Module 1: Psychological Levels of Development

• Know where you are and what you need to do as an adult interested in growth
• Understand what to help people with and when
• Be able to address your own and clients’ deepest psychological needs
• Understand why so many interventions fail

It’s easy to understand that a small child of five years of age does not possess the same knowledge, skills and awareness that a mature adult of 50 has. Between five and 50 are years of learning and experience for which there is no substitute. To achieve a similar degree of development as a mature adult, there seems to be no choice but for the child to go through a similar number of years, adding to his experience and awareness along the way.

Any methodology intended to help people would benefit from this kind of developmental understanding of the process of maturation. In the world of psychology, many authors and researchers have written on this subject. iNLP has taken the work of the foremost developmental theorists and synthesized it into a model that we teach in our public trainings and use in our private work with people.

We believe that understanding where someone is in the larger course of their life sheds light on how to work with them. This includes knowing which goals to set, which techniques to use and what results to expect.

Module 2: The Physiology Map

• Know specifically what you need to do to get unstuck
• Develop strategies to achieve positive emotional states
• Understand where conventional wisdom fails to create lasting emotional flexibility

The Physiology Map is a model developed by NLP Santa Fe and the iNLP Center. The Physiology Map tracks emotions, or physiological states, which we consider to be one and the same. Each physiological state we experience has certain qualities or characteristics.

We attempt classify those characteristics with this model. The Physiology map implement the concepts of Associaltive/Dissociative and External/Internal as a way to map ones emotional state into quadrants. When we understand the Physiology Map and it’s implications for human behavior, it becomes clear for us how to use this NLP model to help people, and ourselves, move in useful directions.

Module 3: The Twelve States of Attention

• Radically increased visual, auditory and kinesthetic flexibility
• Ability to access VAK places where it is impossible to get stuck

As you know, within NLP there is great emphasis on three of our sensory systems: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (seeing, hearing and feeling). Each system is known as a modality. Using traditional NLP we go beyond analyzing what we are thinking or experiencing by learning how our thoughts and experience are structured in our brain. Understanding this structure and how to influence it gives us monumental advantages.

Beyond seeing, hearing and feeling, we can make two other essential sensory distinctions (and we are not referring to olfactory/smell or gustatory/ taste). The broad-narrow and internal-external sensory distinctions add a new level of sophistication to the VAK model.

These two additional sensory distinctions are probably more important to our psychological functioning than seeing, hearing and feeling alone.

Module 4: The Quad Map

• More control of your mind and attention
• Ability to get unstuck quickly
• Get to a positive mental outcome efficiently, regardless of the starting point

Our minds are constantly in motion, remembering past experiences and imagining future experiences. It is interesting how little time we spend in the present, in this moment, with our attention directed fully toward the external world. So often we are inside our mind, attending to inner life. So much of our experience, both positive and negative, is influenced by how we direct our attention.

What if we knew just how to direct people’s attention to the most helpful place? Imagine a child coming to you, describing how hurt she feels because her friends have betrayed her. There is a way to ask a question or make a comment to that child that will drive her further into her pain. And there is a way to give her hope. Which do you want to do?

Imagine your boss coming to you, complaining about your work progress over the last month. When you have a chance to respond, you have the option of directing him in a direction that will further convince him of his position, or open his mind toward a more positive outlook. Which do you want to do?

The questions we ask and the comments we make invite others to direct their minds in ways that will be helpful, productive and positive, or not. Understanding the Quad Map gives us a significant advantage when we communicate with others.

Module 5: Criteria for Psychological Safety

• Feel safer every day
• Enhanced confidence and motivation
• Clearer decision making and prioritizing

Emotional safety is primal. If we do not find a way to feel safe each and every day, we cannot accomplish much beyond reacting to the vague yet constant threat. Most of our life is geared towards reducing anxiety and getting to a place where we feel safe.

Worse, often we put ourselves in threatening situations in the name of personal growth. Too many personal growth advocates push people to break far out of their comfort zone. Expand beyond your limits, destroy obstacles and succeed beyond your wildest expectations! This is a terrible set up that is destined to fail.

Suddenly expanding beyond perceived limitations, which are psychological protections, brings with it fear of the unknown that sends the primitive brain into a tailspin. If it were possible to suddenly destroy your every psychological defense mechanism and wildly expand your boundaries to include all sorts of unfamiliar experiences, you’d experience an incredible rush of panic.

A quest for inner peace, as well as personal development, should honor the need for emotional safety. You are wired for personal safety and your personal development plan needs to be equally wired! If not, you are picking a fight with your primitive brain. This is a fight you will lose.

Module 6: Metaphoric Intervention

• Align yourself with the most meaningful and powerful way for you to view life
• Discover your personal metaphor
• Create new lenses to view areas of your life

Our concept of existence is metaphorical in nature. We can only comprehend life, objects and ourselves by association, which is the broad meaning of metaphor – to understand one thing in terms of another. The earth is a tiny ball floating through space. Associating the earth with a floating ball helps us put things in a context that fosters understanding. Here are some other examples:

The brain is like a computer; Life is a test; College is like a 24/7 party; Time is money ; Argument is war

The metaphor we choose or inherit, often deeply unconscious, holds tremendous power over how we feel, think, behave and interact with other people.

This module will help you discover your personal life metaphor and show you how to change it, if necessary, to something deeply empowering.

Module 7: Core Transformation

• Deep self-acceptance
• Tame the angry, rebellious, hidden or outcast parts of yourself
• Experience your core state for perhaps the first time

The Core Transformation method is one of the deepest and most sophisticated processes in the field of NLP. The method was developed by Connie Rae Andreas, who has given the iNLP Center permission to teach it.

The goal of Core Transformation is to help one reach their core state, which is a state of wholeness, oneness, peace or connection to the universe. As you work your way up and down the steps, one will see their ability to access their core state at any moment. Every step of the process leads toward that state of wholeness.

In this module, we break down the steps. The video demonstration show each part of the process so you will be able to replicate it with a client. The exercises featured in this module allow you to try it with a friend and work on yourself as well.

Module 8: The Default Mode Network

• Dramatic and immediate stress reduction
• Mindfulness tool to live in the moment
• Experience more clarity around difficult stressors

Sometimes it may seem like there is a little demon living inside your brain making you feel tense and miserable. Well, there is! Your brain has an internal network, the Default Mode Network (DMN) that, when active, continually generates an ocean of mental activity and body tension. The DMN never, ever stops churning unless you are purposefully engaged in a particular kind of cognitive task. When your task-oriented mind is resting, the DMN is working overtime. This is a proven, scientific fact that has been validated via fMRI scans (see references).

When the DMN is overactive, common in today’s world, it is like a digital clock that blinks the word “stress” incessantly. You move throughout your day on autopilot, with churning, grinding thoughts and body tension ruling your awareness. Your stress and preoccupation get in the way of dealing with others, getting work done and even sleeping.

Module 9: Meta Programs

• Understand key drivers of human behavior
• Become better at influencing others with integrity

In NLP, meta programs are information filters. They are mental sorting devices that determine which information to keep, which to ignore, which to act upon and how to act upon it.

Meta programs guide decisions and behaviors. Some meta programs are so powerful that they can almost seem like personality traits. They’re not, though. They are simple filters that guide us through a world of information. Most often, meta programs are deeply unconscious. They do their work under the surface and are only rarely discovered by people (who are typically studying NLP).

When you understand key meta-programs, you gain an unusually powerful insight into human behavior, decision-making, motivation, communication styles and more.

Module 10: Presuppositions

• Understand the limited assumptions others make and turn them into breakthroughs
• Tailor your communication to empower others

Presuppositions are the linguistic equivalent of what most people call assumptions. Presuppositions refer to what must already be assumed to be true for the question or statement to make sense.

Presuppositions are typically not stated directly. The are hidden assumptions in conversation.

Every sentence we speak in our everyday life has presuppositions in it. In the majority of cases we tend not to consciously recognize what we have presupposed, and concentrate on what is directly stated.

Therefore, presuppositions are unconsciously accepted as being true. This often has a direct impact upon behavior, whether or not the assumption is accurate.

Module 11: Logical Levels

• Help people in the most efficient, effective way and with the highest amount of leverage
• Know where to intervene and what tools to use
• Create a path forward focused on the areas of need

The classic logical levels model, as introduced by Gregory Bateson, has long served as a guide for practitioners to know how to intervene. In this module, you will learn the nuts and bolts of Logical Levels. It will answer questions that you never thought to ask, such as:

Why are some behaviors so hard to change, and what can you do about it?

Where is the most efficient and effective place to intervene when someone presents a problem?

Where is the highest leverage place to intervene?

Module 12: Module Integration

This module helps you integrate the learning from all prior modules, developing a road map toward a specific, large chunk goal in your future.

You’ll apply everything you’ve learn thus far in the training to this goal, dramatically increasing your chances for success and ensuring that the next period of your life will be filled with personal growth and personal empowerment.

You will also record a NLP session with a volunteer and submit to demonstrate your Master NLP skills.