Important Figures in NLP

NLP is not the work of a single person. It emerged and became known through the collaboration of many people who are among the best in their field.

The founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder analyzed and modeled personalities from family and gestalt therapy as well as other therapies. Tony Robbins is probably the motivational coach who has most significantly increased the popularity of NLP in the last 20 years. Virginia Satir is one of the most well-known models from the two founders and comes from family therapy. Milton Erickson, one of the most famous hypnotherapists of the 20th century, was also modeled by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Bert Hellinger also shaped the image of NLP in that after his methodology became known, many NLP training institutions adopted his systemic approach. Gunther Schmidt is now invited to many NLP congresses as a speaker, as he beautifully complements NLP with his hypno-systemic approach from the Heidelberg School.

To introduce you to the mentioned individuals so that you can get to know them, you will find a page for each person here.
Simply click on the image or the corresponding text to access the pages.

Richard Bandler (1950 in New Jersey)

Student of Mathematics and Computer Science, then Psychology
long-haired flower child,
Co-developer of NLP
DHE, Neurosonics

John Thomas Grinder (January 10, 1939 in Michigan)

American Anglist and linguist
Co-developer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Frank Pucelik (1945 in Nebraska)

The "secret third man"
Co-developer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Anthony Robbins (1960 in California)

Motivational coach
Author of many audio programs

Virginia Satir (1916 in Wisconsin)

Developer of family therapy
Model for NLP

Milton Erickson (December 5, 1901 in Nevada; † March 25, 1980)

American psychiatrist and psychotherapist
significantly shaped modern hypnotherapy
Co-developer of NLP

Fritz Perls (1893 in Berlin, † 1970 in Chicago)

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist of German-Jewish descent
Co-founder of Gestalt therapy together with Laura Perls and Paul Goodman
Fritz Perls is also a spiritual co-founder of NLP

Gregory Bateson (May 9, 1904 in Grantchester, UK)

Anglo-American anthropologist, biologist, social scientist, cyberneticist, and philosopher
Gregory Bateson is a spiritual co-founder of NLP

Bert Hellinger (December 16, 1925)

German family therapist and author
Family constellations
Systemic constellations

Gunther Schmidt (born 1945)

German doctor with a focus on psychotherapy
Pioneer of the connection between systemic therapy and hypnotherapy according to Milton Erickson
Co-founder of the Heidelberg Institute for Systemic Research and Consulting
Co-founder of the International Society for Systemic Therapy (IGST)

Interesting works on the history of NLP

The history of NLP

How exactly did Neurolinguistic Programming come about in the early seventies? Concisely and engagingly written, the reader gets an overview of the life and work of the two NLP founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Read how the founders learned from top therapists, like Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, and Milton H. Erickson, how to work very effectively and successfully with people, and how what they learned developed into NLP.

This summary of the history of NLP as well as the biographies of the key figures helps to recognize the origins and thus develop a deeper understanding.

Author: Stephan Landsiedel
Link to History of NLP

The Wild Days. about the beginnings of NLP 1972 - 1981

The Wild Days is a personal account of the history of Neurolinguistic Programming and its two key figures, Richard Bandler and John Grinder. The author traces the development of NLP from its preconception in 1972 to its maturity in 1981. The records in this book about the training seminars and the wild stories of the two main NLP figures come from firsthand. They also deal with the core group of people in the early days, their relationships with each other, and the development of their careers. The serious NLP student will find a useful addition to their collection of metaphors about NLP. Everyone else will have their fun.

83 pages, Jungfermann, 1st edition
Price: EUR 19.90
ISBN 387387539X

Terrence L. McClendon

Adventures in Communication - Bateson, Perls, Satir, Erickson and the beginnings of NLP

Hardly any other approach in the field of psychotherapy, organizational consulting, and communication research has divided the professional field into two such extreme camps as Neurolinguistic Programming. Against the backdrop of the heated debates that have erupted, the author aims to work out the intellectual and theoretical new approach or the model assumptions of NLP. Wolfgang Walker focuses on the biographies and life work of Virginia Satir, Fritz Perls, Milton Erickson, and Gregory Bateson.

307 pages, Klett-Cotta, 4th edition
Price: EUR 22.00
ISBN 3608919767

Wolfgang Walker