Can NLP and Hypnosis Improve Quality of Life for Seniors?

For the purpose of this post–and soon to be article, I’m dividing seniors into two groups, “senior seniors” (including my 97-year-old Mom) and “junior seniors” (including me, 65+)

Can NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and hypnosis improve quality of life for “Senior Seniors” (my 97-year old Mom, specifically)?  When should we start?

Mom had a fall at age 89 which seemed to start (or accelerate) her loss of short-term memory.  A CAT scan done after the fall showed that her brain was slowing down in its processing.  The neurologist who read that CAT scan has long-since retired.  Mom, at age 97 now, is still going strong for someone her age.

She has short-term memory problems and sometimes can’t find the word she’s looking for.  She can forget what she was thinking or talking about and, while she’s hard of hearing, it’s her processing speed that makes it difficult for her to follow conversations or watch a movie or the news.  “Everything goes too fast.”

She asked me the other day if there was something I could do to help her get into a better mood when she’s “out of sorts.”. In NLP-speak she wants to be in a “more resourceful state.”. With both NLP and hypnosis there are many things to do to help people get into and maintain more resourceful states.  I hesitate to use either NLP or hypnosis with her.  First, because she’s my Mom, and second, because NLP and hypnosis seem to have expectations about how brains function and Mom’s brain, as a “senior senior” may no longer function that way.

That brings up some other interesting possibilities.  Brain research indicates that the brain can create multiple pathways to achieve the same results.  Nerves can sometimes repair themselves after injury.  Stroke victims can often regain the powers of speech and movement as their brains create new pathways to control those voluntary actions.

Could redundant NLP anchors and/or networks of anchors and/or redundant networks of anchors created prior to the memory loss be effective?  Could they be reinforced by hypnosis?  “Use it or lose it probably applies here.”.

Perhaps I should start with myself.  I’m already sixty-five and, while I have no memory loss yet, it would probably be a very good idea to create networks of redundant NLP anchors now and to reinforce their use with hypnosis. If and when things change for me, I would already have things in place that could really improve my quality of life and the quality of life for my family, friends, and caregivers.

I also need to create a graphic I can store in multiple places with a map identifying anchor locations and reminding me of any activating key words I may associate with each anchor.

(About the author: Joel R. Montgomery, EdD  is certified as a NLP Master Practitioner and is completing certification as a Hypnotherapist.  He has been working as a learning and change navigator and coach around the world for more than 40 years and has earned two masters degrees and a doctorate degree in education.)