The NLP Conspiracy

From our correspondent, a former NLP practitioner :

Within counselling and therapy communities there has been a rapid upswing in the number and type of “talking” therapies that are in common use. In the main these are understood to be developments of the work of Freud and Jung in the sense that they encourage the recipient of the therapy to talk about their problems, thereby dealing with them through a process of analysis and understanding. I came to this area of study through enrolling in a hypnosis course at my local college some twenty years ago, with the aim of setting up in practice to offer help with stopping smoking and weight-loss. Having completed the hypnotherapy course I was offered the opportunity to continue my studies with what was at the time a relatively new field of therapy called Neuro-Linguistic programming. NLP was originally conceived by Richard Bandler and John Gringer of the University of California, Santa Cruz during a study into how successful therapists achieved their results. The study developed into a framework of therapy that could be taught and replicated.

The original concept of NLP is that by use of positive keyword reinforcement and psychological training techniques negative thoughts could be modified to give more positive outcomes. Essentially patterns of words can effectively change the way in which the brain itself functions, creating new neural pathways and “better” ways of thinking. From the outset the principles of NLP were contested, as was its specific efficacy in a variety of psychological conditions. The creators of NLP disputed between themselves and uptake of the therapy itself was often beset by problems of establishing the background of those providing training. Further, the claims made for the benefits of NLP were often greatly exaggerated leading to mistrust and misunderstanding. These issues created an environment within which people could become highly proficient in NLP techniques without consideration for ethics or standards. This may not appear to present a significant issue, and certainly the same issues have been raised about several other therapies, but the background to NLP is rather different, giving rise to legitimate concerns over its use.

As an experienced practitioner I would question the use of the term Conspiracy theory with regard to the issues surrounding NLP given that the evidence is so clear. Bandler and Gringer were supervised at Santa Cruz by Gregory Bateson who had previously worked on secondment to the US intelligence agency on project MKULTRA, the CIA mind control experiments. It is reasonably clear the much of the work in NLP in terms of changing perceptions and modes of thinking comes in large part from the research within MKULTRA and that the overall effect of NLP can be likened to a form of brain-washing. Given the lack of control over the number or background of those trained in NLP through the 1980's and '90's it will come as no surprise that there are organisations now gaining respectability with the mainstream psychology community whose ethical position with regard to the use of NLP is highly questionable.

Within the UK and USA large organisations exist providing NLP training to corporate and governmental bodies essentially creating a pyramid selling scheme through language modification and mind control. These organisations have the aim of building a network of highly placed individuals with the media, government, health and education sectors with the long term goal of attaining a similar status to a large religion. In many ways the actions and techniques of these organisations are remarkably similar to those of religious cults, particularly with regard to controlling environments, contacts and in some cases diets and sleep patterns. From my own experience I know that having trained as an NLP master practitioner I was placed under considerable pressure to recruit new people to be trained. I chose to withdraw from practice, having become disillusioned with the way in which NLP was being used and spread, and it is perhaps telling in itself that I have been effectively ostracised by former colleagues and friends who still practice.

There is far more to NLP than a harmless therapeutic technique. At its ultimate level it combines linguistic psychological control with manipulative body language and subliminal conditioning techniques to create a powerful and insidious control mechanism. The biggest issue however is that NLP is becoming widely accepted as a mainstream branch of genuine psychological techniques rather than the sinister cult that it actually represents.

The author of this article has presented evidence in the form of membership and contact spreadsheets and analysis of NLP presentations demonstrating mind control techniques.