Richard Wayne Bandler (born 1950) is an American consultant in the field of
self-help
Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
.
With
John Grinder, he founded the
neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) approach to psychotherapy in the 1970s.
Education and background
Bandler was born in
Teaneck, New Jersey and attended high school in
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.
Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...
. He has stated that he was beaten as a child so badly that every bone in his body was broken. After his parents separated, he moved with his mother and stayed mostly in and around San Francisco.
Bandler obtained a
BA degree in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
from the
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
(UCSC) in 1973, and an
MA degree in psychology from
Lone Mountain College
Lone Mountain College was a college acquired by the University of San Francisco (USF) in 1978.
History
It was built and founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart as Sacred Heart Academy in Menlo Park, California, in 1898. The school became ...
in San Francisco in 1975.
Neuro-linguistic programming
Bandler helped publisher Robert S. Spitzer (of Science and Behavior Books, Inc.) edit ''The Gestalt Approach'' (1973) based on a manuscript by gestalt therapist
Fritz Perls
Friedrich Salomon Perls (July 8, 1893 – March 14, 1970), better known as Fritz Perls, was a German-born psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychotherapist. Perls coined the term "Gestalt therapy" to identify the form of psychotherapy that he devel ...
(who had died in 1970). He also assisted with checking transcripts for ''Eye Witness to Therapy'' (1973).
[''The Gestalt Approach'' and ''Eye Witness to Therapy'' (1973) ] According to Spitzer, "
andlercame out of it talking and acting like Fritz Perls."
While a student at UCSC, Bandler also led a
Gestalt therapy group.
John Grinder, a professor at the University, said to Bandler that he could explain almost all the questions and comments Bandler made using
transformational grammar. Grinder's specialty was in linguistics. Together, they created what they called a ''therapist training group''. This was the basis for their first book, ''The Structure of Magic'' (1975). Bandler and Grinder claim to have later codified some of the foundational models for
Neuro-linguistic programming in part by studying and methods of
Milton Erickson
Milton Hyland Erickson (5 December 1901 – 25 March 1980) was an American psychiatrist and psychologist specializing in medical hypnosis and family therapy. He was founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis and a fellow of ...
and
Virginia Satir
Virginia Satir (26 June 1916 – 10 September 1988) was an American author and psychotherapist,http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/famous_psychologist_and_psychologists/psychologist_famous_virginia_satir.htm recognized for her approach to ...
.
[John Grinder & Carmen Bostic St. Clair, (2001) Whispering in the Wind. C&J Enterprises.]
Murder trial and acquittal
In 1986, Corine Ann Christensen (December 8, 1954 – November 3, 1986), a former girlfriend of Bandler's friend and cocaine dealer, James Marino, was shot dead in her
Santa Cruz townhouse with a .357 magnum owned by Bandler. Authorities charged Bandler with her murder. Bandler testified that he had been at Christensen's house, but that Marino had shot Christensen. After a short deliberation, a jury found Bandler not guilty.
Publications
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*''Using Your Brain for a Change'', 1985 ()
*An Insider's Guide To Sub-Modalities, 1988 () Richard Bandler, Will MacDonald
*''Magic in Action'', 1992 ()
*''Time for a Change'', 1993 ()
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* Richard Bandler and Kate Benson (2016) ''Teaching Excellence.'' Bandler Benson publications. 391pp. .
* Richard Bandler, Dr. Glenda Bradstock and Owen Fitzpatrick (2019) ''Thinking on Purpose, a 15 Day Plan to a Smarter Life.'' New Thinking Publications. 272pp. .
References
External links
Guardian feature by Jon RonsonRichard Bandler NLPGerman Discussion-Board about Richard BandlerNLP Events London NHR Events
NLPLife Youtube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandler, Richard
1950 births
Jewish American writers
American hypnotists
Living people
Neuro-linguistic programming writers
People acquitted of murder
University of California, Santa Cruz alumni
People from Teaneck, New Jersey
American self-help writers
21st-century American Jews