The nature, purpose, and operation of what I describe as “Human Suffering” are some of the most important themes in the body of knowledge at NLP Marin. These themes organize a lot of our ideas about the experience of being human. These themes, and the perceptions and healing techniques that are constantly spinning off of [...]

Human skulls house a brain which has distinctive parts, some dedicated to reptilian survival, and some apparently directed toward spiritual evolution, namely the pre-frontal cortex. These two purposes can appear to be in conflict and that conflict, or rather that illusion of conflict, seems to causes pain and suffering. Transformational NLP is a methodology for [...]

“Belief Blaster!”  “Limitation Annihilator!”  “Fear Destroyer”… these are the names of some typical, conventional “NLP change techniques.”  The grab bag of these “interventions,” which are mainly patterns that help one part of a person to more successfully defeat (annihilate!…crush! ..exterminate!) some other part of the very same person, is what conventional NLP is best known [...]

When I first began learning to do change-work (this was more than thirty years ago now), as I was learning to work with behavioral and belief-related issues both, I was struck by two ever-present, apparently contradictory realities: 1) that personal, conscious choice was the most important factor in creating and allowing growth and change, and [...]

Imagine you are at a lunch buffet that offers you two selections: there’s a tray of congealed mystery meat stew (it looks cold and there are some shriveled carrots on top); next to it there’s a beautifully presented tray of something you really love, prepared exactly the way you like it. Which do you choose? [...]

WHY HOPE IS GOOD… Hope is simply the capacity to imagine a positive future. Constructive hope is the ability to predict a positive future as a probable outcome of past and present choices and events. Really, really successful hope is the ability to so thoroughly presuppose a positive future that hope no longer seems to [...]

Learning about “Anchors and Anchoring” is an essential part of every basic NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) training. Unfortunately, most new students seem to learn that creating an anchor is a way of creating change, but this is not the case. Anchors do not cause change in the sense of doing something to revise unwanted wiring [...]

A woman had always had a warm relationship with her mother as a person, but had never felt nurtured by, connected to, or truly mothered by her. It was as if the mother had been more of a friend than a mother to her daughter, and the client felt this as a sadness and loss [...]

A woman had been date-raped and become pregnant when she was a teenager. Despite her desire to keep the baby, she had given the child up for adoption in response to parental pressure. Decades later, she was still unable to think of her child without intense feelings of guilt and shame and tremendous anger towards [...]

In the last couple of years I have come to really appreciate these two words: “chreode” and “entelechy.” Each word is fabricated from Greek roots. “Chreode”-a very recent invention-was coined in the mid-20th century. The other word, “entelechy,” is also a little bit newish, but in a much older kind of way. In print, “entelechy” [...]

Definition of Panic Attack from Mayo Clinic website: “A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that develops for no apparent reason and triggers severe physical reactions. Panic attacks can be very frightening. When panic attacks occur, you might think you’re losing control, having a heart attack or even dying.” When clients come [...]

How is reaching for that pint of Ben & Jerry’s similar to reaching for life? Q:       In your 30 years’ experience working with people, have you seen any common themes that cause people to struggle with eating properly? Carl:   Of all the things that human beings can reach for when they’re looking for something to [...]

All over the universe, or so it seems, human beings are famous for routinely experiencing what they most don’t want to have, and for not being able to experience that which they most really do want.  As human beings, all of our most stuck patterns of experience, from the slightly embarrassing ones (I always end [...]

The Underlying Structure of Belief: No Matter How Cosmic It Gets, It’s Still All VAKOG “What is stopping you?” is a question used world-wide in coaching endeavors. It is most often posed in an effort to assist the client to identify the internal and external barriers they are facing as they contemplate making a change [...]

Reconciling an Illusion of Conflict within a Dilemma:  Re-solving the Contest Between Self Preservation and Spiritual Evolution Human skulls house a brain which has distinctive parts, some dedicated to reptilian survival, and some apparently directed toward spiritual evolution, namely the pre-frontal cortex. These two purposes can appear to be in conflict and that conflict, or [...]

“Roots of Marin NLP” Part I by Carl Buchheit Part the First Marin-style NLP has always been something that is difficult to characterize, especially when it comes to explaining how it is different. It has much in common with conventional NLP, yet it is tremendously not-like-that at the same time. So, from time to time [...]

The Roots of Marin NLP—Part II:   The Essential Reframe “From Intended Positive Outcomes to IPO’s” By Carl Buchheit In the spring of 1979, when I first encountered the very new field of knowledge called NLP, I was immensely relieved to find within it a wonderful “presupposition” about human experience: “All behavior has an intended positive [...]

10 Delusions of Personal Growth Part III (Delusions 8-10) By Carl Buchheit To recap: 1. That you can get somewhere positive by defeating something negative. 2. That people who take the “path of least resistance” in life are weak. 3. That fighting ourselves shows strength and builds character. 4. That denying and disrespecting our parents [...]

10 Delusions of Personal Growth Part II (Delusions 4-7) By Carl Buchheit To recap: 1. That you can get somewhere positive by defeating something negative. 2. That people who take the “path of least resistance” in life are weak. 3. That fighting ourselves shows strength and builds character. 4. That denying and disrespecting our parents [...]

10 Delusions of Personal Growth  Part I (Delusions 1-3) By Carl Buchheit 1. That you can get somewhere positive by defeating something negative. When we act to improve our lives by defeating some aspect of ourselves (for example, “an old, unwanted behavior pattern,” or a recurring issue of “self-sabotage”) who is it, exactly, who wins? [...]

When You Make Wonderful Changes and Feel Worse Than Ever. by Carl Buchheit, co-founder of NLP Marin, training director and lead facilitator. Published in 2008 One of our bedrock assertions at NLP Marin is that all human beings will be and do anything to make sure that their beliefs are true. Anything! We are meaning [...]

How is it that some people can sit and watch someone get hurt, or even die and not lift a finger to help? How could those folks in the sweat lodge not notice that someone was in real trouble Not having been there, I don’t know the exact circumstances. But I do know what kind [...]

In the twenty years or so since its inception, NLP has acquired a variety of reputations. Few who have encountered the power of Neuro-Linguistic Programming have remained neutral…

In any life situation or activity, success requires competence in the talents and abilities unique to that situation. In every life situation or activity, success also requires a high level of competence in human relations skills…

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) has a wide range of very useful applications in human relations––essentially anywhere that two or more people are interacting with a common objective…

A beam of white light goes out and is received by three people. Through the filter of one it appears red, for another, blue, and for the third, it is dull grey. This is not unlike what happens as we take in our experiences of life…

NLP is always about having more choices more freely available. At NLP Marin, we regard just about everything that people do that they do not want to be doing as expressions of old, out-of-date safety patterning. How much easier and more satisfying would it be, to be human, if our out-of-date patterning could be updated simply and directly?…

How did you do with all those New Year’s resolutions of years gone by? If you are like most people, most of them got left behind around the end of January…

By now most of us have at least had an introduction to the operating principles of the “law of attraction.” Essentially, the premise of this “law” is that there are only two kinds of information in this universe: energy and matter…

Have you ever wondered why you have to work so hard to get the things you want, when the things you don’t want in your life seem to occur and recur without any effort at all?…

When we think about issues of conscience, we quickly go into the large moral and political questions of our times. And yet, our conscience is hard at work every day supporting us with our choices and decisions having our best interest at heart…

All over the universe, or so it seems, human beings are famous for routinely experiencing what they most don’t want to have, and for not being able to experience that which they most really do want…

Most of us are mostly inclined to assume that most of our actions and decisions, or at least most of our more private and intimate choices, are the result of some kind of free will process…

1. That you can get somewhere positive by defeating something negative.
2. That people who take the “path of least resistance” in life are weak…

Marin-style NLP has always been something that is difficult to characterize, especially when it comes to explaining how it is different. It has much in common with conventional NLP, yet it is tremendously not-like-that at the same time…

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One of our bedrock assertions at NLP Marin is that all human beings will be and do anything to make sure that their beliefs are true. Anything! We are meaning making beings. This is one of our specialties…

I really enjoyed the last newsletter “When Reality Gets Ahead of Identity – When You Make Wonderful Changes and Feel Worse Than Ever”, the question comes out of that article…

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by Carl Buchheit, co-founder of NLP Marin, training director and lead facilitator. Recorded and first published in 2008 Note: These are transcripts of Q&A sessions lead by Carl Buchheit, co-founder of NLP Marin. They have been edited for clarity. How do you help a client tolerate their fear when they are experiencing past pain? In [...]

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by Carl Buchheit, co-founder of NLP Marin, training director and lead facilitator. Recorded and first published in 2008 Ready to take on the New Year? Looking for some inspiration? Or are you reluctant to consider New Year’s resolutions? Carl responds to questions about resolutions, and how they can be seen and used in a new [...]

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