The acronym NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming and indicates amethodology for changing the thoughts and behaviors of one or more people, in order to help them achieve the desired results.

Born in the 70s in California in the middle of the New Age era, NLP owes its success to the promise (often kept) to improve performance at work and to achieve happiness through personal development. The founders of NLP, the psychologist Richard Bandler and the linguist John Grinder, started from the belief that they could identify the thought patterns and behaviors of successful individuals, and then teach them to others.

One of the main techniques of NLP is in fact constituted by imitation or, as adepts define it, modelling: by imitating the language and behaviors of successful people it would be possible to make our skills our own and achieve their own results.

NLP is mainly based on language processing, but also uses other communication techniques to make people change their thoughts and behaviors.

NLP is based on the idea that people operate through internal "maps" with which to represent the world.

NLP thus tries to identify these maps (which are nothing more than subjective experiences of what surrounds us) to change their orientations. It is a methodology that aims at a change of thought and behavior.

It should be specified that NLP has nothing to do with hypnosis. On the contrary, it works through the conscious use of language to modify a person's mental and behavioral pattern.

NLP finds a wide field of intervention, using various techniques according to the desired purposes.

Starting from the idea that thought and behavior can be modelled, NLP is used for:

· treat anxiety, phobias and stress, thus improving emotional responses to certain situations;

· achieve successful professional goals, such as increased productivity at work and motivation;

· remove negative thoughts and feelings associated with a past event;

· improve their communication skills.

In general, NLP is used as a method for personal development through the"enhancement" of one's skills, which aims to have greater self- confidence and to communicate better with others.

To date, the efficacy of NLP has not yet been demonstrated, despite the fact that more than 40 years have passed since its conception, nor has this practice been the subject of rigorous scientific analysis, as happened for example for cognitive psychological therapy-behavioral. This has led to an absence of formal regulation, which can give rise to both arbitrary interpretations of the method and to its "manipulative" use.

Furthermore, scientific research on NLP has found contradictory evidence.

Some studies from the 1980s to 1990s have proven the benefits associated with NLP. For example, a study published in the journal Counselling and Psychotherapy Research found that patients in psychotherapy (various addresses) had improved symptoms and quality of life after being treated in association with the NLP methodology and psychotherapeutic treatments.

However, a review published in the 2014 British Journal of General Practice refutes the effectiveness of NLP with at least 10 studies. In summary, according to these studies,there is little evidence to assert that the method works with demonstrative evidence,especially when it intends to treat people's health, including mood disorders, weight management and substance abuse. According to scholars, the positive effects on the impact of the method would exist, but they are not exhaustive and not convincing. Only 18% of all research on NLP found clear cause-and-effect support for the theories underlying the method.

However, it should be noted that the research was conducted mainly in therapeutic contexts, and not in the commercial context, where NLP would find greater use.

One of the most used communication techniques in the last twenty years is Neuro Linguistic Programming. Known as NLP, it is one of the "sciences" most used by researchers, athletes, consultants, managers, training experts and professional communicators.

NLP was born and developed in California in the 70s, thanks to the collaboration of the mathematician Richard Bandler and the famous linguist Jhon Grinden.

Reserved for a few in the past because of the high cost of the courses and the difficulty of the books that dealt with the subject, this science gradually manages to make its way into the psychological sphere.