NLP: The Therapeutic World Meets Spirituality

NLP: The Therapeutic World Meets Spirituality

By Jeff Craft

Spirituality, psychology, philosophy and even science, when looked at from an expanded perspective, begin to merge as we see that they are often very similar in their ways of viewing our experience of life. The truth of one perspective does not discount the truth of another perspective. Thus Creationism and Evolution can exist side by side, and even as the same thing, in the mind of a person with expanded vision. Did God create man or did man evolve from the form of an ape? Well, what if God created all of life, and allowed man to evolve through the form of an ape? The two theories become one, and the borders melt to release the illusion of polarities and separation.

This merging can be found in many things if we look with an open mind. Enter Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. This is a powerful system of studying how people learn, motivate themselves, and change their behavior. The practitioner guides a client through their own understanding of the world and assists that client in finding a way to reach their personal goals and begin to actually live the life they desire. It respects the individuality of the client, while assisting them in expanding their own consciousness through free will and self-discovery.

When Richard Bandler and John Grinder developed NLP, they developed a system of helping people gain understanding of their own mental processes. And they also expanded outward, and began to honor the uniqueness of each individual. NLP respects each person with regard to how they experience life so there are no limitations placed upon how you see the world. There are no outlined theories of “If A is happening, then you must have experienced B as a child.” In this model, what you experience is true: you have the answers within yourself. It is understood that you are fine exactly the way you are. The only question becomes “Is your life working for you?” If it is, then great. If it is not, then let us work together and help you discover why and then assist you in creating it differently.

Does this sound familiar to you? You are perfect the way you are. If you do not like your experience, then choose again, for we create our own reality. It is talked about in many spiritual paths, teachings and books. There are presuppositions within NLP that have great crossover into spiritual teachings. Compare NLP's presupposition “All behavior has some positive intention” with the spiritual concept of “Love is all there is.” Or NLP's “An individual always makes the best decision possible at each moment in time given the resources accessed” compared to “there is no right or wrong, everything just is.”