What Is NLP? An Introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a set of models, techniques and strategies that explain how language, thought and behaviour interact — and offers practical tools for personal change, improved communication, and enhanced performance.

If you’ve encountered the term NLP and wondered what it actually means, you’re not alone. NLP is widely used around the world, yet often misunderstood.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a practical approach to understanding how people think, communicate, and behave — and how those patterns can be changed.

Originally developed in the 1970s, by John Grinder and Richard Bandler – NLP has influenced fields ranging from coaching and therapy to leadership, sport, education, and personal development.

Having grown up in the UK, I’ve always been aware of how well NLP is regarded there. Coaching is seen as a legitimate profession, and approaches such as hypnosis and hypnotherapy carry real credibility — to the point where hypnotherapy is even available through the NHS. These disciplines are generally understood, respected, and trusted.

In South Africa, however, there is sometimes a different narrative beneath the surface. I’ve heard comments such as “another NLP practitioner — they’re everywhere” or “life coaches are a dime a dozen.” On the face of it, this can sound like market saturation, but I don’t believe that’s the real issue.

I explored this more deeply in an earlier blog and came to a different conclusion. The challenge isn’t that there are too many NLP practitioners or personal coaches — it’s that there hasn’t always been enough high-quality training to support the profession properly.

When training lacks depth, rigour, or ethical grounding, it inevitably affects how a field is perceived. So what we’re really seeing is not an oversupply of practitioners, but a shortage of well-trained, skilful, and credible ones. And that distinction makes all the difference.

Where Did NLP Come From?

Picture of John Grinder with Richard Bandler

NLP has been popularised by people such as Anthony Robbins. But NLP was originally developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, who set out to answer a simple but powerful question:

What do highly effective people actually do differently?

Rather than creating a theory first, they studied outstanding practitioners and modelled the patterns behind their success.

Some of the key figures whose work influenced NLP include:

Milton Erickson (hypnotherapy and indirect communication)
Virginia Satir (family systems and communication)
Fritz Perls (present-moment awareness and responsibility)

These influences helped shape NLP as a practical, experiential discipline rather than a purely academic one.

What Does NLP Stand For?

The term Neuro-Linguistic Programming describes three interconnected areas:

Neuro – how we experience the world through our nervous system and senses
Linguistic – how language reflects and shapes thinking
Programming – the learned patterns of behaviour and response we repeat

NLP explores how these three interact — and how small changes in one area can create meaningful change in the others.

How Does NLP Work?

NLP works by helping people become aware of the structure of their experience.

This includes:

internal images and mental representations
internal dialogue and language patterns
emotional responses and physiological states
habitual behaviours and reactions

Instead of focusing on why a problem began, NLP focuses on how it is being maintained now, and what needs to change to produce a different result.

This makes NLP highly practical and results-oriented.

What Is NLP Used For?

NLP is used in many different contexts, including:

Personal development and self-awareness
Coaching and mentoring
Communication and relationship skills
Confidence, motivation, and performance
Leadership and management development
Therapy-informed change work

Because NLP is skill-based rather than diagnostic, it is often integrated with other approaches rather than used in isolation. It answers questions in language such as “how does lateral thinking work” in the book about lateral thinking Edward de Bono doesn’t answer that question, but NLP offers some practical exercises to give the experience of lateral thinking

Is NLP Therapy?

NLP itself is not a regulated therapy, but it is frequently used in therapeutic and coaching environments.

Many practitioners combine NLP with:

hypnotherapy
counselling approaches
coaching psychology
mindfulness and somatic practices

In these settings, NLP tools support change by increasing awareness, choice, and flexibility.

What are some examples of NLP techniques?

Is NLP Scientific?

This question arises often.

Psychology developed through academic research and clinical trials. NLP developed through modelling real-world effectiveness — observing what worked and replicating it.

Because of this, NLP has sometimes been misunderstood or dismissed. At the same time, its techniques continue to be widely used by coaches, therapists, and organisations because of their practical impact.

Today, many NLP practitioners blend NLP with evidence-based frameworks while retaining its experiential roots. NLP endevourd to recreate or model great therapy practitioners of our time. Ivan Pavlov with his famous dog and bell experiment became anchoring in NLP.

Why Do People Learn NLP?

People are drawn to NLP because it offers:

practical tools that can be applied immediately
greater awareness of communication and behaviour
increased personal responsibility and choice
skills that transfer across many areas of life

For some, NLP remains a powerful personal development pathway. For others, it becomes a professional skillset used in coaching, leadership, or facilitation.

NLP Training in South Africa

NLP training has grown strongly in South Africa due to its versatility and international relevance.

People train in NLP to:

deepen their personal growth
enhance coaching and facilitation skills
support others ethically and effectively
gain internationally recognised certification

High-quality NLP training emphasises experiential learning, ethical practice, and integration with other disciplines.

What Makes NLP Different?

NLP focuses less on diagnosing problems and more on creating change.

It assumes that:

behaviour follows patterns that can be understood
people already possess many internal resources
increasing awareness increases choice

This perspective makes NLP flexible, empowering, and applicable across many contexts.

Final Thoughts: What Is NLP Really About?

NLP gives you the ability to work at a much deeper level than surface change alone. Through NLP training, practitioners learn how to help clients dissolve phobias, process trauma, release significant emotional events, reduce stress, and reframe difficult memories. NLP can also be used to work with issues such as chronic fatigue, hay fever responses, unwanted habits, food preferences, and long-standing behavioural patterns.

Beyond change work, NLP empowers clients by helping them let go of outdated identities and habitual ways of being, replacing them with greater choice, flexibility, and self-direction.

Is NLP Training Good Value?

This is where NLP and traditional coaching differ in a meaningful way.

Standard coaching models are primarily goal-focused. They help clients clarify what they want, identify values, and move forward step by step. Models such as G.R.O.W. are widely used and effective for motivation, accountability, and progress over time. What coaching does not usually do is work directly with memory, trauma, phobias, or subconscious patterns.

NLP, on the other hand, is designed to work inside experience — with perception, memory, emotion, and neurology. Rather than guiding change only from the outside, NLP allows practitioners to work directly with how an experience is encoded in the mind, creating rapid and often profound shifts.

So the choice becomes clear.

You can:

coach clients forward using structured steps over time, or
work directly with the subconscious processes that shape behaviour, emotion, and identity.

At NLP World, that choice is respected. You can train and qualify either as an NLP Practitioner, working deeply with change processes, or as an accredited coach, focusing on goal achievement and structured development — or, for many, a powerful combination of both.

The path you choose depends on how deeply you want to work, and how you want to support change in others.