Please note: This article in does not suggest that NLP be a substitute for medical care from a qualified doctor or other health care provider, but rather as a supplement to competent treatment.

Experts have long acknowledged that there is a definite link between physical health and your mental processes, but the extent of that link is only really beginning to come to light. What has been clear for several years now is the effectiveness of NLP in regards to many physical health issues.

While most practitioners which have skill and training in this area of NLP will agree that it is advisable to seek the advice of traditional western medicine, they will also agree that if you have physical health issues, NLP may very well be able to help you with a physical healing process.

How Does The Brain Affect Physical Health?

Just look around and you will see examples in many places and in many ways. For instance, stress and anxiety can lead to heart disease and high blood pressure, while smoking (which has a strong brain component) causes many kinds of cancer. Doctors report that their patients who have a positive attitude and believe they will return to health recover more quickly from illness, injury, surgery and the like.

The best example of how the brain affects physical health is the placebo effect, a proven phenomenon that is a crucial part of scientific testing and evaluation. The concept is simple. If you believe you are taking a pill that will relieve your headache then your headache will likely get better – even if you take a sugar pill rather than a chemical medication. The key is the belief; your body is capable of doing many things, including healing itself, if your brain believes that something you are doing is effecting that change.

NLP interventions have produced demonstrable results in  treating ailments such as chronic pain, remission or elimination of diseases or allergies.

How NLP Can Improve Health

NLP uses the power that is within you to promote healing of whatever issue you may have. For example, many people who suffer from allergies to pollen and dust or who are sensitive to certain kinds of food do not even have to come in contact with the allergen to have a reaction. Sometimes all it takes is to think about it or see it, and the brain automatically triggers the allergy response.

In situations such as this, people often can find relief by using NLP to teach their brains to respond differently to those triggers. Why? Because NLP focuses on the unconscious part of the brain/body connection and re-trains that connection to behave differently.

NLP can also work well along with conventional medicine (or alternative medicine) on a variety of health problems. It can make sense to be open to using more than one methodology to promote healing. "Conventional" approaches can work in tandem with NLP. A very powerful combination indeed.

Mental or Emotional Health Issues

NLP is a really good option for helping with these kinds of issues as well, but the same holds true for these as for physical health issues.

It is quite common for people dealing with mental or emotional health issues to experience significant changes with just a few NLP teaching sessions. This is most true for issues such as fear based physical responses, phobias and the like.

More information on this topic is available in the article on this site entitled "NLP and Mental or Emotional Health".

Finding a Qualified NLP Practitioner

There is no single, universal way to check the qualifications of a NLP practitioner. At present, most places do not have a standardized  proof of certification from people who provide alternative treatments such as NLP and hypnosis. Your best bet is to do some research to find people who are well suited to your needs.

There are professional associations for NLP practitioners throughout the world. You can contact these associations for referrals to member practitioners in your community or who specialize in your particular health issue. Many practitioners offer their services over the phone or via web conferencing, too, so you are not necessarily limited by location. There are ways to use technology to help you work with the person who is best able to help you.