The development of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) goes back to Richard Bandler (*1950) and John Grinder (*1939). The starting point of their research was the question: what distinguishes the “only” competent from the one who achieves above-average results in the same field??
modeling of outstanding personalities
To answer this question, they chose three role models (models) who were recognized as excellent psychotherapists:
- Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy
- Virginia Satir, founder of family therapy
- Milton H. Erickson, Psychiater, psychiatrist who was important to modern hypnotherapy
Bandler and Grinder studied the language, non-verbal behavior, and mental processes of their models and later developed the so-called meta-model of language.
linking different disciplines and approaches
In the course of their research Bandler and Grinder linked numerous disciplines and approaches. In addition to psychology and psychotherapy, findings in mathematics and computer science, linguistics and neuroscience played a major role in the development of NLP. Among the most important influences are the works of Gregory Bateson, Alfred Korzybski, Noam Chomsky, Hans Vaihinger, Edward T Hall, William Ross Ashby and Michael Gazzaniga.
further development of NLP
Substantial advances in the foundations of NLP come from Judith DeLozier, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Robert Dilts, David Gordon, Charles Faulkner and Steve and Connirae Andreas (all USA). In addition, there are a large number of other NLP researchers around the world who have made important contributions to the expansion of the area and its uses.
source: DVNLP.