Many people have contributed to both editions of this book in a variety of ways—but none more so than Dr. Richard Bandler, without whom it, quite literally, would have been inconceivable. His insight, intellectual honesty and wisdom have combined to create one of the most significant tools for human development in the past century.

Apart from his work, which continues to inspire our own, we are hugely grateful for the support and encouragement he has given to the foundation and development of The Society of Medical NLP. The number of doctors, students, and allied health professionals who have had the opportunity to experience and advance the power and potential of this extraordinary technology and to pass on the benefits to their patients is growing, and will, we hope, continue to do so as the years go by.

We thank those many doctors, students, and allied health professionals who have entrusted us with their training, and we applaud their courage in seeking to explore beyond the edges of their known maps. The discoveries and experiences they report back to us are a constant source of inspiration and delight. We are delighted to feature some of their experiences in this new edition. Of special interest to us are those health professionals who, armed only with the information in the first incarnation of Magic in Practice, went out, tried some of the patterns for the first time, and achieved notable—sometimes extraordinary—results.

Our appreciation goes to those researchers whose work we cite in this book. While they have inspired us in our search for explanations for the theories and principles we discuss, and the mysteries of the body-mind system, human relationships, and health, we emphasize that any interpretation placed upon their work is ours alone. Our thanks, too, to those writers and thinkers who granted our requests to quote their words or reproduce their diagrams. To those who have not and were, for whatever reason, unable to respond to our requests, we would appreciate it if they contacted us so we can include credits in later editions.

We would particularly like to thank Georgina Bentliff who originally commissioned Magic in Practice for Hammersmith Press, and who has so bravely taken on this second edition.

Finally, thanks to Dr. Naveed Akthar for his tireless help and meticulous approach in helping to proof-read this edition.