Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) - the key to people's souls or blind manipulation?

Currently, psychologists offer many techniques for improving one’s abilities, finding inner harmony and choosing a special path to happiness. Neurobics, art therapy, coaching, mnemonics, Hellinger constellations, socionics and many other areas. One of these, incredibly popular and at the same time controversial, is NLP - neurolinguistic programming (not to be confused with neurolinguistics).

On the one hand, his techniques are actively used in almost all spheres of modern life. On the other hand, it is harshly criticized, considered an ordinary guide to manipulating people. So what is it really?

What it is

NLP is a direction in psychotherapy and practical psychology that uses verbal and non-verbal behavior of a person in order to achieve the desired result from him. For example, with the help of neurolinguistic programming, parents can teach their child order or punctuality, teachers can improve the learning efficiency of pupils and students, managers can force the buyer to purchase a product. In this case, forms of speech, eye movements, body postures, and memory are used.

NLP was developed back in the mid-twentieth century by J. Grinder and R. Bandler, but it has gained maximum popularity in our days. Officially, this direction is recognized as parascientific, since the effectiveness of the techniques, firstly, has not been proven, and secondly, is not always ethical from a moral point of view.

Many scientists believe that NLP is nothing more than the art of manipulating people through their own behavior.

Possible results of the technique

The main result of studying how NLP works will be a significant improvement in the quality of your own life. Building your thinking allows you to concentrate on useful details. By moving in a given direction, without wasting energy and time avoiding undesirable aspects, you can soon arrange your life so that everything in it brings only pleasure.

How to manipulate people - can this be learned, methods of influence

Increasing the level of personal satisfaction with life is one of the most common goals pursued by society. Learning to let reality pass through oneself in such a way that inevitable negative aspects do not become an obstacle to making one’s own plans is one of the most valuable abilities available to those who study the techniques.

Interesting. Only hypnosis can influence people like NLP, but it cannot be invisible, unlike latent manipulation.

How it works

A person cannot perceive the world around him objectively, since he passes it through his own sensations (visual, auditory, olfactory), through the prism of acquired experience, personal beliefs and principles. Some people cannot live without church, others openly hate religion. Some are looking for a job that pays more, while for others it is more important that they like it. Some people like external beauty in people, others are delighted with the mental abilities of the interlocutor.

According to NLP, if you take into account all the above points and understand how a particular person passes information through himself and what is of particular importance to him, using certain techniques, you can achieve anything from him. But first, painstaking work must be done with beliefs and physiological characteristics.

If a manager persistently persuades a church-going grandmother to buy goods with demonic symbols, he will fail. It is necessary to offer an alternative option in time so that the purchase turns out to be pleasant for her and brings benefits to the company. This is where NLP techniques such as emotionally meaningful words and creating positive expectations come into play.

If an employee sits in a closed position (arms and legs crossed), it is difficult to demand increased productivity. But, having mastered the mirroring method, you can open the pose and talk more naturally.

Reimprinting

The name of this technique comes from the word “imprint”, meaning “imprinting”, i.e. any experience or set of experiences as a result of which a person developed certain beliefs. Often imprint situations are dead ends and cause a person to feel meaningless, hopeless, hopeless, etc. The point of imprinting is to find the resources necessary to change ingrained beliefs and update established behavioral patterns.

The use of the reimprinting technique is based, first of all, on identifying the symptoms of the imprint, which involves focusing on the very first appearance of any experiences associated with it and the beliefs that have arisen. After this, you need to mentally transport yourself to the moment that preceded the emergence of the imprint, return to the present state and look at the imprint from the position that preceded it.

The next stage is the search for positive intentions or secondary benefits that are hidden behind the established reactions and symptoms of the imprint and some other equally important components that require more detailed and scrupulous study.

The features of reimprinting and the procedure for its implementation can be found here.

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Basics

Where to start learning neurolinguistic programming? There are basic, basic techniques that were developed half a century ago by J. Grinder and R. Bandler and continue to be improved to this day. First you need to master them theoretically, so that you can then learn to apply them in practice.

1. Subjective experience: a person’s past, which has a huge influence on him.

2. Presuppositions - semantic components of NLP:

• the map is not yet the territory;
• consciousness, like life, is a systemic process;
• positive intention is the basis of any behavior;
• rapport (building trusting relationships);
• feedback, not defeat;
• and many others.

3. Representational systems: how a person receives information mainly from the outside (visual, auditory, kinesthetic and discrete images).

4. Metamodels and metaprograms.

5. Milton models: empty information that a person fills in himself in accordance with his beliefs, desires, and principles.

Access Keys: A single thing or phrase can force a person to take an action.

These are the basic theoretical principles of NLP. Without mastering them, achieving results in practice will be extremely difficult. You can find their detailed descriptions in popular science literature (the list is given below).

Who, when and why invented NLP

NLP appeared in the USA in the early 70s. Its creators were Chimarov S. Yu. “Neurolinguistic Programming: History and Tools” by student psychologist Richard Bandler and linguistics professor John Grinder from the University of California.

Bandler was interested in computers and programming. While studying at the Faculty of Mathematics, he became interested in the recordings of lectures by American psychotherapists Fritz Perls and Virginia Satir. In the 40s, Perls moved away from the theory of psychoanalysis and created his own method of Gestalt therapy. Satir was one of the founders of the Institute for Mental Research in Palo Alto. In 1972, she met Bandler and Grinder and began to collaborate with S. Yu. Chimarov, “Neurolinguistic Programming: History and Tools.”

Also, the views of Milton Erickson, Gregory Bateson and Alfred Korzybski had a great influence on the concept of NLP. Erickson studied the therapeutic effects of hypnosis. His speech hypnotic models were included in NLP under the name “Milton models”. Bateson, a British-American anthropologist, studied the nature of cognition and man. His way of thinking became one of the standards for the creators of NLP. Korzybski is a linguist, the founder of general semantics, the science of the meaning of words. He was the first to use the term "neurolinguistic". His statement “The map is not yet the territory” is Chimarov S. Yu. “Neurolinguistic programming: history and tools” one of the main provisions of NLP.

But let's return to Bandler. Having become interested in psychotherapy, he began to copy the behavior of Perls and Satir and felt that he could influence people: convince them that he was right, find a common language. Bandler opened his own school, and Grinder, a professor of linguistics at the University of California, became interested in his activities. Together they began to create the concept of NLP. Bandler and Grinder presented their findings to Roderique-Davies G. Neuro-linguistic programming: Cargo cult psychology? Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education in two parts of The Structure of Magic (1975).

The effect of using NLP was called by its creators Seymore J., O'Connor J. “Introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming” therapeutic magic. Quite quickly, the concept and trainings based on it began to bring them a lot of money.

In the early 80s, Bandler and Grinder quarreled, and their paths diverged. They continued to develop the concept, but each in their own way.

NLP techniques that produce results

After mastering the theory, you can move on to practice. Recommended techniques for beginners that, when used correctly, work flawlessly:

• mirroring (exact repetition of movements, facial expressions, poses, intonations of the interlocutor);
• rapport through the pronoun “we”;
• three "yes";
• pattern break;
• switching attention;
• reframing;
• anchoring;
• thought virus;
• adjustment, etc.

It remains to be seen how exactly each technology from this list works in specific situations.

NLP for crowd control

Techniques for manipulating people are often used for illegal purposes. They are based on the psychotherapeutic ability to influence a person, turning him into a zombie.

This technique is very successful in the media for promoting any propaganda. Influencing the crowd is more successful and easier. The same viewing of news, advertising on TV, walking around the city looking at billboards zombifies us into a controlled choice.

To achieve such success, experts carefully compose slogans, titles, and inscriptions; select the correct oral and written language. Facial expressions and gestures play a big role, each movement purposefully affects the left or right hemispheres of the brain, repetitions are used to fix them on a subconscious level.

Areas of application

In different areas of life, NLP suggests using different methods of influencing a person.

In sales

The modern market is oversaturated with goods and services. The competition is unimaginable. And for some reason, some stores and brands thrive and stay afloat for decades, while others disappear within a couple of months after opening. You can endlessly look for mistakes and blunders of the latter, but today they are increasingly saying that some people simply know how to use techniques to manipulate people (read: customers and clients), while others have not even heard of it. The former become successful, the fate of the latter is to sink into oblivion.

A step-by-step guide to how salespeople, managers and merchandisers use NLP techniques.

1. Establish a rapport (trust relationship) with the buyer through:

• mirroring;
• open poses.

2. Focus the buyer’s attention on a specific product through:

• shaking (as soon as he loses interest, you need to raise your voice, change your position, change the topic);
• involvement in joint activities, cooperation (“we will now look at the settings of this phone together”);
• creating positive expectations (“you won’t regret buying it”).
• unfinished action (make a riddle out of a product that can only be solved by purchasing it);
• emotionally significant words: benefit, inexpensive, promotion, discount, sale, bestseller, low prices, etc.

3. Call on the buyer to take active action using methods such as:

• the need to make an urgent decision: “in 2 hours the promotion will end”, “there is only one copy left”;
• illusion of choice: “choose which model you buy - this or that” (automatically the buyer’s consciousness refuses the obvious choice “I don’t buy anything”);
• future planning: “choose, and I’ll take you to the checkout”, “choose, I’ll issue a discount/coupon for a bonus card in the meantime.”

To increase sales, NLP techniques are actively used in advertising:

• working for generally accepted values ​​(in every second advertisement we see the image of an ideal family or a successful businessman);
• submodalities: with the help of visual pictures and verbal formulations, the subconscious is influenced (a juicy dish increases appetite, a half-naked girl interests men);
• presuppositions: such formulations that exclude the choice of another product;
• synesthesia: simultaneous connection of several channels of perception;
• truism: verbal formulations that evoke the authenticity of a fact, even if it is false (“cardiologists recommend”, “approved by the world association”);
• thought virus: creating a trail of mystery around a product.

As practice shows, NLP techniques provide high sales growth.

In a relationship

Experts believe that with the help of NLP you can make any person fall in love with you. How to do it?

• Anchoring

When talking to the target, make him remember something pleasant. From now on, when he sees you, he will experience only positive emotions.

• Adjustment

Study the clothing style and demeanor of the star your subject admires. Don't copy the image completely, but learn a couple of points and use them in communication.

• Mysteriousness

Don't tell everything about yourself. Leave some side unclear, but constantly bring your object of adoration to this mysterious door, as if inviting you to come in, but do not open it. The desire to solve the riddle will lead to building the relationships you dream of.

In love, it is also useful to use NLP techniques. The main thing is not to overdo it with them and not switch to naked manipulation of your loved one.

Neurolinguistic programming techniques for women:

• ideal dates, thought out to the smallest detail (from the tablecloth on the table to aphrodisiacs);
• beautiful, exciting external image (men love with their eyes);
• the rule of three “yes” (formulate three questions so that the man answers “yes”; to the fourth question, which is important to you, he will automatically answer the same);
• correct motivation: “you are the best”, “you will achieve everything”;
• disarming: demonstrating one's weaknesses, tears to evoke pity.

NLP techniques for men:

• illusion of choice: “Where should we go today - will we take a walk in the park or sit in a cafe?” (although in reality she was going to a friend’s place);
• “plus or minus”: first cause a slight negative reaction in the girl (look after the beauty), then a strong positive one (buy a gift, say a lot of compliments).

Experts warn that techniques for manipulating consciousness in relationships must be used extremely carefully so as not to slip into faceless and cruel control.

In education

Teachers in schools and other educational institutions can also actively use NLP:

• provide information in the form in which students perceive it better: some through the eyes, others through the ears, others through tactile sensations;
• use visualization as often as possible;
• anchoring: if the teacher raised his hand, everyone should be silent;
• speech strategies: to attract attention, raise your voice, fail to finish a sentence, become abruptly silent, create an aura of mystery (“read at home what happened between Onegin and Tatyana in the gazebo”);
• positive comments;
• jokes, humor (but not ridicule or humiliation).

Those teachers who use NLP methods in their work note their incredible effectiveness. They allow you to establish connections with children, help you learn the material faster, and be more attentive.

Combat

Now the so-called combat NLP has become widely used. If you think it's designed for warfare, you're wrong. It is used in everyday life, but not for peaceful purposes. This concept hides the use of psychotherapeutic techniques for the purpose of aggressive and deep influence on a person, outright manipulation. The result is a zombie man who, without hesitation, carries out any order.

Combat NLP is actively used in politics (in election campaigns), business, network marketing, when recruiting people into sects, criminal communities and informal groups.

People become its victims:

• with low IQ, no education;
• with suicidal tendencies;
• weak-willed;
• those who are deeply depressed;
• with neurotic disorders;
• infantile
• naive and gullible.

Professionals in the field of combat NLP immediately pick out such people from the crowd based on special characteristics and begin to process them. The victims are teenagers, old people, maximalists, religious fanatics, and marginalized people. It is because of this trend that many criticize and do not accept neurolinguistic programming techniques, considering them aggressive, sometimes even illegal, unethical and inhumane.

If you have become a victim of aggressive NLP, you must resist the manipulator. We have already told you how to recognize it and not succumb.

Working with logical levels

According to the results of research by one of the first developers of NLP, Robert Dilts, there are several levels of a person’s perception of reality and how he lives it. They are all parallel to each other and closely interconnected. It is very useful for a person to become aware of what is happening at all these levels, because it affects any aspect of life: decision-making, relationship formation, sensations and well-being, and even current events.

It is also important to know that logical levels are subject to a specific structure. Firstly, the Higher levels cannot exist without the Lower ones, because is realized through them, and secondly, the Lower levels depend on the Higher ones and obey them.

Usually a person forms his goals and realizes problems at the Lower levels and therefore one can begin to work with them at these levels. But, taking into account the above-mentioned patterns, goals and problems should be worked out at the Highest levels, because The best way to find a solution to any problem is to find its roots and deal with them directly.

Working with logical levels is an extremely effective technique for interacting with your goals and inducing life changes. Absolutely everything that a person desires must be in agreement with his Higher levels, i.e. consistent with beliefs, values ​​and worldview. Working through problems at the Highest levels helps to identify the necessary resources and increase their energy potential.

You can find out more information about working with logical levels at this link, and here you can listen to an audiobook on this topic.

5

Anchoring technique

There is one catchphrase and popular phrase among specialists in neurolinguistic programming: “When we say “anchor” we mean “NLP”, when we say “NLP” we mean “anchor”. Many people are familiar with this technique and even often use it in their lives, but few people know that it is based on the principles of the technique in question.

What it is

To put it in simple terms, in every person’s life there are several anchors that tie them to either negative or positive emotions.

Some people can’t look at watermelons because as a child they overate them to such an extent that they ended up in the hospital. The long-legged blonde secretary took her husband away from the family - and now all women of this external type and this profession will only cause negativity. These are anchors with a minus sign. And there are them with a “plus” sign. For example, each of us has our “own” song, which is associated with pleasant memories. They themselves may be erased from memory, but a pleasant feeling will arise again and again when listening to it.

Where is it used?

The anchoring technique is used everywhere in life. For example, miracle pills that supposedly cure alcoholism. In fact, this is an ordinary emetic, which, according to the instructions, should be drunk after drinking alcohol. A negative anchor is imprinted in a person’s consciousness: if he drank alcohol, he started vomiting. This is how a stable rejection of this connection is developed. To get rid of the second point, you need to eliminate the first.

Examples of anchors

Couples in love actively use anchors to strengthen their relationships:

• favorite song to which they met (kissed, confessed their love to each other);
• a dish they traditionally prepared for a romantic evening;
• beautiful underwear;
• some specific phrase, the meaning of which is clear only to them.

But, if a couple breaks up, all these anchors radically change to a minus sign. Once favorite places for solitary walks, songs, objects can cause pain due to loss.

Use in practice

How can this technique be used in practice? Anchors are designed to replace negative emotions with positive ones.

Dentistry

It is unlikely that there will be people who experience positive emotions in the dentist’s chair. The unpleasant smell of medicine, the sound of a drill, an uncomfortable position, pain, injections of local anesthesia - there are more than enough such moments. However, they can be blocked using an anchor with a plus sign. Surely you have a favorite scent that brings back pleasant memories. Maybe the smell of apples makes you fly away. Or love the way the sea smells. For some it is Chanel No. 5 or Hugo Boss. Every time before going to the dentist, put a drop of appropriate perfume or essential oil on a cloth handkerchief. As soon as you feel bad, bring it to your face.

In love

In the most pleasant moments of a relationship (during a romantic date, watching a movie together, riding a Ferris wheel, a solitary walk), unobtrusively perform the same action towards your loved one. This could be: circular movements of your finger over his palm, lightly stroking his wrist (elbow, earlobe), clasping your hands in a “lock,” a gentle kiss on his temple.

Constant repetition of the same thing at such moments is anchoring on positive emotions. And it will come in handy during quarrels or when you need something from your partner. Are you arguing and can’t calm him down? Doesn't he agree to go to your mom's this weekend? Walk up and play the anchor. If you did everything right before, you will be surprised how quickly your loved one will compromise.

In progress

Most of the stress of a modern person is related to work. Tough bosses who demand unrealistic results, colleagues who are always gossiping and don’t let you work in peace, deadlines and time pressure drive many people crazy. This is where the NLP technique comes in handy. Carry with you something that is associated with your most pleasant memories. It could be an engagement ring, a bracelet with the Eiffel Tower from Paris, or the same handkerchief with your favorite scent. During a stressful situation, take 30 seconds to inhale a familiar smell or touch a piece of jewelry. Anchoring will occur and you will calm down.

Professional anchoring

Psychologists, psychotherapists and NLP specialists often use artificial anchoring techniques in their practice. It is deeper than what a person spends on his own, since there first there is an overlay of positive emotions on negative ones, and then a persistent substitution. This is done in just a few steps.

1. A person remembers down to the smallest detail the most unpleasant moment in his life.
2. At that moment when he experiences pain, fear, discomfort, the specialist anchors him - takes him by the left wrist.
3. After some time, the person is invited to relive the happiest moment of his life.
4. As soon as he achieves positive emotions, the specialist again anchors, but in the opposite way - he squeezes his right wrist.
5. When both points have been worked out and fixed in the person’s consciousness, while reproducing pain and loss, the specialist takes the person by the right wrist - the pain point in the soul is thus blocked and covered with an anchor with a “plus” sign.

If everything was done correctly, negative memories and emotions regarding a particular moment should disappear.

Why the described techniques will not work for you

NLP is a set of techniques that will work under a certain set of circumstances, effort and personal qualities. To make them work you need:

1. Learn to think systematically and understand why and at what point this or that technique can be used. Mindless reframing or hectoring will not produce results if there is no understanding of basic psychology.
2. Use techniques in a meaningful way.
3. Many NLP techniques came out of Ericksonian hypnosis. It is naive to believe that a person in his right mind will instantly adapt to reframing. You either have to work with him for a long time or put him into a trance.

You may have noticed that my attitude towards NLP is rather negative. I believe that in Russia there is a low culture of using psychological techniques. They are used for manipulation in non-ecological businesses, sects and pyramids, in self-development and pick-up trainings. Many people have their money taken away, some have their lives ruined. Therefore, the purpose of the article is not to teach you manipulation, but to protect you from it - forewarned is forearmed.

For NLP supporters, I repeat: I do not deny that techniques work in the hands of specialists - psychologists or skilled speakers. But in the hands of amateurs they turn into an infernal machine.

Exercises

Many people who are only superficially familiar with NLP believe that it is primarily a technique for manipulating people. Unfortunately, this opinion was formed in the conditions of modern society, in which every successful person must be able to achieve his goals by any means. Initially, neurolinguistic programming was developed as a method of helping those who suffer from their own imperfections, complexes and self-criticism. It is actively used by many psychologists to restore mental balance and increase self-esteem. But you can do it yourself.

Find useful practical applications for NLP - get rid of your own cockroaches in your head by mastering just a few exercises.

“It’s not an elephant, it’s a fly!”

Agree that most problems are actually a snowball. It is human nature to constantly think about what worries him, to examine this something from all sides, looking for some new facets. Speculation, doubts, fears grow and any minor unpleasant incident turns into a huge insoluble tangle of difficulties.

There is an exercise in NLP that suggests going the other way and turning this scary, bloated elephant into a small and meaningless fly.

1. Create a relaxing atmosphere. Make sure no one disturbs you.
2. Imagine in every detail the thing (event) that worries you: how you were fired, how you lost your wallet, how you got divorced. This should be the brightest picture possible.
3. Now desaturate it so that it resembles a vintage black and white photograph.
4. Begin to mentally move it further and further away from your inner gaze until it turns into a point on the horizon.
5. Peer at it, try to consider the details until you get tired and get tired of it.

Last step. Now find something positive in your life that is much bigger than this problem. For example, you were fired, but your children are alive and well. If something happened to them, it would be a hundred times more painful. Lost your wallet? But you have a solid NC on your card. You didn’t become a beggar and a homeless person after that. Divorced? Didn’t it become easier to breathe after that and didn’t you have more free time for yourself?

In short, NLP suggests turning the bad elephants in your life into worthless flies. Try it yourself and see the incredible effectiveness of the exercise.

"Big Wash"

This exercise works great if a particular picture does not allow you to live in peace. It happens that after an unpleasant situation you want to forget about it as quickly as possible, but in your mind it keeps popping up in the smallest details of how it all happened. Because of this, people cannot fall asleep, eat peacefully, or communicate. No amount of distracting maneuvers (throwing yourself into work, for example) helps. This means it’s time for neurolinguistic practice.

1. Don't artificially evoke a disturbing memory. Wait for the moment when it comes to mind on its own.
2. Don't drive him away, don't try to hide from the problem.
3. Mentally imagine this picture as a dirty spot on your clothes. Set yourself the task of cleaning it up.
4. Imagining everything in detail, in your thoughts take out a bowl of water, pour the best bleach into it, add powder and start zealously washing this picture.
5. Imagine how the spot becomes lighter and lighter, and then completely disappears.

Psychologists and psychotherapists suggest performing the neurolinguistic exercise “The Big Laundry” for paranoia and obsessive thoughts.

"The Musketeers 20 Years Later"

One of the simplest and most effective NLP exercises, allowing you to see how insignificant the problem is that now prevents you from living in peace and interferes with happiness. Many people practice it without even realizing that it belongs to the technique of neurolinguistic programming.

1. Relive an exciting event. For example, my son brought a bad grade from school. Or your roof is leaking, but you don’t have money for repairs yet.
2. Imagine yourself 20 years later. It should be a beautiful dream, but as close to reality as possible. That is, you should not imagine yourself as the wife of an oligarch or the President if there are no prerequisites for this.
3. Enjoy the created illusion.
4. Now find today’s problem in your dream. Do you think in 20 years this “two” will be just as relevant? Will it affect the development of your life, will it prevent you from moving towards your dream? And you are unlikely to remember about the roof years later.

So everything is relative. Even if a child fails an exam, it doesn’t mean anything. He will retake the test in a year, go to work, and achieve everything in this life himself through this difficulty. Not to mention the worthless D in math class. Yes, it's unpleasant. But do some educational work (in calm tones) and forget about it forever.

To restore mental balance and achieve harmony within yourself, NLP also offers other exercises:

1. “Thank you, Lord, for taking me with money!” (to solve financial problems).
2. “Retrospective” (studying the horrors of wartime to realize one’s own happiness).
3. “Waving technique” (changing a negative image to a positive one).
4. “Cinema” (a look at the problem from the outside).
5. Technique from Walt Disney (what happened must be seen through the eyes of a dreamer, a realist and a critic).

Why NLP Doesn't Really Work

Scientific criticism

Some psychotherapists use NLP to treat fears, phobias, anxiety, low self-esteem, stress, post-traumatic syndrome, alcohol and drug addiction, and other psychological problems. The results of this therapy are ambiguous Neuro‑Linguistic Programming Therapy. Psychology Today. . NLP is not a strictly scientific technique Kandola A. What is NLP and what is it used for? Medical News Today, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, and there are practically no experiments confirming that it works Neuro-Linguistic Programming Therapy. Psychology Today.

In 2012, British psychiatrists published the results of a study on the effectiveness of NLP practices. They were generally positive, but experts came to the conclusion Neurolinguistic programming: a systematic review of the effects on health outcomes. British Journal of General Practice, that the effects of neurolinguistic programming on psychological health are not well understood.

Slightly more optimistic results for NLP supporters were obtained by Holander J., Malinowski O. The Effectiveness of NLP: Interrupted Time Series Analysis of Single Subject - Data for One Session of NLP Coaching. Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy Dutch psychologists in 2021. After a single session of neurolinguistic programming, 64% of patients with non-serious psychological disorders reported an improvement in their state of mind. 25 people took part in the experiment. However, scientists from the Netherlands recommended further study of NLP techniques.

Many more scientists criticize neurolinguistic programming. Back in 2004, George Mason University professor Daniel Druckman published a study commissioned by the US Army. In it he concluded Druckman D. Be All That You Can Be: Enhancing Human Performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology that NLP techniques do not work.

In 2010, Polish psychologist and scientific book author Tomasz Witkowski selected Witkowski T. Thirty-Five Years of Research on Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP Research Data Base. State of the Art or Pseudoscientific Decoration? Polish Psychological Bulletin of 315 articles on neuro-linguistic programming 63 published in journals ranked by the International Scientific Indexing (ISI), and analyzed the findings from them. Only 18.2% of studies confirm the effectiveness of NLP. 27.3% published indeterminate results. The majority (54.5%) refute the concept.

In 2014, a study was published by the Canadian Agency for Medicines and Technologies in Health. They concluded Neuro-Linguistic Programming for the Treatment of Adults with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, or Depression: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines. Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. Rapid Response Report. that NLP does not help in the treatment of post-traumatic, anxiety and stress disorders.

Skeptics point out Roderique-Davies G. Neuro-linguistic programming: Cargo cult psychology? Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education that NLP followers use outdated ideas about the structure of the brain, make factual errors, and use pseudoscientific terminology. For almost half a century of the existence of neurolinguistic programming, not a single serious study has appeared confirming its effectiveness. Kandola A. What is NLP and what is it used for? Medical News Today.

Maria Nikolaeva

Specialist in philosophy, author of books on sociology, oriental psychotechnics, teacher, translator, researcher.

The ineffectiveness of NLP is associated primarily with the primitivization of the human psyche, the reactions of which are being tried to be reduced to computer technology, that is, “programming.” But if any PC program, even the most complex, is calculated down to the slightest step, then a person’s free will allows him to make completely unpredictable moves.

Attempts to reduce human behavior to a biocomputer and undertake its reprogramming cannot succeed in the same way that no artificial intelligence in the foreseeable future will be able to replace a creative person. All such prospects remain only science fiction, but do not become science. This is exactly how the benefits of NLP should be understood - as an instructive utopia that only emphasizes the difference between reality as such.

NLP and sects

Anthropology and sociology classify NLP as a phenomenon of the New Age, or religions of the new century. Simply put, to sects. In particular, it is alleged that cult followers use NLP methods to convert people. Timothy Leary in his book “Technologies for Changing Consciousness in Destructive Cults” points out that cults use neurolinguistic reframing and hypnotic trance techniques to recruit new sect members.

In general, NLP is a product of its time. The comparison with the New Age is not accidental: neurolinguistic programming appeared in the same era as the religions of the new century. Researcher of sects and cults Joseph Hunt called Hunt JS Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction. Ashgate. 2003. NLP as an alternative to Scientology. The same Bandler, a character absolutely in the spirit of that era, was a drug addict and underwent Psychotherapist Not Guilty in Prostitute's Murder. Los Angeles Times suspect in murder case.

The best books on NLP

1. Balyko D. Zapretov.net. 40 NLP rules for living a high life.
2. Bandler R., Grinder D. From frogs to princes. Neuro-linguistic programming.
3. Bandler R., Grinder D. Reframing: personality orientation using speech strategies.
4. Berger E. NLP for happy love. 11 techniques that will help you fall in love, seduce, marry anyone.
5. Beaver D. How to quickly absorb a large amount of knowledge. Let's learn without pain. The latest NLP methods.
6. Bodenhamer B., Hall M. NLP practitioner. Full certified course.
7. Davydova I. NLP for business and life. The art of hypnotic persuasion.
8. J. O'Connor. NLP. A practical guide to achieving the results you want.
9. Dilts R. Modeling using NLP.
10. Pligin A. How to turn the ghost of failure into the aroma of success in life.

Before using NLP to influence other people, check how the technique works for yourself. You should start by changing your own life for the better, creating an ideal “I-image”, and then experiment in society.

Six-Step Reframing

Many of us are familiar with the situation when certain problems are not solved for a very, very long time, and we cannot understand the reason for this. The fact is that this is hindered by our own subconscious, which for some reason seems to think that the way it is now is best. The six-step reframing technique is very suitable for changing the mood of your subconscious.

It is based on a special meditative state, in which the subconscious is most receptive to incoming information, whereas in the normal state its access is blocked by various subpersonalities (see here).

The six-step reframing scheme is quite simple:

1. First step. You need to lie on the floor and relax, alternately tensing and relaxing all the muscles of the body, after which you just lie there for about five minutes, focusing on breathing.
2. Second step. Visualization of a large white screen.
3. Third step. Once the screen is presented, you need to ask your subconscious mind whether it is ready to cooperate. The answer should appear on the screen.
4. Fourth step. If the answer is yes, then you can ask the subconscious any questions, the form of which should imply simple answers (yes/no).
5. Fifth step. In the process of interacting with the subconscious, you need to find out from it what benefits it derives from the current problematic situation, and turn to the creative component of your personality with a request to find a more suitable way to satisfy this need.
6. Sixth step. You should relax, allowing the subconscious to process the information, slowly count from one to ten and stand up. Reframing is over.

The use of six-step reframing helps to effectively solve many problems. It is best, of course, to be under hypnosis while using it, for which you can seek the services of a specialist. But you can use it yourself. You can study the features of this technique in more detail here. You can also watch an interesting video on this topic.

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Ways to avoid manipulation

To avoid manipulation, you do not need to study how this method works, you just need to clearly and clearly understand what you want, understand and accept your weaknesses and learn to completely control yourself so that combat hypnosis is not used on you.

If you come to the store, you should take only the goods that you need. Don't be influenced by experienced consultants who try so hard to sell you something you don't need or to convince you of the necessity and importance of this product. Use intelligence and prudence, and the likelihood of being fooled will be minimized. Try to control the rhythm of your life, not fall into despair and depression, and take care of your mental health.

Top 7 most effective manipulation techniques

1. Joining. When we notice a stranger, the brain intuitively turns on a defensive reaction. It is difficult to suggest something to such a person, so try to copy your interlocutor. Make the timbre of your voice as similar as possible, watch your gestures, gait and even breathing. This will help the person become relaxed in communicating with you.
2. Rapport - establishing trust between the communicator and the client, creating a safe space. In a state of common jokes, an unobtrusive atmosphere and pleasant chatter, the threshold of criticism towards each other decreases, and sympathy increases.
3. Rule of 3 yeses. After introducing it into the report, you can send the object of manipulation into a light trance. To do this, consistently ask questions to which he will say “yes” or express agreement. The last question is the key one; due to inertia, it is difficult to refuse.
4. Template break. This is a violation of typical actions, refined to the point of automatism, by a sharp, unexpected movement or word. Breaking the pattern is quite easy. The period of confusion lasts on average 30 seconds, but it all depends on your skill and sensitivity of the controlled one.
5. Switching attention. This technique is often used by both illusionists and scammers.
6. Maintaining. With him, it is important not to lose rapport and maintain trust in tandem.
7. Reframing. A useful technique used as a way to reassess what is happening in life.