Timeline

TimeLines emerged in NLP in the early 1980s. TimeLines emerged through different sources. Leslie Cameron Bandler while researching NLP Meta Programs made the distinction in people who are “Through Time” and others who are “In Time” (see NLP Meta Programs). John Grinder and Robert Dilts (through separate and independent research) developed the idea of a spatial TimeLine, where people walked backwards into representations from the past and forwards into representations of the future. The spatial TimeLine is a powerful metaphor for linear (temporal) association of memories. The spatial TimeLine forms the basis of powerful NLP interventions designed to resolve limiting beliefs and situations with heavy emotional content, which are past-memory driven.

Richard Bandler began working with the concept of a visually orientated TimeLine where the client visualises the past in one direction from their body and the future in another direction. The client then visualises themselves floating above the TimeLine into the past creating a V/K dissociation from events to resolve issues.  The client also floats out into the future to future pace change. Tad James together with Wyatt Woodsmall further developed the work with visual TimeLines and created a set of patterns called Time Line Therapy.

Time and our perception of time is a powerful filter at both F1 and F2. The F1 neurological transforms can speed up or slow down events at FA. F2 transforms, over time, regularly update, transform and twist past orientated representations. We are fooled by ourselves that our representations from the past (memories) are real, and we get caught up in the content of such representations.

We will use Time-Line Re-Patterning in this course to work with the metaphors of the past, and we will use TimeLines, both spatial and visual, as a means of letting the unconscious mind feed representations to our conscious mind as metaphors for healing and moving on from significant events where impasses are occurring.

Michael Carroll observed a lot of people in the field, who were using TimeLines in a consciously led way while imposing content. This same group of people had isolated TimeLine as their primary intervention which was limiting to both the client and practitioner.

Michael Carroll brought together the key techniques in TimeLine and cleaned them up so they utilise unconscious processes and are content free. This work is called TimeLine Re-Patterning.

source nlp practitioner manual, nlp academy