Hi all, I am interested in NLP purely for helping to sort out some of my own problems. My first introduction to NLP came from Derren Brown. I figured that if he can make people think that red is yellow, then surely an NLP practitioner could help me to change some of my negative thoughts and beliefs.

I read a couple of books but didn't get much out of them, then tried going to an NLP practitioner. I was pretty disappointed to say the least, to find that she didn't use hypnosis or "sleight of mouth" or anchoring or any sort of clever techniques, but rather, her entire approach was based upon reframing my existing beliefs with positive affirmations.

This lady is an "NLP master", so I was expecting her to know some advanced techniques. Is that IT? Surely there is more to NLP than pithy positive-thinking therapy. Or am I thinking more along the lines of Eriksonian hypnosis, or something?

I'm confused and still don't know what NLP is, so can someone tell me either - a good book that will offer a useful overview of what NLP is and the various modalities, or - what should I be looking for in a therapist? Am I looking for an NLP therapist, a hypnotist, or something else? And how do I know whether they are going to use advanced techniques, or whether it's going to be just pithy affirmations?

Thanks, I hope I'm making sense!
- heebs