The Guild is made up of a wonderfully diverse group of NLP training providers who use very different styles and approaches.

Since its beginning nearly 30 years ago NLP has been known for its creativity and flexibility - which is why it can never be organised, standardised or controlled. And it is the same with how it is taught; that, too, is unlikely to ever be organised, standardised or regulated.

A certification is a certification, isn't it?
Yet there is need for a resource to enable people to assess what is the best NLP training for them. Faced with a quite bewildering array of choices many who are new to NLP use a simple question to make their choosing easier: "what is the quickest and cheapest way of getting a certificate announcing that I am a Certified NLP Practitioner?"

This is quite understandable. After all a PhD or a Masters Degree carries similar credibility whichever university provides it. So should not a Certification in NLP operate in the same way, i.e. have the same value whichever organisation provides it?

Not so and for an important reason. In the academic world such titles are conferred based on people meeting standards to which universities throughout the country subscribe. In NLP there are no longer any such nationally agreed standards and, as a result, the term Certified Practitioner of NLP has become increasingly devalued.

The 120 hours' issue
Traditionally NLP these certification training programmes were in excess of 120 hours. But over the past few years economic issues have resulted in a proliferation of new formats ranging downwards from less than half this length of training to the point where it is now possible to become a 'Certified Practitioner of NLP' in about 45 hours.

However some organisations refused to join this rush to lower standards and greater profits. For some years now the individual organisations, who have recently come together to form the Guild, have each been trying in their own way to educate would-be participants in the differences between the various styles and lengths of certification trainings - and in the value of the traditional full-length, full-syllabus NLP Practitioner Certification format.

But up to now we have not presented in a united manner the case for a thorough NLP training of 120 hours and which met certain agreed criteria. However with the advent of the Guild would-be participants are able to make more informed choices and to distinguish between the different ways of attaining Certification.

They can appreciate the difference between, on the one hand, having a pretty piece of paper and knowledge about NLP and, on the other hand, having wired-in NLP insights and skills - plus, of course, knowledge and a pretty piece of paper.

They can make informed choices on the skills' difference that is likely to result from 120 hours of learning, exploring and practising NLP as opposed to a training that involves around a third of this time.

Diverse and aligned
The Guild blends diversity and alignment in a uniquely NLP manner. Would-be participants have a wonderfully rich array of NLP Certification Trainings to choose from so they can find the approach which best suits their learning style, their interests, their budget, and their calendar. They also have the reassurance that this diverse range of trainings is provided by a family of organisations which is aligned in its very real commitment to providing thorough NLP trainings which meet agreed standards in length, syllabus, quality, and in how they are presented.

A final thought
It's easy to talk about having a 'real commitment to providing thorough NLP trainings' - but isn't this just a fluffy marketing phrase?

Consider the issue of economics. Why do the individual Guild members stick to the 120 hours format when they could offer 'accelerated' practitioner courses lasting just a third of that time and, in doing so, make considerably more money?

Could it be that they really do believe in providing the highest quality of NLP, even though doing so reduces potential profits?

If this is the case, it might just mean that would-be participants are presented with a group of training providers who truly believe in the quality of what they are offering. They have balanced quality against extra profits and chosen to walk their talk…

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