(Ronda and Bob, now Master NLP Trainers, relocated to London, Ontario, in 2010 after creating the very first Certified NLP Training Online.)
Company Using NLP To Coach Clients To Success
JUNE 24, 2003 – THE REGIONAL MAGAZINE
DOWN TO BUSINESS – By Sally Erskine Doucette
A New Minas husband and wife are finding success in their company using NLP offering ways to improve human potential. Ronda Degaust and Bob Clarke, owners of Life Potential Developments, use a process known as Success Coaching to help clients gain confidence, learn better communication skills, and deal with a range of problems, including depression, procrastination, and even health issues.
A technique called Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a key component. “NLP is a how-to manual for how we work as human beings,” says Degaust.
Ronda Degaust, pictured at her home in New Minas, runs Life Potential Developments (an NLP Company) with her husband, Bob Clarke (Ronda and Bob have since relocated to Ontario)
Training Trend
NLP is part of an international training trend growing in popularity in Canada, which can be applied to many aspects of life, from business and personal relationships to athletics, cigarette smoking and weight loss.
NLP was co-created from a blend of cognitive and behavioural science by linguist Dr. John Grinder, and computer scientist and Gestalt therapist Richard Bandler. The model they developed is based on the language patterns of anthropologist Gregory Bateson, family therapist Virginia Satir, hypnotherapist Milton Erikson and others.
Over the course of 30 years, NLP has expanded to include information from neurology, cybernetics, philosophy and quantum physics. At least 250 books and 400 Ph.D. dissertations have been written on the topic.
Company Using NLP In Coaching
As Master Practitioners of NLP, Degaust and Clarke are at the top of their field in Atlantic Canada. Their NLP Company has been in business in New Minas for two years (now more than 22 years).
NLP Coaching begins with an initial free consultation, during which clients are asked questions about the thought process. A choice of one-on-one coaching and group sessions is available. A toll-free telephone line allows clients in other locales to access the services.
However, while NLP may be effective at helping individuals and corporations, it is also an expensive skill to acquire. Practitioner training requires an investment of $2,395 plus tax. Less extensive workshops and seminars range in cost from approximately $100 to $300 per day.
Degaust views the expense in positive terms as an indication of the client’s degree of motivation and commitment.
Skills and tools that clients can use to modify negative behaviours are part of Success Training seminars.
John Isnor of Wolfville met Clarke through the Rotary Club. “I had concerns as to my goal-setting and follow-through abilities.”
As a result of the coaching, Isnor gained confidence and started making faster and better business decisions.
Clients look for help with a myriad of issues, but there is one unifying concern: negative self-image.
Joe Torcicollo of New York, who runs a weight-loss clinic where he uses NLP and hypnosis, communicated with Clarke and Degaust by phone and e-mail on a number of personal aspects. He got rid of allergies to cats and mould in the process. “Whenever I need coaching on my own business, I give them a shout,” he adds.
Learning To Let Go
A significant moment in Success Coaching is when clients learn to let go of negative emotions. During one weekend session, a memory exercise helped pinpoint their earliest moments of anger, sadness, fear, and guilt – the four emotional drivers of behaviour.
Belinda Tupper of Scott’s Bay learned at a workshop to look at the cause of her anger differently.
“I realized that I had hung onto the anger all my life, from when someone made fun of me as a child. Later I applied the emotions to other similar situations.”
Tupper has put it behind her and takes things less personally. She also reports a lessening of problems with personal stress after the workshop using NLP.
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