Isabelle Chatfield – Life Coach

NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. It is a set of tools and techniques that use the power of words and imagination to help you change. It is remarkably efficient.

It is based on the theory (created in the 1970’s by a linguist and a specialist in personal development) that as we are faced with new situations we unconsciously create programmes about how to deal with each situation. We store these programmes in our unconscious mind and they are called upon whenever needed making us react in a very consistent way to similar situations. For instance when we ride a bike, drive a car, meet somebody new, give a speech, etc… Some programmes are helpful, others do not work so well for us because they trigger fears, negative feelings or limiting beliefs. NLP is about recognizing which programmes stop us from doing what we really want to do, taking control of them and changing them into new ones that can actually help us.

Let me give you an example. You could be scared of driving. Every time you face the prospect of driving, your unconscious programme kicks in and you feel fear. To solve the problem, we can try and minimise your fear (by having a rational talk about accident rates, death rates). Or we could try and increase your proficiency as a driver (taking more lessons, gradually increasing you car journeys). Those are all logical solutions appealing to your conscious thoughts. This approach will probably work over a long period of time.
However NLP has a different approach. It tackles directly our unconscious thoughts and their associated feelings. Through specific exercises, it is those unhelpful unconscious thoughts that we are going to change by using your imagination and associating different feelings to existing programmes.

It is surprising at first because it is not usually how we solve problems. Yet it works extremely well and quickly. I use it particularly to help clients fight fears, negative feelings, cravings and to help them visualise their success.

• Do you avoid risks?
• Do you fear new experiences?
• Are you in constant doubt about your life?
• Do you have a strong need for approval?
• Are you sensitive to criticism?
• Do you tend to speak harshly to yourself and reject yourself as you are?

Lacking confidence is about lacking faith in your abilities. It can be specific or broad (speaking in public, job interviews, making a presentation, driving, …). Self-esteem relates to self-worth and how much you accept yourself as you are. Very often low confidence and self-esteem are linked. Whatever the cause (physical appearance, childhood, relationship, ..), lack of confidence and self-esteem can profoundly impact someone’s life by stopping them from doing the things they would like to do and ultimately having the life they would really like to have.

Clients who come to me for weight problems, stress or even career issues might have underlying confidence and self-esteem issues. We work on:

- recognising the signs of low confidence and self-esteem and the high and low confidence pattern

- spotting the limiting beliefs, the negative language and internal voice

- building confidence and self-belief through NLP exercises