NLP, Coaching and the value of ANLP Certified CPD

Another good gathering from our AT&Ts spanning the world… Australia, Malaysia, India, Ireland, and the United Kingdom were well represented in this month’s café.   …And what a discussion it was!

‘Value’ has several meanings.  It can be something we place importance on, something we appreciate and there can be financial connotations too.

One of our Trainers asked about the recent introduction of ANLP Certified CPD (Continuing Professional Development) for Accredited Trainers and the word ‘value’ popped up for me.

As the global independent Professional Body for NLP, we have set out our criteria for what constitutes CPD for our field.  We know that many companies and individuals value CPD as a means of themselves or their employees maintaining currency in their vocation or role in life.  The meeting discussed how ANLP have implemented ANLP Certified CPD ranging from NLP trainings for ANLP Accredited Trainers (ATs) and for additional courses that ATs may run that comply with our CPD criteria.  We also discussed what value is placed on each piece of CPD and how this might be determined.  We also reminded everyone at the meeting that CPD is part of the ANLP Professional Standards module, also a free benefit for Members at all levels…  There is also the financial benefit of ANLP Certified CPD too as it is included in the Accredited Trainer fees and can save thousands of pounds (GBP) in annual fees that other CPD accrediting bodies charge.  You can find out more about our CPD standards and criteria here https://anlp.org/anlp-certified-cpd and, for Members, you can read the Rapport article here:  https://anlp.org/rapport/articles/show/why-is-continuing-professional-development-cpd-so-important-

Next up was a discussion around how we use the term ‘Coach’ or ‘Coaching’ when describing the delivery of our NLP work.  One person saw coaching as something where there is an ongoing relationship between the coach and the coachee.  Others saw a distinct difference between coaching and therapy and that the difference may be down to the qualifications required to be a therapist, as in ‘psychotherapist’ or ‘physiotherapist’ and sometimes the additional training/qualifications required to work with deep trauma patients/clients…  maybe that’s where a client becomes a patient?  The semantics of the words is important to us… is it less so for the receiver of our work?  The word ‘coach’ seems to be generally accepted and understood as “someone who helps you to feel better”.  One of our trainers introduced themselves at the start of the meeting by saying that their clients always left their sessions with a smile on their face… is this a good definition of a coach? 

We have now repositioned ANLP as “The Home of NLP Professional Coaches and Trainers” because it is important, for us and our Members, to be recognised as people who can help clients to find strategies to help themselves… in whatever way they want to be helped!  For me, semantics are important and so is the generally understood meaning/acceptability of a word, term or phrase…  If it helps our Members become framed in a better way for potential clients, then that can help spread the value of professional NLP coaching…

So, this longer and more detailed blog is a record of a piece of my own CPD!  I learn an enormous amount from these cafes because the assembled and accumulated wisdom in the Zoom room is truly awesome.  It brings in the life, work and in-the-moment feelings of people who have very different experiences of life… different cultures, different perspectives… and we are privileged that they are all assembled to gain a deeper understanding of our own maps and the territory that we see and hear through the eyes and ears of others. 

Thank you for sharing that with us.