NLP; Beyond Consciousness
Neuro linguistic programming began as a study in to how talented psychotherapists were able to achieve the results that they did. It now forms the foundation for a popular and powerful cognitive based approach to change work.
NLP is a model of understanding the phenomenological subjective experiences of a person’s reality and that gives rise to thinking patterns, which guide behaviour. The basis of its methodology lies in the understanding of how we process sensory information, the language we use to make sense of and to conceptualize these neurological experiences, and the way in which we filter and encode information. This is the process by which people construct their subjective represented perceptions of reality, known as their ‘map of the world’, and is the key to their conscious perceptions. Consequently, such understanding offers an ability to utilise and alter behaviour by an applied approach to the neurological processes of filtering and encoding the visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, gustatory and olfactory information to our ‘representational systems’ and that form a persons map of reality.
Many might hold with the fact that the phenomenological raw experiences of reality are processed and construct consciously, as are the subjective insights we gain of them from a persons ‘representational leakage’, that materialize through discourse and observable behaviour. However, to what extent do we process information and construct our perception of reality at an entirely conscious level? Evidence of a phenomenon known as ‘Emotional Vision’ offers the likelihood that part of our neurological processing occurs subconsciously by emotional mediation. It advocates that our emotions are capable of mediating our perceptions, guiding what we attend to and how we process and filter the information we experience, without any conscious awareness.
The brain can be divided in to several key areas, one of which is the forebrain, which has further sub-regions such as the thalamus, amygdala and primary sensor cortex that are involved in processing information. The thalamus can be thought of as a relay system, that sends readable information to the primary sensory cortex. Another area of the forebrain contains a system called the amygdala, which is responsible for the formation and storage of memories associated with emotional events. These produce emotional responses that project directly to what are known as association areas, (these include the parietal, temporal and occipital lobes) which are responsible for producing our perceptions of reality from what our senses detect. The information from the amygdala is integrated with information in the primary cortex and together produces a conscious emotional behavioural response.
Cells within the visual cortex are sensitive to the influence of emotion and it is claimed that these can directly modulate the perceptual processing of visual information. This was explored using patients with and without damage to the amygdale, due to temporal sclerosis caused by extreme epilepsy. The results demonstrated that those with damage to the amygdale resulted in no emotional modulation (filtering) of perceptual processing. The use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed that there is greater activity in the visual cortext of those with damage to the amygdala, which is unable to modulate processing in the visual cortex. Further studies support this by revealing that there are also direct connections between the amygdala and the visual cortex, as neurons project to and directly synapse at various levels with it.
The extent to which emotions modulate and influence how we perceive information is extended further by people who suffer from what is known as ‘blindsight’, who despite the destruction of their visual cortex, are still able to discriminate between emotional expressions. They report no conscious experience of having seen something (due to the visual cortex having been destroyed) and yet respond to it emotionally as though they. For example they will report no conscious recollection of having seen an extended hand and yet they will emotionally respond by extending their own hand to shake it.
Modulation of perception by ‘Emotional Vision’ suggests two things. Firstly that previously stored emotions of past emotional events are capable of directly modulating how we perceive reality, and the construction of our subjective ‘map of the world’ that guides our behaviour. Secondly, this occurs beyond conscious awareness.
Reflecting on the possibility that our perceptions of the world are mediated below conscious awareness, how appropriate are the consciously constructed representations that we detect and utilise in gaining a subjective insight in to a person’s abstract experience of reality. How useful are applied NLP techniques, such as ‘eye accessing cues’ and hypnotic language, if a person’s thinking patterns and behavioural strategies are represented by nameless sensory represented emotions.
REFERENCES
- Burton. K and Ready. R (2004). Neuro Linguistic Programming for Dummies. J. Wiley & Son Ltd, England.
- Datta.S, Lyon. I, Mackintosh. B, McLannahan. H, Murphy. K, Naish. P, Nettle. D, Romero. I, Toates. F, Whatson. T (2006). SD226 Book 6. Emotions and Mind. Milton Keynes, The Open University, England
- Datta.S, Lyon. I, Mackintosh. B, McLannahan. H, Murphy. K, Naish. P, Nettle. D, Romero. I, Toates. F, Whatson. T (2006). SD226 Book 1. From Cells To Consciousness. Milton Keynes, The Open University, England.
- Dilts. R (1990). Changing Belief Systems with NLP. Meta Publications, Calafornia, United States of America.
Author - J. Keightley (PG Cert Coach, Cert Prac NLP)