steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny) (02/07/85)
> > P.S. He mentioned "neuro-linguistic programming" as a new technique > in the persuasion area. Does anyone know what this is? > Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has been the subject of several articles in popular magazines. There have been I have read two or three in Psychology Today, one in New Realities. Time magazine had an article on it not too long ago. It is a set of powerful techniques for influencing people and for "modeling exellence." It was originated in the middle seventies by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. It was originated here in Santa Cruz. The seminal books are "The Structure of Magic, Vol. 1&2". I an especially qualified to discuss it because John Grinder is one of my closest friends and associates and I have been working closely with him for more than five years. John Grinder was a professor of linguistics at UCSC. He was a well respected grammarian and he recieved high praise from the likes of Paul Postal, Haj Ross, and others. Richard Bandler was a Gestalt therapist. He was an exceptionally good Gestalt therapist. He came to John and proposed that John and he try to extend the types of models that linguists make of our intuitive knowledge of to model other "intuitive knowledge." (As a background point, you should realize that we "know" that an utterance is English, but we do not know how we know, it is intuitive. The discription a linguist makes is a discription of a speaker's intuitive knowledge of there language. Richard and John reasoned that if they could find the proper "non-terminal vocabulary" in human behavior, they could make powerful descriptions of other intuition besides linguistic intuition. They used a pure linguistic model at first. The person they modeled was the brilliant therapist Virgina Satir. John's next door neighbor, Gregory Bateson, introduced them. They discovered that she favored certain words and grammatical constructions and that by matching her vocabulary to the client's she would build "rapport" and help people change. Further, they discovered that grammatical deletions and fuzzy words like nominalizations blurred people's representation of the world and obscured the solutions to their problems. "Structure of Magic" is the result of their findings. The next person they modeled was Milton Erickson. Erickson was considered to be the best medical hypnotist. He died a few years ago (1980, I think) within a week of Gregory Bateson. They both missed a scheduled talk they were going to give together because they died. Bandler and Grinder decided that Erickson was using non-verbal clues more than verbal. Erickson could put people in a deep trance in a few seconds without saying a word. The conclusions about Erickson can be found in "The Patterns of the Hypnotic Technique of Milton H. Erickson M.D." by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. The techniques become more complicated from this point. John lost interest in the acadamic world and John and Richard started teaching their stuff in seminars. The seminars cost much, and most of the audience is generally therapists, doctors, and professionals. Since much of what they teach is how to responed to and to manipulate non-verbal behavior, it is not something that is too easy to teach from books. Like trying to describe jazz to someone that has never heard it. The techniques make many people uncomfortable, because they can be used covertly. The techniques are powerful, perhaps irresistable. I met a person at one of John's seminars that deprogrammed people, but not by dragging them off and holding them in a hotel room, but by just "talking" to them in an airport where they were selling flowers. Today seminars are available and there are many books. The books "Frogs into Princesses", "Trance Formations", and "Reframing," are available in most bookstores. For a complete list of available books and information on seminars you can get on the mailing list--write: Grinder, DeLozier, & Associates 110 Kenny Court Santa Cruz, Ca. 95060 (408) 475-8540 The seminars teach modeling, hypnosis, and other subjects. On the subject of cults and such NLP has no position. It is not a cult in any way. John gives seminars and people pay him money to go. If they do not like the seminars, they don't have to come back. They have a certification program. If people cares to do so, they can take a 3 day test to see if they have mastered the skills taught. If they have they can become a "certified practicioner." The original group that developd NLP broke up and there are several factions. Bandler and Grinder have separate organizations. I only know about John's branch. -- scc!steiny Don Steiny - Personetics @ (408) 425-0382 ihnp4!pesnta -\ 109 Torrey Pine Terr. fortune!idsvax -> scc!steiny Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060 ucbvax!twg -/