Whilst it should be noted that neuro-linguistic programming is an unproven psychotherapy technique which suffers from a tremendous amount of misconception and misinformation, it should also be noted that if we drill down to the core of the principles behind it, there could be something useful underlying it. The principle is a fairly straightforward one, in that the human brain can be re-trained or re-programmed to think in certain ways by positive, repetitive reinforcement. Certainly we understand that the brain is a complex network of neural pathways that are constantly being formed, destroyed and reformed, and it is considered that this is in part the way that learning and memory work. As we learn new skills or strategies the process of learning forces new neural pathways to develop and over time and repetition these pathways become “preferred routes” for neural signals. It can be imagined as a network of roads which have developed from simple single lane paths through wider tracks on to tarmac roads then dual carriageways and finally trunk roads and highways.
We can see a potential aspect of this in someone learning to play a musical instrument. As a person learns to play the muscles develop around the movements required to play the instrument. At the same time, the brain is being reconfigured so that auditory signals are interpreted differently, the neurons controlling muscles become refined and recent FMRI research has shown that the neural connections across the left and right hemispheres of the brain are increased in both quantity and efficiency of communication. This would suggest that it should be possible to train the brain in other ways, for example in a business setting to condition the mind to think about problems differently, perhaps to see them as challenges rather than obstacles. There has been similar work in the field of linguistics into how the use of certain words triggers certain responses, and again we can see that there is potential for changes to be made here, not simply in terms of finding better language for use in office situations but also in terms of how that language is understood and acted up on by the listener.
I can see a commercial application for such training done correctly but there will need to be a lot of work done to reduce the number of people currently involved in NLP who don’t really understand either what they are doing or the underlying psychology….
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