NLP presuppositions: what is it and where is it applied?

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

NLP, or Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a modern trend in applied psychology. It originated in the 70s in the USA and absorbed all the best and most advanced from the various methods of this discipline.

What is NLP?

Opinions about Neuro-Linguistic Programming are different, sometimes even polar. In the narrow sense of those people who have only a superficial understanding of NLP, it is a way of manipulating people and absolute evil. But there are those who seek to bring this technique to life, looking at this concept much broader. Indeed, in fact, NLP is a modeling of human behavior, programming of his thinking, as well as the control of an individual over his mind.

Besides this, Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a specific branch of psychology. Sometimes it is considered one of the ways to explore the subconscious. However, this teaching is not recognized by official circles, because it is based on the subjective, structured experience of individuals. To date, NLP is used only in psychological trainings of variousdirection, in promotions, in politics and trade. It is practiced in coaching, as well as for the purpose of seduction.

As a psychotherapeutic direction, NLP aims to discover the most effective methods for changing the limited, weak, painful and incorrect points of view that underlie maladaptive human behavior. It can be argued that when applying this method, there is a change in the values \u200b\u200bthat limit the abilities of people and are the causes of their suffering. NLP does not set specific values. It offers only effective methods to change the point of view, perception, etc.

The concept of presupposition

NLP is based on the method of copying non-verbal and verbal behavioral responses created by three well-known psychotherapists. These are the founder of family psychotherapy V. Satir, the founder of Gest alt therapy F. Perls, and also M. Erickson, who laid the foundation for Ericksonian hypnosis.

The founders of NLP put forward the idea that each person perceives the environment in his own way. At the same time, all attitudes of thinking can be fixed and described by him. However, the most important is the form of perception, which can be changed based on your goals. This is how the masters of Neuro-Linguistic Programming do it. They influence the thinking of their clients to help them, for example, reverse the effects of various psychological traumas.

NLP Presuppositions are the principles of this teaching. They are also called basic. Presuppositions of NLPare axioms. That is, it is impossible to prove their truth. One has only to believe what is said.

NLP presuppositions apply equally to all people, without exception. Moreover, the confidence that they are correct can change life for the better. In addition, by studying useful ideas, one can better understand the meaning of NLP. They are used by psychologists when conducting individual work with clients, as well as during group trainings.

Meaning of presuppositions

The ideas that form the basis of neurolinguistic psychology play an essential role. They provide the following:

• charge people with optimism as they are positive beliefs (affirmations);
• allow you to see the targets ahead;
• help you look at the world around you in a new way;
• block the negative old channels of emotions and open new ones aimed at the positive.

In order to fully understand the theory of NLP presupposition, a person needs to go beyond his own mind and open consciousness. It must become receptive to new ideas.

Everything that includes a presupposition must be taken as it is. It is impossible to change the existing postulates. Such actions will certainly lead to failures of consciousness.

NLP presuppositions allow a person to create a system of personal beliefs that is universal for any life situation. The subconscious mind helps people to solve the problem of realization of belief. After all, it is precisely on him that presupperpositions have their effect.

Forms of Influence

NLP presuppositions have an effect:

1. On consciousness. In this case, such dogmas act as rational thoughts that require mandatory execution.
2. On the subconscious. Here the postulates of NLP are suggestion, somewhat reminiscent of hypnosis.

Data Transfer Forms

How does a person get the necessary information? There are three forms that serve to transfer data:

1. Verbal. Apply it during conversations and lectures.
2. Visual. This form of data transfer is a visual demonstration of how to apply presuppositions.
3. Total immersion. In this case, the person is literally living the presupposition.

What form of information transfer to choose? It will depend on the person, because people perceive the received data and process them in completely different ways. And it depends on the dominant channel - visual, kinesthetic or auditory. In addition, the nature of such information can also be different. The dominance of one of the channels leads to the filtering of the senses. In other words, what one hears may not be felt or seen by others. In this regard, an important condition for the effectiveness of NLP practice is the orientation to the channel of perception that is dominant, which indicates the existence of auditory, visual and kinesthetics. These psychological features must also be taken into account by those people who wish to use NLP presuppositions to manage their own lives.

Determine the dominant systemperception of a person is possible if you carefully study the features of his speech and behavior. Thus, visuals are guided mainly by visual images. The dominant value for them is the color, size and shape of objects. Such people appreciate the orderliness of things and the harmony of the surrounding space. That is why they are annoyed, for example, by clothes lying in the wrong place or a book that has not been put back on the shelf.

Kinesthetics, on the other hand, live by the sensations of the body. The most important thing for them is the sense of movement, tactile perception, the comfort of a sofa or the speed of a car. The value in this case is not the color of the thing, but its convenience. That is why kinesthetics will become very annoyed by a tight collar or cookie crumbs left by someone in bed.

Audials perceive the world around them as a combination of sounds. That is why it is easier for them to remember information by ear.

Basic concepts

Whoever uses a computer knows that it is controlled by an operating system. The same exists in NLP. A kind of operating system of neurolinguistic programming are its basic presuppositions.

With their help, the functioning of the system of methods, processes and skills becomes possible.

There are different types of presuppositions. Consider some of their postulates.

Mental processing

There is no single correct and complete list of NLP presuppositions. There are a lot of postulates developed by the founders of this direction. The most commonly used listpresuppositions of NLP, which we call basic. All of them are divided into types, based on the impact on the subconscious.

Let's start with some of the basic presuppositions of NLP with those relating to mental processing.

1. The map is not the territory. What does this one of the most basic, basic presuppositions tell us? According to her, each person perceives the world around him not at all as he really is. After all, everything is subjective. And this should be known to those who think they know someone or something. All this is nothing more than a personal idea of a person or an object. How can this presupposition in NLP be described? There are many examples in real life in this case. So, sometimes we talk about a very good friend as a wonderful person. And we are completely convinced of this. However, suddenly we learn that he did a bad deed. Our conviction in this case even leads to the fact that at first we refuse to believe in it. However, it is always worth remembering that “the map is not the territory”, and every person is capable of making mistakes, drawing hasty conclusions. To understand this world, you must be ready for changes, try not to judge something or someone categorically and constantly observe, trying to get as much objective information as possible. Based on it, specific conclusions can be drawn.
2. The consciousness of a person and his body are parts of one (cybernetic) system. However, they function asa single whole. If a person has a good idea of any sensation, then he will certainly experience it soon. So the state of the human body is approximately 80% dependent on thoughts. Confirmation of this may be the concentration on pain. If a person constantly thinks about it, then he will definitely suffer. When distracted from uncomfortable sensations, people seem to forget about their existence. And even with a very serious illness, it will be easier for those who imagine their recovery and well-being to recover.

A person's behavior or reaction

Let's continue our consideration of the concept of presupposition and the types of presuppositions used in NLP.

Their list also includes those that relate to human behavior or reactions:

1. The meaning of any message lies in the behavioral response that it causes. If a person speaks to someone about something or listens to a speech addressed to him, then all this is done not at all to transmit information. The purpose of any message is to encourage one or another action. This is done directly or indirectly. For example, adults want the child to wash their hands before eating. They can tell him this directly: “Go and wash your hands.” And you can talk about the danger of microbes "crawling" on the fingers. In the latter case, the child will run to the bathroom himself. The ultimate goal of both phrases will be a certain action. These examples of presupposition in NLP are explained in terms of success. A person before the start of communication should set himselfspecific goal. That is, he should understand what behavior he wants to achieve from the interlocutor. In the absence of goals, it is necessary to build trust and a good attitude.
2. Every kind of behavior is useful and practical in one context or another. This does not mean the correctness of any actions of a person. However, this presupposition of NLP indicates that all forms of behavior are necessarily based on positive intentions. That is, each of them is valuable and useful in some context. And even if a person tries to offend someone or take revenge, then after talking with him, you can find some valuable result for him.

Communicative presuppositions

Let's look at some of this type of NLP dogma:

1. The need for communication. Even when a person does not express his thoughts, beliefs, ideas and feelings in any way, he sends them in various non-verbal ways.
2. The influence of the type of communication on perception. Information is transmitted not only through verbal signals. Non-verbal aspects in the form of voice volume and tone, gestures and posture, breathing, etc. are also of great importance for its transmission. And often the way a person says is much more important than what he says. For example, the phrase "I love you!". Its meaning is clear to everyone. But the meaning of it will change depending on how it is pronounced - with sarcasm, with hope or in tears.

Statements about learning, choice and change

Examples of postulates of the following type of presuppositions are:

1. People have internal resources that will allowthem to reach their intended goal. The creators of NLP believe that every person has an innate ability to overcome difficulties. In order to discover their own resources, people need some help. For example, a person may need special training or additional education to be successful.
2. The human body works like a bioelectrochemical device that processes information. This allows us to learn quickly. For example, a child accidentally falls into a pool filled with water. Having matured, he may not forget this incident. Then he will be afraid. Its intense or inappropriate manifestations can occur both at the thought of bathing and at the sight of the water.

NLP Techniques

In the field of practical psychology, neurolinguistic programming is a whole system of ways that allow people to use the capabilities that their brain has. This is the technique of NLP. These include anchoring and language strategies, as well as reframing, love, swipe, and embedded messages. And here the concept of presupposition is even more fully revealed. These are all things that a person needs to hold true when using the NLP technique. Let's take a closer look at the most common of them.

The most famous presupposition technique is anchoring. Its basis is the programming of a conditioned reflex. It is called "anchor". Conditioned reflexes can appear on their own. This happens, for example, when the same melody sounds, which a person hears at certainexperiences.

When working with NLP, you can develop a conditioned reflex necessary for a person, that is, create an anchor. A similar phenomenon takes place in the life of an individual, bringing with it a positive or, on the contrary, being negative. To fix a certain life moment in memory, an “anchor” must be placed on it. Its fixation in consciousness is a certain resource, which is various songs, musical works, images and smells.

The most versatile is the swing technique. It can be used even by non-professionals. This technique includes two directions. One of them is associative. It responds to a particular visual image, sound or sensation that occurs in a particular situation, or to a habit that a person wants to get rid of. To better understand this technique, consider a simple example. A person who wants to get rid of smoking needs to imagine the sensations or image that he associates with the process of smoking. Next, another picture should be presented. It concerns those sensations that a person dreams of having instead of a bad habit. Then the technique itself is practiced. During its implementation, the first picture mentally appears on the big screen, and the second - on the small one. After that, the images quickly change places. The result obtained is mentally erased. Such manipulations are repeated at least 15 times and the resulting changes are checked on a person.

Another presupposition technique is love. The one who owns it is able to easily attract the attention of the object he likes. Whereina person uses manipulative actions. Presupposition is being imposed.

The reason why NLP techniques are effective

According to the creators of NLP, our Universe is a human-friendly sphere. The world is selflessly generous, infinitely kind and infinitely beautiful. The man himself makes him miserly, evil and ugly, using his perceptions and his actions, not controlling the activity of the brain and filling it with negativity. However, all this is quite simple to change. To do this, you just need to use the presuppositions of NLP. And then we will understand and accept that a person himself is able to control his brain and the results of his own activity.

The effectiveness of NLP techniques also lies in their reliance on the power of our unconscious. According to experts working in this direction, only 6% of programs and plans of human behavior are conscious. The remaining 94% function and operate at the subconscious level. When explaining this NLP master, they give a computer analogy that is quite understandable to a modern person. So, any PC consists of a display that displays the necessary information, and which, in its direction, affects the zone of direct consciousness. It is impossible for a computer to work without RAM. It can be considered a complete analogue of the conscious part of the human psyche. All the accumulated information is contained on the hard drive of the computer, which is located in the system unit. It corresponds to our unconscious.

Analyzing the roles of the conscious andunconscious, NLP masters unequivocally single out the last of these two levels. The speed of the latter is several orders of magnitude higher. In addition, only a small part of the information accumulated by a person is stored in the mind. But on the hard disk of our brain there is a complete record of all the information and events that have been gleaned and passed by a person on his life path. The importance of the unconscious part of the mind lies in its ability to connect to the Collective Unconscious. This allows a person to achieve his goals, directing his thoughts in the right direction.