subject: Neuro-linguistic Programming (nlp): A Simple History [print this page] Even though NLP is quite commonly talked about now, once upon a time NLP didn't even exist. In fact, NLP is relatively young and wasn't really established until the 1970's. The fundamentals that allowed for the creation of NLP though began long, long before that.
In 1943 Alfred Korzybski wrote a book called Science and Sanity that first raised the idea of Logical Levels. Korzybski said something really interesting in this book, he said that "Almost all psycological problems were the result of the inability of a person to traverse logical levels". That's interesting because he suggested that sometime in the future there would be a wholly processed description of the human being that would come along and actually describe the process of a human being. And that is what we call today, Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
Around 1975 Richard Bandler was a student at University of California, Santa Cruz and John Grinder was a linguistic Professor. Bandler had a specific interest in Computer Programming and Gestalt Therapy. He happened to be editing a book about Fritz Perls and as time passed Richard decided that he could actually do Gestalt Therapy (Just from listening to audio tapes in relation to editing the book) and in actual fact he was very, very good at it. As Richard began to move forward and use the things he had learnt Richard realised that he had a specific gift of modeling - being able to observe what worked and then create something out of it.
This is the foundation of NLP and where idea of NLP being a notion and a methodology comes from. It comes from that idea of actually being able to look and see what is excellent behaviour and how that excellent behaviour is produced. It starts with a simple question: How do I take that behaviour and how do I try that on myself so that I can get the same results for myself? NLP really begins as a notion and a methodology that leaves behind a trail of good techniques for achieving excellence.
To begin with the three major people that Bandler & Grinder modelled were Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir and Fritz Perls. These three people were chosen by Bandler & Grinder in the early days of NLP as they were experts in magically creating change in people by simply using the right words. And that is what NLP is about, being able to create magical change. It begins with an attitude of curiosity to know what is going on behind what is going on. When we use NLP and look at a human being we look at that human being with wonderment and we ask ourselves "How is it possible that this person in this circumstances could produce this behaviour?". Now the second thing, which could be equally as important as curiosity, is the willingness to experiment. To begin to try new things to see if it is going to work.
As Bandler & Grinder's notes began to stack up they released their first two books in 1975:
- The Structure of Magic I: A Book About Language and Therapy; and
- The Structure of Magic II: A Book About Communication and Change.
These books contain the basis of the Meta Model, a model of communication that works by becoming more specific and removing Generalisations, Distortions and Deletions from peoples language and thoughts. This work was primarily derived from their study of Perls and Satir.
Following these two books both Bandler & Grinder studied Milton Erickon, arguably the best hypnotherapist of our time, and from their study of Erickson they published Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, Volumes I & II. These books contained the basis of the Milton Model, a model of communication that works by becoming more vague and introducing Generalisations, Distortions and Deletions into peoples language and thoughts. Interestingly, the Milton Model is almost the complete opposite of the Meta Model - but both get reliable results.
Ultimately, the Meta Model & Milton Model serve to prove Alfred Korzybski correct - by traversing logical levels it is possible for problems to just disappear.
These models were just the tip of the iceberg though. From Bandler & Grinder's studies of these three therapists a whole field of information was created. Beyond these models they started documenting new techniques and ideas such as anchoring, reframing, submodalities, perceptual positions, and representational systems. As the usefulness of the techniques began to gain a following more and more resources, such as books and seminars began to be produced. From the work of Bandler & Grinder in the 1970's and the books that they have published, both together and individually, NLP now has a huge body of knowledge behind it from many, many different authors.
