It's the method of psychotherapy no one seems to be able to agree on. Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP as it is more commonly known, is controversial mainly for a lack of evidence to support its claim - unless of course you speak to a patient who says their life has been changed for the better by NLP. Finding those patients is not nearly as difficult as it used to be. For that reason alone this method is becoming more popular with life coaches, teachers, business managers, hypnotherapists and those in the self-help industry. But does it work? The answer to that question really depends on who you ask.
Mainstream psychotherapists point to faulty research and improperly executed test subject studies as proof that NLP doesn't work. They claim the answer to mental disorders can not be as simple as changing the way you think about the problem. For many years, psychotherapists have built their businesses on convincing people of that and using medications to treat the symptoms of these disorders instead of trying to cure the root of the problem. This actually leads us to the most significant disadvantage of NLP.
There are mental illnesses that are in fact caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and these illnesses do require medication. If untreated, these illnesses can cause dangerous, erratic behavior that poses a risk to both the patient and those around the patient. The danger of NLP is that sometimes these illnesses are not recognized and instead diagnosed as something less severe. In these cases, something seeking treatment with NLP may not receive the care they need.
That said, patients suffering from many common mental disorders such as phobias, learning disabilities, shyness, depression, habit disorders and psychosomatic illnesses can benefit significantly from the methodology behind NLP. The proof that mainstream psychotherapy seeks lies with those that have changed their lives by utilizing the principals behind NLP.
All one really needs to consider when analyzing the potential effects of NLP is the logic behind it. It is obvious that most people with phobias, for example, got that phobia from somewhere. It didn't just occur to them one day that when confronted with a snake or a spider they should break into hysterics and have a full blown panic attack. That phobia is rooted in something. It could be a bad experience that happened to either the patient or someone in the patient's immediate family. It could also be that nothing actually happened to the patient or their family, but could rather be that one of the patient's parents had the same phobia and it was instilled in the patient. No matter what the cause, NLP seeks to find that original cause - the reason behind the fear - and help the patient deal with it. - 31969
Mainstream psychotherapists point to faulty research and improperly executed test subject studies as proof that NLP doesn't work. They claim the answer to mental disorders can not be as simple as changing the way you think about the problem. For many years, psychotherapists have built their businesses on convincing people of that and using medications to treat the symptoms of these disorders instead of trying to cure the root of the problem. This actually leads us to the most significant disadvantage of NLP.
There are mental illnesses that are in fact caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and these illnesses do require medication. If untreated, these illnesses can cause dangerous, erratic behavior that poses a risk to both the patient and those around the patient. The danger of NLP is that sometimes these illnesses are not recognized and instead diagnosed as something less severe. In these cases, something seeking treatment with NLP may not receive the care they need.
That said, patients suffering from many common mental disorders such as phobias, learning disabilities, shyness, depression, habit disorders and psychosomatic illnesses can benefit significantly from the methodology behind NLP. The proof that mainstream psychotherapy seeks lies with those that have changed their lives by utilizing the principals behind NLP.
All one really needs to consider when analyzing the potential effects of NLP is the logic behind it. It is obvious that most people with phobias, for example, got that phobia from somewhere. It didn't just occur to them one day that when confronted with a snake or a spider they should break into hysterics and have a full blown panic attack. That phobia is rooted in something. It could be a bad experience that happened to either the patient or someone in the patient's immediate family. It could also be that nothing actually happened to the patient or their family, but could rather be that one of the patient's parents had the same phobia and it was instilled in the patient. No matter what the cause, NLP seeks to find that original cause - the reason behind the fear - and help the patient deal with it. - 31969
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