Is an NLP practitioner a therapist?
Not necessarily. They could be. Now, it’s important to differentiate neuro-linguistic programming (that’s NLP) from different types of therapeutic processes or credentials. So, NLP is a system, kind of like understanding cognitive behavioral therapy or emotional freedom techniques (or whatever EMDR).
These are different types of processes and they’re like certifications or credentials or learning systems and so forth. And they need to be separated from the category of a profession.
For example, being a life coach might be a profession. A life coach might use a lot of different types of processes. They might use neuro-linguistic programming, they might use hypnotherapy, mindfulness, etc. You could also be a clinical psychologist or a clinical psychotherapist.
These are credentialed and licensed professions, which might use any number of different types of techniques.
So, we need to stop thinking about these systems as being a profession. They are not. These different types of systems or tools and techniques can be used across many different professions. And one of the ones I talk about pretty frequently is in health professions.
Doctors can use neuro-linguistic programming. Doctors can use hypnotherapy. Nutritionists might use some cognitive behavioral therapy-type techniques. And because it’s all about understanding psychology and helping somebody get from where they are to where they want to be.
So, in a nutshell, is an NLP practitioner a therapist? No, not necessarily. In the vast majority of cases, NLP practitioners are not therapists. But therapists oftentimes use NLP techniques, may be certified in NLP, and provide those types of specific techniques in the circumstances that the individual needs.
So, I hope that answers that question.
