This article explains the complexities of NLP regulation and will assist you to find out the rules and types of accreditation out there:
There are many regulation bodies and companies who would love to accredit you in NLP. yet the truth is that NLP is completely unregulated by government, so all regulation is more or less self-regulation.
So who regulates NLP?
There are a number of groups, organisations, associations, boards and bodies who have set up their own standard by creating certification / affiliation schemes in order to reflect how they believe NLP should be taught and practiced. These organisations often differ in their opinion. Each organisation has a different judgment and none are mandatory to join or achieve training through. Many training providers choose not to affiliate themselves with any certification or affiliation bodies.
Some of these organisations are independent of the training companies and some are not. Some require a comprehensive curriculum and that the training company provides proof of their standards of practise and, again, some do not.
if your training provider has a direct affiliate with the accreditation organisation, then the quality assurance may already be corrupted. it should be quite easy to check via google if this is the case. Seeing as you will probably only take one NLP Practitioner training in your life, best make sure it’s the best quality you can find!
Here is a check list to assist you in asking (or at least thinking) the right questions:
a) Is your training provider accredited & recognised?
b) Do the logos they have on their site have a valid membership or have they just been copied and pasted?
c) Is the accreditation from an independent body or is the certification endorsed by the same company that gave the trainer the certification in the first place? (therefore not an ‘honest’ certification and the body that recognises the delegate has a vested interest in the certificates being issued.)
d) Does the NLP training company care whether you succeed in your life/business or not?
e) Will you get adequate support before, during and after your course?
f) Will you have access to the NLP trainers after the training finishes to achieve what you want with NLP?
g) Are their enough assistants to cover the amount of people in the room?
h) Does the NLP company have a policy to limit the amount of people in the room to create enough intimacy and a good learning platform for the delegates?
i) Does the course give you a guaranteed result, both in personal development and the NLP skills?
j) Is your membership internationally recognised?
At NLP World, we have sourced what we think are the best Independent accreditation bodies in the world and made a world class accredited certification for you. We have chosen ANLP (association of Neuro Linguistic Programming) in the UK and AIP (association of Integrative Psychologists) from the USA. These companies are both independent of NLP World and have stipulated certain criteria, from the hours being trained to the quality and ongoing CPD of the company and staff. Terry Elston is also a CPD presenter, so your courses can contribute to CPD points for your CV and ongoing development. We have Comensa as a coaching accreditation, yet honestly that’s simply a paid for service.
I personally have to prove each year that I have taken some extra training or self development towards making my courses better for you.
How do i find my right course or training provider?
If you google the generic term ‘NLP’ you’ll come up with about 50 million hits. That’s a lot of sorting out to do!
Starting with the above criteria, you should be able to shortlist your neuro linguistic programming training companies down to just a few. Then, the idea would be to phone the NLP companies and talk to the person who will be leading your training (or at least the person setting it up). Talking to the sales guy would not be my optimum way of getting onto the course – they will have been trained to just get you on (and should be good at that, having been NLP trained in sales).
By now, you should be armed with enough questions to really get into the best NLP training company you can imagine. Good luck!
If you would like more in depth information on the companies that regulate NLP click here. You will be taken to our sister NLP website in the UK.