Yes, Steven Gilligan is a beautiful person and an absolute master at Ericksonian hypnosis. Please, check him out if you are interested in the field. I don't care what anybody says, but Bandler is a nightmare.  Sure, if you have the money and the time going to a Bandler workshop can be very interesting and, possibly (depending on your taste) entertaining.  But it would be extremely unethical of me not to share with you my conclusion after personal experience combined with conversations among many people.  Bandler is sloppy and lazy.  Yes, he is a genius, but if your goal is to learn something, he is simply not the best out there. He's not even close.  The myth of his mastery is silly after you watch him work these days.  Maybe there was a time when he 'had' it. He will always have enough devotees around him to create the impression that he's having huge impacts, but please, if money is an issue for you DON'T Spend  it on Richard.  There are just too many wonderful practioners out there.  The cheapest and highest quality NLP training is being done in Ohio and Missouri by a wonderful man named Gene Rooney.  He's made it part of his mission in life to make high quality training affordable to anybody who wants it.  Check him out via L.E.A.D consultants. Pam Brenner P.S. Obviously, this is just my opinion about Richard Bander's compatency.  There will be many people who still believe he is worth the time and money. There are many people who insist that feeding their children candy bars for breakfast is fine alright as well.  Give Richard your money after you have worked with John Grinder or Robert Dilts or Gene Rooney or....  If you have money to spend after you have received high quality training and you are curious about the mysterious genius of Bandler, go to all his trainings.  He will tell you very clearly that even if you don't think you are learning a thing, he is installing deeply complex patterning via his jokes.  Oh, and if you do go to visit Richard, please observe his devotees (those people who have been to 3 or more of his trainings)very carefully and see if you can detect all of the patternings of excellence that Richard has been weaving into them.  One nice way of testing a trainer is to observe those who take the trainer very seriously and who spend time and energy working with the trainer.