NLP is first and foremost a communication model. It is a model of how we operate and function given our mind-body-emotion system. It is a model of how we map or model “information.” It is a model of the structure of resourcefulness so we “run our own brain” and manage our own states. It is a model of the structure of excellence so we can replicate genius. NLP began, not with the sensory systems or sub-modalities, but with the language patterns that two therapeutic wizards used to perform their magic. Bandler and Grinder happened upon the marvellous languaging patterning of Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy) and Virginia Satir (Family Systems) and began studying how the words and language patterns performed their “magic.” They put the results of their study in the books, The Structure of Magic, Vol. I and II (1975, 1976). As also a description of human functioning, it focuses on experience, experiencing, and experimenting rather than theory. Via the tools, models, techniques, and patterns, NLP gives us a way to talk about our subjective experiences. By focusing on description rather than prescription, we focus on how the processes and mechanisms work, how to replicate such (modelling), and how to intervene, transform, and improve human functioning.
