There has been much discussion in some circles, as to whether NLP is Therapy or not, and I love this one. Therapy might be over-used term for some, so it may have meanings attached for each person reading this…

Drawing an analogy from the another common definition – when is a hill a mountain or a so-called mountain actually a hill? There is no universal definition for hills and mountains, as there are differences world-wide on the distinction. There are admissions given for where a hill or mountain has been named by the local people. Some definitions quote height ranges, some quote angles for the structure, and some refer to the abruptness of the structure realting to the surrounding landscape. (See end of this Post for the full analogy). A mountain or hill’s height and name is very subjective.

So is the definition of NLP in relation to therapy, or is it the definition of therapy in relation to NLP….

Early quotes from Grinder and Bandler were all around therapy….

• NLP was based upon the modeling of 3 major therapists. Not just any therapists, “master psychotherapists“, Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir, and Milton Erickson.
• Grinder and Bandler reviewed many hours of audio and video of the three therapists and spent months imitating how they worked with clients, in order to replicate or ‘model’ the communication patterns which supposedly made these individuals more successful than their peers. The studies were an attempt to identify why particular psychotherapists were so effective with their patients. Rather than take a purely theoretical approach, Bandler and Grinder sought to observe what the therapists were doing, categorize it, and ‘model’ it.
• “…when you watch and listen to Virginia Satir and Milton Erickson do therapy, they apparently could not be more different … People also report that the experiences of being with them are profoundly different. However, if you examine their behavior and the essential key patterns and sequences of what they do, they are similar. … The same was true of Fritz Perls … when he was operating in what I consider a powerful and effective way, he was using the same sequences of patterns that you will find in their work. – Bandler, R., Grinder, J. (1979). Frogs into Princes: Neuro Linguistic Programming. Moab, UT: Real People Press.. pp. 149 (p.8 (quote).
• Book name examples – The Structure of Magic I: A Book About Language and Therapy. Bandler, Richard., and John Grinder (1975a). Palo Alto, CA
• Later associations with ‘therapists’ – They also quote Frank Farrelly, creater of Provocative Therapy.

Therapy (in Greek: θεραπεία), or treatment, is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a diagnosis. In the medical field, it is synonymous with the word “treatment”. With this association, it conjurs up some sort of fixing something. Moving to therapeutic, the definition is a little more open – A therapeutic effect is a consequence of a particular treatment which is judged to be desirable and beneficial.

My opinion….
For me it depends on what I am doing as to whether NLP is Therapy or not. One moment I may be using NLP for some ‘therapy’ with a client, and an hour or two later, I may be using a very different personal process that helps me with sorting out my intentions, and later defining an outcome with my finances, and later still writing an email for a work-related project. When does anything we ever do become therapy? By this definition: A therapeutic effect is a consequence of a particular treatment which is judged to be desirable and beneficial. I could help someone with the photocopier where I work and it be therapeutic – maybe it is if my treatment of my fellow staff members is congruent…. Talking may be therapeutic, and relaxation may also be. Both of these could also cause stress or anxiety under some circumstances.

It is my opinion that you cannot learn anything about NLP (on a training course) without at least being instructed on how to ‘do therapy’ – at least one of the patterns you will be trained in should involve therapy. You may never want to be a therapist, but you will learn ‘therapy’ amongst many other items.

Hill and Mountain analogy notes

Castle Hill in Townsville, Australia is named a Hill, but is often decribed as a mountain in the same sentence – Appreciate the beauty of the city and nearby Magnetic Island from Castle Hill, the rugged mountain that gives Townsville a unique rustic appeal.
The hill is just metres short of being classified as a mountain, and many years ago, a local Townsville man gathered other enthusiasts and they all started carting rocks and cement to the top and tried to make it a mountain so that it could be renamed a mountain. I don’t believe that it ever reached the ‘required’ height – but what book of rules was he reading? This guy could have saved a lot of time and effort if he had read the Dictionary – In the Oxford English Dictionary a mountain is defined as “a natural elevation of the earth surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level and attaining an altitude which, relatively to the adjacent elevation, is impressive or notable.” Based upon this, it had to be natural (his fellow mountain making slaves could be classed as ‘natural’ in some senses, but man-made cement may not be), and it is already abrupt, impressive or notable.

The wikipedia definition of a mountain

In the United States, the following points of measurement have been used and taught in geography classes:
* Flat to 500 feet, base to highest point – Rolling Plain
* Highest point 501 to 999 feet above base – Hill
* Highest point 1000 feet or more above base – Mountain
Whether a landform is called a mountain may depend on usage among the local people. The highest point in San Francisco, California, is called Mount Davidson, notwithstanding its height of 990 feet, which makes it ten feet short of the minimum for a mountain in American appellation.
Other definitions of “mountain” include:
* Height over base of at least 2,500m
* Height over base of 1500-2500m with a slope greater than 2 degrees
* Height over base of 1000-1500m with a slope greater than 5 degrees
* Local (radius 7 km) elevation greater than 300m, or 300-1000m if local (radius 7 km) elevation is greater than 300m
By this definition, mountains cover 64% of Asia, 25% of Europe, 22% of South America, 17% of Australia, and 3% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earth’s land mass is mountainous and 10% of people live in mountainous regions. Most of the world’s rivers are fed from mountain sources, and more than half of humanity depends on mountains for water.