Pseudoscience separates itself from ordinary science based mainly on the element of falsifiability. Claims of a scientific nature must be tested in a way that makes it possible to be proven wrong, and NLP avoids that by being the practice of ‘doing what works’ – which makes it unfalsifiable. If a practitioner has an ineffective interaction with a client, it can be disregarded as "just not right for them".
All attempts to produce reliable results for NLP’s core tenets using scientific means have produced negative results. NLP’s advocates will often use the argument “It works” to dismiss any criticism, but when pushed all they can provide to support this assertion is anecdotal evidence. Practitioners “know” that it works because they have seen in work with their clients. There are numerous reasons why any psychotherapy method may seem to work. There is generic benefit from just sitting and talking with another person. The introduction of a novel method into therapy creates the expectation that something should happen. Both the counsellor and the client want the sessions to be successful, so there is a motivation to perceive success. So any counselling method will have both non-specific benefits and a large false perception of benefit – even if the technique itself is worthless and the underlying principles absurd.
