(One person had written about rapid therapy not being effective with challenging problems, criticizing NLP for not being as useful as it claims and insisting that everyone knew this to be true. A second person noted that perhaps some people said this because it was a tautology, that by definition "challenging" problems are those that cannot easily be addressed. He went on to suggest that perhaps NLP'ers delete those things they cannot fix from their conversations, in order to better sell NLP trainings. Carmine responded to the second person, beginning by addressing the first person's points.)

No, I was not responding to what some have said, I was responding to what *name deleted* said. And if you reread what *name deleted* did say, I am sure you will be able to realize that he was not talking in terms of tautology, but instead in terms of the absolute. Here is what *name deleted* did say, and I quote:

(deleted from this Web posting because permission was not obtained from the original author to include it)

Let us take a look at this. He started off by saying, "I think we all see this here too", which is not to say I think, I believe or I experienced, but instead is a statement that implies that he thinks that everybody sees as he does. This does not open up a way of thinking, as it is designed to exclude any other way of thinking.

Then *name deleted* based some of what he was saying on elusive research. But I ask, "What research and by whom?" Then he continues his argument to further support his own point of view. But he doesn't say this is his point of view or his experience, no, he acts as if his point of view is fact that we all see.

Next he implies that anybody who disagrees with his point of view may be full of ego, or shit or some other number of nominalizations that can be used to help his point of view stand.

I have read many a transcript taken from the words of Hitler and Stalin -- both used similar structures in their language, with Hitler being the better example. The way in which *name deleted* languaged the above statement almost mirrors the way in which Hitler would use his language. I am not saying that *name deleted* is anything like Hitler, only the way in which he tends to use his language at times.

No Keith, there is no tautology being offered above. Perhaps the word you were looking for is totalitarianism, and not tautology?

And to this let me also add another point of view.

First of all, let me say that when I write about my perceptions, I am also coming from my own experiences. When using the words NLP, I think it would be wise take into consideration a notion called the lost performative. In other words - who is performing the task?

NLP is merely a set of beliefs, ideas, methodologies and the like. It is only when an individual begins utilizing these beliefs, ideas, methodologies and the like that we can begin understanding what the limits to the technology may be. Just saying that NLP can or can not do X is akin to trying to determine what a wafer of silicon can do. What can a wafer of silicon do? In the hands of an imaginatively skilled individual this wafer of silicon can become a transistor, or an integrated circuit containing five million transistors that will easily fit into the palm of your hand. Alone, a piece of silicon is just -- well, a piece of silicon!

When I was reading the reply you posted above I noticed that you were using inclusive language, i.e., "we," "our." As if your own personal experiences mirrored mine. Yet, for you to have been able to make the statements above, I can see that nothing could be further than the truth. I have yet to meet a person, either professionally, or in my private life, who in asking for my assistance, was not able to rapidly make the changes they wanted to make, period. The range of perceived problems that were offered to me have covered a very comprehensive spectrum, everything from suicide to the desire to improve simple study skills. As I see it, there are no limits to the perceptions that can rapidly be changed using NLP.

Let us not mistake the map for the territory. Although the challenges being offered were experienced as real by the people offering them, they were not. In my experience, it has always boiled down to how the individual was perceiving the events that had occurred in their own world, and how they were structuring that information.

Again, I will use my own experiences here. I grew up in New York City. From the early age of seven up until I was about fifteen, through circumstances beyond my own control, I lived on the streets in that city. I slept in hallways, parks and abandoned cars. At times I ate what I could find. I witnessed - No! I was right in the middle of the worst this life had to offer, drugs, crime, violence, murder. I was submerged in a reality that said do unto others before they do unto you, and if you want something, you just take it.

I pulled myself out of that reality just before my sixteenth birthday. Not only that, I also was able to change every pattern of behavior that I had come to learn before that. I went on to educate myself, I opened business after business, with each one being successful. I have never become a criminal, and have shared a proportionate part of my life's time to helping others do the same.

You see, although I lived in a hell, I only found heaven in it. Yes, there were times that were beyond challenging, there were times when giving into what was around me seemed like the only way to go. But, I was able to perceive some sort of meaning in all of it. Later, I was able to use every single experience as a resource. And when I entered into the world of education, I thanked God for my early years!

Keith, it is all a matter of perception. And that is what people who are wanting to change will bring you, their perceptions, the way they have subjectively coded meaning in relationship to what has occurred in their worlds. We do not change reality, we do not change people, we use NLP as a means of re-coding and re-structuring their perception of reality, they do the rest on their own.

There is always a way to change anything quickly. Change really can occur quickly if you know exactly what pieces to change. NLP gives us the tools to unlock the subjective structure of the person before us. But it is the attitude of the personality using the tools that will make the difference. When I teach NLP, I put most of the time into building a belief system that goes before the skills, before the methods. If you place that piece of silicon in the hands of an individual who has yet to learn how to see what is not there, all you wind up with is a piece of silicon.

Human beings seem to want to fall back on what they know. I simply have had a different set of experiences than you did. Not better, not worse, only different. My experiences say there isn't anything that can't be done. And it is just so much more elegant to get the challenging part done quickly, this way the individual can get on with other things, like enjoying life. Behavioral change is one of the most natural of all processes. It is only the things that people haven't yet learned how to change that seem challenging. Yet, the real challenge is one that says, "How can I rise above what I think is, and realize there are possibilities that have yet to be realized!!"

Be Well

Carmine Baffa Ph.D.

The word "ego" (as taken from the virtual dictionary of post modern terms.)

(1)"a word often used by those who disagree with you, or your point of view"

(2)"a nominalization, also designed to be used when all else fails and you need to boost your own position to yourself"

(3)"an acceptable way to offer attack toward another human being when you don't have the courage to take responsibility for what you really want to say"