In this category, I discuss a variety of concepts from psychology and psychotherapy. You’ll see many names from the psychology field, and I’ll discuss how some concepts of psychology are highly relevant in the field of NLP. Namely, Carl Jung, William James, Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir, Melvin Lerner, William James, George Miller and more. The concepts in this blog will help you better understand how people think and behave.
According to the theory of planned behaviour, people make decisions based on three things: attitudes towards an activity (how much they enjoy doing it), subjective norms (what others expect them to do), and perceived behavioural control (whether they believe they have the ability to perform the desired behaviour).
In addition to these three concepts, self-efficacy refers to how confident a person feels about his or her own capabilities. This confidence is often influenced by past experiences with similar situations.
According to social cognitive theory, we learn through observation and imitation. We also learn through modelling. If we see others doing something, we tend to copy them. And if we see others failing at something, we might try to avoid failure ourselves.
The social cognitive theory explains how these processes work together to influence behaviour. It suggests that motivation drives behaviour, while behaviour influences motivation. This means that when we feel motivated to act, we will behave. However, when we feel unmotivated, we won’t act.
According to the conservation of resources theory, people tend to engage in behaviours that provide them with more resources than they expend. In other words, people who spend money on themselves tend to save less money than those who spend money on others.
Nevertheless, there are still many people out there who believe that NLP is a separate philosophy or belief system. It is not. In fact, many of the tools and techniques used in NLP and Timeline Therapy(TM) are based on cognitive and behavioural techniques and concepts from psychology.
Moreover, if you want to deeply understand NLP techniques and NLP coaching, you’ll want to read these articles. You will find a lot of history and context in this section.
Just Five Ways NLP Is Proven In Science: A Journey from Pseudoscience to Neuroscience-Backed Therapy For decades, Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) was often relegated to the realm of pseudoscience, met with skepticism and dismissed as lacking scientific backing. However, recent advancements in neuroscience research are shedding light on the profound impact of language on our thoughts, … Read more
Unravelling the PTSD and Cortisol Connection: Understanding Trauma, Mental Resilience, and the Path to Healing In the intricate tapestry of human physiology, cortisol plays a pivotal role as the body’s primary stress hormone. While cortisol is essential for survival, its excessive release can have profound consequences on mental health and resilience. Recent research, including a groundbreaking … Read more
When we befriend our emotions, we create a headspace where it’s safe to feel rather than distract ourselves with thoughts or external stimuli. When you feel emotions without judgement, you can develop a healthy relationship with them and learn to understand and manage them. If you choose this approach, you can benefit from improved emotional … Read more
OCD: The Unmasking of a Complex Psychological Compulsion When you hear the term OCD what happens in your mind? Does it conjure up an image of someone washing their hands repeatedly, constantly checking if a door is locked, or lining up their belongings on a table? In this article, I’ll be discussing the many faces … Read more
Bast, originally known as Pasht, was said to be the daughter of Ra the Sun god. She defended her father against Apep, the Serpent representing the evil forces of darkness. The archetype of Egyptian Goddess Bast is a useful one to learn about if you’re working with consciousness. As a reward for protecting her father … Read more
It’s Time To Remix Your Stories To Serve YOU! Most of us get into the habit of telling stories in a specific way. We might take a positive perspective, express them using neutral emotions, or perhaps, imbue them with negative undertones. Either way, our stories become self-fulfilling. Whatever we say becomes the story we live … Read more
Cognitive dissonance is the phrase used to describe the state derived from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. Most frequently, when discussed, this concept links with ideas of conflict or feelings of uneasiness. What would happen if we started to perceive cognitive dissonance as a process of growth and development? For example, if we … Read more
Could Optimum Health & Healing Be Simpler Than We Think? A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon this interesting article [1]. It questions whether the philosophy of modern medicine prioritises profit over human health. Now is an excellent time to ask whether we can develop a happy and healthy global population by applying simpler … Read more
Mass Mesmerizm In Action In November 1920, the “one to many” communication era began with the advent of the radio, ‘the wireless’ as my grandmother used to call it. You may imagine that it happened long before the twentieth century, following the invention of the printing press. You’d be correct. What I’m referring to is … Read more
We Hear So Much About Ego We hear so much about the ego in everyday life, let alone if we’re engaged in any field of psychology or therapy. Some suggest we must overcome or release the ego. Others say it’s a critical element of who we are. In reality, it’s unlikely we can delete the … Read more
Blinded By Status Like it or not, status is prevalent in every society, in every country across the globe. In reality, status is a powerful method of control and separation. What you may not have considered is that an over-attachment to status impacts our ability to receive. We inject ourselves at an early age with … Read more
When you see the word, ‘alchemy’ it may conjure images of people hovering over hot pans and stoves, intending to transform base metals into gold. Or perhaps you’ve heard the term used more recently regarding secret organisations and conspiracy theories. We humans do love a good story! So what is spiritual alchemy and, why might … Read more
Everyone Experiences The Feeling of Being A Victim At Some Point Anyone who embraces life with an open heart will sometimes feel like a victim. We all go through different aspects of being a victim in our life. It begins in childhood when we feel vulnerable and dependent upon others. Later, it follows us into … Read more
Clean Language Tools Get Better Results And Better Communication Whether you’re a coach, manager or leader, clean language tools get better results when you’re communicating your ideas. These simple techniques will increase your engagement and impact on those around you. When we learn to listen so attentively that our awareness of the words, vocal tone … Read more
There Are Many Dimensions Beyond The Three Most Familiar As you read this, you can increase your awareness of height by raising your hand above your head. You can notice width by stretching your hands to either side. Extend your arms front and back and you are appreciating the three-dimensional space in which you currently … Read more
If You’re Going To Journal – You Need To Set Clear Intentions To Get The Benefit Do you journal? I do, and yet not in the way you might expect. It’s fair to say that journaling is a super-hot topic right now. Nearly every personal growth and self-help website tells us to keep a journal … Read more
The Addiction Business Is Big And It’s Poised For Dramatic Growth In February 2020, Reports And Data released this article [1] quoting Globenewswire.com “The global drug addiction treatment market is forecast to reach USD 31.17 Billion by 2027, according to a new report by Reports and Data.” To put that into perspective for you, it’s … Read more
Once We Categorise Negative Feelings We Create Depression As A Stuck State The WHO website [1] states that “depression is a common mental disorder affecting almost 264 million people, of all ages, globally. That’s pretty significant. However, are ALL cases of what we term as ‘depression’ really a stuck state? Personally, I don’t align with … Read more
You Were Born With Tear Ducts For A Reason Everyone cries, it’s not a gender-specific activity. Moreover, I’m going to give you nine reasons why crying is good for your health and how it can benefit you in a multitude of ways. It’s an important part of processing emotions and healing from traumatic experiences. Whether … Read more
Laughter And Happiness Improve Health – It’s That Simple! When Is The Last Time You Laughed Really Hard? In recent years we’ve spent a great deal of time talking about happiness. We hunt it down, try to maintain it, and worry about losing it. However, did you know that laughter and happiness improve health? If … Read more
The Ever-Evolving Landscape of Psychotherapy If you are studying or interested in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), you’ll know that Bandler and Grinder (the creators of NLP) cite the work of Fritz Perls as one of the key influences in NLP. Specifically, the development of the tools and techniques of the Neuro-Linguistic Programming suite. In fact, in … Read more
Disconnection From Others Absolves Us From Responsibility and Facing Our Emotions Facing our emotions can often be disconcerting and frightening, until we practice. Melvin Lerner was a Social Psychologist and pioneer in the study of Social Justice, who developed the “Just World” hypothesis. He suggested that people are most comfortable when they have a sense … Read more
Can we inherit the essence of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions from our forefathers? Furthermore, can they pass down through DNA like physical characteristics? That is to say, is there a relationship between epigenetics and trauma; either emotional or physical? In the last 100 years, the world population experienced vast amounts of emotional and physical … Read more
The Power of Cross Crawling To Balance Your Body & Mind What Is Cross Crawling? Cross crawling is when we use the two sides of our bodies in opposition or mirroring movement. The automatic sequencing of upright muscle movement (walking and running) is supposed to be coordinated the same way. You’ll have experienced this, as … Read more
What Is NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)? In simple terms, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) delivers you a dictionary for your mind. That is to say, it’s the life map you needed at birth and you didn’t get! So, what is NLP really? In summary, NLP is a collection of practical techniques, skills and strategies that are easily learned … Read more
Sigmund Freud’s ‘frosty mind’ view of how the mind works overall and this is summarised in his famous quote below. “The Mind is like an iceberg; it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.” Sigmund Freud According to Freud, our psyche is like an iceberg. The id (or areas of primitive drives) lies hidden … Read more
“To be human is to feel inferior.” Alfred Adler Alfred Adler And Self-Esteem Alfred Adler was one of the first psychoanalysts suggesting that a person’s psychology is influenced by present and conscious forces. Additionally, he was curious about the influence of the social realm and environment as equally important to an individual’s past. So, where … Read more
The Birth of Behavioural Psychology Did you think Ivan Pavlov’s experiment with some dogs, a steak and an auditory anchor (or tuning fork) was interesting? Indeed, if the answer is yes, you might be curious to learn that another Behavioural Psychologist, B. F. Skinner studied the laws of behaviour using pigeons. In fact, Skinner thought … Read more
