Ep 10 - NLP and Addiction: Breaking Free: NLP Strategies For Overcoming Addiction with Richard Bolstad

Richard Bolstad trains NLP Practitioners and trainers in America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. He has written or co-written over 20 NLP books, which have been translated into nine languages. His book ‘Transforming Communication’ has been a core text in several New Zealand university programs. He has also been a personal trainer for some top New Zealand business and sports people, including leading New Zealand triathlete Steve Gurney.

 

Richard won the NLP International Award from the ANLP in 2017, the first year it was offered. He delivers with integrity and precision and has offered invaluable help to people traumatised in the aftermath of earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan, as well as helped in the aftermath of war in Eastern European countries. He has been described as “modest and very personable, and reading about the difference his NLP work has made, especially in response to a crisis, is pretty amazing.” 

 

Richard has many professional trainings and qualifications. He is a member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists, a trained Teacher (Diploma of Teaching Tertiary), a Registered Nurse, a Master Trainer of NLP with several international NLP Certification Organizations such as IANLP and IN, has a State of California-recognized Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, and is currently completing a Degree in Archaeology at Leicester University.

 

In this episode we talk about:

 

• What it means to be human and how to pull yourself out of unhelpful patterns
• What NLP is and its wide range of uses
• Instead of seeing addiction as a disease, seeing it as a normal process where a person finds themselves blocked from resolution
• How society is irrational in what it defines as an addiction (what it deems socially acceptable and what’s not)
• Richard’s unhealthy relationship with alcohol as a teenager
• Focusing on learning from our successes when we want to change
• The power of showing people how to get into a positive mind state and finding enjoyment in their life
• How psychedelics interrupt the default mode network, leaving people with no choice other than experiencing the present moment and the preciousness of life
• The relationship between trauma and addiction and the story of Vietnam veterans
• Getting away from treating addictions (especially to chemicals) as a legal and policing issue and making it a healing issue (costs less with better results!)
• The experience of having a Prime Minister and Head of Police in his training
• Richard’s process for helping someone clarify what’s important enough for them to commit to change before doing anything to interrupt a behaviour
• Out-thinking your fast brain and making healthy food choices
• The benefits of incorporating playfulness 
• Recognising the part intergenerational trauma plays in the Ukraine and Gaza

We would love to know what stood out the most for you in this episode. Please feel free to contact either of us via the links below. 

Don’t forget to rate the podcast on Spotify or leave a review on Apple Podcasts, your support will help us reach a wider audience and help more people on the road to recovery. 

 

Connect with Richard:

Websites - Transformations or https://richardbolstad.com/

LinkedIn – Richard Bolstad

Facebook - Transformations

 

Connect with Kerene:

Website – Mindful at Work

LinkedIn - Kerene Strochnetter

Instagram – Kerene_strochnetter

Facebook – Mindful at Work