The Structure of Personality [Hardcover]

Michael Hall (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1899836675 | ISBN-13: 978-1899836673 | Publication Date: July 31, 2001

Personality is not an entity, it is a process. When we discuss personality, what we are talking about is a system of responding and relating or, more precisely, a set of behaviours. This is good news for those who deal with, or suffer with, personality problems. What it means is that personality can be reordered and reprogrammed in a way that is both beneficial and liberating. The Structure of Personality begins by exploring how we actively pattern experience. Guiding us through the cognitive system of internal representation, it examines the contexts and environments in which such patterning arises, and the higher levels at which we produce beliefs and values that determine our behaviours. Once it has identified the process of producing a personality, it presents strategies that will alter those behaviours and reprogramme personality, targeting each stage of personality production - and in particular, the stage at which the client determines core beliefs. Coaching the reader in a number of effective and especially adapted NLP techniques, The Structure of Personality includes reordering strategies such as The R.E.S.O.L.V.E. model, that ingeniously sequences a number of key tasks which form an important part of change work, and the Personal Strengths Model, that determines which NLP techniques will be useful for yourself or for a client. Addressing general behaviour problems and specific personality disorders such as schizophrenia, paranoia and addiction, it is an essential reference for counsellors, therapists and NLP practitioners, presenting effective solutions to personality disorders.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A bold and courageous step with exciting possibilities. Should prove to be a milestone in our pursuit of sanity. -- Rie Anderson, Clinical Psychotherapist

Creating a cognitive map using Neuro-Semantics and NLP to understand the relationship between a person's thinking and personality development -- Jim Walsh, Mental Health Counselor

From the Publisher

L. Michael Hall PhD has authored many ground-breaking works on communication, neuro-linguistics, emotions, and motivation. He is one of the foremost NLP theorists writing today, and is dedicated to taking its techniques into new and exciting realms of therapy and personal development. L. Michael Hall works as a psychotherapist and trainer in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Crown House Publishing (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899836675
• ISBN-13: 978-1899836673
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,871,620 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turning Personality Into A Verb, September 27, 2001

By 

Te Ruru (Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Structure of Personality (Hardcover)

Occasionally a book is published in the field of therapy that has the potential to radically alter the way those working in the helping professions think about certain challenges their clients are experiencing. "The Structure of Personality" could well be such a book. On the basis of their extensive casework, research, training, and modeling, the four co-authors present a fresh understanding of the theory and treatment of personality disorders, from an NLP perspective. Their central premise is that personality is something people do, rather than something they have. This book challenges the current paradigm for the assessment of personality disorders, which tends to view such conditions as negative, crippling, and resistant to change. The authors demonstrate that people already have the ability to re-order personality in ways that allow them to function well, and that personality "disorders" are actually expressions of personal strengths utilised ineffectively.

This comprehensive and integrated text pulls together the most useful contributions of NLP for addressing the personality disorders. Part 1 presents the theory and research supporting the authors' position, as well as outlining processes for ordering personality. Part 2 details how twelve DSM-IV defined personality disorders can be reordered, based on the material presented in Part 1. This structure makes the book both a resource for research and theory, and a manual for the application of that theory. Chapters alternate between authors. Hall and Bodenhamer use a fairly technical register, while Bolstad and Hamblett's voice is softer, and they continually enliven their theory with case examples, including some from the war-torn Balkins. Despite these stylistic differences, the text is woven together in a relatively seamless manner. This book is both an advanced and a readable text. Its preference for verbs over nouns gives the language energy, and keeps the focus on personality as something people do. A rather minimalist index is a bit of a suprise in a text of this caliber. However, the detailed contents, frequent headings, bullet points, diagrams, highlighted key points, chapter-end summaries, resource list, and extensive bibliography are excellent features.

Both its ground breaking content, and its user-friendly format, make "The Structure of Personality" a text to have for NLP Consultants, students, and other practitioners in the mental health field, as well as for supervisors and training institutions. Professor Carl Lloyd's view in his introduction to the book seems acurate enough when he concludes that this new book "...is impressive both in scope and depth, staggering in its implications for treating personality disorders, giving the clinical world an utterly new way of looking at the etiology and treatment of personality disorders".

5.0 out of 5 stars Forward Looking, July 7, 2010

By 

Lyons - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Structure of Personality (Hardcover)

NLP provides a non-traditional, pro-active approach to psychotherapy. The parts on schizoid are most insightful.

6 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Structure of Personality., November 28, 2001

By 

Omar Salom (Mexico DF) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Structure of Personality (Hardcover)

I am a psychologist(doing my master degree in clinical psychology and also doing formal studies for becoming an specialist in cognitive psychology. In addition I Teach at a post-Graduate School level.
I am delight with the approach of this book. It gives the reader practical examples, tools and information of importance for the clinical practice. it also approach the phenomenon of "personality" from a different point of view. Dr Hall is a researcher, I have read more than one of his books and I am impress, I think He is really, one of the Genius of our time.
I highly recommend this book to my students and to every one envolve in the clinical practice.