NLP Applications

What are the Applications of NLP?

Some people are mainly interested NLP applications, or what NLP can do, and how and when it can be used. In other words, what are the jobs for the tool? Some of the NLP applications are quite ubiquitous like phobia cures, allergy cures, modeling, coaching and persuasion, while others are very much less charted. This online book is dedicated to exploring NLP applications.

I like to think of NLP as a tool set to help us move from where we are to where we want to be, which is a very portable definition across many, many contexts. Essentially, you can fill in the blanks in any way you like, to begin to understand how many unique circumstances NLP can be applied to :

• I want to experience more or less __________. (e.g. joy, worthy, grief, relaxation, anger)
• I want to stop __________. (e.g. smoking, pornography, blowing up, drinking, nightmares)
• I want to feel __________. (e.g. better, happier, thinner, more confident)
• I want to have more or less __________. (e.g. time, love, joy, money, debt)
• I want to be more or less __________. (e.g. productive, funny, shy, attractive, healthy)

Of course you could add your own examples to the list, but you get the idea. As long as you are using your mind to improve on your situation, you could say you are using NLP in one form or another, whether or not you are doing so consciously, or whether or not what you are doing has a name associated with it.

NLP Distills What Works into Repeatable Patterns

NLP observes behaviors that work in a variety of contexts. and those habits or strategies that get us what we want or need, will have some habits, patterns, commonalities, regularities or structures that can be studied, learned and taught. After the pattern is boiled down, we find that the simpler the pattern, the easier it is to master, repeat, teach, and modify to suit a particular circumstance.

Some NLPer's compare these structures to jazz, which has a structure (unconscious to those who are not jazz musicians, conscious to those who are), and that structure allows those musicians to jam around that structure in syncopated harmony and melody.

Some of the most common NLP patterns are explained in detail in this very site!

NLP Patterns Only Work When Applied to Context and Universal Needs

It would be a mistake to suppose that we can do NLP in a vacuum. As living beings, we are part of many interdependent spheres of influence, including biological spheres, cultural spheres, social spheres, mental spheres, spiritual spheres, etc. So NLP applications must satisfy the needs of real people in the real world, and the subjective maps that chart that world. Everybody has needs for safety, acceptance, self-expression and meaning. If these needs are ignored, the NLP intervention will simply not work.

NLP patterns can work wonderfully in one context, and can also be impotent in other contexts. Likewise the same pattern in similar contexts can only be effective across many individuals only if it is informed by where those individuals want to go, and where they are coming from.

NLP Application = NLP Techniques => Appropriate Context

When NLP patterns are applied to an appropriate context we have an NLP application. The tool is mated to the job, and the result is change work at the neurological level.

For example, addiction recovery is a powerful application of swish patterns or compulsion blowout patterns in a therapeutic context. Seduction would be an application of persuasive language patterns in a dating context. Family counseling would be an application of positive intent, and re-imprinting. Wealth creation might be an application of timeline or parts integration patterns in a coaching context.

Please feel free to suggest other applications here, and return often for more content!