History of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Read here about the fascinating history of how NLP came into being. We report about its early days and the most important people involved. NLP was founded by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Many years later, Frank Pucelik reappeared as the third co-founder. We cover this in the blog article “The Third Man in NLP”.

In the early years and first NLP books, the focus was on modeling the work of several outstanding therapists. John Grinder’s doctoral advisor, the famous anthropologist Gregory Bateson, established key contacts and initially supported the work of the two pioneers. Bandler and Grinder first modeled Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls, family therapist Virginia Satir, and hypnotherapist Dr. Milton H. Erickson. From that, the first NLP formats and methods emerged and began to spread further.

History of NLP – Introduction

NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is a communication and motivation model developed in the early 1970s that reveals the patterns used by outstanding individuals in all conceivable social areas to achieve exceptional results.
NLP is based on the principle of modeling (model creation). The patterns and skills discovered through this process can lead to greater personal growth, accelerated learning, and a significant improvement in communication skills.
The founders of NLP are John Grinder and Richard Bandler. They developed NLP through a combination of observation and analysis of the most successful psychotherapists of their time.
Through NLP, it becomes possible to identify the differences between people who achieve remarkable success in dealing with themselves and others, and those who are unable to influence themselves or others effectively. Read now how the adventure “NLP” began.

In our online academy, there is a 75-minute recording of an online seminar on this topic that you can watch in full immediately. Simply click the “Watch Video” button to learn more.

History of NLP – Overview

The original form of today’s NLP emerged in the early 1970s. Richard Bandler, who was a student at the University of California in Santa Cruz at the time, met Assistant Professor of Linguistics John Grinder there.

Grinder, who was particularly interested in advanced teaching methods, quickly became aware of Bandler’s work and conducted a series of seminars in consultation with him.

At first, these seminars had the status of group experiments. But as Bandler and Grinder’s experience and knowledge grew, participants experienced increasingly exciting transformation processes. Thus, a collaboration developed between Bandler and Grinder that became closer and deeper over the years.

Together, they explored why some well-known psychotherapists were so successful with their patients, while many others treating the same issues achieved no such dramatic changes. Bandler and Grinder’s initial hypothesis was that successful therapists shared similar behavioral patterns in their work with people that allowed them to achieve such outstanding results.

These shared or similar behavioral patterns became known as NLP — or “The Structure of Magic.”

They began to study and analyze the therapy styles of top therapists of their time:

Virginia Satir, an extraordinary family therapist
Fritz Perls, an innovative Gestalt therapist and founder of that therapy style, and
Milton Erickson, a world-renowned hypnotherapist.

They were always guided by the hope of discovering patterns and structures that could explain the success of these top therapists in dealing with their clients.

After long and careful observation, Grinder and Bandler found that despite the diversity of the three psychotherapists, they all used surprisingly similar basic patterns in their work.

Grinder and Bandler documented these basic patterns, refined them, tested them in seminars with volunteer students, and eventually developed an elegant model for achieving more effective communication, accelerated learning, personal transformation, and greater enjoyment and fulfillment in life.

They called it NLP – Neuro-Linguistic Programming. “Neuro” because it involves strategies closely connected to the functions of our nervous system (brain + spinal cord + senses). It’s about perceiving more accurately and changing unwanted feelings and behavior patterns in harmony with oneself.

“Linguistic” because it strongly emphasizes the role of language. We maintain communication not only outwardly with others but also inwardly with our amazing “biocomputer” – our brain. However, not all input we give to this biocomputer seems to get through, so advanced communication methods are needed.

“Programming” means applying systematic methods instead of trial and error. The aim is to discover processes that can be transferred to other contexts and individuals. Many NLP techniques are content-free, meaning the same method can be applied to headaches, phobias, or building irresistible motivation. NLP describes procedures that work independently of the content.

From this foundation, NLP evolved in two complementary directions:

First, as a method for discovering the patterns of excellence in any imaginable social domain.
Second, as a compilation of effective ways of thinking and communicating used by outstanding individuals in those fields.

The Life of Richard Bandler

Richard Bandler was born in 1950 in the state of New Jersey. In the mid-1960s, he joined the hippie movement and was one of the long-haired flower children. In 1967, he organized rock concerts in his free time and gave drum lessons to Dan Spitzer, the son of Robert Spitzer, a renowned psychiatrist and president of the publishing house “Science & Behavior Books.” Through this, Bandler often spoke with Mrs. Spitzer, who discovered that he had an open mind toward philosophical questions and a special way of teaching her son. Over time, the Spitzers sought to further support Bandler’s talent, recognizing his versatility and extraordinary skill. Robert Spitzer later employed him at his publishing company, where he learned various editorial tasks.

After college, Bandler began studying philosophy, mathematics, and computer science at the University of California in Santa Cruz. However, over time, he became increasingly interested in behavioral sciences. He paid particular attention to the therapeutic methods of Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt therapy.

One day, while attending one of Virginia Satir’s workshops in Reno, he was deeply impressed by her work.

After sharing his experiences with Satir, Robert Spitzer commissioned Bandler to travel to Canada to record and transcribe a four-week seminar with her. While working on this project, Bandler began to adopt Satir’s expressions and speech patterns.

Shortly after finishing this work, Spitzer asked Bandler to process the material from Fritz Perls, the well-known Gestalt therapist, and prepare a manuscript. Just as before, Bandler immersed himself in the material, imitating Perls’s way of speaking and behavior. It is said that Spitzer even once called Bandler “Fritz” by mistake because of his strong resemblance.

Inspired by Fritz Perls, Bandler went on to publish three books based on the material he had studied:

“The Gestalt Approach”
“Eye Witness to Therapy”
“Legacy from Fritz”

The Life of John Grinder

John Thomas Grinder was born on January 10, 1939, in Michigan, USA. He studied philosophy at the University of San Francisco and graduated in the early 1960s. He then joined the military and served as a Green Beret in Europe. After several years as a CIA undercover agent, he began studying linguistics at the University of California in San Diego in the late 1960s.

In 1972, he became an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Santa Cruz. Since Grinder was interested in advanced learning methods, he became a supervisor for Richard Bandler’s Gestalt therapy seminars.

To expand the newly discovered field of NLP, he developed new models throughout the mid-1970s. By the mid-1980s, this resulted in the modern NLP framework.

Grinder has written 14 books on NLP and many more on linguistics. His work was greatly influenced by his mentor Gregory Bateson, who introduced Grinder and Bandler to the hypnotherapist Milton H. Erickson.

The Beginnings of NLP

In spring 1972, Bandler, frustrated by the lack of practical application in his studies, offered his own Gestalt therapy seminar. During these seminars, John Grinder noticed Bandler’s work and joined him in his research. They began working together on Bandler’s seminars, where Grinder was still a beginner in counseling and psychotherapy.

Between 1972 and 1974, an intensive and fruitful collaboration developed in which Grinder benefited from Bandler’s psychotherapy knowledge and Bandler from Grinder’s linguistic expertise.

This combination was especially valuable for modeling the therapeutic excellence of Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, and Milton Erickson. Modeling involves observing and analyzing a person’s specific skills so they can be learned and applied by others.

Bandler and Grinder’s goal was not to describe what was “true,” but what was useful and transferable. Their success was confirmed when others could achieve the same results as the therapists they had modeled.

In early 1974, they began developing the first Meta-Model structures with a student group in Santa Cruz. The Meta-Model is a framework of specific questions designed to uncover thinking patterns and gather deep information. The focus was on the verbal communication between therapist and client, revealing patterns that could make problematic processes conscious and induce change.

With Grinder’s linguistic background, they managed to explicitly describe and teach the linguistic skills of Perls and Satir.

By the end of 1974, Bandler and Grinder regularly attended Milton Erickson’s seminars to study his language patterns and techniques. They refined their observations and documented them in writing.

Between 1974 and 1975, their work aimed to create formal models of communication, analyzing both verbal and nonverbal behavior. These models were later applied not only in psychotherapy but also in everyday communication.

They documented their discoveries in four books published between 1975 and 1977:

The Structure of Magic I and II
Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson I and II

In 1977, Grinder and Bandler held their first public seminars in the USA. NLP quickly gained popularity and began spreading worldwide, especially in therapy, education, and management.

In 1982, they developed the concept of Reframing, a way of communicating with unconscious parts responsible for unwanted behaviors or symptoms. This made changes possible that had previously been achievable only under classical hypnosis.

In 1984, the concept of Submodalities was developed — one of the most effective NLP techniques. Submodalities form a kind of “programming language” of the brain that anyone can consciously use when they know the commands.

In 1988, Tad James developed the Time Line Therapy — a method especially suitable for healing past trauma gently.

In 1990, Robert Dilts created the Reimprinting process to change limiting beliefs formed in childhood. This approach helps find missing resources, transform beliefs, and align old behavior patterns with current realities.

Contrary to popular belief, Grinder and Bandler were not the only creators of NLP. A third man also played a crucial role — Frank Pucelik, who, after thirty years of silence, stepped forward publicly.

The Life of Frank Pucelik

Robert Frank Pucelik was born in 1945 in Nebraska, USA. Conflict, violence, and an alcoholic father made his childhood difficult. After high school, he studied psychology and political science but dropped out after three years due to poor grades. To avoid being drafted, he joined the U.S. Navy, where he trained as a medic and served as a field corpsman in the Vietnam War — an experience he later called “13 months in hell.”

After returning to the U.S. traumatized, he resumed his studies and began exploring personal development, particularly Gestalt therapy. During this time, he met Judith Ann DeLozier, married her, and had a son, Eric.

In 1971, the family moved to Santa Cruz, where Pucelik continued his studies at the Kresge College of the University of California. There he led Gestalt therapy groups and met Richard Bandler, who was running similar workshops. Recognizing each other’s talent, they began collaborating and later, along with John Grinder, developed the “Meta” project — the foundation of NLP.

Over time, personal and professional tensions arose. In 1976, after a trip to study Milton Erickson, Bandler told Pucelik to leave. He lost his partner, team, job, and income all at once.

Despite this, he completed his psychology degree and founded the “Meta Institute” in San Diego, later expanding it internationally. In 1987, he moved to Moscow, where he built a successful career as a management consultant. Today, he is president of the “Pucelik Consulting Group” in Odessa, Ukraine.

Although his contributions were erased for decades, Grinder later emphasized that “none of us could have created NLP alone — it was truly the work of three people.”

Biography of Virginia Satir

Virginia Satir was born in 1916 on a farm in Wisconsin, USA. After finishing high school and college, she worked for six years as a teacher to gain insight into the specific situations of children from different backgrounds. Alongside her teaching career, she studied social work and psychoanalysis. By including families in her therapeutic work, she soon became famous for her revolutionary approach. Her success led to an offer to train psychiatric doctors between 1955 and 1958 while continuing her private practice.

In 1977, Satir founded the “Avanta Network” to bring together people who had trained with her and shared her values.

She passed away on September 10, 1988, at the age of 72.

Biography of Fritz Perls

Friedrich Salomon Perls was born on June 8, 1893, in Berlin as the third child in his family. His strict Jewish upbringing and authoritarian father shaped his rebellious nature, and he was soon labeled a difficult child. Perls was a gifted student with excellent academic performance.

He began studying medicine in 1914, served in World War I in 1916, completed his doctorate in 1921, and opened his own psychiatric and neurology practice.

After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, Perls fled Germany with his family, first to Amsterdam, then to South Africa, where he worked as a teaching analyst. Later, after political changes, the family emigrated to the U.S., where Perls opened a practice and co-developed Gestalt therapy with Paul Goodman in 1948–1950. Their book was published in 1951.

In 1969, he founded a Gestalt community at Lake Cowichan in Canada. He died suddenly during a trip to Chicago in March 1970.

Biography of Milton H. Erickson

Milton H. Erickson was born in 1901 in Nevada, USA. From birth, he suffered from physical impairments: color blindness, partial deafness, and dyslexia.

At age 18, he contracted polio and became completely paralyzed. Through sheer will and persistent training, he slowly regained mobility and later attended college.

During his studies, he discovered hypnosis and began practicing it himself. He became chief psychiatrist at the Worcester State Hospital research department and later opened a private practice in Phoenix, Arizona.

Despite chronic illness and recurring paralysis, Erickson continued his work, founding the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and editing the “American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis.”

He authored more than 130 papers and five books. After a lifetime of research and innovation, he passed away in 1980. Today, he is considered the most significant hypnotherapist of the 20th century.

Biography of Gregory Bateson

Gregory Bateson was one of the most influential interdisciplinary thinkers of the 20th century. His ideas integrated cybernetics and systems theory into the human sciences and laid the groundwork for systemic psychotherapy.

Born in 1904 in Grantchester, England, into a distinguished scientific family (his father, William Bateson, was a famous biologist), he studied zoology at Cambridge before turning to anthropology.

In the 1930s, Bateson conducted fieldwork in New Guinea, where he developed the concept of “schismogenesis” — describing how repetitive human interactions create cultural patterns and personality traits.

He later collaborated with Margaret Mead in Bali, studying how culture shapes emotional development. In the 1940s, he turned to communication theory and learning processes, introducing the ideas of “proto-learning” and “deutero-learning.”

Bateson was a key figure in the Palo Alto Group and co-developed the “double bind” theory of schizophrenia, suggesting that contradictory communication patterns in families could cause severe psychological conflict.

His later work on ecology, systems thinking, and cybernetics deeply influenced NLP through his mentorship of Grinder and Bandler at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Bateson passed away in 1980, leaving behind a vast legacy connecting mind, communication, and evolution.

Biography of Robert Dilts

Robert Brian Dilts was born on March 21, 1955, in the United States. He graduated in behavioral technology from the University of California and received the Presidential Underground Scholarship for his research on eye movements and brain function in 1977.

Dilts is one of the leading authors, trainers, and developers in the field of NLP. He expanded Bandler and Grinder’s work and played a major role in spreading NLP worldwide.

He is best known for developing the “Neurological Levels” model, widely taught in NLP Practitioner trainings. He also studied the creativity strategies of Walt Disney and Albert Einstein.

Among the models and tools developed by Dilts are:

SCORE: Symptom, Cause, Outcome, Resource, Effect — a model for systematically analyzing and solving problems.
Neurological Levels: A framework for understanding and facilitating change.
Meta-Mirror: A format for resolving interpersonal conflicts.
Sleight of Mouth: A collection of language patterns for powerful reframing and persuasive communication.

In 1991, Dilts co-founded the NLP University in Santa Cruz with Judith DeLozier and Theresa Epstein, and later the Institute for Advanced Studies of Health (IASH). His contributions include applying NLP to health, learning, and organizational development.

Selected Works by Robert Dilts

Identity, Belief Systems and Health: Higher Levels of NLP Change Work
Belief Change: NLP Belief Work
The Magic of Language: Applied NLP
The Hero’s Journey: On the Path to Self-Discovery

Important figures in NLP include: Richard Bandler, John Grinder, Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, Tony Robbins, Bert Hellinger, and Gunther Schmidt.

Conclusion

Over the years, the original NLP methods have been refined into the form taught and practiced today.

In recent years, NLP has increasingly been adopted in business — in marketing, sales, HR training, leadership, and organizational development.

As demand for NLP training continues to grow, more people are learning and sharing these techniques, ensuring NLP’s ongoing evolution and improvement.

Bibliography

Bandler, R. & Grinder, J. (1981): Ways of Brief Therapy. Neuro-Linguistic Programs. Junfermann, Paderborn.

Hain, P. (2001): The Secret of Therapeutic Effectiveness. Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag, Heidelberg.

O’Connor, J. & Seymour, J. (1992): Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Successful Communication and Personal Development. Freiburg.

Staemmler, F.M. & Bock, W. (1987): Redesign of Gestalt Therapy: Holistic Change in the Therapeutic Process. Munich.

Zeig, J.K. (2002): Private Lessons with Erickson. Carl-Auer-Systeme Verlag, Heidelberg.

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