The scientific community is quite skeptical about NLP. But its developers did not have the goal of creating a theory that would be actively used in science. They strove to make the most effective techniques of practical psychology available to all people.
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) studies effective communication techniques, models and techniques used in various areas of psychotherapy. It uses the knowledge of psychotherapists in the field of psychoanalysis, hypnosis and gestalt psychology, as well as the experience of successful businessmen, linguists, managers, etc.
The development of the theory of NLP began in the 1960s in California. Richard Bandler, a student of the Faculty of Mathematics, became interested in psychology, communicating with its successful representatives. He drew attention to the fact that psychotherapeutic techniques and the experience of psychotherapists can be used outside of therapy, in everyday life. Bandler decided to develop a system of effective techniques that all people could use. He called his approach "Copying Human Perfection".
Fate brought Richard Bandler together with John Grinder. Bandler and Grinder decided to team up by observing the actions of psychotherapists, analyzing their work and interaction with clients. Using the methods of Fritz Perls (the founder of Gestalt Therapy), Virginia Satir, Milton Erickson and Gregory Bateson, they gave lectures on Gestalt psychology, leaving only the most effective of all techniques.
Studying phobias and fears, scientists have discovered that looking at a problem, attitude towards it, radically changes the impact this problem will have on a person. People with phobias act as if the source of their fear is acting on them right now, in this second, and those who have been able to overcome fear look at it as if from the outside. This statement of attitude to the problem was a sensational and revolutionary discovery. More and more people began to come to the classes to Bandler and Grinder, including eminent scientists.
In 1979, the first publication devoted to neuro-linguistic programming appeared: "People who read people." K. Andreas began to write down the content of the classes in order to combine these techniques and methods in one book. Currently, NLP is still developing and improving, supplemented by new authoring developments.
