John Grinder: biography, books

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

John Grinder - linguist, psychologist, writer, NLP trainer. He is one of the creators of the Neuro Linguistic Programming method. John Grinder's books - "The Structure of Magic", "From Frogs to Princes", "Turtles to the Bottom", "Whisper in the Wind" - are among the most popular in the field of applied psychology among readers around the world.

Early Biography

John Grinder was born on January 10, 1940 in Detroit, USA. He was the first child of his parents, Jack and Eileen Grinder, and there were nine children in the family. He received a Catholic Jesuit education, culminating in a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of San Francisco. In 1962 he married Barbara Maria Diridoni, the same year he joined the US Army and was sent to Germany.

Studying Linguistics

In 1967, John Grinder retired and returned to the United States. The following year, he enters the University of California at San Diego to study linguistics. In 1970 he becomesassistant professor. At the same time, he began working at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Collaboration with Richard Bandler

In 1972, University of California student Richard Bandler approached John Grinder to model the patterns of Fritz Perls, the founder of Gest alt therapy, and then other prominent psychotherapists - the founder of family and systemic therapy, Virginia Satir, and the founder of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, Milton Erickson. Thus began the fruitful collaboration between Grinder and Bandler, which resulted in many books and the creation of a new direction in applied psychology.

From 1975 to 1977, John Grinder and Richard Bandler wrote five books together:

• The Structure of Magic (two volumes).
• Milton Erickson's Patterns of Hypnotic Techniques (two volumes).
• "Change with families" - the texts that formed the basis of NLP.

The book "The Structure of Magic" is a presentation of the method created by Grinder and Bandler, a description of its very principles. It shows how a person creates a model of the world for himself, based on his sensory experience, how this model of the world subsequently makes him behave in a certain way, and how you can work constructively with it.

Neuro Linguistic Programming

Created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, NLP incorporates a variety of psychological and linguistic tools. The main thing for this method is the creation of a "working" model, effective practical use, whichwill lead to the desired result. Therefore, this direction has become the most popular in business: in sales, in training, in management, and so on. This system is based not on theory, but on the analysis of the observed and the direct use of effective behavior.

Simulation

The cornerstone of Neuro-Linguistic Programming is the technique of modeling (or, in other words, thoughtful copying). NLP aims to create the characteristics of successful people by isolating and describing their verbal and non-verbal patterns. Once the key features are identified, they can be assimilated by others and brought together into a workable model that provides practical and effective application of this information.

Anchors

One of the most popular NLP tools are the so-called anchors. According to Grinder and Bandler, any human behavior is not accidental and has certain patterns, causes and structures that can be recognized. Subjective reality depends on objective factors and can be influenced - for example, with the help of "anchors" - stimuli that cause a certain reaction.

They can be positive (giving energy) or negative (taking energy). In the process of our life, various “anchors” appear automatically, but NLP says that we can and should work with them (for example, set them intentionally, replace one with another that is more acceptable).

Founders of NLP

Developing their theory, Grinder and Bandler began to conduct practical classes, and gradually a circle of like-minded people formed around them, who contributed to the development of NLP, and subsequently began to develop it in various directions. Among them were people like Robert Dilts, Judith DeLozier, Leslie Cameron-Bandler, Stephen Gilligan, David Hodon.

The book "From Frogs to Princes" was written in 1979 by Grinder and Bandler in the materials of the general seminars. This book is devoted to the practical use of neurolinguistic programming in psychotherapy, and tells about the work of the human consciousness and the unconscious, about the peculiarities of perception of the world by different people.

It aims to improve a person's life strategies and to gain flexibility in him, to develop the ability to communicate - not only with others, but also with himself. Its goal is to motivate you to use your inner resources to the maximum and show your previously hidden abilities.

Despite the fruitful work by 1980, the circle of like-minded people broke up. A serious conflict arose between Bandler and Grinder over the authorship of the works and the theory itself, which led to litigation. Because of these controversies, the printing of joint books by John Grinder and Richard Bandler was suspended. Bandler tried unsuccessfully to obtain the rights to use the term NLP. Subsequently, he created his own psychological direction Design Human Engineering.

New NLP code

In the mid-eighties, Grinder, along with then-wife Judith DeLozierdevelops the theory of the "New Code of NLP". This revision of the method arose as a constructive response to criticism of classical NLP, negative and skeptical reviews. John Grinder admits that the rethinking of Neuro Linguistic Programming was largely inspired by the ideas of anthropologist Gregory Bateson and Carlos Castaneda.

An important difference of the new version was more attention to the subconscious than to analysis. The new NLP code says that in order to realize the desired change, a person needs to move into a “highly productive state”, in which the desired choice will be made automatically by him. This state resembles a trance and can be induced using special techniques that involve both hemispheres of the brain.

Together with Judith DeLozier, Grinder conducts a series of seminars, the results of which are the book "Turtles to the bottom." This book is about the prerequisites of personal genius, the balance between conscious and unconscious processes, techniques and exercises that help a person work with his state of mind. It appeals to the reader's inner genius, encourages him to show his potential, to use his psychological resource in order to achieve what he wants.

In 1989, Grinder became co-director of Quantum Leap Inc, founded two years earlier by his new wife, Carmen Bostic St. Clair. Their company is dedicated to corporate client consulting, training.

BIn 2001, John Grinder and Carmen Bostic St. Clair published a joint book "Whisper in the Wind", which continues the development of the theory of the "New Code of NLP" and is an attempt to correct the shortcomings of the classical approach and return to the true origins of this method.

By then, Grinder and Bandler had resolved their conflict, and the appendix of the book contains their joint statement promising to refrain from downplaying each other's contributions to Neuro Linguistic Programming.