NLP Presuppositions

NLP Presuppositions

          Interventions for healing and personal change in Neuro Linguistic Programming do not treat the body with medicines or any other physical means. Medical science is based on lab results and physical verifications however NLP intervention is based on analysis of internal world and thinking process of a person. NLP deals with the mind and not the body and thus the mind change leads to life change and physical change (for psychosomatic problems).

          Medicines make chemical changes in body and the healing is based on chemical actions, supply of nutrients, vitamins, hormones etc. where as in NLP healing is based on internal and external communications (linguistics) and intervention in thinking process. Medical science prescribes medicines based on the predetermined effects of its chemical actions and subsequent results on the human body. NLP intervention techniques are developed based on presuppositions derived from positive thinking and optimistic approach towards life change. Without knowing NLP presuppositions you can’t proceed with the coming sessions of NLP training program.

          Presupposition is a positive statement or belief that determines the future of a new statement or an action. ‘Mothers take care of their children’. Based on this presupposition courts always considers a mother as the legal custodian of a child. However if a judge believes that all women are not good mothers, he is true. The judge is free to keep that belief and take further action. NLP life change techniques and healing therapies are developed based on presuppositions. There are many presuppositions however we will discuss only the important ones hereafter.  Let me introduce the first one in this session and other presuppositions in the coming sessions.

                            

Presupposition 1: Everyone lives in their own unique model of the world. 

          We have already seen in previous sessions how a person perceives the world experiences and forms his own internal world. The person perceives experiences through his five senses; visual (see), auditory (hear), Kinesthetic (feel), Olfactory (smell) and Gustatory (taste). Every person come across different experiences because the person is born, brought up and living in different ecology or environment. They meet different people with different knowledge, attitudes, behaviour and habits. So their perceptual input and therefore their filters use to develop the internal world are different. So everyone has unique filters and hence unique model of the world or the internal world.

          Why people have different opinions and decisions? Because people have unique filters and thus the process of thinking and method of decision making are different and unique. It is the reason for conflicts, different attitudes and behaviours. Children says ‘papa know nothing’. Mom says ‘my son do not listen to me’. Husband says ‘my wife is not bold’. Teacher says ‘he never changes’.  Daughter in law says ‘my mother in law is a devil’.

          We have also seen people say ‘he is my beloved friend’, ‘they are made for each other’ and ‘she can’t leave him’. In all these cases the villain and hero is the internal map. To make a friend accepts his internal map. To transform ‘mother in law’ to a ‘mother’ respect her internal world. To change students, understand their inner world and accept it first.

         

          Respecting other person’s model of the world is one of the important criteria to make a change program effective. Change program include counseling, success training and healing therapies. It is the basis of relationship management. It is one of the qualities of effective leadership. You never get respect if you don’t respect others. We can term it as ‘give and take policy’.

          Most of the relationship problems in a family can be resolved if the members are ready to accept other member’s model of the world (inner world). One of the reasons for afflictions or worsening relationships in family life is the unwillingness of one or both parties to accept inner world of the other. The question of ‘why you behave like this’ is the result of hesitation to accept and understand the inner world of other person. Don’t forget that their behaviour is based on their beliefs and values which is part of their internal representation. And they can’t behave in a way you expect until there is a change in their internal representation. The ‘trigger’ for beginning that change is the ‘acceptance’ they get.

          ‘Who accepts first’ is a common issue within the relationship problems. You can’t untie a knot without loosening the tension in rope. One should loosen the tension for the sake of better relationship and therefore a wonderful life. So remember the NLP presupposition everyone lives in their own unique model of the world.