[Neurons] 2010 Meta Reflections #6

[L. Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall

Meta Reflections - 2010 - #6

Feb 8, 2010

 

 

THE NEURO-SEMANTIC DIFFERENCE

Part V

 

"Why 'Neuro-Semantics?'  What does Neuro-Semantics offers that NLP does not?
What would you say is the biggest difference?"

 

 

 

In explaining the difference that Neuro-Semantics has brought to the field
of NLP, one of the newest developments is an understanding of the historical
position of NLP.  After I discovered this, I wrote about it in various
articles and books on Self-Actualization Psychology.  You can find the
articles on the website  <http://www.self-actualizing.org/>
www.self-actualizing.org and in the book, Self-Actualization Psychology
(2008).  I also presented it to four different NLP Conferences from 2007
through 2009 as well as a chapter in Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Concepts
and Applications (2008).

 

And what is the position of NLP historically?  We know that, historically,
it arose in southern California during the early 1970s from the encounter
that Richard Bandler had with the materials of Fritz Perls as he listened to
tapes and transcribed them for a book and then his encounter with Virginia
Satir, similarly making transcripts of her work.  The language patterns that
he found and replicated were then analyzed by John Grinder using
Transformational Grammar (TG) distinctions.  Together this gave birth to The
Meta-Model of Language in Therapy as recorded in "The Structure of Magic"
Volumes I and II, 1975, 1976.  

 

Further, because TG was part of the emerging Cognitive psychology movement
that was being led by Noam Chomsky, George Miller, Eugene Gallanter, and
Karl Pribram, the Cognitive Revolution informed and governed the early
development of NLP.  Grinder did his doctorate in 

TG and even wrote a book on TG with Suzanne Elgin (A Guide to
Transformational Grammarm 1973).  Then together Bandler and Grinder used
George Miller's developments of the TOTE model as their template for
identifying "strategies" within the structure of experience.

 

Gregory Bateson then encouraged them to study the language patterns of
Milton Erickson, after that came the "Gesalt Class" that Richard ran at the
University as a student which turned into the first NLP study group.  And
that, in turn, gave birth to the movement and field.  Out of that class came
the first group of NLP leaders and trainers as they were inventing it as
they went- Robert Dilts, Judith DeLozier, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, David
Gordon, Terry McClintock, Steve Gilligan, Frank Pucelik, Bryon Lewis, etc.

 

That's the usual "NLP History" that's in the great majority of books on NLP.
But where did Perls, Satir, Bateson, and Erickson get their ideas?  What was
the larger historical perspective? If we step back just a little bit- they
were all part of a larger historical movement there in California, the Human
Potential Movement (HPM).  In fact, just up the road from Santa Cruz was
Esalen which Michael Murphy and Richard Price created in 1962 when they
purchased the property.  Then in 1963 Fritz Perls moved onto the property to
become the first "scholar-in-residence."  In 1964 Virginia Satir moved there
to live as the first Director of Training and Development at Esalen.  And in
1964 Gregory Bateson delivered the second workshop at Esalen and later moved
there as the last "scholar-in-residence."  That's also where he died.

 

So there you have it- 

The Who's Who of the Experts that NLP modeled to launch the movement were
all living and working together many, many years prior to Bandler and
Grinder as some of the second and third generation of leaders in the Human
Potential Movement.

 

How about that!  And if they were second and third generation leaders, then
who were the pioneers of the HPM?   Abraham Maslow primarily, then Carl
Rogers, and then other key thinkers as Rollo May, Eric Fromm, Roberto
Assagioli, Viktor Frankl, James Bugental, Evert Shostrum, Will Shultz, etc.
And way back in 1937 Maslow was the person who began modeling
self-actualizing people.  And the first two individuals who stood out as
excellent characters of the best in human kind were Max Wertheimer and Ruth
Benedict.  And it was Maslow who almost single-handedly created the paradigm
shift in the field of Psychology from studying sickness and pathology to
studying health and excellence.

 

And what does all of this mean for NLP today?  It identifies where NLP sits
historically- NLP is a step-child of the HPM.  NLP got its basic
"presuppositions" from the Self-Actualization Psychology of Maslow and
Rogers.  NLP with its emphasis on modeling human greatness for communication
excellence is actually positioned within a much larger perspective- the
development and unleashing of human potential with the human potential
movement.  It is actually within the humanistic movement that emphasizes the
humanity of persons - in contrast to treating people impersonally as tools
or technology.

 

So NLP arose from two movements- the Growth Movement of Maslow and Rogers
(that later became known as the Human Potential Movement in the 1960s) and
the Cognitive Psychology Movement.  That's why NLP is often put in the
chapter on Cognitive Psychology in textbooks. 

 

What does all of this mean for NLP today?  It means that NLP people, and
especially Trainers, need to lift their eyes and minds to the larger frame,
the larger perspective of what NLP is about -it is about the ongoing
development of the best in human nature.  It is part of a psychological
perspective.  It means that NLP comes out of an ethical movement in
psychology to make sure that psychology is person focused (in contrast to
the Behaviorist approach of Watson and Skinner).  And when NLP people fully
know this, then we can begin to stop and/or correct the mis-use of NLP and
the unethical practices.

 

 

 

Coming this June ----  Trainers' Training 

NSTT
                        Grand Junction Colorado:  

June 19-July 3.  Contact Dr. Hall: meta at acsol.net 

                        For more information write for the Brochure and
Application.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L.  Michael Hall, Ph.D.

(ISNS) International Society of Neuro-Semantics

The International Meta-Coach System

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO.  81520 USA

1 970-523-7877

      <http://www.neurosemantics.com/> www.neurosemantics.com 

       <http://www.neuro-semantics-trainings.com/>
www.neuro-semantics-trainings.com 

       <http://www.self-actualizing.org/> www.self-actualizing.org

       <http://www.meta-coaching.org/> www.meta-coaching.org

       www.meta-coachfoundation.org 

       <http://www.ns-video.com/> www.ns-video.com 

 

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