NLP began in the 1970s by two men, Richard Bandler and John Grinder
. Grinder was a professor of linguistics and Bandler, a computer scientist. They were both interested in the thought patterns and behaviours of successful people and developed their interest into a workable method which we now know as NLP. They noted the thought patterns of the successful people they studied and aimed to make a replica of these patterns so that other people could practice them also. This was to be called modelling and is the core of Neuro Linguistic Programming.
They studied the work of esteemed men in the field of human behaviour and observed some patterns of highly regarded therapists in America. Their most famous case was Virgina Satir which was a well-known family therapist and whose success was based on being specific. They saw that she managed to successfully change the behaviour of her clients through this technique of being specific.
The replica of Satir's thought patterns are what has since become to be known as the Meta Model. So now others looking to obtain success can think in the same way as this esteemed therapist. The model is based on specifics, specifics being at the root of Satir's success. This technique has brought about results in minutes and hours as opposed to the long-winded unsuccessful actions of psychotherapists who's "sit down and talk about it approach" without any technique worth merit ha long failed to achieve enduring success.
So this was how Neuro Lingustic Programming was developed. It was borne out of research and discovery along with an application of the techniques involving modelling the thought patterns of successful people with hope that these successes can be achieved in those whom NLP is being applied to.
NLP is used on many, many individuals today and can also be found in the fields of business and education, among others.