-Caveat Lector-
----Original Message Follows----
From: Das GOAT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
In his later years (he died in 1980), Dr Erickson was visited by unknowns
Bandler and Grinder, who (I believe) had helped in preparation of Erickson's
"Complete Works" and who pressed him to teach them his "secrets," in order
to
preserve these "for posterity." They asked him to explain in detail what he
did and exactly how he did it -- so that his spontaneous, quasi-instinctive
and individually tailored techniques could be turned into a "science" for
wider application (in what became "Neurolinguistic Programming," Bandler &
Grinder's own little private moneymaking machine -- what some might call a
"cult." )
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I respond:
I have met many of the NLP enthusiasts that exist in Northern California.
North California, you may know, has been the international hotbed for NLP
development for some time. None of the individuals I have met could be
construed in ANY sense of the word to be followers, which is a necessary
element in a cult; without followers, there is no cult.
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So, Erickson's empathetic resonance with each individual patient was reduced
to a rote formula exercised with everyone (broken down into certain
pigeonholed "types"), and his sensitivity to (even MERGING with)
subconscious
thought processes in the distressed was replaced by the NLP practitioner's
"automated" flowcharting of "system strategies."
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I respond:
Bandler and Grinder state, many times throughout their books, that NLP is
not so effective if reduced to a mere system of doctoring. They often state
that it is merely a by-product of being earnestly interested in fostering
the kinds of spaces that Erickson was fond of. Being aware of the
techniques [there being a practically endless amount of ways to use speech
to stress common ground as opposed to using it to highlight differences] is
not enough to be good at it. One must so desire that it succeed that one
spends some truly attentive time in observing the dynamics of unity.
Erickson, as they mentioned, PRACTICED fostering connectedness between
individuals so much that much of what we would call a technique became
merely an unconscious personality trait, something that became such a habit
[seeking understanding between himself and his fellow conversant] that it
flowed seemingly quite naturally. It became the only way he WANTED to do
things and so it became all he did, through practice. This point Bandler
and Grinder stress over and over. This brings me to the idea that Bandler
and Grinder are greedy capitalists.
I have, at times, been quite emeshed in the holistic, naturopathic, new-agey
circuit that dominates much of the western United States. One of things
that I have come to understand, through living at a resort that specialized
in such thingss, is that there are a vast amount of Americans that simply DO
NOT VALUE something if they haven't paid through the nose for it. As such,
a vast majority of what we might call healing arts simply WILL NOT WORK
without the participants actually earnestly wanting to get something out of
it, which often will not happen if they do not give something of
considerable value for it.
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I'm just cynical about NLP being put up on a pedestal and
treated as if the equal of clinical hypnosis in the hands of a
psychotherapist with sensitive, humane instincts, like Milton Erickson, from
whom the ONLY grains of truth in Neuro Linguistic Programming were ripped
off
-- by two "New Age Capitalists," yuppie con men, who ABUSED the mind FOR
PROFIT.
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I respond:
I know people who have been taught by them and these people helped me a lot.
If Bandler and Grinder are greedy, then so be it. It is absolutely no
reflection on NLP as a tool.
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I hold NLP responsible for a de-individualizing of the psyche in "quick
fixes" instead of humane hypnotherapy, and for "mechanizing" communications
with the subconscious
in such a way as to dehumanize what is most human in its idiosyncrasy.
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I respond:
I have never seen NLP as a quick fix; in fact I have seen it as quite an
endeavor, requiring active participation in discovering one's own
motivations for doing some things. I am not sure where you had the idea
that it is some two-hour cure all session. It is not.
Also, NLP is a tool. Do you hold the tank responsible for the agent that
directed it to plow into the Mt. Carmel community?
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Dr
Erickson was first and foremost a kindly, wise healer; Bandler & Grinder
were
just SALESMEN.
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I respond:
My impression of Erickson is that he was an exceptionally perceptive
individual. I suspect that he was in a much better position to decide who
to impart this system to then either you or I.
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