Scientific Research
The number of scientific studies about NLP is constantly increasing. Please help to keep this page up to date.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming is currently being studied in universities all around the world. Please send us links to new studies. This is an important measure to get NLP the recognition it deserves. The more as scientific community seems to be biased towards NLP.
Gatekeeping in Science: Lessons from the Case of Psychology and Neuro-Linguistic Programming
In their conclusion, the authors of this study (March 2024) Katherine Dormandy & Bruce Grimley write.
"We have examined a complex case of gatekeeping in science and discovered faults on all sides. Psychology’s gatekeeping against NLP is understandable due to the public presentation of some NLP-ers, but it is bad gatekeeping. It rather reflects flat-out bias, straw-manning and highly problematic empirical analyses.- For this reason alone, psychology’s gatekeeping is bad – it violates the ideals it seeks to protect."
-
No NLP in NLP Research and Recognition Project
Read here, why the NLP has disappeard from 'The Research and Recognition Project' in the USA.
.General NLP research studies and Databases
- The largest database with over 370 academic papers - abstract on the articles are provided (Click 'Home' and you will be there)
- EANLPt link to all NLP/NLPt Research bits published in peer reviewed Journals since 1995
- Comprehensive list of various studies on the effectiveness of NLP based approaches (courtesy Phil Parker).
- The 'NLP Research Papers' section of the ANLP website lists an impressive number of papers.
- Is NLP based on science or is it pseudoscience? (courtesy Phil Parker) (download pdf)
- Mental Space Psychology (MSP): the discovery of spatial cognition, a new paradigm in psychology. "Space is the organising principle of the mind." (an emerging field of studies rooted in NLP).
- NLP-Wiki (English) with an impressive list of research papers
- Evidence-based Neuro Linguistic Psychotherapy: a Meta-Analysis by Zaharia C, et al. Psychiatr Danub. 2015.
- On the trail of "What is NLP?': The Evidence for NLP (ICPR Spring 2019); Lisa de Rijk, Lucas A.C. Derks, Bruce Grimley & Jaap Hollander; The British Psychologyical Society Shop
- The overall mission of the NLP Research and Recognition Project is to support, coordinate, and fund rigorous scientific research in the field of NLP and related intervention strategies.
- “Mirror Neurons”: The Neuropsychology of NLP Modelling. Validation of transfer of excellence techniques by modern neuro sciences.
- English (!) Wikipedia lists major studies of NLP and highlights the methodological problems when studying effectiveness. And after having read Wikipedia we recommend to read "Why hasn’t the NLP Wikipedia page been corrected? - The Truth About the NLP Wikipedia Page" too.
>> Since english Wikipedia is not willing to correct some of the obvious defects we strongly recommend to check out Wikipedia in other languages. Different authors have very different angles on NLP indeed! - Spanish Wikipedia / French Wikipedia / German Wikipedia
Translate via Google Translator or (better quality) DeepL - Assessing the effectiveness of NLP: Study Hollander / Malinowski (2016); Norris (1996)
- An outcome study documenting the effectiveness of NLP
- What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, (NLP)? - The development of a grounded theory of NLP within an Action Research Journey. Dr. Bruce Grimley
- The need for neuro-linguistic programming to develop greater construct validity (ICPR Spring 2019), Bruce Grimley; The British Psychologyical Society
- What cognitive psychotherapies - like CBT, NLP and Ericksonian hypnotherapy - reveal about the workings of the mind. A theoretical analysis over 35 years of clinical experimentation. Dr. Lucas Derks
- The ANLP provides an impressive collection of experience-based case studies. To demonstrate the life power of NLP methods in therapeutic work with people.
Coaching
- Usefulness of NLP when interviewing deaf individiduals
- A dissertation study concluding the effectiveness of interpersonal communication pacing (non-verbal matching)
- A study looking into the effects of matching predicates and client satisfaction
- A dissertation study examining the representational systems and perceived empathy
- Rapport (Pacing/Leading) works: Social and nonsocial synchrony are interrelated and romantically attractive; Cohen, M., Abargil, M., Ahissar, M., & Atzil, S. (2024); Communications Psychology, 2(1), 57. doi:10.1038/s44271-024-00109-1
- Using Clean Language to explore the subjectivity of coachees' experience and outcomes.
- Disassociated state by 3rd-position selftalk to help control emotions
Education
- NLP - It's potential for learning and teaching in formal education
- Dissertation on reducing parental anger
EMDR / EMI / Wingwave
- Information in French provided by Jean Luc Monsempès, Coaching de Santé Charenton le Pont, France
- How EMDR was created, John Grinder
- Some more on history of EMDR, EMI and Wingwave
- Revisiting the origins of EMDR, research paper by Gerald M. Rosen published in Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, May 2023
- A comprehensive listing of research articles realting to EMDR and trauma therapy.
- Eye Movement Research: Core NLP Hypothesis Vindicated, Dr. Richard Bolstad, 2015.
- Eye Movements helps retrieve Memories, Research by Jordana S. Wynn, Jennifer D. Ryan, and Bradley R. Buchsbaum (2020) / PNAS doi:10.1073/pnas.1917586117.
- Eye Movements: Looking up improves performance in verbal tasks, Research by Christophe Carlei & Dirk Kerzel, University of Geneva, 2020
- The Eyes Don’t have it: Lie Detection and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Wiseman and Watt, 2012. --> Unfortunately, the hypothesis Wiseman and Watt chose to study is not the one that NLP discovered. Read: Core NLP Hypothesis Vindicated by Dr. Richard Bolstadt (2015) above.
- NLP Eye Accessing Cues - Maybe the most incorrectly cited element of NLP? Read what the founders of NLP Grinder/Bandler really claimed.
- How Do We Deal With Deception? Do we even know if we are being deceived? The medium.com publication, section Illumination, published this article on deception by Pascal Gambardella, PhD, ACMC. It includes many links to relevant scientific publications and a section that fact-checks Wiseman's comments about NLP.
- Check out nlp.de research database on 'eye movement' (some 300 studies on the subject).
Health
- NLP and pregnancy sickness - a successful single case study
- NLP in treatment of Paediatric Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): randomised
controlled trial - NLP 'Lightning Process' Training Programme Reduces Chronic Fatigue in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors, Study by Oslo University Hospital et.al.
- The Lightning Process compared with UK specialist medical care for paediatric Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Research and Recognition Project (R&RP)
conducts rigorous, controlled clinical studies to validate therapeutic techniques that support the widespread use of innovative and cost-effective clinical care for traumatic stress and a number of other psychiatric disorders. The Research and Recognition Project was founded in 2006, after a clinician and former lecturer at Cornell University, Dr. Frank Bourke, discovered the clinical efficacy of a protocol to treat post-traumatic stress.
This protocol is based on the principles of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). It is named Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM).
In the last two years, sufficient research has been done to prove the initial clinical results.
For more information please visit https://randrproject.org/index.html
Some research papers:
(-) Gray, R., & Bourke, F. (2015). Remediation of intrusive symptoms of PTSD in fewer than five sessions: A 30- person pre-pilot study of the RTM Protocol. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, 1(2), 85-92. https://doi.org/10.3138/jmvfh.3119
(-) Gray, R., Budden-Potts, D., & Bourke, F. (2017). Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories for PTSD: A randomized controlled trial of 74 male veterans. Psychotherapy Research, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2017.1408973
(-) Tylee, D. S., Gray, R., Glatt, S. J., & Bourke, F. (2017). Evaluation of the reconsolidation of traumatic memories protocol for the treatment of PTSD: a randomized, wait-list-controlled trial. Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health, 3(1), 21-33. https://doi.org/10.3138/jmvfh.4120
(-) Gray, R., Budden-Potts, D., Schwall, R., Bourke, F. (2020). An Open-Label, Randomized Controlled Trial of the Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories Protocol (RTM) in Military Women [Accepted Manuscript]. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000986
(-) Gray, R. M. & Liotta, R. F. (2012). PTSD: Extinction, Reconsolidation and the Visual Kinesthetic Dissociation Protocol. Traumatology.18(2), 3-16. DOI 10.1177/1534765611431835;
More are on the way. (updated March 2024)
King's College London
Another group of researchers at King's College in London UK, is doing clinical studies on the efficacy of the RTM protocol. A first feasibility study has been concluded (March 2024)
(-) Reconsolidation of traumatic memories protocol compared to trauma-focussed cognitive behaviour therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in UK military veterans: a randomised controlled feasibility trial. ("Forty-eight percent of the RTM group no longer met diagnostic criteria for PTSD compared to 16% in the TFCBT group. All veterans reported largely positive experiences of the therapy and research procedures and ways to improve them.")
Based on this study a grant has been approved. The researchers write: "The new trial gives full credit to the NLP provenance, including RTM, VKD, Rewind and other variations, and is publicly out as a, revised over many years of work by many individuals, NLP intervention. We are also looking at mechanisms, so testing a series of hypotheses of how we think this might be working. NHS trial has already commenced and the full scale veterans trial will proceed after ethics approval next year." (April 2024)
Therapy - Psychotherapy
- Pilot study using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) in post-combat PTSD (2014)
- Neuro-Linguistic Perspective of Long- and Short-Term Psychotherapy of Grief. Theoretical Background, Method and Case-Studies
- An investigation into how NLP can be a source of positive psychology interventions to increase self-esteem and subjective well-being in psychologically healthy populations
- A dissertation comparing counselors trained in NLP with counselors trained in traditional counseling
- A study on the treatment of phobia with NLP
- A brief treatment for fear of heights: a randomised controlled trial of NLP phobia work
- A study that shows NLP is more effective than drug therapy for smoking cessation.
- A dissertation concluding that matching primary representational system enhances trust in a therapeutic relationship