Everyone wants a bargain?

As an experiment on www.nlpmp3.com I e-mailed the newsletter subscribers with a 33% discount on a well known download. Within 48 hours the site has taken the same amount that would normally be the case for a whole month!

Seems that people are tuned into wanting bargains at present...

Les Paul

Les Paul not only created the electric guitar, BUT also audio multi tracking. I check in on him whenever I visit NY and at 93 he is still playing!

Working at the sharp end with NLP, Hypnosis and Provocative Therapy

I have seen literally hundreds of people attend NLP, Hypnosis and Provocative Therapy events over the years and it occurs to me just how big the difference is in these environments and working in private practice. Seminar attendees are of course quite different to private clients who mostly don't care if a practitioner or therapist is using NLP, Hypnosis or a new form of tree hugging, they just want to be well or "normal" as they often indicate...

Many clients will make contact when they are literally at boiling point with "the problem" and this is especially true for issues such as panic attacks, OCD, jealousy and anger issues. Some NLPers and hynotherapy students can get a real shock when they discovery that the theory that they learned in the classroom or workshop simply does not translate into these real life situations as "the techniques" often don't resolve the issue. There are lots of reasons for this, but often the practitioner is relying too heavily on techniques to the extent that they don't get full and detailed
information from the client. Many don't obtain sets of notes prior to a session and fail to record the session so the client can listen back to the interaction.

In an age of quick fixes and accelerated "qualifications" the best "qualification" is extensive practice with a wide range of client conditions from all backgrounds. For this reason I make a point of seeing a number of clients pro bono each month so I see people from a range of demographics. This means that when I teach in my own events I ensure that any teaching is based in what works with real clients! Next year I have a full agenda of workshops all over the world and private practice has never been busier!

My Amersham to be shown on C4 in Jan

My Amersham is a winner in the film short competition and will be shown in Jan 2009 on C4!

A Great event for 2009

Two Days of Therapeutic Change with Andrew Austin and Nick Kemp
April 4 & 5th 2009
The Queens Hotel Leeds UK

Here is an opportunity to train with two highly successful therapistsand trainers who will for the first time be teach how they work with clients

Andrew T Austin
has a clinical background of neurology and neurosciences and will be
covering many of the psycho-neurological aspects of
change work so often overlooked by NLPers, therapists and change
workers in the personal development field.
He firmly believes that an understanding of even the most basic
neurological principals can help accelerate the handwork process and
assist the change worker to develop a greater ability in designing specific interventions for individual clients.

Some of the areas covered:
The structure and nature of the limbic system and the neurological
relationship between memory, kinaesthetic drivers and many of the NLP meta-programs.
The function and relationship between the two hemispheres of the brain.
The neurological basis behind depression and anxiety and how to use
neurological principals to create rapid change in these limiting
conditions.

In addition to this, Andrew will be sharing his latest developments in his work with Integral Eye Movement Therapy including how to sequence in an intervention into the most effective portion of the problem strategy and kinaesthetic metaphors of identity.

Nick Kemp
has been involved in the field of personal change for over 25 years
having studied numerous approaches to change work including hypnosis, neuro linguistic programming, Provocative Therapy and now his own Provocative Change Works (tm) approach.

Nick has appeared extensively on BBC Radio discussing his work with
phobics and demonstrating phobia cures live on the air.
His "Provocative Change Works" approach to Phobias was showcased in
the acclaimed 2 DVD set that was released in 2007, with narration and commentary by Frank Farrelly the creator of Provocative Therapy.

Nick will introduce his Provocative Change Works approach which was
inspired by extensive training with Frank Farrelly creator of
Provocative Therapy and the work of Milton Erickson. He describes this approach as follows

"Provocative Changes Works is the process I use to provoke useful
change in clients, allowing the client to easily move from an
unhelpful stuck state, to a greater state of personal freedom. This
process can work both conversationally and through relaxation, using
humour and the pointing out of many of the absurdities and
contradictions in society's stereotypical views on life. Provocative
Change Works focuses on the here and now with each client, rather than on past events. This is often done in an irreverent and good humoured manner, to produce accelerated change for the client. Crucially Provocative Change Works demonstrates that the client's ability to discover that this change is not time based, but by changing how we pay attention and what it is that we pay attention to, in any given moment."

This accelerated approach to therapy includes many exercises created
by Nick to cure many different types of client conditions in his
successful private practice. In 2007 Steve Andreas published some of
the Provocative Change Works exercises in his USA newsletter and Nick was subsequently invited as a guest to the international IASH
Conference in San Francisco. As well as presenting his own approach to therapy, Nick is also one of the very few Frank Farrelly approved
Provocative Therapy trainers and will be teaching many of the
strategies and approaches used in classic Provocative Therapy as well as his own work, most of which will be taught for the first time at this event. Details of Nick's other UK, USA and European trainings can be found at www.nickkemptraining.com and his other ongoing projects,published articles and blog can be found at www.nickkemp.com

Please note this event is by application only to nlp@hotmail.co.uk
Tel 01274 622994

For free interviews with Nick Kemp and Andrew T Austin go to www.nlpmp3.com

The busiest time of the year?

This is proving to be an amazingly busy time for both client one to one sessions and trainings. Its only 5 weeks to X Mas and there will be virtually no time off for R and R. I suspect that the credit crunch (so called) is one of the reasons for such a crank up in private activity and as usual clients are travelling to see me from all over the UK!

Most of the clients I see have already seen many other people without success and many of the "analytical approaches" simply don't address the emotional element causing the problem. The volume of clients has literally doubled in recent weeks to the extent that its tough to catch up on online work. I suspect that this trend will continue into 2009.

Events and projects for 2009

2009 is looking like one heck of a year with a 3 day event planned co hosting with Frank Farrelly the creator of Provocative Therapy, a weekend on Therapeutic Excellence with Andrew T Austin, two events in NY USA and European events planned in he second half of the year!

There will also be a series of DVDs and CDs which will be released and some real surprises including a number of invitation only events. I'll also be adding more interviews and products to www.nlpmp3.com and the new www.hypnosisproducts.co.uk sites.

A great online resource for NLPers and others

Recently I was introduced to http://www.archive.org/web/web.php which is an excellent resource for seeking out old versions of websites. Its fascinating to uncover how sites have evolved, been altered and in some cases where site owners have attempted to cover their tracks for rather embarassing mistakes!

The Funniest thing I heard all year!

A friend of mine just e-mailed me this link about Peter Mandelson and "associates..."

http://britanniaradio.blogspot.com/2008/11/notably-limited-personality-mike.html

Its the first chance I have had to catch up on e-mails as I've been engrossed in running the first part of an NLP Master Prac for the last four days. However although its hysterically funny, even funnier is that the implicated party actually believes that ALL the responsees to the blog are myself! BTW I always thought Mandelson and "his associates" were a tad shifty...


LOL

"You know paranoia strikes deep, into your heart it will creep..."

David Crosby

The never ending tour, almost over for 2008

Today is the last day of the first block of the 2008 NLP Master Prac with just another 6 days of training left in this year in Leeds UK.
Next year I am focussing much more of specific skills based events rather than "teaching NLP" These will be both in the UK as well as Europe and the USA, presenting a lot of new material that I have not yet taught. Take a look at www.nickkemptraining.com for an updated schedule

Co presenting with Frank Farrelly

It was a real delight to co present with Frank Farrelly and here is a clip from the event

Sometimes I'm embarassed to read some NLP trainer communications

I set up NLPmp3.com to bring together some of the best minds in NLP across all schools of NLP and to create 'an intelligent resource" for NLP. Some people attend NLP trainings for amusement and never really take to develop the skills, so their interest is more casual and that's fine. Others are more interested in developing abilities and apply what they have learned to great effect. Then we have the seminar junkies and "NLP Happy Clappers" many of whom spend hours online discussing the merits of NLP as they imagine them to be usually following their chosen NLP trainer with almost fan like adoration. This kind of behaviour can almost produce cult like behaviour and quite ludicrous comments which display a lack of real insight into the structure of language and beliefs, that should be taught in an NLP workshop.

There are some excellent NLPers and NLP trainers, but IMO there are also some truly dreadful ones as well. I received an e-mail about an online thread where on supposed "grandee of NLP" attempted to make a series of negative comments about another longstanding developer of NLP in a quite heavy handed and rather stupid manner. The same individual quotes himself as having almost an academic pedigree in NLP and certainly sees himself above mere NLP Practitioners and Master Practitioners! Its embarassing to see such behaviours which do little to enhance the credibility of what can be a quite excellent set of tools.

The world of NLP has no uniform set of standards and unfortunately some individuals seek to find NLP as a universal solution for all life's ills. The smartest and most skilled NLPers often don't take themselves too seriously and certainly don't exhibit aggressive and rude behaviour. The best NLP trainers develop their own ways of teaching rather than simply copy others and can bring great benefits to others. The worst ones can cause all manner of problems, often overcharging hapless clients and actually believing their own hype...

The Relaxation Clinic and pro bono work

Today I ran the first of a series of relaxation clinics in Leeds. These are one hour free sessions for anyone who wants to learn how to relax more easily and effortlessley. In the first one I taught a couple of well tried and tested techniques that are great for state shifts and the focus on these clinics is rather than "talking about relaxation" to practice and develop skills to notice how to develop better states of well being and ease.

I have also allocated an amount of time each month in my private practice for pro bono work. I often get clients referred by social services, GPs and social workers and many are on very low income. These slots are for such cases

Charging clients, the reasonable and the crazy

One of many questions I get asked is what to charge for NLP and Hypnosis one to one sessions. Unfortunately in recent years some NLPers have totally believed their own hype and today I was amazed to read that an NLP newsgroup owner was trying to bill unwitting clients a thousand pounds for a 3.5 hour hypnotic session. As the old saying goes "There's one born every minute..."

This kind of behaviour really IMO really gives a dreadful name to the field of NLP, almost as bad as when people misrepresent their qualifications and insurance when seeing clients.

The cost to any potential client is of course not just a financial one, it involves a proper duty of care from the practitioner and ensuring that time spent is to good effect. Most skilled practitioners are not what I would call "seminar junkies", but people who learn from a variety of different trainers and fields of work to generate a true level of skill and capability. I could count the very best on just one hand...