When Can Something Be Called “NLP”?

Let’s start by answering the question: “When can something (a technique, format, model, or set of distinctions) be called NLP?”

NLP processes and procedures cover an impressive range of topics and issues. For example, in our “Encyclopedia of Systemic NLP and the New Code of NLP” (Dilts, DeLozier, 2000), topics include: treating phobias, trauma, and emotional disorders; techniques for learning foreign languages, spelling, speed reading, algebra, writing, and more; leadership and management skills; methods for strategic planning, team building, and organizational development; formats related to physical healing, creativity, conflict resolution, motivation, and many other areas. NLP contains far more methods than other psychological and behavioral approaches—such as psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, psychosynthesis, and even cognitive psychology.

Clearly, NLP is not limited to any one specific field or topic. Given the wide range of NLP techniques and models, it’s interesting to try to define what makes something part of NLP. This is a fundamental question of “epistemology.” The term “epistemology” comes from ancient Greek words meaning “what knowledge is based on.” In other words, epistemology is the fundamental system of definitions and assumptions on which our knowledge is based and from which it arises. Gregory Bateson defined it as:

Epistemology is the story of the origin of knowledge; in other words, how we know what we know.

Starting with questions about what we can know and how we know what we think we know, epistemology moves to the next question: “How do we know anything at all?”

Bateson continues:

Philosophers distinguish between two types of problems. The first type concerns what things are, what a person is, and what the world is like. These are ontological problems. The second type concerns how we recognize things, or more precisely, how we know what the world is like and what kind of beings we are, capable of knowing (or not knowing) about it. These are epistemological problems.

NLP is both a way of being (“ontology”) and a way of knowing (“epistemology”). At the core of NLP as ontology is a set of fundamental presuppositions related to communication, freedom of choice, change, and the intentions behind our behavior. At the core of NLP as epistemology is modeling—a continuous process of expanding and enriching our maps of the world through awareness, curiosity, and the ability to synthesize multiple perspectives and descriptions.

Both the ontology and epistemology of NLP start with the presupposition that “the map is not the territory.” NLP teaches that no map is more real or correct than any other, but our ability to act effectively and evolve beyond our current state depends on having a map that gives us the greatest possible freedom of choice. Thus, NLP essentially prefers flexibility and openness over rigidity and immobility.

As mentioned, NLP is not concerned with the content of the subjective experience it studies. The foundation of NLP epistemology is the manner in which this subjective experience is explored and represented.

What Experiences Can Be Studied in NLP?

For example, in recent years, some NLP practitioners and even trainers have claimed that topics like “spirituality,” “love,” “past lives,” or “reincarnation” have no place in NLP. On the other hand, these topics clearly reflect powerful subjective experiences that many of us have. As subjective experiences, these topics can certainly be studied within NLP.

Just as any form of language can be the subject of linguistics (the study of language), any form of subjective experience can become the subject of study within NLP.

Of course, NLP is not interested in the specific content of this subjective experience or whether it matches “objective reality.” NLP asks different questions: How do people experience these subjective phenomena? How do they distinguish them from other subjective phenomena? What are the consequences of this subjective experience? Does this experience create resourceful or problematic reactions and states? Does the structure of this experience support or hinder effective action? Do our relationships with this experience increase or decrease our sense of personal satisfaction? Does the way we experience it expand our choices or create a sense of helplessness and dependence?

In other words, an NLP practitioner or coach, when working with someone who starts talking about memories related to a “past life,” will not argue about the “reality” of this experience. Instead, the NLP practitioner will be interested in the structure and consequences of this subjective experience and how it fits with other aspects of the person’s subjective model of the world.

NLP as a Meta-Model

From the very beginning, Bandler and Grinder stated that NLP is not just another model of human behavior, but rather a “meta-model.” That is, NLP is a model of how people create their models of the world.

Therefore, to determine whether a phenomenon is part of NLP, attention should be paid not to the content, but to the approach to how it is studied and the form in which the structures based on it are organized.

Ultimately, regardless of the field to which a particular subjective experience belongs, NLP breaks down the structure or process underlying that experience into specific distinctions and steps, including sensory representations (images, sounds, tactile sensations, etc.), language patterns, and physiological responses. All key distinctions and formats in NLP are based on a combination of these three aspects of human experience structure.

What Makes Something “Neuro-Linguistic”?

Accordingly, for something to be recognized as part of “Neuro-Linguistic Programming,” it must be perceived and described as fundamentally neuro-linguistic.

• Neuro-Component: The neuro-component of NLP refers to the nervous system. Much of NLP is about understanding and using the principles and patterns of the nervous system. According to NLP, thinking, memory, imagination, decision-making, desires, will, judgments, and all other cognitive, emotional, or behavioral processes are the result of programs “written” in a person’s nervous system. Thus, human “experience” is the product of information we receive, synthesize, and create through our nervous system. In practice, any experience is connected to sensory perception of the world—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Therefore, whatever subjective experience we are studying—motivation, memory, the cosmos, religion, art, politics, education, and so on—NLP is interested in how this aspect of human experience is organized in the nervous system.
• Linguistic Component: From the NLP perspective, language is undoubtedly a product of the human nervous system. However, language also triggers and stimulates nervous system activity. Language is one of the main means available to humans for activating or stimulating the nervous system—both their own and that of others. Subjective experience is both formed and expressed through language. Therefore, for a phenomenon to be recognized as part of NLP, it must be based on language patterns that naturally and spontaneously appear in patterns of human communication, both verbal and nonverbal.
• Programming Component: The programming aspect of NLP is based on the idea that the influence of our experience on processes such as learning, memory, motivation, creativity, or any other activity is a function of programs: neuro-linguistic programs that operate with greater or lesser effectiveness and allow us to achieve certain goals or results. In practice, this means that we, as humans, interact with the world through internal programming in our nervous system. We respond to problems and approach new ideas according to the types of internal programs we have created—and not all programs are equal. For achieving certain results, some programs are more effective than others.

In this sense, one of the most important aspects of NLP is its emphasis on the practical application of the modeling process. NLP concepts and training programs emphasize an interactive, experiential learning context in which principles and procedures can be easily absorbed and understood. Moreover, since NLP processes are derived from effective human models, the values and structures underlying them are often intuitively understandable even to people without much personal experience.

Key Criteria for NLP

Overall, since its inception, NLP has been concerned with studying the structure of subjective experience—a structure that is neuro-linguistic by its very nature. Thus, any phenomenon can be considered part of NLP if it:

• Emphasizes process and structure rather than content.
• Seeks the basis of processes and distinctions in the anatomy and functions of the human nervous system.
• Allows these distinctions and processes to be easily identified and changed through natural and spontaneous patterns of verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Organizes research results into practical exercises, techniques, tools, and practices that can be used to influence human experience or behavior.