Neurolinguistic programming is associated with the processes that humans perform to think, interact, memorize and perform actions of any kind such as reading or playing a sport.
So what does NLP stand for ? Let's look at it in detail:
Programming: refers to the process carried out by the sensory system with the purpose of organizing representations and creating operational strategies.
Neuro: relates to any action or behavior that is the result of neurological activity.
Linguistics: has to do with neurological activity and the organization of operational strategies, since they are externalized through communication and language.
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What is the origin of NLP?
This discipline was born in the 1970s, in California, United States, by the hand of the linguist John Grinder and the mathematician and Gestalt therapist Richard Bandler, together with a group of students.
They all tried to understand and model human communication. Since neurolinguistics understands that human experience is subjective, these techniques can be applied in different areas such as education, medicine, psychology, economics, marketing and sales .
Grinder and Bandler studied the advances in modern behavioral therapy to develop NLP.
In this regard, they investigated the following theories:
“Family Systemic Theory” by Virginia Satir, family therapist,
“Gestalt Therapy” by Fritz Perls,
“Hypnosis” technique by Dr. Milton Erickson,
“The Social Matrix of Psychiatry” by Gregory Bateson, biologist, anthropologist, social scientist, linguist and cyberneticist, together with psychiatrist Jürgen Ruesch.
In short, what they did was identify the verbal patterns and behaviors of these therapists, who stood out in their time far above the rest of their contemporaries. They standardized them and created their own learning model that they called “ neuro-linguistic programming .”
NLP continued to develop in order to optimize communication and promote the necessary changes in each human being, both in their professional and personal performance, in order to be successful.