People such as Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls had amazing results with their clients. They were some of the people who's linguistic and behavioural patterns Richard Bandler built formal models of. He then applied these models to his work.

Because these models are formal they also allow for prediction and calculation. Patterns that may not have been available in any of these people's work could be calculated from the formal representations he had created. New techniques and models were (and still are being) developed.

Since the models that constitute NLP describe how the human brain functions they are used in order to teach them. NLP is not a diagnostic tool. It can only be applied and can therefore only be taught experientially.

Well trained Neuro-Linguistic Programmers will always teach by installation, not by teaching technique after technique. Techniques outdate themselves too quickly to base the field of NLP on a set of techniques. It is based upon the attitude, the models and the skills which allow for constant generation of new techniques which are more effective and work faster.

Although many providers make certain courses prerequisite to the attendance of other courses, Dr. Bandler has no such prerequisites for any of his seminars. Learning does not come in levels. Once the underlying pattern, by which something can be learned has been taught, the material becomes not only easily accessible but a logical extension. For example, once somebody has learned how to read it no longer matters whether a book is five pages or two-hundred pages long. Similarly, once someone has been taught the spelling strategy it does not matter whether the word is two or five letters long, you just have to look at the picture. Each seminar is based upon different sets of knowledge. Therefore it is not necessary to do them in any specific order.

Each seminar that Dr. Bandler teaches is different. Once someone has attended one practitioner course it does not mean that the practitioner material has been learned and that person should therefore go to a different course. You have to remember that the names and certificates are only names and certificates not the material nor the knowledge.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming was specifically created in order to allow us to do magic by creating new ways of understanding how verbal and non-verbal communication affect the human brain. As such it presents us all with the opportunity to not only communicate better with others, but also learn how to gain more control over what we considered to be automatic functions of our own neurology.

How Does Neuro Linguistic Programming Work?

NLP uses self image and attitude towards illness to effect change and to promote healing. Hope is our greatest asset. It is one of the main reason why placebos (sugar pills used in clinical studies) work. We also know how effective prayer can be when it is combined with faith and hope. When a person loses hope and feels helpless in the face of a chronic disease such as AIDS or cancer, it is very easy to lose the hope; the body may just "quit trying." If the patient is made aware of his or her unique abilities and possibilities, he or she may see things differently. Now, the body's natural healing power can be harnessed to do the job.

NLP is based on several useful presuppositions. NLP places great emphasis on concepts that work as opposed to concepts that should work. NLP therapists will tell you that if what you're doing isn't working, you should try something else that will work for you. Every person is different. Flexibility is the key element in a given system. The person who is most likely to do well responds to changing (or unchanging) circumstances appropriately. This is one reason why NLP has made so much progress. NLP is much more interested in getting results.

NLP appears to hold much potential for teaching and learning. There are, for example, profound implications of adopting an underlying cybernetic epistemology in the practice of education. There have been many examples of applications at the level of technique in education and training. NLP is commonly used to offer solutions to problems encountered in teaching, for example to do with classroom management.

References
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