True Evidence of Change
Over the years many have criticized NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) saying that NLP (& some for hypnosis) is not “evidence-based”.
Guess what?
THEY ARE ENTIRELY WRONG!
Please allow me to explain. :>)
NLP from the get go, was and continues to be truly based on evidence procedures & continuous testing for the work we do or have done as well as measurement of response in the moment from the beginning to the very end & beyond (in follow-up or next sessions). The idea that is put into action is “Calibration”.
It is likely that those who state such non-sense as previously indicated (that NLP is not evidence based) – have no clue what they are talking about, have had no training in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic programming) or have had substandard NLP training at that. Or worse yet, they are biased & seek to discredit an approach with over 50 years of evidence of highly valuable & ethical results.
It is a fact, that when we are doing changework with clients professionally, we should be able to calibrate & test for desired results (measure/calibrate/Test) – find evidence (via the sense-channel activity – see-hear-feel-behave) that what we are doing is making a significant, ecological & positive difference each step all along the way.
Rapport, Calibration, Sensory Acuity (sensory awareness taken to a higher level) & Well-formedness Conditions (WFCs) are key skills in determining if & when a client is accessing desired state (responses). I demonstrate, model, teach & coach each of these skills to elegance in the Licensed Practitioner of NLP® (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) In Hypnosis™ courses that I provide (Society of NLP). I have & I will always focus on how to evaluate each & every response we get in changework & trancework. I guarantee you that I can teach you how to do this as well in ways that will tremendously help you to erase any doubt or confusion you may have had about whether hypnosis or NLP (& now Neurocise®) & its benefits are ultimately THE true interventions that are evidence-based.
Clients should display Neutral signs when their subjective rating is neutral & +/(-) signs when either of these responses are rated as such. These seemingly “invisible” signs (indicators of response – indicators of trance) are visible to the professionally trained eye (& ear) & must be calibrated for the client’s responses (+/( )/(-) – positive – neutral – limiting/negative). It is via calibration & sensory acuity (as well as deep rapport with the client) that we begin to measure & test for desired responses (tracking evidence procedure as it is referred to in NLP) from our very first contact (which may even be over the phone or now online). This is a dynamic & an integral part of all of the work we do with NLP & hypnosis & now Neurocise® – especially clinical/therapeutic changework that I have done for 35+ years now using NLP & Hypnosis (& Neurocise®).
Therapists need to strongly attend to – CALIBRATE to – client responses (indicators of response) – as evidence-based feedback (sensory-based information – see-hear-sense) they can (& do) track. Evidence Procedure (as it is referred to in NLP) is directly tied to Well-formed Conditions (whether the response is positive, within control of the client, VAK – See-Hear-Feel it, whether it is ecological/good for the client & it is testable/measurable – also known as the 5 Well-Formed Conditions of NLP). PS: Send me an email to elvis@neurocise.com and I will send you a copy of the 5 Well-Formed Conditions.
When doing changework we are continuously eliciting evidence as to what we are doing is working (measuring & testing if and when we are achieving desired state with the client). This is essential in our testing & assessment processes. IT IS THROUGH EVIDENCE that we define our approach more precisely & improve the work we proficiently do with clients. Evaluating results & evidence is at the very heart of NLP & Hypnosis changework & now Neurocise®. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. :>)
With decades of experience in training therapists, hypnotherapists, psychologists, psychiatrists & the general public, it is my observation that therapists (as well as the other providers) have not been effectively taught to conduct this type of evidence procedure or testing, nor do they check or assess or measure – test responses (they are or have gotten with clients) as much as they should – evaluating how the processes or patterns (client’s) actually function or operate (run) & whether they are effectively installed & will operate/run in the context they are desired or required. In my opinion, they have been “sold a bill of goods”, that rating a response subjectively (SUDS/etc.) generated by clients (self-report) is evidence of good changework AND they have been led to believe that so-called “research” is proof or evidence for good changework technique. Well, the fact is that “IT IS NOT”. AND it has very little to do with the results trained clinicians get in the field of hard knocks.
SUDS (Subjective Units of Distress Scale), as commonly used in eye movement therapies for instance, is not a calibration tool that is effective on its own. It is a self-assessment mechanism (of subjective distress) that should be backed up by sensory-based observation (true evidence) by the clinician with high sensory-acuity & calibration skills that have been optimally & maximally honed. In NLP, this scale would soon be obsolete… as we are putting forth & focusing most of the effort to get a response that is positive, desirable, pleasurable, powerful & worthwhile (as a performance). Not to say that that is not the objective for psychotherapeutic interventions – but – it is often the case that the absence of distress (or symptoms) is a good enough outcome for various therapies. Not so for NLP or Hypnosis (& now Neurocise®).
As professional healers & helpers we owe it to our clients to add these additional skills to our “therapeutic repertoire” to enhance the measurement & evaluation of responses we achieve in working with clients in our “private practices” manifold.
Will you go the extra mile & learn to enhance sensory acuity & your calibration skills & learn how to truly assess & measure the results you are getting with your clients on their behalf?
I hope & trust that you will/do so. It is the least we can do for the people we serve, is it not?!!
Elvis Lester
