Why NLP Practitioners Freak Me Out

In my line of work (presenting and coaching) I run into a lot of people who are very enthusiastic about NLP and I have to admit that, although many of them are lovely people, some of them freak me out.  I feel uncomfortable when I am with them and I can't put my finger on why.

I have now figured it out.  NLP practitioners are taught a  range of strategies around body language:  

'We can mirror or match ones voice and posture, blinking and facial expression, words and gesturing, physiology and position. For example if a person tilts his head to the left, we should tilt the head to the right, just like a mirror. Align your posture similar to the curvature of the spine. When you sit across someone, you can assume a mirror position of the hands, legs, head etc. When a person talks, you can observe the gestures used and hand movements. You can use the same gestures when responding back.'

http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/nlp/nlp-mirroring-and-matching-techniques.html

The problem with this is:

 “We have an exceptional capacity to track whether the timing and morphology of an emotion is correct.” Dr Gross quoted in NY Times

However proficient they are at mirroring my non-verbal's, if it is a conscious strategy (rather than something that comes naturally from genuinely liking me) the timing and morphology of their non-verbal's will be subtly 'off' and my subconscious mind will pick it up and signal to me to be wary.

I am often at a loss why people are so keen to learn NLP as it has little research evidence to support it and there are so many wonderful evidence based approaches to supporting clients in positive change.