Along with other effective forms of healing, including homeopathic medicine, energy healing, and naturopathic medicine, NLP is one of the most healing tools available. Since the 1970's a variety of personal healing and self improvement tools have been out there. Among the most impressive of such tools are energy healing and neuro linguistic programming (NLP).

NLP was founded by UC Santa Cruz professor John Grinder and Gestalt therapist Richard Bandler. Grinder and Bandler published many influential books in the 1970's and each continued to develop nlp in very different directions since that time. Important contributors to NLP include Robert Dilts, Todd Epstein, Judith DeLozier, Carmen Bostic St. Clare, and many others.

The original models of NLP included master hypnotist Milton Erickson, family therapist Virgina Satir, and Gestalt therapist Fritz Perls, and bodyworker Moshe Feldenkrais among others. The ideas of Carlos Casteneda, the author and novelist who wrote on shamanism served as an important early influence. Gregory Bateson, the famous author of Steps to an Ecology of Mind, guided much of the early work. By integrating the tools of many of these geniuses, they have helped many people heal old problems and transform people allowing individuals to become peak performers, achievers, and livers of life with greater joy and excellence.

In recent years, other influential contributers such as Judith Delozier and Robert Dilts, have influenced and impacted the field. Many self improvement authors have taken these tools to the masses. Important books in the early years of NLP included Re-framing, Theraputic Metaphors, Trance-formations, and And They Lived Happily Ever After.

Ericksonian hypnosis, founded by Milton Erickson continues as it's own field, bringing healing and health to many. In recent years, co-founder John Grinder, Phd., along with Judith Delozier and later Carmen Bostic St. Clare pioneered New Code NLP, which uses high performance states to bring about generative creativity. High performance states leave behind all formal strategies and historical anchors and produce improvisational creativity which continually produces new behaviors. In this way, it makes irrelevant large portions of original NLP such as strategies.