Richard Bandler is a co-founder with John Grinder of the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. A student of mathematics, Richard began studying the work of Gestalt therapy founder Fritz Perls when he was asked to edit transcripts of Perls' lectures and workshops for the book Eyewitness To Therapy (1973) for Science and Behavior Books. He also began to work with family therapist Virginia Satir at this time.

Richard met John Grinder, a linguistics professor, as a student at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1974 Bandler and Grinder began to make a model of the language patterns used by Perls, Satir and Hypnotherapist Milton H. Erickson, which they published in their books The Structure of Magic Volumes I & II (1975, 1976), Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, Volumes I & II (1975, 1977) and Changing With Families (1976). These books formed the foundation of the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.