NEW!
The Official Guide to Medical NLP



“An elegant and wonderful book ... I recommend you read it over and over and over...”

-Dr Richard Bandler
Co-creator and Developer of NLP

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What is Medical NLP?

NEURO+LINGUISTIC+PROGRAMMING
Neurolinguistics is a field that studies the impact of language or communication on the brain. The word "programming" derives from computer science, and refers to our feelings, behaviours and responses, many of them automatic, that result from the way we internally and unconsciously process information. 

As far back as the 1930s the idea that words could quite literally alter the way the brain responds was very much just a theory. In the mid-1970s, Dr Richard Bandler and John Grinder set out to investigate this premise by modelling several highly effective doctors and therapists in order to identify the qualities responsible for their success. When they applied the micro-strategies they uncovered to other people, they found the effects could be replicated. The field became known as Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and, within a few, short years, its simplicity and effectiveness swept the world of business, sports and personal development.

Over the past 10 years, the advent of advanced scanning technology, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, PET, and Heart Rate Variability, proved the hypothesis correct. Words do affect the brain and the subsequent changes in our neurological functions, including our neurochemistry, directly influence our experience, behaviour, health and well-being.

So, rather than to use communication casually or carelessly, NLP sets out to use it precisely, with specific outcomes in mind.

Medical NLP, now an established adjunct to NLP, developed out of the highly specialised needs of the healthcare professions and their patients and clients.

COMMUNICATION AND RESULTS

Good communication is central to the relationship between doctor and patient – not only because it can significantly increase concordance and adherence, reduce risk of litigation, but even directly influence the success of many treatments and interventions.

Recent research has shown that patients, who like, trust and are treated positively by their medical professionals, need less pre- and post-operative medication and experience shortened recovery times. The doctor-patient relationship can help trigger powerful resources in patients, to a greater degree than might be expected from the physical treatment itself. onversely, careless or inept communication can worsen the subjective experience of pain, provoke the “revolving door” syndrome in patients, and even trigger episodes, such as asthma attacks.

MEDICAL ERRORS Medical errors and deaths in the UK, many of them the result of poor communication, are occurring at a rate of more 1,000,000 a year. Particularly worrying side-effects of this include a dramatic rise in lawsuits brought against doctors and hospitals, the consequent erosion of the trust between doctors and patients, and the increase of “defensive medicine”. This can include a greater wariness and distance on the part of the doctor and the ordering of treatments, tests and procedures for the purpose of protecting the doctor from criticism, rather than diagnosing or treating the patient. For the physician, this can cause depression, stress and even suicide. One significant study concludes that what a doctor says may be less important than how he or she says it. As researcher and professor emeritus of medicine W Grant Thompson comments: “The process and tone of the visit have significance.” POWER TO IMPROVE In other words, by understanding and practising good communication, health professionals have the power significantly to improve outcomes for their patients, reduce their risk of medical errors and law suits, and, at the same time, actively care for their own health and well-being. But, what specifically is “good communication” and how can you achieve it, as a busy health professional, working within the constraints of reduced time and resources, increasing bureaucracy, and the continuing pressure of target-based practice?   WHOLE-PERSON HEALTHCARE Medical NLP provides a framework to apply “whole-person” healthcare. The five aspects of human experience – physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual – have all been shown in a number of extensive studies to significantly impact our health and well-being. Dysfunction in any one of these areas can adversely affect the others, as well as impair responsiveness to treatment, reduce adherence and recovery time, increase the perception of pain and intensify emotional and physical distress. Simply employing the ruling molecular model (cause and effect) to all but the simplest organic problems may reduce or eliminate symptoms, but does little to resolve the issues that cause and maintain the underlying condition. The whole-person approach to healthcare is particularly valuable to the medical profession in the light of the sheer weight of complex chronic illnesses, as well as of “non-medical” (psycho-social) complaints doctors and other health professionals are now called on to treat. The simple, non-pharmacological principles and techniques developed by Medical NLP, substantially increase the clinician’s flexibility and range, both to understand the patient’s problems (and those of him- or herself, family and friends) in a wider context, and to tailor interventions to use, adjunctively or independently, to significantly improve treatment outcomes.

 

CONSULTATION MODEL

Society of Medical NLP trainings introduce and expand a practical three-part consultation model that all health professionals can integrate into their consultation/treatment processes with minimum effort and significant results.

• With current emphasis on meeting increased patient demands, the first part of the process focuses on rapid and full engagement with the patient, deepening rapport, and creating concordance. Using little-known verbal and non-verbal processes, it allows doctor and patient to enter a mutually respectful relationship, with shared responsibility for the process of healing.
   
• The second part introduces health professionals to an area of illness and disease hitherto unexplored in medical training – understanding how the patient unconsciously prevents him- or herself from making changes. Here, the physician is empowered with tools to “decode” hidden agendas, secondary gains, to deal with objections from “difficult” patients, and to begin to destabilise unresourceful beliefs and behaviour.

• By understanding the process and structure of the patient’s problem, the clinician can move on to the third stage – orientating the patient towards recovery, and applying explicit techniques to help the patient move from a “stuck” state to achieve specific change. The patient is then guided towards adopting and maintaining new, healthier, and more appropriate attitudes and behaviours for their future well-being.

The flexibility of this process also helps busy health providers focus on, and deliver, whichever part of the intervention is likely to be most effective within a given time frame.

The Master Practitioner training course will provide those health professionals who already have a foundation at Practitioner level to begin to create and develop entirely new interventions to meet the variety of needs encountered on a daily basis in an undifferentiated patient population.

All principles and techniques - many of which are exclusive to Society of Medical NLP trainings - are equally valuable in advancing your own personal and professional development.