NLP is becoming more and more popular within the NHS.
Doctors are using the techniques to communicate more effectively with patients and colleagues. Managers within the NHS are using NLP to improve leadership skills. Patients are being taught NLP to motivate them to take care of their own health, for weight reduction and smoking cessation.
There are a uniquely diverse range of problems within the NHS which are already being minimised by the use of NLP.
NLP for the healthcare professional
Work stress and burnout is an increasing burden for the NHS.The proportion of stressed doctors is greater than the general population. A study on healthcare workers revealed that burnout is closely linked to a loss of sense of control in their lives. With increasing administration and less time to spend with patients and a loss of work life balance, increasingly healthcare professionals are looking for techniques to help them manage their time and their state.
NLP techniques give them an “inner locus of control” so they can take charge of their lives again and in the process be happier and provide a better service all round.
Several studies on doctors and stress have looked at why some doctors succumb to the stress and others don’t. One of the factors was a lack of “hardiness” and coping strategies to tackle stress. Another factor was poor communication skills and being self critical
NLP teaches people to develop the behavioural flexibility to cope with any situation and techniques to master communication with anyone. This in itself gives a greater sense of control in their lives and hence improves state
More and more doctors are accessing NLP techniques and adding them to their toolkit of skills and seeing the results in the consultations
Internal state
Being in a resourceful internal state is crucial to work with the public. Some doctors have found that by the end of morning surgery they have “taken on” the depressed feeling, the panic attack, and the anxiety and lived through the abuse with a patient. Added to this their self critical internal dialogue of “I have not done a good enough job” leads increasingly to weigh on doctors.
NLP offers a range on internal state control techniques and the resourceful states can be anchored to access instantly. Doctors can consciously choose to be in a particular state in any particular situation. They also have the opportunity to explore their limiting self talk and negative beliefs and choose to replace them with more resourceful ones.
Communication Skills
Communications skills are being taught increasing within the medical training and within this is NLP training.
NLP offers rapport building techniques that Doctors are using with colleagues to as well as with patients. This is especially important for those doctors who report that they are not getting their point across to patients. Patents need motivating in areas like weight reduction or smoking cessation. By using NLP language and rapport building techniques the doctor and patients are on the same wavelength opening up the way to creating the changes.
The Meta model questioning techniques are particularly useful to nudge patients forward when they get “stuck” in their lives and are being taught increasingly to doctors to add them to their toolkit of communication skills
Increasingly NLP is being used to smooth communication with colleagues as well as for negotiation in practice meetings. They say a practice partnership is like a marriage .When there are several members of the team with different ways of communicating the person with greatest flexibility is the most successful. Understanding how each member of the team filters and processes information and becoming aware of their decision making strategies give the NLP trained doctor the opportunity to communicate with them on their wavelength and achieve the outcome they all want.
NLP for the Patient
Research shows that nearly 40% of GP consultations consist of seeing psychologically related patient problems.
Often the patient may come back to the doctor repeatedly with the same symptom and expect the doctor to fix it. With great rapport and having used the Meta Model to nudge the patient forward into considering possibilities for his/her future they hadn’t even thought of before , the doctor can then teach them quick NLP techniques to take charge of their own state .For instances , a patient who becomes anxious with their boss at work and comes to the doctor convinced only tablets will work can then be taught techniques like Spinning to remove the anxiety in the moment as well as anchoring to set up a more resourceful state.
More and more patients are taking time off work with Stress and again handing the responsibility to the doctor to issue the sick note and fix the problem. With effective rapport and use of language patterns and the Meta model the doctor and patient can share the management approach and the patient given tools like the Timeline exercise to consider future outcomes they feel good about. There are several NLP techniques regarding enhancing motivation which can be taught to the patient to take control of their own health
Depression, anxiety, Trauma and Panic attacks .Some of the conditions we see commonly as doctors and NLP techniques work very well along side medication patients may already be on.
The various NLP techniques include ways to manage the condition e.g. depression as well as techniques to then influence patterns of thinking and behaviour e.g. , self critical internal dialogue, negative beliefs and lead to positive long-term lifestyle changes like weight reduction.
NLP for the NHS- The system
Leadership training for doctors, hospital managers and chief executives. Some of the Primary Care Trusts are already using NLP to train their team and lead them forward.
NLP is also being used very powerfully for negotiation
The NHS is the largest employer in the UK and managing staff effectively requires leadership skills and confident effective communication skills. NLP skills can be used elegantly to motivate staff so they enjoy their job and hence reduce work stress.
The NHS is about providing the best patient care. NLP techniques are being used to oil the wheels of this great machine so everyone is in system work as a whole to provide the best care for the patient.
Dr Natheera Indrasenan
www.acuitydoctor.com
