Romilla Ready and Kate Burton open by presenting Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) as a framework for understanding how language and internal thought patterns affect behavior and communication, providing accessible introduction to this popular but scientifically contested framework.

Why readers should approach this framework with appropriate scientific context:

• NLP, despite its continued popularity in certain personal development and communication training contexts, has faced significant scientific criticism regarding the empirical support for many of its specific claimed techniques and underlying theoretical mechanisms
• Readers should approach this framework's specific techniques as one popular but scientifically contested approach, rather than as established psychological science with the same evidentiary standing as more rigorously validated approaches
• This opening establishes the book's accessible introduction to NLP, which readers should engage with this appropriate critical scientific context

This opening establishes the book's accessible introduction to NLP, which readers should engage with appropriate awareness of this framework's contested scientific standing despite its continued popular use.