Neuro-Linguistic Programming Applied to a Touch for Health Balance

BRIAN ESTY

2010 CONFERENCE PAPER

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a collection of therapeutic tools found to be very effective at changing patterns of behavior. These tools are based primarily in verbal communication and are directed at resolving conflicts between the conscious and non-conscious aspects of awareness. This is accomplished by observing cues that identify non- conscious thought processes, and communicating using these cues to create solutions that are more congruent with our conscious intent. This is very close to what we do in a Touch for Health (TFH) balance. We communicate with the non-conscious, energetic aspects of self using muscle testing, and identify solutions which enable energy to move more congruently with our goals. NLP offers us as TFH practitioners additional tools we can utilize to achieve these ends, enhancing the power of our balances to facilitate change in our lives. Over the years NLP has acquired some ethical issues as the techniques have been applied to manipulate people into choices they may not have otherwise made. Unfortunately, muscle testing also suffers some of the same problems. The distinction, as we well know, is to always work from permission, with respect and in the context of conscious choice for a specific outcome.