Simply put, psychotherapy and counselling are ways to understand how and why we do and think the way that we do. The objective is to use this understanding to improve our lives by making changes that seek to achieve our goals and dreams.

Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy (NLPt) is a specialised form of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). The idea is that we work from and react to the world as we construct it from our experiences rather than directly from the "real world". We build our own unique models or maps of the world. Although all such maps are genuine to each of us, no one map is fully able to represent the "real world". Further, NLP is a way of exploring how people think, identifying success and then applying these successful actions or even beliefs in ways that work. This has proved practical and effective in a wide range of applications and situations. Using this form of what is called "modelling" change can be quite quick.

NLPt is broad based and draws on concepts from many areas of psychology and psychotherapy. Influences stem from the Gestalt 'school', the family therapy of Virginia Satir, Ericksonian brief therapy, and humanistic psychology. There are also clear links with the fields of systems theory, behavioural psychology and linguistics. More can be found on our web site.

What happens in the therapy?

The Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapist and Counsellor will seek to help you, the client, to identify your desired state i.e. your goals and dreams. You’ll then seek to achieve them by using your own and new resources and skills. This can involve you in experimenting with changing beliefs that limit your success, identifying new beliefs, and/or gaining insights into patterns of your behaviour, which help you to have more choices.

Whilst your personal history is taken as relevant to how you are now, the emphasis will be on how you create how you are today from experiences past and present as well as your ideas about your future. The main focus is on how rather than why. In general people have three main responses when experiencing the world.

We:
• ‘delete’ – we choose to ignore some of our experiences.
• ‘generalise’ – we create universal rules from single experiences.
• ‘distort’ – we create connections and meanings from and between experiences that may not have been meant and that may or may not be helpful.

Your NLP Psychotherapist or Counsellor will be paying close attention to the words that you use, your body language and your behaviour. From this she or he will suggest how you create how you are and changes can be made that will help you become more in control of your life – now and in your future.

This means that you will learn new skills that will help you to achieve measurable success. Your NLP Psychotherapist or Counsellor will help you define these measures so that you will know when your work is complete.

Members

All NLPtCA members have agreed to abide by the Code of Ethics and Complaints Procedures of NLPtCA. If they are practising as psychotherapists and/or counsellors they have also agreed to maintain professional liability and malpractice insurance.

Accredited members registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) are all full members of NLPtCA who meet the Accreditation Criteria.