Neuro Linguistic Programing

Neuro Linguistic Programing

Neuro Linguistic Programing

Introduction

At any given time, 6%-7% of Americans show diagnostic signs of substance dependence (O'Brian and McKay, 2011, p 127). In this research, substance is used in the strict sense of substances such as alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, or opiates. The research excluded nicotine and caffeine dependence, as well as behavioural dependence such as compulsive gambling. In this proposed thesis, we will focus on substance use, but the same interventions will work with any addictive problem. There's no doubt the level of addiction in our societies is a serious problem. Alcohol alone is implicated in half of all driving fatalities, a quarter of all suicides, a third of all assaults, and in the medical cause of death for 100,000 Americans a year (Dorsman, 2011, p 2).

In  trying to define dependence, psychiatrists and others refer to more than just excessive use, and to more than a psychological sense of needing the substance (American Psychiatric Association, 2008, p 108-9). They refer to what counsellors call ambivalence (Miller and Rollnick, 2007, p 36-47) and what NLP Practitioners would call sequential incongruity (Bandler and Grinder, 2007, p 179-188). The person accesses the part of their neurology that wants to use the substance, and then the part that doesn't want to use, in an ongoing sequence. For example they may take more of the substance than they originally planned to. They may make attempts to stop, or say they want to stop using the substance, and then carry on using it. They may abandon other activities which are important to them, as a result of using the substance. They may continue using the substance despite actually suffering persistent, painful problems as a result of this use. They may even have tried to stop using the substance, and experienced extreme discomfort (called withdrawal). In short, an addiction occurs where one part of a person wants them to stop, but (and that word “but” is used intentionally) another, apparently more powerful part wants them not to stop.

Literature review

There are a large number of programs offering to assist people in stopping using substances they have been addicted to, including the famous “12 Step” programs such as AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). However, contrary to popular belief, most people break free of  addictions on their own. Several surveys by the institution for Health and Aging (University of California) show that drinking problems up to the level where blackouts occur almost always disappear before middle age, without medical assistance, as do most teenage drug addictions (Peele, 2007, p 66). Over two thirds of those addicted people who stop drinking alcohol, do so on their own with no help. 95% of the 30 million Americans who have quit smoking in the last decade or so, did so without medical or AA style help. (Prochaska et alia, 2008, p 36). These people have better long term success than those who choose treatment programs: 81% of those who stop drinking on their own will abstain for the next ten years, as ...