NLP was shaped in the seventies at the University of Santa Cruz by Richard Bandler, mathematician and psychotherapist, and Dr. John Grinder, professor of linguistics. Both of them had decided to study people known as excellent communicators and actors of changes. They were truly fascinated by the excellent results obtained by some psychotherapy and communication professionals, such as Fritz Perls (founder of the Gestalt therapy), Milton Erickson (father of the new hypnosis), and Virginia Satir (who developed the family and couples therapy.) Bandler and Grinder also got inspired by great linguists such as Alfred Korzybski and Noam Chomsky, as well as by the anthropologist and sociologist Gregory Bateson and of the psychoanalyst Paul Waztlawick. Bandler and Grinder decided to unify this methodological patchwork identified through these aces of communication, and to define a know-how leading for sure to successful changes.
Today, we can count many great professors and practicians worldwide, and NLP is now used in a number of other disciplines, such as communication, trade, teaching, business, sports, etc. NLP continues to improve thanks to the contribution of many researchers. NLP’s future indeed sounds promising!