About NLP
by Anné Linden 

Once upon a time in the early seventies a man named Richard met a man named John and the model of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) came into being. Richard Bandler was a master's student at the University of California at Santa Cruz and John Grinder was a linguistics professor at that same school. Richard was a mathematician  and computer genius who became curious about how certain master therapists (Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls) created their magic – how they were able to impact so strongly the people with whom they worked. Both John and Richard were also influenced by thinkers like Gregory Bateson, Alfred Korzybski and Noam Chomsky, to name a few.

The First Lady of NLP
By Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D.

For years, I'd heard NLP practitioners sing the praises of Anné Linden, "The First Lady of NLP." I'd heard about her training institute, her charismatic personality. I wanted to meet her and I decided interviewing her for Anchor Point would give me the ideal opportunity to "touch the hem" of one of the world's best-known NLP Trainers.

Early in 2003, I summoned the audacity to call Anné, introduce myself, and ask for an interview about her life and work. To my delight, she graciously accepted, and in March, we talked for almost two hours by phone. I found her to be charming and generous with her time and knowledge. It was a privilege and an honor to talk with her. For Anchor Point readers, here is an interview with Anné Linden.

Emotions As Messages
By Anné Linden

Once upon a time there was a King who received a messenger from a far off land. The messenger brought news that the King's favourite daughter was about to marry the son of one of his most hated old enemies. The King was so angry that he killed the messenger on the spot. As the King's guards came to remove the body he discovered to his horror that the messenger was his daughter in disguise. Too late, he realized that she had disguised herself hoping to prepare him and dampen his angry reaction so that she could eventually reconcile him to her marriage and receive his blessings - for they loved each other deeply.

By Anné Linden

Stories have held a special fascination for humankind since the dawn of time. Stories teach, entertain, preserve history, heal and nurture. Appealing to our unconscious mind, a story sidesteps the conscious, cognitive and intellectual mind and engages our imagination and intuition.

Dr. Milton Erickson, the master of unconscious communication and metaphor, reminded us repeatedly that change depended upon a shift in our perspective - our point of view. Stories take us out of ourselves and into the shoes of another; thus changing our perspective and allowing our creative part to make new associations and connections.

Self-Hypnosis is similar to praying. When we pray we address our thoughts, desires, hopes and fears to an entity - a being greater than ourselves whom we consider to be God. Prayers are conversations, requests and appreciations. People find prayer to be comforting, nurturing and beneficial to their lives.

Let me suggest that Self-Hypnosis is also a form of prayer. We have two minds: the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind is in charge of immediate awareness - right now your are aware of these words. When driving a car you are aware of the left signal light of the car in front of you. The sound of the horn blowing behind you and your thoughts about being late for work. There are many other sights and sounds around you but you are not conscious of them. This is because our conscious mind is limited to being capable of paying attention to only between 5 and 9 pieces of information at any one moment.