▁and ▁William ▁O ' H an lon ▁have ▁tried , ▁I ▁believe , ▁to ▁present ▁and ▁preserve ▁as ▁much ▁as ▁they ▁could ▁what ▁they ▁believed ▁and ▁have ▁understood ▁Er ick son ' s ▁thought ▁and ▁methods ▁to ▁be . ▁ ▁They ▁have ▁succeeded ▁to ▁do ▁so ▁to ▁a ▁fair ▁degree . ▁ ▁O thers , ▁like ▁Richard ▁Band ler ▁and ▁John ▁Gr inder ▁have ▁on ▁the ▁other ▁hand , ▁offered ▁a ▁much ▁ad ul ter ated , ▁and ▁at ▁times ▁f anc iful , ▁version ▁of ▁what ▁they ▁perce ived ▁Er ick son ▁as ▁saying ▁and ▁doing ▁gu ided ▁by ▁their ▁personal ▁the or izing . ▁... ▁Further ▁dist ort ions ▁have ▁resulted ▁outside ▁of ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁due ▁to ▁translation ▁problems ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁for ▁other ▁reasons . ▁ ▁More ▁and ▁more ▁the ▁Er ick son ians ▁have ▁become ▁a ▁heter ogeneous ▁group ▁of ▁pract ition ers . ▁ ▁One ▁of ▁his ▁first ▁students ▁and ▁developers ▁of ▁his ▁work ▁was ▁Jay ▁H ale y . ▁Other ▁important ▁follow ers ▁include ▁Stephen ▁Gill igan , ▁Jeff rey ▁K . ▁Ze ig , ▁Bill ▁O ' H an lon , ▁M iche le ▁Ritter man ▁and ▁Stephen ▁R . ▁L ank ton . ▁ ▁Er ick son ▁was ▁mode led ▁( see ▁Mil ton ▁model ) ▁by ▁Richard ▁Band ler ▁and ▁John ▁Gr inder , ▁the ▁co - found ers ▁of ▁Ne uro - ling u istic ▁programming ▁( N LP ). ▁As ▁a ▁result ▁of ▁the ▁success ▁of ▁their ▁research ▁Er ick son