I completed my NLP practitioner course last week (yay), which included Time Line Therapy and Hypnosis, conducted by David Shephard and Sally Davies of The Performance Partnership, with Claire Wells as our coaching assistant.

I’d done my due diligence on NLP training providers, and this one had been personally recommended.  None of these courses are cheap and I had no desire to waste money again.  I’d done some other NLP courses with The Performance Partnership, which were pretty amazing, so I was certain this was the one for me right from the start.

http://www.performancepartnership.com

We were a small group – only eight of us as students, an eclectic mix: Regina (Brazilian), Yota (Greek Cypriot), Rod (Scottish), Paola (French, with a wonderful accent; if she’d been a man, I’d have fallen in love, just on the basis of the accent), Anna (Korean from Kazakhstan), Esz (Hungarian), Judy and I (English).

It was an amazing week.  The course took place in Richmond, the other end of the District Line from me.  It started at 8 o’clock in the morning and finished at about 8 o’clock every night, so a full day, but well worth it.  We got through a lot of content and learned so much.  And, by the way, Richmond Hill is a nice little walk and talks to muscles that don’t get much use in flat old Essex…

One of the {many} incredible things about the week was how we all bonded so quickly when we first met as a group.  Something I have only witnessed once or twice before in my life.  Everyone had different skills and talents and they all mixed together really well.  We respected and learned from each other as well as the “formal” learning.  (Note to Claire: that includes you.  You were amazing and supportive all the way through.  A different energy from Sally and David, yes, definitely, but that’s not a bad thing.)

To tell you a little about it, although I don’t want to make this post about it, if you are interested contact me or the Performance Partnership; they hold free introduction days regularly.  I took a very sceptical friend to one, after a particularly traumatic event in her life.  She was astounded by the difference it made.  A one off like that may not be enough to change your life, but that was the start of a journey for me.

NLP was created by Richard Bandler and John Grindler in California in the 1970s, a connection between language, neurological processes and behaviour.  Changing these can change can enable us to achieve our goals.  It’s a different way of communicating with yourself.  Most of us go through our lives only thinking about what we don’t want, not about what we really do want, and NLP helps to change that.

A fairly new approach then, so no wonder that it is still relatively unheard of.  A bit Law of Attraction-y?  Maybe, but nothing wrong with that in my book.  I’ve read lots about the Law of Attraction over the years and have finally come to the realisation that a great deal of ancient teachings know more than I do.  (Yes, obviously, I am fantastic and omnipotent, and think I know everything,  blah, blah, blah.  Which is why I am driving around in a Porsche with money bleeding from my ears.  Not.  Maybe it’s me that is doing something wrong, ya think?).

Like everything else, NLP has its detractors, which is fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion and view, and the only reason I mention it here is because I believe it’s strong enough to persuade people over time.  One of the things that sold it to me (which does include the Performance Partnership, I like their ethos around this) was The Warrior Programme.  I’d been told about it long before I ever attended any NLP course, and was pretty amazed when I started to look into it.

It’s no secret that many ex-servicemen find adjusting to life outside of the forces difficult. Unsurprisingly in my opinion.  I’ve written about this before in other places, about the difficulties and the injustices, the homelessness and poverty, so anything that helps ex-servicemen get their lives back is good for me.

Yes, I do have family connections with the military, so it makes it all a bit more personal. (Do I think all ex-servicemen are heroes, gods/goddesses and perfect beings?  Hell no, they weren’t all choir boys/girls before they started so I don’t expect them to be after, but we put them through a lot.  They see things that most of the rest of us don’t, so it’s no wonder that some, maybe all, have trouble adjusting to a different kind of reality.  Do I think they have the right to be helped to readjust?  Hell yes.  I think we owe them some help with that.  Whatever it takes, and I strongly prefer not using drugs of any kind.  Personal view, and I am prepared to be told I am wrong.   That’s where I stand right now though.)

The Warrior Programme website describes itself as:

“The Warrior Programme is a 3-day motivation and training programme with 12 month structured support and signposting.  The 3-day coaching programme teaches participants practical, effective tools, techniques and coaching strategies to improve performance and motivation and overcome the above. The course outcomes are to improve:

– Confidence

– Self Reliance

– Resilience

– Independence

– Self belief

– Managing self, mood and emotions

If you go to the link below, you will be able to read the results of the randomised control trial.

http://www.warriorprogramme.org.uk/Testimonials

I think the results of the trials speak for themselves, and I know it was as a result of them that people like the MoD started to take this programme seriously.  Me, I find it very humbling.  And gratifying.  That’s why I did this NLP course.

So, back to my course and my group.

I met some wonderful people and I learned a lot.  You meet people along the journey who just touch you, do you know what I mean?  Mostly, I don’t let people get close easily.  My group was different.  It was a case of, “you had to be there.”  All of these people have so much to offer.  I look forward to working with them all again.

 

© Susan Shirley 2016