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A HISTORY OF NLP (Neuro-linguistic programming) AND ITS PRESUPPOSITIONS.
HISTORY OF NLP AND ITS PRESUPPOSITIONS
NLP was co-founded and developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970's. Gregory Bateson supervised the development of the system at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Alfred Korzybski had great influence on Bateson, Bandler and Grinder because of his theories on human modeling and presuppositions. Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Judith DeLozier, Robert Dilts and David Gordon also contributed later on. Grinder and Bandler contributed much in the early stages of NLP, but the two co-founders fell out by the 1980's. Grinder and DeLozier developed the New Code of NLP, which consisted of a mind-body approach. Bandler focused on submodalities and Ericksonian hypnosis. Michael Hall focused on mental states and neuro-semantics. Tad James made people visualize certain periods in their life for more effective therapy. Anthony Robbins contributed to the popularity of NLP with his products which used NLP extensively. At this point, NLP was managed and developed in several independent sectors, renamed and then multiplied. There was a lack of definition and regulation, which did not help its reputation. After a series of legal battles, NLP legally became a generic term. Today, there is still no general agreement among practitioners about the theory of NLP, which has left it open to abuse by some. However, most of the works are still based on the ideas of the co-founders and other respected individuals. Today, certification is required to formally practice NLP for human conditioning and development. The system has been widely recognized in adjunct to therapy with satisfactory results.
NLP Presuppositions Two fundamental presuppositions serve as the foundation of NLP. All models, techniques and strategies associated with the system are used together with these assumptions. Since NLP is the study of subjective experience, one assumption is that human beings are unable to identify objective reality. There is no such thing as a perfect or right direction in leading your life, which is why you only aim for the best possible situation, hoping to make the right choice with the right attitude. Your goal in using NLP is to acquire excellence and wisdom. By widening your options, you increase your chances of gaining excellence; and by acquiring different views of your environment, you become wiser.
1. The map is not the territory. Reality can not be lived with a single direct route. As a human being, you are offered different options as to how you want to live your life. Depending on your experiences and perceptions, you make choices, which lead you from one path to another. You have your own map of reality, involving your representation of yourself and the world around you. It is through this map that you react to the world around you and know yourself better. But when there are too many discrepancies between your personal map and the actual reality of the territory, you are likely to get lost.
2. Life and mind are systemic processes. There is always an interaction between you and another human being or between you and the environment. Everything in the universe is interrelated, from the simplest part to the most complex systems. When a part of your mind or life is affected, the entire unit will also absorb the effects as a whole. This connection occurs to maintain constant balance.
Other NLP Presuppositions
1. The meaning of the communication is the response it elicits. The manner and content of reply you receive from the person you are communicating with is what the entire communication meant. You may try to relay a certain message but validation of understanding will only be done once the receiver or the person you're communicating with has replied appropriately. For example, if you're telling a joke but the other person did not laugh as you expected, then maybe the thought or your manner of telling was not entirely conducive to your desired communication. It may not have been perceived on a funny level.
2. There are two communication levels: Conscious and Unconscious. Most forms of communication done by human beings are not only verbal. You may not even notice it but you use a lot of hand and eye movements, facial expressions, posturing, non-verbal cues and body language along with verbal communication. You can add to the tone and mood behind the verbal message you're implying to effectively relay it. For example you can say, "Get out of here." With two entirely different gestures which could imply two very different meanings.
3. There are no failures in communication, but only outcomes. If you did not receive the response that you were expecting after communicating with another person, the communication process was not useless or a failure. It only means that the outcome was different from what you intended it to be. This should only encourage you to improve your skills and attitude about communication. Learn from undesirable past outcomes so that you will be able to gauge and identify the factors that prevented the right message from being delivered.
4. Rapport is relating to individuals according to their model of the world. Since all people create their own model or representation of the world depending on their understanding of past experiences and the influence of others and the environment, it requires some effort to step into another's model. It means that you have to view the world the same way they do so that you can effectively build rapport and communicate. If you choose to remain close-minded about other people's representation, it may be difficult for you to elicit a desired response since the other person also has trouble understanding your own model.
5. Resistance reveals the inflexibility of the communicator. If you experience resistance on the part of the person you are talking to, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person is not open to communication. It may be that you are not establishing rapport effectively. You need to enter their realm and model of the world first, or else they will unconsciously refuse to receive your messages. You have to learn how to be flexible in order to understand and speak their language since they cannot readily understand yours. If you are inflexible then you risk sounding insulting by asking them to change.
6. People have all the resources they need to change. You do not need to acquire new things in order to make you a good communicator, leader or to make changes in your life. You already have all the behavioral, mental and emotional resources inside of you. If you do not recognize this, it only means that you have not yet accessed them properly or realized your true strengths. There are chronic stressors that have been preventing you from using them. NLP practitioners help you become aware of your resources and learn how to use them.
7. A person's positive worth is constant even when the value of internal and external behavior is questioned. Universally, each and every human being has worth and dignity regardless of their thoughts and actions. However, there are good and bad behaviors which may determine the person's judgment of his worth to himself and his environment. This means that your value as a person remains unchanged no matter how bad your behavior is. People will measure the value of your actions and behavior according to their expectations. It is possible to change bad actions and manners of thinking to be more aligned with one's deeper personal value.
8. All behavior has a positive intention. All behavior is intended for positive outcomes but not every behavior is designed to be carried out in a positive manner. There are several self-preserving mechanisms that aim for personal benefit but the process of achieving that goal is very dangerous for you and other people. Some of these behaviors are unconscious and sometimes your mind and body only think about the positive outcome regardless of the negative means. For example, euthanasia is intended to relieve patients of their misery. The intention is positive but the behavior and method are still life-ending.
9. Good decision-making requires accurate information. Do not immediately rush into action or make a decision before you have acquired full knowledge. You also have to give yourself enough time to calm your excitement since haste and disrupted emotions result in poor judgment and inadequacy of action. You have to distinguish what is conscious from automated responses and also differentiate your ideals from what is actually happening in your life. Make reality checks frequently so that you can effectively increase your choices and make good decisions.
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