Some of the reasons why you may want to consider neurolinguistic programming or hypnosis therapy include wanting to quit a bad habit such as smoking, needing some help to lose weight, or having a phobia that you wish to overcome. These are all very specific goals that a short session or course of neurolinguistic programming or hypnosis therapy could help you with.

Neurolinguistic programming and hypnosis therapy may also be of use to you if you have more general concerns or ambitions. It can help you to increase your confidence, or to improve your interpersonal skills, for example, and can therefore be useful for personal and professional development.   

Simply having a reason to seek therapy is not enough to decide that neurolinguistic programming or hypnosis therapy is right for you. There are may rival techniques which claim to be just as effective, many of which have also helped large numbers of people. If you are interested in pursuing therapy that uses neurolinguistic programming or hypnosis then you should find out a bit about how these techniques work so that you can be sure you will feel comfortable with them. Whether you are undergoing neurolinguistic programming, hypnosis or a combination of the two, it is important that you feel happy about what your therapist is asking of you.

In neurolinguistic programming, your therapist will discuss your problems and desires with you, often questioning everything that you say. You may find this an uncomfortable experience if you do not find a therapist who you are ready to open up to and trust, or if you are simply unable to talk about yourself in this way. Neurolinguistic programming is also a very active technique. You will need to be ready to work hard at the techniques that your therapist teaches you. They may ask you to picture yourself succeeding in reaching your goals, or to remember a time in your life when you felt confident and happy and to concentrate on how you felt, for example. If you are unwilling or unable to concentrate on this sort of technique, then the therapy is unlikely to be useful for you. You may still want to consider hypnotherapy, however, since this is very different to neurolinguistic programming.

In hypnotherapy, you will be placed into a state of deep relaxation. You will need to work with your therapist to achieve this, so you will have to be comfortable with the process. If you tend to question everything that is asked of you, then you will find it very difficult to achieve the level of relaxation that is necessary. You may find, however, that neurolinguistic programming is the perfect therapy for you, since you will be encouraged to ask questions and to challenge both yourself and your therapist. If you are happy to be hypnotized, you will be aware of what your therapist is saying to you, but you will feel almost as if you are in a dream. Your mind will therefore be far more open to new ideas suggested by your therapist, since you will no longer be actively questioning and resisting their influence. Hypnotherapy can work well in combination with neurolinguistic programming, or by itself. It is a good idea to consider hypnotherapy if you are a trusting and open person who finds it easy to accept the advice of others, as this will help you to relax and receive the suggestions made during hypnosis.

In addition to employing a therapist, it is possible to perform self-hypnosis and to use neurolinguistic programming techniques on yourself. There are many books and DVDs that can guide you through the process, although in order to be successful you will have to be very proactive and able to take an honest look at yourself in order to better understand your behavior.

Hypnosis, when it is being used for hypnotherapy rather than for entertainment purposes, is a means of getting the person who is undergoing therapy to relax and open up to the therapist. The hypnotherapist will help their client to enter a state of complete relaxation, during which they will put up less resistance to questioning or to suggestions made by the therapist. This can help to uncover hidden problems, and to help change behaviors without the client’s mind resisting. It is also possible for someone to perform hypnosis on themselves, often with the help of a recording.

The combination of techniques from neurolinguistic programming and hypnosis can be an effective one, although how effective it is will depend on the person undergoing therapy and on the type of problems that they are hoping to solve. Neurolinguistic programming requires the client to be an active participant in changing their behavior, and to practice techniques such as anchoring and visualization between sessions. Hypnotism works on the unconscious mind, and is therefore a complete opposite to neurolinguistic programming. In order for a client to be hypnotized, they must be willing to work with the hypnotherapist, as they must allow themselves to relax completely. Once they are in this hypnotized state, however, they will be participating only with their unconscious mind. Hypnotism can help to reveal issues that a client is unwilling to discuss as part of neurolinguistic programming therapy, and it can also help to modify behavior without the need for the client to actively work on changing between sessions.

These two therapies, neurolinguistic programming and hypnosis, are complementary and can therefore be used to support each other. In some cases, only one type of therapy will be suitable. Some people who feel cynical about hypnotism or who are resistant to the process will not be able to relax enough to enter a hypnotic state, for example, while others who do not have the resolve to actively work on the neurolinguistic programming techniques that they have been taught, may not benefit from NLP. In most cases, the two therapies can be used together, however. The unconscious benefits gained from hypnotherapy can help the client to stick to their active role in the neurolinguistic programming therapy, and to change their preconceived ideas and behavior patterns.