "Programming " is about our sequences of repetitive behavior and how we act with purpose. It is a model that attempts to give meaning and make sense of our subjective experience.

NLP is a multi dimensional methodology that provides a practical and highly effective way of explaining and utilizing the infinitely complex aspects of human experience and communication. It is a model that creates other models to begin to make sense of the questions "what is subjective experience?" and "what does it mean to be human?"

NLP was originated by John Grinder (a linguistic professor) and Richard Bandler (a mathematician and Gestalt therapist) for the purpose of making easily understood and transferable models of excellence in the field of therapy. They began by making explicit the verbal and behavioral patterns of therapists: Fritz Perls, the creator of gestalt therapy, and the highly effective family therapist Virginia Satir. Later they modeled the amazingly original and creative work of the psychiatrist and hypnotherapist Dr Milton H. Erickson. Although these 3 therapists were profoundly different in temperament and style, the way they thought about their work, their clients, and the way they interacted with them and used language was very similar.

All three seemed to be profoundly influenced by two fundamental presuppositions about the nature of human experience which also forms the basis of NLP:

The Map is not the territory

Being human, we can never know reality directly. We can only know perceptions of reality. We experience and respond to reality or the world around us primarily through our sensory apparatus ( our ability to see, hear, feel, taste and smell). It is our neuro linguistic map of reality that determines how we behave and give meaning to, rather than reality itself. In other words we can only experience the real world as a result of sensory input which in the last analysis is the result of electro chemical impulses stimulating different parts of the brain. So it is not reality that limits us or empowers us. but rather our map of reality.

Life/Body and Mind are a systemic process

The interactions that occur within and between humans and their environment are systemic. Our bodies, our societies and our universe form an ecology of complex systems and sub systems all of which interact with and mutually effect each other. It is not possible to completely isolate any part of a system from the rest of the system.

All the models and techniques of NLP are based on the combination of these two principals. So in the frame of NLP as it is not possible for humans to know reality directly, wisdom, ethics and ecology do not come from having the one right or correct map of how the world is, because fundamentally humans are not capable of making one. Rather the goal is to create the richest or fullest map possible that respects the systemic nature and ecology of ourselves and the world we inhabit. The people who seem to be the most effective in the many areas of human endeavor, are the ones who have a map of the world that allows them to think of the greatest number of available choices and perspectives. NLP is a way of enriching the choices and view points that people have and perceive as available to them in the world we live in.