Focus on the concept of imprinting in NLP

The behaviors we exhibit as adults are often created or influenced by past events. From an experience, we construct a belief (or a set of beliefs). This belief can be a resource in our lives or a hindrance. In the latter case, we say it is limiting.

The event underlying these beliefs is called an “imprint” (Robert Dilts, 1990, 2006). It is therefore the source experience.

Imprinting theory stems, among other things, from the research of Konrad Lorenz (1935). He observed the behavior of ducklings in their attachment process and the influence of this process on their sexual behavior in adulthood.

Research on attachment in humans shows that emotional bonds during childhood are crucial in the developmental process, particularly in terms of learning, memory, communication, and socialization. This is, in fact, an aspect increasingly highlighted in stress management and resilience processes (Cyrulnik, 2019, 2020; Nelle et al., 2005).

These imprints can be positive experiences but also traumatic. They are formed and imprinted primarily during neurologically critical periods, specific and sensitive periods for the development of certain skills (such as language, vision, hearing, etc.).

They give rise to beliefs and also have a significant influence on the development of our identity and personality. In short, our past influences the adult we are today.

According to Robert Dilts (1990, 2006), our adult personality is composed of “an amalgam of different roles in which we grew up.” In other words, we have modeled the important people of our past, such as parental figures and close relatives. We have consciously and unconsciously absorbed their way of functioning, their attachment style, and their history. We tend to reproduce certain family patterns or, conversely, want to distance ourselves from them.

Dilts’s re-imprinting technique (1990, 2006) is based on the idea that it is possible to access the content of the imprint and re-imprint it. We then work with the person’s subjective reality in order to transform their autobiographical narrative.

The goal of this technique is to give us more choice in how we think about the experience of past imprints. It thus helps to change the limiting beliefs we have created about ourselves, the world, our roles, and life patterns.

One of the strengths of this technique is that it takes into account the systemic aspect in which the imprint was formed, as well as the relationships within that system.

Above all, let’s not forget that we are not defined by our past experiences. We are full of resources. We are complex and unique.

Rebecca Saintes
Clinical Psychologist

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Source :
Cyrulnik Boris (2020). La mémoire traumatique. Formationpsy.
Cyrulnik Boris and co (2019). Cyrulnik et la petite enfance. Philippe Duval Éditions.
Dattilio Frank M (2012). Le rôle des schémas en thérapie cognitivo-comportementale. Dans Thérapies cognitivo-comportementales pour les couples et les familles, pages 89 à 117.
Dilts Robert and co (1990). Croyances et Santé. La méridienne.
Dilts Robert (2006). Changer les systèmes de croyances avec la programmation neuro-linguistique. Interdictions.
Nelle Françoise, Lostra Françoise (2005). L’attachement. De Konrad Lorenz à Larry Young : de l’éthologie à la neurobiologie. Dans Cahiers critiques de thérapie familiale et de pratiques de réseaux 2005/2 (no 35), pages 83 à 97.