Mediums, 'Life counsellors', NLP practitioners and other parasites
Did you ever watch a programme a few years ago called something like 'Pay off your mortgage in three years'? Basically it was a bloke persuading people to jack in their paid jobs and set up business for themselves to try to make lots of money very fast and pay off their mortgages. Very laudable, except that every single one of the twats ended up taking up a job being, essentially, a shyster. Not surprising, as it's one of the few ways to make large amounts of money with very little training, skill or outlay.

So one of them ran workshops for teaching people to stop smoking. Another became a 'life counsellor'. One became a karaoke singer (at least that involves some skill, so perhaps is the exception to the rule). I can't remember the rest, but the message was the same: stop doing a real job with genuine benefit to people, and start finding some suckers.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Thu 27 May 2010, 15:33, 7 replies)

NLP?
That's got to be something like "New Life Postioning" or something, hasn't it?
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 27 May 2010, 16:12, closed)

Worse
It's Neuro-Linguistic Programming
( Snappyuk gets BIGGER with free sample., Thu 27 May 2010, 16:24, closed)

hmmm
I'm a hypnotherapist and I use NLP.
( real i'm not happy 'til you're not happy, Thu 27 May 2010, 16:30, closed)

Sorry, but everything I've seen about it says it's a load of bollocks
And what isn't bollocks is obvious...

I'm more open to hypnotherapy, but I have my doubts about whether it's anything more than placebo, not that there's anything wrong with effective placebos! Also - you can't be a hypnotherapist without proper qualifications. Any cunt can set themselves up as an NLP practitioner.
( flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Thu 27 May 2010, 16:44, closed)

the real skill
is not reading tarot cards, or knowing the principles of NLP, or even being able to sing karaoke.

No, the bit that is the job is that they have managed to get people to pay them for this bollocks. Anyone can get paid £5.93 for an hour of actual productive work like fruit picking or office cleaning or shelf stacking. To persuade people to pay you ten times that for an hour of bullshit... now that is a talent, and in a skewed way, I do believe that people who can make a living from their talents, should.

And while I agree with your point about them being charlatans preying on the emotionally or intellectually vulnerable, there is a bit of me that sometimes wishes I could have the moral disconnect required to part fools from their money so efficiently.
( Batsgirl, Thu 27 May 2010, 17:16, closed)

Wouldn't it be 'Media'?
*scratches head and wanders off*
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Thu 27 May 2010, 19:31, closed)

ok...
Sorry to disagree, but I have found NLP to be really useful in part of my work and I make a really good living using the principles and practice of nlp.
However there are some absolute bollocks talked and used and a whole army of complete fuckwits who evangelise about it which leads to a bad rep.
As in any line of work there are good, the bad and the downright dishonest and we tend to tar people with the same brush based on our experience.
I do have all the qualifications, but for me It's just a theory which works and is a useful way of thinking about things in a different way. And that if you use it as effectively, makes a huge difference to individuals and organisations. I also get a lot of repeat business which demonstrates them seeing the value in what i do for them.
I also never tell people unless asked that its NLP that I use as there are negative associations with it as your post ably demonstrates.
(nimrodihnio making gravy for one., Fri 28 May 2010, 9:25, closed)