What is NLP? Or should we ask what exactly is NLP?
I am sure by now you would have already
learnt the abbreviation of NLP which stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. For
a common man, this abbreviation does not really tell anything and it is not
possible to derive complete understanding of NLP from its abbreviation. I would
rather prefer to define NLP from a utilitarian perspective from what it does
rather than from a "what it is" perspective. You are likely to find
numerous definitions and interpretations of NLP and what I am presenting here
is the way I understand and the way I would love to teach NLP…here teach becomes
a very shallow word but I am using it just for want of a better word.
You will find complicated diagrams and
pictorial representations that try to explain ‘what is NLP’. I am not against
any of those approaches but this is how I would prefer to define and explain
NLP because this is how I made sense out of NLP. NLP is an art and science of attaining personal excellence. A framework that helps one explore unexplored frontiers
with the intention of becoming the best self that one actually is. If you are
going to ask me whether it is science as in “empirical and verifiable”? Then, I would say ‘yes’ and go on to explain
further, verifiable from the personal experiences of people that use the
framework to achieve breakthroughs that were not possible through traditional
counselling, psychotherapy and psychiatry. The personal experience of the individuals
who benefit from the NLP strategies, processes and techniques or in general the
NLP framework of coaching has the final word on the definition.
Is
NLP Psychology?
It is hard to evade this question while
trying to understand whether “NLP is Psychology or not.” Don’t tell me I have
not warned you…be ready for a long, complicated sentence: If this post happens
to be pulled up by Google, which doesn’t necessarily understand the semantic
difference between a question and a statement (or does it?), for the search
term “NLP is psychology” because I have used that construction in my previous
sentence and again in this sentence, and if it happens frequent enough in the Google
search results, then there are people ready to take that as proof for “NLP is
Psychology”. Enough of semantic games… the answer to the above question will
depend on how you define psychology. If Psychology is defined as the ‘study of
human behavior’ then NLP too is Psychology because we closely study human behavior
in NLP not so much to define one’s personality like what traditional psychology
tries to do but to build rapport, which is one of the pillars of NLP. Both Psychology
and NLP study human behavior but it is interesting to see what both do with the
learning obtained. Former tries to define personality and understand the “why?”
part of the problems within one’s head and the latter tires to build rapport
and thereby lead to solutions. We are treading on thin ice here. NLP does not
try to ask “Why there is problem or where is the problem?” it is more result
oriented and plunges directly into the solution. That is why ‘content’ has
little bearing in NLP and that is why with NLP breakthroughs happen in just
minutes.
How is modelling related to NLP?
Our discussion on what is NLP cannot be
complete without a discussion on modelling. Some say NLP is modelling… but in
my perspective there is more to NLP than just modelling. However, NLP was born
out of modelling. We will have a more detailed discussion on modelling in one
of the upcoming posts. To briefly explain what is modelling, it is the process
of extracting the structure of excellence from one through the use of NLP
framework and recreate that excellence in the other. NLP Modelling certainly
deserves a more elaborate treatment and I will certainly do justice to the
topic in one of the future posts, keep watching this space.
