What is "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" or "NLP"?

What is "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" or "NLP"?

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Neuro-linguistic programming can be termed, I suppose, a technology. It attempts to, and as much as can be done, quantify and codify how and why we behave the way we do. It was developed in the 70s by a couple of guys named John Grinder and Richard Bandler. Grinder was a linguistic, and Bandler was a behaviorist. And what they basically said was, "How come people behave the way they do? Why are some people so successful, and others not, even though they grew up in the same environment?" And so they looked at hypnotherapy, they looked at gestalt psychology, they looked at some of the leading edge work in all the behavior sciences, and they came up with a system, if you will, to codify behavior. If you take the three words, for instance, "neuro" simply is how we perceive our world through our nervous system: sight, sound, smell, taste, and of course feelings. Linguistic is the communication - the language and other non-verbal communication tools and strategies that we use to go about doing what we do, living and interacting with the world. And then programming basically refers to the programs that a person uses, the strategies, if you will, to get through their life and achieve the goals and outcomes they desire. So if you take those three together, it's how we perceive, how we put out, and the programs we use. NLP helps us understand how and why we develop the behavioral strategies we do. And in knowing that, we can use tools to help change those strategies if it's appropriate.