1. What is NLP? How can healthcare professionals utilise NLP techniques to understand their patients better? What does NLP contribute to the therapeutic encounter? In this West of Scotland Pain Group discussion, Garner Thomson, Training Director to the Society of Medical NLP and Jonathan Bannister, Consultant Anaesthetist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Dundee, discuss the place of NLP in pain management and anaesthesia.

http://wspain.blogspot.com/2007/06/medical-nlp-discussion-with-garner.html

2. Garner Thomson discusses health and what it means to be healthy and introduces his book, Magic in Practice, April 2008. Interview by Michael Beale.

(Please allow up to two minutes for download if you would like to listen to the discussion)

http://nlp-expert.co.uk/Health/garner.mp3

“… an elegant and wonderful book … this is the kind of book I hoped one of my students would write”

Dr Richard Bandler, Co-creator and Developer of NLP

Between a third and half of all patients seeking help from the medical profession are suffering from medically unexplained symptoms, and we are facing an epidemic of complex chronic conditions that have no easily discernible pathology or cause. Pressure for a model of ‘whole-person’ health care has been growing over the past 25 years, but, no practical, cost-effective, integrative model has been suggested, until now.

Medical NLP - developed out of the work of Dr Richard Bandler and the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming - offers for the first time a practical methodology and explicit interventions to help tackle this debilitating array of problems. Supported by new research and extensive clinical experience, Medical NLP offers the only internationally recognised and licensed health practitioner training that seamlessly integrates psychosocial therapeutic approaches with the existing biomedical principles and time constraints of the consultation process.Written in an accessible style for doctors, nurses, therapists and all other allied health professionals, this is a book about solutions, rather than problems.

By Garner Thomson with Dr Khalid Khan

Click here for special offer from Amazon

 
Important note: Nothing on this site, written or implied, should be regarded as medical advice. Please seek advice for any serious condition from your appropriate health professional. All information is copyright-protected and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the authors, Garner Thomson and Dr Khalid Khan, The Society of Medical NLP, or Dr Richard Bandler, Co-creator and Developer of NLP, whichever is relevant.

Why does Medical NLP place such emphasis on techniques to develop ‘right-brain thinking’ when Western healthcare is so firmly bedded in left-brain, linear, objective, evidence-based ‘fact’?

The reason is not to embrace some amorphous New Age notion of ‘intuitive’ medicine, but because recent developments in neuroscience strongly suggest that to remain focused on linear information (‘text’ in the jargon of Medical NLP) at the expense of a more global way of thinking (‘context’) risks slewing the consultation process away, rather than towards, accuracy and effectiveness.

Managing frames is a key, non-verbal skill in Medical NLP, and can make a significant difference in even short, simple consultations.

Most Neuro-Linguistic Programmers are familiar with ‘content’ and ‘context’ reframing. To these skills, we add pre-framing (which, as the name implies, presupposes the consultation will take a specific, positive direction) and in- and out-framing – the quite literal shifting of certain information towards or away from the zone of immediate interaction.

The effects can be profound – but require understanding and practice.

The most frequent call for help and advice on Society of Medical NLP trainings and personal development programmes is: ‘How do I cope with Heartsink patients?’

The Heartsink – a description applied to a wide range of apparently disruptive or recalcitrant patients – seems intent on making your life as difficult as possible. And, the ever-present danger is that if you alienate him (or her), you will be faced with a barrage of complaints, and, possibly, even litigation.

There is hope ...