Customer Reviews

Essentials of Clinical Hypnosis: An Evidence-Based Approach (Dissociation, Trauma, Memory, and Hypnosis Book Series)

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Co-written by former president of the American Psychological Association Division 30 (Society of Psychological Hypnosis) Steven Jay Lynn and hypnosis and suggestion expert Irving Kirsch, Essentials Of Clinical Hypnosis: An Evidence-Based Approach is a textbook written to bridge the gap between research and practice and help bring hypnosis into mainstream, evidence-based clinical psychotherapy. Written for students of all levels of experience in hypnosis, Essentials Of Clinical Hypnosis offers basic instruction to help novices understand and practice hypnosis, suggestive methods, up-to-date literature reviews, a no-holds-barred scrutiny of the difficult issues involved in using hypnosis for memory recovery, and much more. Methods for incorporating hypnotic methods for treating pain, smoking, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and more are discussed at length. A superb reference and training resource for both students and practicing psychologists.

I was excited to get this book, firstly because the price was so much better from .com v .co.uk, and more importantly because when I opened the book it looked so promising. But as I read on it became more and more a let down. It felt like one summary/paraphrase after another. Like a series of students notes. None of the topics is covered very well. The chapter on smoker cessation is a poorly described group approach - which could be useful but isn't really very useful and is not the most common approach. If I wanted to learn about this approach it wouldn't help very much. Most of the other chapters are the same they look attractive but don't deliver.

A book I read recently and am still reading Cognitive Hypnotherapy by Assen Alladin is much better.

I have now given up on it even though it is on the reading list of the course I am about to do. I am just glad I didn't buy it in the UK as for the price here I would have been very upset. Hopefully when I get past my current reaction and revisit it I would find some hidden or obvious treasures.