Monsters and Magical Sticks: Or, There's No Such Thing As Hypnosis (Paperback)

by Steven Heller (Author) "Although I have been using a form of "hypnosis" for more than fifteen years now, I found this book by Steven Heller and Terry Lee..." (more)
Key Phrases: Magical Sticks, Milton Erickson, Left Meets Right Meets Left (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
I really do think it is that good... -- Andy Bradbury, author of Develop Your NLP Skills and NLP for Business Success

I've been practicing hypnosis all my life and didn't know it. And so have you!! -- Robert Anton Wilson author of Prometheus Rising

One of the most important books you will read in your lifetime. -- Zanne Marie Gray, BookReview.com

Product Description
If you want to know how hypnosis really works (and, no, it has nothing to do with waving of hands or other similar nonsense), you will want to read this book. If you want to know the "magic" behind Ericksonian techniques and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, you have to read this book. From one of the true masters of hypnotherapy, this is one book that can really change your life!!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: New Falcon Publications; 2 edition (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561840262
• ISBN-13: 978-1561840267
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

80 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic, August 31, 2003

By	Karl (England, Great Britain) - See all my reviews

OK, let's start with the flaws:

1. Neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga is mentioned about half a dozen times, and almost every time, even in the Bibliography, his name is spelt "Gazzaneza".

That's it. End of flaws.
Everything else is just terrific and for anyone interested in hypnosis, or NLP, or both, this is one of those rare books You simply Must Have.

At the time of writing Amazon.com were pairing this book with "Training Trances" - which is a pretty powerful combination. But the books aren't just two stabs at the same material, they are significantly different views of much of the stuff that NLP is based on, and in particular the work of Milton Erickson.

The difference between the two books, and I say this with respect to all the authors, is that where "Training Trances" tells you what to DO, "Monsters and Magical Sticks" shows you how to LIVE "it".
(And in case you were thinking that "it" is Ericksonian-style hypnosis, as the book's subtitle says: "There's No Such Thing As Hypnosis?")

Just like "Training Trances", and despite its apparent simplicity this is a book that can be read over and over again. And each time you read it you'll find something that you didn't get before.

If this book is anything to go by, Dr Steven Heller seems to have been very much in the same mould as Milton Erickson, gentle, tolerant, humorous, caring, etc., etc.
At the end of the Epilogue, Nicholas Tharcher has included a brief obituary that includes these words:

"Though his work and his legacy endures, his presence, his sense of humor, and his enormous energy are gone. As one of his many friends I miss him."

By the time you finish reading this book, the only book by Heller now in print, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you feel much the same way.

A great book. Do yourself a BIG FAVOUR and get it.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Holy Grail of Old School NLP, March 6, 2007

By	J. Storm (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This book is to modern NLP what the discovery of Jesus' tomb with him, his wife, and his son still in it would be to modern Christianity!

I am not a newcomer to hypnosis or Neuro-linguistic Programming by any stretch of the imagination. I have taken NLP Practitioner, Master Prac, and Trainers Training and have done various other NLP and hypnosis trainings over the past decade. But more than that, I *USE* NLP on a daily basis, with myself, with those close to me, and with everyone I meet. NLP trainings, for some practical reason, are never complete; they tend to leave "holes" in the big picture for those attending the trainings (if they don't render you utterly psychotic in the process--some people just can't tolerate NLP-style training. By the time they find out they're one of those people, it's already too late and irreparable damage can be done. Trainings by the Society of NLP are the worst, by far). You are expected to go out into the "real world" and fill in those holes with actual experience. I still had a lot of holes that I hadn't been able to fill in. Until this book...

Heller studied NLP when it was still new, back in the 1970s. He got the *real skills* back when they were still readily available from the originators. Nowadays, it seems most of the best-known NLP trainers and experts are only interested in selling you on their next seminar rather than actually teaching you something you can use. God forbid you should actually learn something and no longer need them, you know.

I got more practical NLP knowledge from this book than I did from all of the NLP trainings I've attended *put together*. Heller doesn't have a "New Code of NLP" to sell, he's not trying to avoid having the uninitiated learn his "secret recipe," he's sincerely sharing what he has learned in a very entertaining, highly memorable style.

The lack of theory that another reviewer complained so bitterly about is typical of NLP and Erickson-style teaching. He teaches you without overtly teaching you. Instead of dry, boring examples of theoretical dogma, Heller tells you stories about real people with real experiences that make the concepts very easy to understand and apply. Instead of pontificating over the technical and theoretical underpinnings of the etiology of the symptomatic complex, Heller simply says "this works, use this." And he's right. I would rather be able to do a particular skill without knowing exactly why it works than to know intimately why and how it works and not be able to do it at all. Wouldn't you?

If you're looking in other "scientific" tomes for verification of his concepts, you're wasting your time. Hypnosis and NLP in particular are about the qualitative, subjective experience as the individual perceives it. Quite of a necessity, when you generalize those things to a level where they are readily testable and verifiable in a cross section of the population, you lose something vital to the concept. Human beings are all unique. Therapeutic techniques, therefore, must be tailored to the uniqueness of the individual. This book operates from that basis.

Not exactly a book meant for beginners, Monsters and Magical Sticks will give the greatest benefit to those who already have some NLP training and knowledge. Traditional hypnotists or those doing only direct suggestion approaches may not find this book as useful as those doing more creative and naturalistic hypnotic interventions. NLP'ers will find a veritable treasure trove of practical knowledge in this amazing book.

Specifically, Heller talks about cerebral hemispheric specialization and its role in the way people think. He describes hypnotic trance as the naturally-occurring, everyday emotional state that it is. He gives real examples of how and when you go into trance and how to induce them conversationally in others. He talks about the species of conditioned response known as "anchoring" and how to use it. There is so much great material in this book, no simple review could cover it all. At its simplest, Heller has condensed down a vast body of knowledge into an easily-digestible whole that is unparalleled in any other book on NLP and hypnosis. Buy this book only if you want to learn to use effective hypnotic communication naturally in everyday situations.

I wish I had read this book a long time ago! It might have saved me spending the countless thousands of dollars (not to mention the debt I've accumulated) pursuing NLP training. With the average cost of just one NLP training easily reaching the $2,000 mark, the cost of this book is utterly inconsequential compared to the knowledge contained in it. When you learn the skills in this book, nothing will ever be difficult again!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "You are NOT getting sleepy...", March 6, 2002

By	"roxx33" (Boise, ID United States) - See all my reviews

Doctor Steven Heller has written a fascinating book based on something that looks to be a passion. It's not that he is completely skeptical of any form of hypnosis, but he takes a hard look at the ritual and unnecessary dramatics of the professional "hypnotist." The word is in quotes, because you will see it that way all through the book. He was a clinical hypnotist for years. You should know that this title is not "Reader's Digest-level reading," it is intense and academic in approach. Steven Heller does believe in hypnosis, but under a different definition than most are used to. Monsters and Magical Sticks is filled with metaphors, imagery, and amazing success stories of his own case sessions. Learn about the "magic" behind Ericksonian techniques and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. This book will show you how hypnotism really works.