NLP is acknowledged worldwide as a powerful tool for personal, business, and social change. However, some people are under the mistaken impression that NLP is a force of manipulation and that its practitioners are involved in a cult. People I’ve met have stated this belief to me, but all that means is that I’ve come up with ways to educate them, reminding them that NLP was developed for therapeutic purposes by its founding creators. NLP has maintained its ability to lead people into a life of liberty and happiness, much like fundamental principles set forth by the Founding Fathers of the United States of America.
NLP is a tool for positive influence when used for the higher good of humankind. The founding creators would not have wanted NLP to be used for seduction, but rather for flirtation, which Dr. Richard Bandler has indicated in his rhetoric. Flirtation means to compel people into the pleasures of optimizing their performance while personally enhancing their lives with all the possibilities they can achieve. Becoming familiar with pleasure is what leads us into wanting to do those things that bring us more pleasure in our professional and personal lives. Calling NLP manipulation goes against this principle; manipulation is best used to describe individuals or institutions who use the tools for self-gain. For this reason, it is important as an NLP trainer to be selective about who attends your seminars.
There is nothing dangerous about NLP when it is used for purposes of creating personal freedom, and if that is thought of as extreme, then so be it.
Remember the lyrics of Bob Marley’s song “Redemption”: Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.
NLP offers some of the most effective tools we can use to free our minds. NLP has even inspired the inception of other well-known modalities, which use similar techniques with the same effects, but go by different names.
Dr. Bandler teaches all the tools we need to establish our own power in health and wealth of all kinds; this is true freedom and the opposite of cult leadership. Throughout the years at Dr. Bandler’s seminars, I have met a handful of students whose blood tests came out normal following attendance at one of his seminars. The big deal here is that before they attended the seminars, these particular people had been diagnosed with various diseases and had no hope of recovery. They attended seminars a few times thereafter to ensure that the techniques and concepts remained fresh in their minds so that they could continue to maintain their health. I have kept in touch with these people, and they have indeed maintained their health. Let’s also keep in mind the numerous people whose income has quadrupled after attending Dr. Bandler’s seminars and using the tools of NLP. For those of us interested in matters like these, Dr. Bandler’s ability is one to learn and emulate.
Most things in life have an opposite; it is just the way our world is designed. NLP was created for the benefit of humankind—personally, socially, and professionally—but some have used it for opposite reasons. The negative impact of that falls upon those individuals or institutions, not on the higher purpose on which NLP was founded. This higher purpose is still maintained by those of us who love NLP for guiding people into establishing their own freedom.
Kalliope Barlis,
Licensed NLP Trainer, Author & Doctor of Acupuncture.
