Frank Bourke will presenting about the NLP R&R Project at the conference.  NLP R&R is also a sponsor of the IASH conference.  IASH has a valuable conference planned and it is recommended that you consider attending! 

Read more about the IASH Conference by clicking on the picture or here: GO TO IASH CONFERENCE SITE.

In the keynote Frank highlighted various aspects of the current status of the NLP Research and Recognition Project. He outlined the seven current Research and Organizational Goals for the R and R Project, our progress toward pacing state of the art psychotherapy research, project accomplishments to date, and the possibilities for funding the goals of the project.

In Frank’s heartfelt address he also made several points to the audience of NLP researchers. For instance he called for NLP researchers to complete what he called the “Missing Models”. He said, “Somewhere between my early NLP training in the 70’s and 9/11, I concluded that the founding fathers of NLP had in their study of Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, and Fritz Perls failed to model two important skills. The first was the high empathy and genuineness, as defined by Carl Rogers, with which the three of them were able to join with their clients. The second was the skill of Fritz Perls in uncovering a clients ego defenses in a fashion that allowed an ecologically sound, genuine, and congruent transition to higher functioning. I believe, the protocols derived from these two models will produce tools for a life marked by personal congruity, integrity and honesty. Nothing we could do would help NLP more, in my estimation, than to discover these and reflect them in our organizations behaviors and daily lives.”

In summary, In his speech Frank discusses the substantial progress the NLP Research and Recognition Project has made so far, makes recommendation for the NLP community to consider, and spells out the direction that the project is moving. For all involved in, and supportive of, the NLP R & R Project, the adventure continues!

To see all the details read the full text of the presentation, go here: - Keynote Speech-Wales 2010.

If you would like to read the full email that was sent out it is on this site under “Library,” Updating Volunteer Information.

Of course if you never volunteered before, we would welcome your participation in this important project.  The letter as discusses some particular areas where volunteers are needed. 

Steve gave us permission to reprint this article, in its entirety, here. It recently appeared as an appendix in his new ebook Help With Negative Self-Talk, Volume 1.

The article is under the FAQ tab or follow THIS LINK.

When I proposed the project at IASH in 2006, I knew the proposed forty million dollar trust endowment was a necessary accomplishment if the Project were to be a long term viable research and support organization. Clinical Research has become extremely expensive. Currently, our smallest PTSD clinical research pilot study proposal, at Marshall University, costs out at $350,000. The full three-year study aimed at qualifying the NLP PTSD treatment protocol as evidentiary medicine was submitted to The DOD for $15,000,000 dollars. While development costs (upfront cost of producing a grant proposal) generally run between five and fifteen percent, we accomplished these first steps with dedicated volunteers and our personal resources (my wife has a look which provides the full explanation).

Many project developments have occurred since my last update here.  First and foremost, in our sequence of grant developments, the large PTSD treatment grant we were asked to develop for the Department of Defense (as detailed in our last Blog update), was turned down.  We have been asked to submit a scaled down pilot study proposal as a first step. In hindsight, we would never have attempted so ambitious a grant proposal without the DOD invitation.  While it was rejected in its’ complete form,  with normal Washington double speak, its construction leaves us having completed the entire design and collected all the necessary resources to do the entire research,  training and dissemination sequence.  The independent data analysis companies, research experts, clinical trainers, Washington liaisons, University sponsorships, etc. necessary to make such a proposal, have now all coalesced into a research project team who have seen the efficacy of the PTSD treatment protocol in clinical practice and have become deeply committed to the project. The obvious value of the grant proposal, based on their first hand experience and the extent of the national need, has generated many supporters.  While the grants size would have solved all our infrastructure problems and the research put us well on the way to accomplishing the projects ultimate goal of national recognition, the paths to promised lands seldom show themselves as straight lines and are almost always navigated only with plenty of perseverance, flexibility, and hard work.

Despite some disappointments and apparent setbacks, the fact is that we are moving forward on many fronts.  I have been heartened by the commitment of our many supporters and the clear momentum the value of the NLP Research and Recognition Project has created.  I remember stopping in the middle of combing my hair, the morning before I presented the founding proposal for the Project at IASH in 2006 and saying to the mirror, “you’ve got to be kidding me!”  Well amazingly, three years later, in the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, we find we’ve gone from a possibility to a probability. Now when I look in the morning mirror I just shake my head in disbelief and smile……..The Irish jig and bottle of champagne will wait until the fat lady has sung a couple of bars and a one or two of the Grant proposals being currently circulated are funded but……we’re on the verge….and trying very hard not to break the record for either the longest stay there or never getting past it!

Our major current problem is that our accomplishments have outstripped our capability to support them. Core management staff cannot maintain their regular jobs and give the time necessary to carry on the current Projects needs. The web site, our communication hub, went to information technology hell and has only been recently delivered back alive to us by the NLP archangels, Tsirklin and Liotta. Next we need funding to continue the tremendous progress we have made so far.   

With the web site back working, we have appointed a Volunteer Coordinator, Gene Plotkin (see his bio under Communications & Networking Team section of this site) and a Development Coordinator, Larry Templeton (see web site for details soon) to put together the next volunteer generation and to continue Foundation funding development to lead us further toward the promised lands. We must gather more volunteer staff to, among other things, continue the NLP Research Library development, Foundation Fundraising, Networking the Institutes into the Project, and enlarging the Project mailing list to 100,000.

Meanwhile the projects already underway must continue growing. Look for more updates and news on this website soon; regarding: Military PTSD Grants, Foundation PTSD Grants, Canada/Israel PTSD Studies, Institute Pilot PTSD Study, Foundation Infrastructure Grants, NLP practitioner fund raiser, Online Sub-modality Research project, Research Library enlargement, NLP Disaster Response Teams, volunteers networking and communications help, national publicity campaign, NLP Institute support and project integration.

As I imagine his brother once said, while standing beside a huge pile of discarded bicycle parts, “Orville I think we may be on the verge of flying this thing!”  We’ll continue to persevere, be flexible, work hard and, if we forgot to mention it, have fun in the process.

 To this end, a major thrust of the NLP Research and Recognition Project has been developing research grants and seeking funding for implementation.  Helping in this effort are a team of concerned businessmen, veterans’ organizations, politicians, university professors and NLP experts.  A research and NLP treatment protocol has been developed with special emphasis on the needs of returning war veterans. The NLP PTSD Protocol is a standardized treatment procedure designed to facilitate empirical study of the effectiveness of NLP techniques in the treatment of PTSD.  Two grants, using state of the art research designs have been circulating for funding since early in 2008.  We hope to complete the first major study under a recently submitted $15,000,000 Department of Defense Center for Excellence for PTSD Grant. 3000 veterans will be treated at both University and Army base sites if it is approved as written.

 The need for more efficient and effective PTSD treatments is a nationally recognized priority.  An extensive review of existing PTSD treatments was completed by the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in October 2007 (see National Academies site for more information on this report). They concluded that only one treatment, of the many examined, has enough evidence to determine efficacy in the treatment of PTSD. They emphasized the need for more high quality research on PTSD treatment options.  Clearly the current state of the science does not offer veterans with PTSD treatment choices that they can consider with confidence. 

 NLP offers promising interventions that have been clinically effective in treating PTSD. A primary goal of the NLP Research and Recognition Project is to ensure that high quality research research is done to demonstrate the efficacy of NLP in the treatment of PTSD.  The pending grants utilizing the NLP PTSD Protocol for war veterans are a significant step in the right direction. 

 To read more, an article has been posted with more details regarding the research program, the research design, and background information.   This can be found under the Research tab on this site or click here: Research Program: PTSD Protocol for war veterans. We will keep you informed as developments occur regarding this important endeavor.  

The project was initiated in September. Dr. Frank Bourke’s, Executive Director of the NLP Research and Recognition Project, discussions with Wayne Perry led Frank to suggest that a working group be convened to examine ideas regarding how this technology could be useful and meet the goals of the Research and Recognition Project, including to gain data on neuro-linguistic processes. Wayne Perry is a NLP Master Practitioner and expert in computer programming. He has combined his knowledge and passion for both software development and NLP to create an on-line tool to deliver NLP over the Web (NLP on-line, www.nlpol.com). NLP Online is an automated neuro-linguistic programming assistant. The online processes utilize NLP procedures in order to lead people through NLP processes. This service is still in early development and Wayne’s plan is to add new processes and functions on a regular basis. Discussions highlighted the fit between the goals of the Research & Recognition Project and the potential use of online NLP processes to research various aspects of NLP and provide rich data for analysis and further hypothesis generation.

Since September the project team has been made a great deal of progress through regular web meetings, conference calls, emails, and Wiki discussions. Steve Andreas is providing oversight and he has the final word on research design decisions. This role has been critical to helping the group pair down the numerous experimental possibilities to a manageable pieces and a practical starting point. The first design will focus on examining the impact of changing the visual submodalities of associated versus dissociated perspective on the experience of a pleasant memory. Others on this team include, Wayne Perry, Richard Gray, Frank Bourke, Yan Tsirkin, Richard Liotta, Gina Pickersgill, and Scott Weiner. The team members bring various skills to the project, including research acumen, software and web expertise, and extensive experience with NLP. Further information about about these team members is available in the “About Us” area on this site.

Based on the data collected and how the process flows in this initial experiment, other experiments will follow. This online research methodology facilitates the gathering of a great deal of data. Inherent in following these online processes are choice points reflective of the person’s personal processes. The direction the process takes for the individual going through it can vary depending on their choices. Data could be collected regarding individual characteristics, various cognitive and emotional variables, and their response to changes in variables such as submodality qualities. Data pertaining to the utility of processes and variables this covaries with could also be examined. Clearly the potential for testing various hypotheses relevant to fundamental NLP concepts and the outcomes achieved through NLP processes is high.

We are very excited about the Online Submodalities Project! It is a project reflective of the greater goal of broadening the scientific base of neuro-linguistic programming. It is an example of utilizing new technologies and new research methodologies to empirically examine neuro-linguistic processes. Progress updates will be posted here, stay tuned!