"NLP Brief Psychotherapy"
Stage One: Preparation Department.
In this stage, the counselor has a casual way of talking that makes the counselee feel calm, relaxed, secure, and pressure-free, even though these conversations do not touch on the issues the counselee wants to address. However, the counselor can already gather much useful information for the counseling work.
During the preparation phase, the counselor may conduct some tests to check certain information about the counselee. They will also attempt to guide the counselee to notice contradictions in some beliefs. This leads into the counseling stage.
The first stage may only involve a few sentences of conversation. An uninformed person might think it was just a brief, ordinary dialogue, but for an experienced "NLP Brief Psychotherapy" counselor, much can be achieved and understood.
Stage Two: Counseling Process.
Some techniques of "NLP Brief Psychotherapy" require physical coordination, yet many skills can be applied while the counselee is sitting down. Some techniques are used in every counseling session; these can be considered the basic techniques of "NLP Brief Psychotherapy."
During the counseling process, the counselor selects one or more techniques to try and achieve results. If the results are not ideal, the counselor changes the technique being used. If necessary, even change mid-technique to another method. Five categories of techniques are introduced:
1. Techniques for handling the counselee's emotions.
2. Techniques for adding strength.
3. Techniques for resolving inner conflicts and contradictions.
4. Techniques for handling allergic fear symptoms.
5. Techniques for dealing with interpersonal relationship issues.
Stage Three: Conclusion Section.
In this stage, based on the needs generated in the second stage, the counselor performs some tasks. In this process, the counselor re-tests the effectiveness of the counseling. The counselor often instructs the counselee to practice certain techniques themselves, which can help their situation. At this point, the counseling session can be concluded.
Basic Rules for Counselors:
1. Unless involving life-threatening situations, the counselor should not discuss any counseling done outside of the counseling environment with anyone (including the counselee). The only exception is for academic case studies or teaching training purposes. Even so, the identities of individuals in the cases must remain confidential under all circumstances.
2. The counselor absolutely cannot use information obtained during the counseling process for boasting, personal gain, or causing harm to anyone.
3. The counselor must fully respect the counselee's voluntary participation and not force them to do anything they are unwilling to do.
4. After starting the counseling, the counselor must take responsibility for the counselee's internal state. The condition of the counselee when they leave should, at a minimum, not be worse than when they arrived.
5. Counseling without the ability to complete or implement should not be started. The counselor should have at least one more experienced counselor as backup, who can provide guidance or assistance when difficulties arise.
6. The counselor must be completely honest, sincere, and respectful towards the counselee.
To decide whether to start counseling, the counselor needs to answer the following five questions. Only if all five answers are affirmative should the counseling begin.
1. Do I want to conduct this counseling for him/her?
2. Does he/she really want me to conduct this counseling for them?
2. Is there harmony and tacit understanding between the two of us?
3. Do I know and have the ability to help him/her achieve the desired outcome?
4. Are the time and environment appropriate?
Chapter One: "Brief Therapy" and "NLP Therapy"
1. Milton Erickson, the American hypnotherapy master, is recognized as the founder of "Brief Therapy."
The core belief of "Brief Therapy" is: problems are created and maintained. Therefore, problems can also be solved.
The methods by which the counselee creates and maintains problems are:
(1) The way the counselee perceives things, i.e., the set of belief systems (including beliefs, values, rules, and positions) that the counselee holds about "how the world works."
(2) The ineffectual behaviors the counselee repeatedly engages in.
3. NLP Therapy:
Origins of NLP: Fritz Perls from Gestalt therapy, Milton Erickson from Hypnotherapy, Virginia Satir from Family Therapy.
NLP is a specific and practical model for human behavior and communication processes. It is not itself a psychological treatment method, but its main principles can be applied to understand human psychology and behavior and bring about change. NLP has been used in therapeutic contexts, resulting in powerful, fast, and subtle techniques that can create broad and lasting changes in human behavior and capabilities. NLP focuses on modifying and redesigning thought patterns to achieve greater flexibility and capability.
4. Differences between "Brief Therapy" and "NLP Therapy":
(1) "NLP Therapy" believes more strongly that the counselee already possesses the ability to solve their problems, placing greater emphasis on inspiring the counselee's own strength to make changes compared to other psychological therapy schools.
(2) "Brief Therapy" does not adhere rigidly to the form of treatment methods but focuses on the cause and solution of the problem.
"NLP Therapy" also does not adhere rigidly to the form of treatment methods but places most of its focus on solving the problem rather than its cause.
(3) The origin of "Brief Therapy" lies in family therapy work, so many early books, concepts, and techniques of "Brief Therapy" target family therapy, meaning how the family system affects the individual (the counselee). "NLP Therapy," on the other hand, focuses more on the individual, i.e., how the individual uses their abilities to take care of themselves and even influence the family system.
Chapter Two: History of NLP
1. What is NLP? "Neuro-Linguistic Programming"
NLP is the study of human subjective experience. One of the core principles of NLP is "modeling."
Positive impacts of NLP on me:
(1) In handling matters, how we can more effectively interpret the chaotic materials in our minds to understand higher meanings and directions for solutions.
(2) In communication and interpersonal relationships, how we can quickly understand each person's unique thinking pattern through surface cues and effectively cooperate with them. Additionally, in the communication process, what kind of language, tone, and body language can make the other party more likely to accept oneself?
(3) In language usage, how to detect the source of someone's troubles from their language and how to help them overcome those troubles.
(4) In motivation, what is the mechanism of one's internal driving force and how to make oneself more proactive.
2. The meaning of the three letters in NLP:
NLP: Neuro Linguistic Programming. "Neuro-Linguistic Programming"
Neuro: "Neural" meaning "mind-body." Our mind and body are connected through our neural system. Our neural system controls our sensory organs to maintain contact with the world.
Linguistic: Language. Refers to using language to influence others mutually, displaying our thinking patterns, information, and various internal states through gestures, habits, etc.,无声 language. All language patterns of the connection mechanism between our mind and body.
Programming: Program. Refers to borrowing computer science terminology to indicate that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are merely habitual programs that can be improved by upgrading our "thinking" software. By improving the repetition of our thoughts and behaviors, we can achieve better results in action.
4. History of NLP: Credit goes to Richard Bandler and John Grinder.
Chapter Three: Why Fast and Effective
The solution approach of "NLP Brief Psychotherapy" is to find the stored experiences that trigger negative emotions and then modify the network of stored experiences using the same logic. The source of all such negative emotions stems from protective mechanisms in the subconscious, enabling the individual to protect themselves better when similar situations arise again, thus leading to a better life. Of course, this mechanism often makes individuals overly sensitive to certain things, preventing them from living normal lives and affecting their quality of life.
The rapid effectiveness of the "therapy" is mainly reflected in:
(1) Focusing on "solutions" rather than "problems."
(2) Everyone wants a better tomorrow.
(3) Not deciding the course of life for the counselee but guiding them to recognize they have more choices.
(4) Not assuming "what it should be like" —— the attitude of "NLP Brief Psychotherapy": no two people are the same; differences can occur within two minutes. Therefore, "NLP Brief Psychotherapy" believes no two cases are the same, and thus does not assume how things or outcomes should be.
(5) Emphasizing that the counselee already possesses the required capabilities.
(6) Focusing on "holistic balance."
The "therapy" should adopt the following attitudes towards the counselee's problems:
(1) Everyone has their own worldview ("how the world works") (beliefs, values, rules). They handle all matters based on this worldview.
(2) The counselee's subconscious strives to give them more and better outcomes and always protects them from harm.
(3) Intentions are always good; it’s just that all methods fail to achieve expected results.
(4) All problems are merely phenomena caused by persistently using ineffective solutions.
(5) Therefore, all problems are created by the counselee and maintained by them, so they are also solvable by them.
(6) The technique for changing the counselee's views of the world and others is called "reframing" in NLP.
Some guiding concepts related to counselors include:
(1) First, accept the counselee's way of viewing the world.
(2) The more flexible, the better control over the overall situation.
(3) If unable to solve, break the problem into smaller parts.
(4) People's daily operations are always based on their internal perspective of the world, not sensory experiences.
(5) People are always making the best choice for themselves at any given moment.
(6) Give the counselee more choices instead of taking away their choices. The "gradual detachment method" applies this systematic concept, returning emotions to the subconscious part responsible for emotions, thereby allowing the part responsible for thinking and problem-solving in the subconscious to function.
(7) All outcomes stem from changes in the counselee's mental state.
"NLP Brief Psychotherapy" takes a more positive attitude toward the counselee's problems: this person is handling the situation in this way, but are there other more effective ways? Counselees without labels are easier to change.
From a physiological and neuroscientific perspective, in the brain, the "limbic system" is responsible for emotions and the physiological state due to existing emotions, while the "prefrontal cortex" handles analytical thinking and problem-solving. Whenever the "limbic system" is active, the "prefrontal cortex" cannot be active.
The concept adopted by the "therapy" is: every member or part of the system has its function or positive value, so its existence should be acknowledged.
Chapter Four: The Role of the Subconscious
1. Understanding Consciousness and Subconsciousness:
The "prefrontal cortex" is the center of consciousness. The "hypothalamus" is the center of the subconscious.
3. The "automatic selection of the best" mechanism of the subconscious.
5. The scope included in consciousness:
The functions of consciousness: Input - Deep processing - Output