The brain can be described as a biological computer. Just as when we put information into a computer via the keyboard, when saved, it gets processed and stored on the hard drive, in a similar way we take in information through our five senses (the things we see, hear, taste, feel, and smell) and transfer, or code, it to the subconscious mind to process and store.
We represent the information to ourselves as a combination of these five senses and in our unique way. This is why when two people have a similar experience, e.g. see the same movie or go to the same party, the experience they relate having is never the same! For one person a movie could be enjoyable, and another could find it upsetting. In this way there is no ultimate ‘reality’, but only an individual interpretation of reality connected to the one who experiences it. The interpretations we make out of an event depend on the ‘software’ we are running. This ‘software’ is run at the subconscious level, where our primary functions are stored, such as:
All our behaviours are memorised, or “learned”. Some are learned consciously (like driving a car), and some are learned unconsciously (like a fear of spiders). The more the behaviour is repeated, the better it runs, until it becomes automatic. It then runs at the unconscious level outside the conscious awareness, i.e. we no longer need to concentrate on it. When we first learn to drive, we consciously think of where the wheel, pedals, mirrors are and what we need to do with them before even starting a car. Once we have learned and memorised the sequence, we no longer think of it consciously and driving almost happens automatically.
This unconscious competence is the very structure of excellence. We excel by repetition.
Ironically, the same is accurate for negative behaviours, the ones we are not happy about. For example, imagine a child who once got scared of a spider. Next time they encounter a spider, they remember to “get scared”. Then they keep repeating this behaviour, and in a while even pictures or the word ‘spider’ cause the frightening response. The more they repeat a negative behaviour, the more of an expert they become at it, so much so that suddenly it seems they are not doing it anymore. It seems ‘just happening outside of their control’, automatically!
However, these behaviours must be stored and organised in the nervous system for them to keep happening automatically.
Often people do not consciously know what and especially how they do something. This is where NLP is important. It helps you see and understand how you can change the responses/behaviours that don’t work for you to the ones that get you the results you want (e.g. how we can teach the brain of a child who is scared of spiders to produce a more resourceful, comfortable response).
Phobias and Trauma
NLP has become very well known for its success in rapidly changing phobias and post traumatic responses. This may take as little as half an hour depending on the precise nature of the problem. The change involves re-coding the way the memory has been stored in the nervous system.
Once we show the brain how to respond more effectively at the deeper unconscious level, it does that naturally, without even thinking about that consciously ever again.
Allergies & Asthma
Allergies are like fearful, or phobic, reactions of the immune system to some stimuli. Some people will be able to produce the allergic response just by thinking about being in the presence of the substance they are allergic to. For example, someone allergic to the pollen may start sneezing when they see a plastic flower. The pollen is not there, but their body-mind thinks it is time to start sneezing.
What happens is that the immune system makes a ‘mistake’ and marks out some harmless substance as being dangerous. From then on, whenever this substance is introduced to the immune system, it responds inappropriately, i.e. ‘overreacts’. With the NLP process, we teach the immune system a more appropriate response.
With Danish government support a controlled research study on the use of NLP with adult asthma was conducted in Denmark (Dr Jorgen Lund). Without teaching any new breathing or medical techniques, the control group participants were taken through NLP processes to teach their brain how to respond the way a healthy person’s brain responds (including using the one session allergy cure). On a follow up, a year later their use of inhalers had dropped to zero and the lung capacity had risen by an average of 200ml. The lung capacity of the control group without NLP decreased by 50ml.
Education
A one session process for teaching children labelled “dyslexic” to spell perfectly is worth more than hours spent diagnosing exactly what brain systems “cause” the problem. This is where NLP is different from some traditional modalities of psychology or counselling. In NLP the aim is not to give a ‘label’ to what was wrong. The aim is to CHANGE.
Personal Development
The NLP approach to personal change is very simple – it trains the unconscious mind to respond in the way that happy and healthy people do naturally, and this is not just useful to solve problems but also to create outstanding successes. Using the brain in this more effective way that leads to success involves learning new ways to visualise, talk to yourself and create enjoyable internal feelings.
