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Transforming Your Self: Becoming Who You Want to Be

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Transforming Your Self is a work as ambious as its title. It describes what your identity is made of, how it works, and how to use this knowledge to change who you are. Author Steve Andreas, once a student of Abraham Maslow, editor of Fritz Perls, and then popularizer of Richard Bandler and John Grinder, has already made numerous contributions to various fields including NLP. With this cognitive modelling of self-concept, Steve solidifies his reputation as an NLP innovator. Steve's ideas about self-concept correspond with Robert Dilts' idea of Identity level change and enriches it with many new distinctions and techniques including: how we create continuity of experience, how feedforward patterns lead to our futures, and how our mental processes act upon themselves. It will be no surprise to people who know Steve's work, that all this is clearly explained along with easy to follow exercises which enable the interested reader to create a more durable, accurate, self-correcting, and connected sense of self. The identity change processes are a mix of classic NLP patterns and distinctions applied in new ways with these new understandings. The NLP jargon has been kept to a minimum.

Steve introduces an important new concept into NLP and popular psychology - the "summary representation." NLP asserts that understanding a word means accessing a particular experience - often a memory. For example, on hearing the word "dog," you would remember a particular dog. Except only some people do that. Others think of a dog that stands for all dogs, or a cartoon dog, or dogginess. It all depends on the number, and the qualities, of the examples of dog you have to draw on to make your summary representation. The fewer the number of examples, the more impoverished (and caricatured) the representation. The greater the number and variety, the richer. With more abstract words, like the ones we use to describe ourselves - including beliefs, values, and qualities - this gets even more complicated. Each of these words refer to a number of categories each containing examples that are to be summarized. A summary representation is a simplified image of the examples it represents - and therein lies both its strengths and weaknesses. Previous identity change processes have for the most part tried to change a person's summary representation or self image. Steve found that while a self image can be difficult to change directly, the individual examples that it summarizes are easy to change, and cumulatively have profound transformational effects.

What is certain to surprise many motivational speakers and self improvement authors is that not thinking of mistakes or failures actually weakens a person's sense of self, making it rigid, brittle, and perfectionist. Not only can you afford negative thoughts; when handled with processes so easy they can be done conversationally, these "counterexamples" actually strengthen and enrich your sense of self - making it more open to improvement. You also learn the difference between self-concept and self-esteem (and how many of the self-esteem building efforts in American schools are an attempt to have the tail to wag the dog); as well as how 'classic' NLP distinctions like time, perceptual positions, and submodalities combine to create our identities.

This book doesn't say everything there is to say about transforming your self. There are ideas, observations and insights along the way that if they were followed up it would easily have doubled its length. I was particularly struck with Steve's modelling of the structure of paranoia, something wholly unanticipated by him. (A good sign that there is actual NLP modeling going on.)

Among the people who have written about NLP modeling, few of them have actually produce new models. This book offers the reader an opportunity to listen in on an actual modeler of human experience practicing his craft. For all these reasons, Transforming Your Self is likely to be the basis of identity change work for some time to come.

The first time I encountered the writing of Steve Andreas was when I read his superb book "Awareness" written under the name John O. Stevens. That was over twenty-five years ago. Since then, Andreas, in his writing and teaching, helped to found NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and to guide NLP towards sensitive morality and technical effectiveness. The subject of this book--transforming your self--is a tricky one. Any book on this subject must guide readers to change their self with--guess what?--their self doing the guiding. This is a complex, paradoxical endeavor, one Andreas deals with well throughout the book through the use of many specific examples. What makes this book and its subject especially important is this: our sense of self influences many aspects of the rest of our lives: our values, our feelings, our relationships, our decisions, our hopes and dreams, and certainly our behaviors. Andreas treats this important subject much like he treats his workshop participants--with care, sensitive guidance and technical skill. He accomplishes this without falling into a review of often confusing and contradictory philosophical theories. Instead, he goes beyond theories to practice. He focuses on what we *can actually do,* to transform our sense of self in the privacy of our own minds. The process Andreas reveals in this book not only helps us to enhance our sense of self, but also offers something else: the book's workshop-style format helps therapists, educators and other professionals to discover how to pass on what they've learned to their clients and students. Parents too can benefit in this way, passing on what they learn to their children. For all of these reasons, I highly recommend Steve Andreas's book, Transforming Your Self: Becoming Who You Want to Be. Kelly Patrick Gerling, Ph.D.

For years, the world of psychotherapy has used words like self-esteem and self-worth. When posed with the question "How do you build good self-esteem?" most psychotherapists and authors would talk about giving positive regard to a child, etc. Steve Andreas, author of Becoming Who You Want To Be, is the first person I've come across to dissect in detail what are the internal "building blocks" of a healthy self-concept. His thinking is clear and precise and the models he presents (for building healthy self-concept) are well layed out and fairly easy to follow. Some of the ideas are revolutionary. Steve's humor and humanity make this book heartfelt and very enjoyable to read. Even if you use just some of the information, I predict it will change your thinking and actions. The world needs all the positive help it can get. Tell others about this book!

Steve Andreas creates a masterful book with Transforming Yourself!

Written primarly from the transcripts of seminars he presented on the topic, you'll find countless examples of application....something many so called "how to" books fail to provide.

If you will STOP...and actually do the exercises provided at the end of each section, you're sure to come away with a structural change of your self concept, one that will support you in anything else you might desire to do or achieve.

Reviewer: Jessie Milan, MA, LPC author of It's Okay to Cry
[...]

One of Steve's best pieces of work, Transforming Your Self: Becoming Who You Want to Be

The intricacies and specific processes of the whole pattern are brilliant. A true breakthrough procedure of "how to" change our self concept exacetly "where we want" it changed. The writing is understandable, practical, has many examples; as well as humorous and always honoring who we are. The book, therefore the whole pattern, was presented in a very organized manner even though it is a complex idea with many, many details. Steve offers the "how to", not just discussion.

I am wondering if the few reviewers who did not like the book, actually did the exercises on themselves or used them with clients. I have, and the processess involved in the pattern are straightforward and the results are profound. My experience is that the changes are at the core of my concept of self and has influenced all aspects of my life. Also, the clients who have participated in this pattern report similar experiences. As they and I both say: "Oh, I AM DIFFERENT and I like it"!
Steve offers the internal building blocks of our self-concept and the processes can be accomplished in small steps.

When I was in graduate school I gained a breadth and depth of understanding and knowledge of personal change work that has been valuable in my work. Although the philsophies, some techniques and theories were useful; they did not consistently offer me the "how to" to get the results that I get with my clients using NLP. What has been and is particularly gratifying to me as a therapist, is that the field of neuro linguistic programming continues to expand due to work such as Steve Andreas has accomplished in this arena of Self Concept.

Of all my work with clients in my private practice, this is the pattern that was most needed. I found at times there was a certain point that a "piece was missing" for them. That "piece" was at the level of self-concept. I am grateful to now have the use of this pattern along with all of the other NLP patterns. The years Steve put into the research on self-concept has now given all of us the opportunity to study this intricate and profound pattern and to implement it for others and ourselves.

Steve Andreas' book on self-concept is an OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANITY.

Working at the identity level can be very spooky, so many people and therapists avoid it. Steve has developed an effective approach that is respectful of THE PERSON YOU ARE while you gently BECOME THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BE. Steve shows you how to build on your stengths systematically. Humor and some pretty good jokes make the read fast and fun. I slowed down enough to actually do some of the exercises and found some new stuff for My Self. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in helping others improve their lives, or who just wants to learn some new ways to enrich their own life experience.

I `ve been reading this book with great enjoyment and interest, taking time to do the incremental exercises, although the temptation is to rush ahead! It's very satisfying, solid, thorough and well-organized, with a nice mix of attention to detail and ability to hold the bigger picture, and a sense of the author's depth, experience and humanity sustaining it all. I appreciate the careful crafting of the methods used and patient attentiveness to make sure that it all supports sanity, and not adding to the hubris and inflation that can easily occur when people think about working with their own self-concept.

I love this book. Steve Andreas did an AMAZING job modeling the structure of self concept using submodalities. It's not something I would have ever done and to me speaks to his skill as a Master Modeler. This book will teach you more than you ever thought was possible when it comes to changing self concept and it's fairly easy too!!! I've seen footage of Steve teaching the material in this book, I've read the book and listened to demonstrations of him working with self concept and I'm still impressed.

This is advanced submodality work at it's finest for those of you that don't think there is anything new in NLP you need to check out this book. Steve Andreas really did not only the field of NLP a service by modeling and writing this book but he did a service to the entire field of psychology too. For years there has been so much talk about working with people's identity or self concept whatever you want to call it but until this book was published there really wasn't a whole lot of actual ways to do this... Steve did all of the heavy lifting for us on this one.

Sometimes it can be a difficult read but it is well worth the effort if you practice what he teaches. It seems hard at first until you get it to work for yourself once you have done that then it is all down hill because you will know how to do it!

Transforming Your Self is simply breathtaking. Reading this book is like being back at the emergence of NLP with Frogs into Princes, but vastly more coherent and detailed--fresh new thinking combined with Steve Andreas' customary clarity, warmth, and humor. Steve takes the lead in the NLP community again with the best NLP framework ever for dealing with the level of Identity. I've already had people who are hungry for self-renewal reading my copy and being delighted.

This work is the best and most thorough example of NLP modeling excellence. The organization, sequencing, breadth of thinking, and rigor in distinguishing between structure/process and content shines throughout. I love the teaching style: clear distinctions, examples, humor, demonstration, and gems of practical wisdom in every chapter. The unique information that begins on page 196 is essential reading for any student of human transformation. I have used many of these methods in my own life, and my clients are also using them to get immediate results. This book will become one of the NLP classics.