Psychotherapy
In the past Psychotherapy could mean spending one or two sessions a week over several years with a Psycho-analyst and going into intense detail about the underlying conflicts that were responsible for how we are now. This could be valid in that it gave tremendous insight into what makes us tick, especially in relation to our development during childhood and it was a fascinating study of passions that could occur in the subconscious mind leading to difficulties in later life.
Psychotherapy could also have meant involvement in Rogerian counselling sessions over an extended period where we could be invited to re-live some of the issues that had upset us so as to gain more insight. Once again this was a valid and helpful process but could involve going over and over the same ground so much that it could feel depressing. The therapist would be a sounding board but may not necessarily offer any actual guidance.
Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy is quite different and concentrates on focussing on what we want. "What do you want?" This is an amazingly simple yet complex question. When you know what you want your unconscious mind begins to bring it about for you. If you really want to be a millionaire your unconscious mind will start to notice something everyday that will begin to make that a possibility. If you are not bothered about being a millionaire these things will be of no consequence and you will not notice them.
Most people want to live relatively ordinary productive lives and to be able to manage their emotional states so that they can be effective in the things they want to do. This is not too much to ask and it becomes perfectly possible using Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP.
What really appeals about NLP is that it is a positive approach that does not accept that someone has failed but uses the information gained from experience to make choices and find alternative ways to succeed. Anyone who is a Neuro- Linguistic Psychotherapist has to have undergone a comprehensive training that includes personally experiencing all the processes that a client would be asked to do and this allows the therapist to understand how the client may feel at all times during therapy.
Neuro-Linguistic Therapists generally take a more active role in the process than other therapists who can sometimes allow long silences or attach blame to the client's motivation if there is no progress in the therapy. In NLP we take responsibility for finding alternative ways of dealing with issues and match the approach to the client's way of thinking and operating. The client has the rudder and by implication, stays in charge of the outcome. The main thing the therapist needs to know is what the client wants to move towards in their life ("What do you want?") and therapy is geared to make this happen.
John Elliott graduated in Medicine from Edinburgh University in 1969 and in the 1970s trained in Southampton as a Psychiatrist. This training gave experience of Rogerian Psychotherapy including encounter groups and covered a wide range of other approaches including Existential Psychotherapy (R D Laing) and Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy (Freudian). This included 2 years training in a Psychoanalytical Group Course (Foulkesian). Subsequently he became a General Practitioner in the NHS and continued to take a special interest in psychological aspects of disease and of the people and families it was a privilege to work with. The challenge was to adopt a straightforward and practical approach to therapy so as to help people in their everyday lives. Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy fulfils that requirement and allows people to move on in their lives to the things they truly want.
Dr John Elliott
Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists - MRCPsych
United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapists (UKCP) Registered Psychotherapist
Accredited Member of the Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy and Counselling Association
Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Southampton
UK