NLP Anchoring: A Complete Overview of the Psychological Phenomenon

NLP anchoring uses a stimulus-response approach. The stimulus can be a sound, image, touch, smell, or taste, designed to trigger a consistent positive or negative reaction. When something is anchored, we respond automatically, without thinking. This can be helpful or harmful, and sometimes resourceful. When we encounter spontaneous, uncontrollable reactions, we’re dealing with a trigger. For example, imagine someone you instantly dislike, or feeling like a child again when visiting your parents. With NLP anchoring, we consciously create or break these associations.

How Psychological Anchoring Works

In NLP, “anchoring” is the process of linking an internal state to an external anchor, so that the reaction can be quickly—and sometimes subtly—reproduced. Anchoring is essentially a user-friendly version of the stimulus-response model.

Anchoring is similar to the “conditioned reflex” used by Pavlov, who created a link between the sound of a bell and dogs’ salivation. By pairing the bell with food, Pavlov found that he could ring the bell and the dogs would salivate, even without food. In the behavioral model, the stimulus is always an environmental signal, and the response is a specific behavior. The association is reflexive, not a matter of choice.

Using and Setting Anchors

NLP expands this type of associative learning to include connections between other aspects of experience, not just environmental signals and behaviors. For example, a memorable image can become an anchor for a certain feeling. Touching your leg can anchor a visual fantasy or even a belief. A tone of voice can anchor excitement or confidence.

People can consciously choose to create and reactivate these associations. Instead of being an automatic reflex, an anchor becomes a tool for personal growth. Anchoring can be a powerful way to activate mental processes related to creativity, learning, focus, and other important resources.

In NLP, the term “anchor” is a metaphor. Just as a ship’s anchor is attached to a stable point to keep the vessel in place, a psychological anchor is not just a mechanical stimulus that “triggers” a response, but a reference point that helps stabilize a certain state.

Extending the analogy, the ship represents our focus in the ocean of experience. Anchors are reference points that help us find and maintain a specific place in this ocean, keeping our attention from drifting.

The process of creating an anchor mainly involves associating two experiences in time. In behavioral models, associations become stronger with repetition. Repetition can also strengthen anchors. For example, you might ask someone to vividly recall a time when they felt very creative and tap them on the shoulder while they think about it. If you repeat this once or twice, the shoulder tap becomes associated with the creative state. As a result, tapping the shoulder will automatically remind the person of that creative state.

Types of NLP Anchors

• Auditory: Songs that take you back to a certain time and place, a police siren, the voice of a loved one.
• Kinesthetic: Calming hugs or encouraging pats on the back.
• Visual: Stopping at a red light, colors that affect your mood.
• Olfactory: The smell of fresh apple pie reminding you of home, the aroma of coffee.
• Gustatory: The taste of tangerines reminding you of New Year’s celebrations.
• Spatial: Linking emotions to specific times or places.
• Sliding: Affecting the intensity of experiences.

Principles of Anchoring

• Peak State: The anchor is set at the emotional peak. This is crucial for the brain to link the state and the external event.
• Uniqueness of Stimulus: The gesture, sound, or touch should be unusual or not entirely familiar to the person.
• Precision: The anchor must be reproduced as accurately as possible: the same sound or word with the same intonation, the same movement or touch.

Keys to Effective Anchoring

• Intensity of Experience: Make sure the emotional intensity is high.
• Timing: Apply the anchor when the experience is at its peak.
• Uniqueness: Use a body part that isn’t usually touched, like the knuckles.
• Repetition: Repeat the stimulus several times to ensure the anchor is firmly established in the nervous system.
• Frequency: Test the anchor multiple times to train the neural pathway.
• Any Representational System: You can create visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory anchors.

Step-by-Step Anchoring Algorithm

The process of setting an anchor depends on your ability to evoke (inspire, awaken) mental states in yourself and others. The more flexible you are, the more likely you are to emotionally move people and influence their state to create comfort, curiosity, gratitude, enthusiasm, humor, and so on. Evoking states is an art. The following methods are effective for triggering a state:

• Mirroring and leading—establish rapport and enter the state yourself.
• Do something! Sing a song, jump, hug the person…
• Tell a story.
• Ask them to remember a time when…
• Ask directly—“Aren’t you curious…?”

The Anchoring Process: How to Set Anchors

You can set an anchor by returning to specific examples, stories, or jokes. Think about meeting with friends. When you tell a story about a past experience, you recreate the same feeling you had when you were with them.

1. Create a Strong State
   Recall a moment when you were in a powerful state, such as feeling very confident. Relive the memory by remembering what you saw, heard, and felt at that time.
2. Associate with the State
   Make sure you’re experiencing it through your own eyes, fully associated with the event. Attach an anchor—a word, gesture, or action closely linked to the state, like rubbing your earlobe.
3. Break State—Dissociation
   Move to a different place, shake yourself off, or think about something neutral to break the current state.
4. Repeat Access and Anchor
   Enter the state several times and reapply the anchor to reinforce the association.
5. Test the Association
   “Fire the anchor” by saying the word or performing the gesture. Feel if you re-experience the strong state. If not, return to step 4.
6. Recreate the Strong State
   If the association doesn’t work, repeat accessing the state and re-anchoring several times.
7. Retest the Association
   Fire the anchor again and make sure the connection to the strong state is established.
8. Use the Anchor
   Use the anchor whenever you need to experience the desired state, such as when you feel a lack of resources.