There was an interesting programme on ITV1 in the UK last night called Britain’s Weirdest Phobias. I have never personally worked on a phobia with NLP but I have seen the fast phobia cure and the new code game ’sanctuary’ performed on a person and it was amazing to watch because the ‘patient’ had an extreme fear.

I do have a phobia lined up for the new year, but I need to wait until the other person is ready. Needless to say, I am looking forward to that one.

What struck me about last nights programme were three main things:

1. I realise it’s a TV programme but it was sensationalized to the point where they are highlighting the ‘weirdness’ of peoples irrational fears.
2. The therapists language was very negative, almost reinforcing the fear. His approach also required the people to ‘confront’ their fear which can “sometimes be traumatic”
3. Having witnessed first hand, an NLP Phobia cure, I can’t see why anyone would choose any other way.

Perhaps I am biased and naive based on what little experience I have and my leaning towards NLP techniques. Also,  I am reading Frogs Into Princes at the moment, so I am taken with the idea that all you are giving the other person is choice - taking away the limited ways in which they can react to a situation. The traditional therapy route seems to involve taking someone through an experience rather than just looking for the result.

I am interested to hear other peoples experiences with Phobias though as I would like to enhance my experiences (by metaphor), and, I can only hope that the person I am doing the Phobia with soon didn’t see last nights programme.

Sometime back I posted about Dr. (...)

The poster shown above was used by the Salvation Army in the UK. The first version of the poster was exactly the same as shown above, except that the word “CARE” after the words, “For God’s sake” was omitted. This first version was very successful in raising a lot of money. Then they added the word “CARE” as shown above, and donations dropped precipitously. How did the addition of this one word ruin a great ad?

The image of the small child who looks very confused and in need of help is probably what first meets the eye for most people, eliciting a theme of need and a response of caring.

But the words are important, too, including the words on the top of the poster eliciting sympathy for the child. The statement that the child could run faster backward than forward is particularly unique and evocative. Elegant.

The typography is also relevant. Using letters of different fonts, irregularly placed, looks like whoever made the poster was also quite needy. (Imagine the same poster, but with slick, nicely aligned typography, and notice the difference in your response.) And the blotchy look of the photo and the poster as a whole echoes this.

“Nice child” adds an amplification; not only has the child suffered, but it is a nice child, who surely doesn’t deserve such treatment.

“Who cares?” is an rhetorical question that is covertly directed at the reader, and which most people will respond to—either consciously or un—with feeling caring or empathy, and an inner “I do”—a very graceful amplification of what the reader is already feeling in response to the previous image and words. Everything at the top and middle of the poster is congruent in expressing need and eliciting caring.

“For God’s sake, give us a quid,” is a simple command, and again the whole focus is on the needy child, congruent with the words at the top of the page, and the neediness implied by the haphazard typography, etc. So the whole message is very direct and congruent, focused solely on the child’s need. Very elegant.

However, when the last sentence was changed to “For God’s sake, CARE, give us a quid,” that one word changes the focus, diverting attention from the congruent message that has been so artfully established. Now it is two separate commands, directing the reader’s attention in two different ways:

“For God’s sake, CARE,” commands the reader to CARE, directing attention to the reader’s feelings, a shift AWAY from attention to the child’s need.

Then “Give us a quid,” directs attention to the child’s need again; but it is too late; the carefully woven spell has been broken. How? Not only by the interruption of “For God’s sake, CARE,” but because this command has an uncomplimentary implication—that the reader doesn’t already care.

If the poster assumed that the reader was already caring, there would be no need to command the reader to care. If we assume that the reader is a caring person who has been responding congruently to the poster’s multiple eloquent pleas, the command to CARE (CARE emphasized by CAPITAL letters, which is a bit crude or rude in itself) is something of an insult, and not likely to induce them to give. And it didn’t.

–by Steve Andreas

My ‘day job’ involves building web solutions for corporate clients. As part of this, I always analyze ways in which I can bring in NLP Communications to the marketing ‘experience’ that I am trying to create.

Lat week, I interviewed Daryll Scott, friend and NLP Guru,  about it - here’s the resulting video…

Walking down a wintery London street in late November 2008 I was having a conversation with Gabe Guerrero about tracking patterns and I mentioned that I felt I was alright at tracking but not so good at remembering. Now it makes sense to me that both of these words could mean the same thing and [...]

As another Christmas day passes into the back our minds and as you may be finding yourself full to the brim  and not up for much going out then you can enjoy one of the worlds finest comedians - Robin Williams. (...)

A

There comes a time in most people’s lives where they feel the need to break free from the family nest and go off to do their own thing. In my case, I moved 200 miles away from my family to be in London, the place I know I’m meant to be right now. As much [...]

In part one of this article I wrote about the many covert communication patterns that exist within the NLPers toolset to impart a message or series of message other than consciously. (...)

In this one, he won’t be acting as the modeler.

He’ll be the modeling coach.

What I find incredibly cool about the project is that he got involved with something I nudged him about when he published Whispering In The Wind.

If you want to better understand modeling, look at this web site and watch all the interviews — especially those with John Grinder.

Once you criss-cross references of this modeling project with the initial modeling projects that gave birth to Neurolinguistic Programming — modeling Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson — your understanding of modeling will easily quintuple (I just pulled that number out of my ***).

Seriously… This is the chance to divorce yourself of the notion that NLP somewhat equates with “therapy” just because the initial modeling was done with therapists.

Watch and learn!

Oh, and merry Christmas to you and your dear ones.

Steve

PS: HowToMasterNLP.com will be one year old next Sunday!

It looks like the Brits are invading New York City this Spring. Nick Kemp will be doing a Provocative Therapy workshop in May!

Attayn Group in association with the NLP Center of New York, Positive NLP and the Creative Pier are extremely excited to bring Nick Kemp to New York for amazing 3 days of training. If you are not familiar with Nick Kemp or Provocative Therapy please go to the event webpage for more about Nick. Not only do you get a chance to train directly with Nick during this event but you also get a copy of his 2 Disc DVD Provocative Change Works for Phobias (a $100 value) as part of the training cost.

I got to study with Frank Farrelly some time back. It’ll be good to study Nick’s unique take on the topic, and it’ll be great to meet him in person!

Sign up to see Nick Kemp in May 2009!

Doug O’Brien sent me some AMAZING news: Andy Austin is coming to New York City!

IMPROV!: The Use of Improvisation and Drama in Slightly Crazy Environments

April 17th, 2009:

This introductory presentation will outline the “rules” and formula for successful and comedic improvisation.

As readers of The Rainbow Machine — Tales From a Neurolinguist’s Journal will be aware, I often like to utilize the building of humour, tension and drama into his change work sessions and rarely do I rely on any pre-set or rehearsed routines and scripts. Given my client group, often the client will bring their own drama and unique humour to the session and a high level of flexibility and responsivity is needed in such situations.

No previous acting experience is required and no one will be expected to perform in front of the group. Book early and hold on to your hats, because this will be a fun and fast paced evening.

LESSONS FROM THE CUCKOO’S NEST: Further Tales From a Neurolinguist’s Journal.

April 18 & 19th, 2009:

Working with other people’s madness isn’t always easy, and it isn’t always fun – but it can be. Psychological and emotional pain is rarely ever funny but I often question if change really needs to be serious. Far from joking at another person’s expense, during this weekend workshop you will be introduced to, and will explore, some therapeutic patterns and algorithms that I have found useful when working with challenging clientèle and serious mental illnesses.

I’ve learned a lot from Andy over the years, both in e-mail and on Usenet. Now I get to meet him and train with him. If I’m alive in April, I’ll be there!

Update: Here’s the link to sign up! There are discounts for signing up early, so go!

This is just a short post to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope 2009 will bring you much success. We have loads of plans for 2009 and will keep you updated…

From all of us at NLPni.

Starring Andrew, Melinda, Milly (dark brown dog), Molly (light brown dog) and Charlie the cat.




Enjoy

Not long ago we discussed the keys to an achievable outcome.  And I understand that sometimes these ideas or techniques all seem a bit “pie in the sky” for some folks not used to thinking this way. Or we lapse into the “I know, I know” and then fail to act on the information or tools [...]

A Case Study I recently watched a DVD on business success by Eben Pagan, and something he said reminded me of a situation with a friend.  To paraphrase the quote… “The two big hurdles in business involve emotional estimation, and only seeking validation.” Powerful stuff.  So let’s unpack this a bit, and then I’ll share a story my [...]

Regarding the book, Advanced Language Patterns Mastery, by Larry McLauchlin: I tried to buy a copy of this book a few months ago and learned that the author had died and that his family had sold the rights to someone. They had no stock, and used copies are very difficult to find (and very expensive when one is for sale).

I have what may be good news. I just bought a copy from NLP Comprehensive’s online store. In an online chat with a CSR, I learned that they have more copies. $35 plus shipping.

The reason I say it may be good news is that I made the mistake of telling them how difficult it is to get copies of this book. The CSR, “Sharon”, said she’d have to check to make sure their stock was not “on hold for anybody”. So get Advanced Language Patterns Mastery while you can!

If I had to describe the basis of NLP, it would be “results.” See, though there is a comprehensive body of work written about NLP, complete with theories, models, and techniques, the strength (and most important CLAIM) of NLP is the results people achieve by using understanding the models and USING the techniques. Wow.  That’s sure a [...]