There are nearly as many definitions of Neuro-Linguistic Programming as their are NLP practitioners. Some are quite involved, and some are useful. My favorites are:
There's a HUGE amount of NLP information on the Web, and I won't bother duplicating it here. What I will do is tell you what NLP is to me, and then add to the bottom a few links to what I think are the best, most informative sites out there.
For fifteen years I've been involved in some way with violent or potentially violent people as part of my job. I'm currently a Campus Security Officer in a hospital, and before that I was a professional Emergency Medical Technician on a private ambulance which served a psychiatric facility. In both positions, I was considered valuable in large part because of the way I handled violence and potential violence... usually verbally--without physical interaction on my own part--and always without harming the patient.
Most people attributed this to my size. I'm tall and very heavily built, with a large and dense skeleton. I could stand to lose about a hundred pounds of fat, but most people think I'm only about forty pounds overweight. I disagree with that idea, because I've seen people my size who couldn't do anything good in a problem situation, and I've seen people only as big as my leg who handle people beautifully.
I began to read about NLP with Anthony Robbins' Unlimited Power some years ago, and loved it. The idea that there are instructions for using your brain--instructions you can use to actually change quickly and simply--is very exciting!
Though I'd read about it for years, I didn't decide to take a training until 1997, when I decided it was time to learn how I do what I do, so I can teach other people to do it.
I contacted John and Kathleen LaValle and took Persuasion EngineeringTM and Practitioner Certification in Spring 1997, then Master Practitioner in Fall 1997. It turns out to have been the greatest gift I could ever give myself.
John and Kathleen Lavalle and Doug O'Brien are masters of their craft. And they love me, so they have great taste as well! (Note: Richard Bandler taught with John Lavalle at Persuasion Engineering. What a great experience! If you get the chance to train with Richard, take it!)
Since then, I've taken Richard Bandler's Meta-Master PractitionerTM training and Jonathan Altfeld's Linguistic WizardryTM and Skill-Builder trainings. While I was in Austin for Meta-Master I went ahead and repeated Persuasion Engineering too. Funny how it was so much better the second time...
I also had the honor of acting as a resource trainer for one of Doug O'Brien's Practitioner trainings; I think I learned as much by teaching as by participating in any prior training. Thanks, Doug, for the opportunity.
Some time ago I began wondering about violence, how to intervene in it, what to do to prevent it, that kind of thing. I even started noticing what I did and started looking into a model of myself so I could teach others how I do it. Then I found a book which, if I could have researched and written a book, would have been the one. I encourage you to get it and read it and buy copies for anyone and everyone you love. It's called "The Gift of Fear," and it's by Gavin De Becker. GET AND READ THIS BOOK.
I am still interested in a personal model, so if you are someone, or know someone who:
please e-mail me. I want to know all about it.