Richard Bandler - State Of The Art - 1987 - Adv...

By 1987, Richard Bandler had co-founded NLP in the 1970s with John Grinder. However, the early 1980s saw a legal and professional split between the two. Bandler retained much of the “charismatic, hypnotic, and rapid-change” techniques, while Grinder pursued a more linguistic and structural approach.

In an era of gentle mindfulness and slow therapy, Bandler’s 1987 message remains a radical, uncomfortable, and exhilarating bolt of lightning: All you have to do is learn the structure of your own magic.

The belief that we do not experience the "real" world, but rather a subjective internal representation built from our five senses.

This title likely refers to a classic training seminar from titled "State of the Art," where Richard Bandler Richard Bandler - State of the Art - 1987 - Adv...

The 1987 "State of the Art" seminar sits right on the bleeding edge of this evolution. It was "Advanced" because it no longer sought to teach the basic jargon of NLP. Instead, it assumed the audience knew the basics and was ready for the application of the technology at an artistic level. It was Bandler declaring that the science was settled; now, it was time for the art.

This was released as a multi-cassette audio program (later digitized) and is considered a cult classic in the NLP community. It is not a book – though transcripts circulate online.

By 1987, Bandler had moved beyond the "talking cure" models of traditional psychotherapy, which he criticized for being slow and often painful. The "State of the Art" seminar emphasizes that because the brain can learn a phobia in a matter of seconds, it is equally capable of unlearning it just as fast. The seminar revolves around three primary pillars: By 1987, Richard Bandler had co-founded NLP in

Key submodality shifts taught in SOTA 1987 include:

: Bandler held another major seminar in 1987 titled "Personal Outcomes," where he worked directly with individuals on specific behavioral changes. Academic Scrutiny

Given the way the title cuts off (“Adv...”), you are likely referring to the or the “Advanced NLP Patterns” section of this workshop. In an era of gentle mindfulness and slow

The 1987 sessions were noted for being highly interactive; participants could ask for any personal change, and Bandler would demonstrate techniques like the Swish Pattern or Belief Change live on stage.

For students of hypnosis, persuasion, and human change, the 1987 "State of the Art" recordings are not merely instructional videos; they are a masterclass in energy, artistry, and the subversive use of language. This article explores the context, the content, and the enduring legacy of this seminal work.

In one legendary segment, he demonstrates by physically grabbing a volunteer’s arm mid-gesture, freezing them, and whispering a new set of instructions. The audience gasps as the volunteer’s posture changes instantly. He then explains: “The problem is a loop. You cannot solve a loop while staying in the loop. You must break the kinesthetic anchor.”

He argued that content is irrelevant. He famously stated, “If you have a problem, you have to have pictures and sounds—it’s not a problem if you don’t.” In this seminar, he systematically dismantled how the brain encodes meaning not by what you see, but how you see it.