Hypnosis: A Comprehensive Guide (Hardcover)

by Tad James (Author), Tad. James (Author) "You are about to delve into the art of hypnosis, surveying the techniques of several masters, from Milton Erickson's indirect, permissive style to the direct,..." (more)
Key Phrases: double your mental relaxation, full body catalepsy, double your relaxation, Unconscious Mind, Time-Line Therapy, Milton Model (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
An excellent introductory text for students beginning to study the art and science of hypnosis. -- David Shephard B.Sc.,The Performance Partnership

An excellent introductory text for students beginning to study the art and science of hypnosis. --David Shephard B.Sc.,The Performance Partnership

Product Description
This book makes three radically different types of hypnosis easy to use in daily hypnosis work, exploring methods that employ Direct Authoritarian approaches, Indirect Permissive approaches, and techniques that place responsibility for hypnosis on the client. An invaluable resource for all trainers and therapists, it includes a range of powerful scripts.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Crown House Publishing (April 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899836454
• ISBN-13: 978-1899836451
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #566,733 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars General Information - Little Depth, September 11, 2001

By A Customer

The reviews I had read led me to expect great things. Perhaps that is why I was so disappointed. This book is "comprehensive" only in the sense that it briefly mentions many aspects of hypnosis and hypnotherapy. With regard to these mentions, however, I found it to be quite superficial. With only 176 pages prior to the Appendix, not much depth should be expected on any particular topic.

I found the sections on Erickson to be a good introduction to his work. There are only 9 printed pages devoted to Estabrooks, so you won't find much here. I also found the sections on Elman to be a gook introduction to him. It may inspire someone to further research on these people and their contributions. Unfortunately, I did not find much that I could use in the way of practical application. There is some of that in the book, however I think it would be most useful to someone who is completely new to the subject of hypnosis.

I was a bit bothered by the repetative commercials for Time Line Therapy. I was even more troubled by New Age religion being passed off as therapy. As a hypnotherapist, I think it is important to respect each individual's beliefs and to not impose a particular spiritual belief system onto a client. The chapter on Ericksonian Interventions has little to do with Erickson (who put faith in an individual's life experiences), and a lot to do with New Age beliefs. "Unconscious Mind" is always capitalized as if referring to deity. It is asked to make contact with "Higher Self" to get answers, and then to go ahead and "heal" the client. This was not Milton's way.

I would summarize this book as an introduction to hypnosis and a few New Age concepts. OK if that is all you want.

[I apologize for the anonymity. I have seen the attacks on reviewers who did not praise a work, and would rather avoid them.]

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable Modern Book, but contains errors., June 7, 2001

By	Donald Robertson "HypnoSynthesis" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fairly good representation of some modern techniques of hypnotherapy, many taken from NLP. It is certainly and by no means a "comprehensive guide" however. It is actually quite a short book. I have identified several factual errors in the book, mainly in the second chapter, the historical section. There are many questionable claims in this part of the book, they are not supported by a single historical reference or quotation. There are also straightforward errors in the account of linguistic terminology contained later in the book. Nevertheless, it is an interesting read and probably worth buying. It is not a great book on the subject, nor is it anywhere near being a comprehensive one.

Don.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonable modern book, but contains errors., June 7, 2001

By	Donald Robertson "HypnoSynthesis" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fairly good representation of some modern techniques of hypnotherapy, many taken from NLP. It is certainly and by no means a "comprehensive guide" however. It is actually quite a short book. I have identified several factual errors in the book, mainly in the second chapter, the historical section. There are many questionable claims in this part of the book, they are not supported by a single historical reference or quotation. There are also straightforward errors in the account of linguistic terminology contained later in the book. Nevertheless, it is an interesting read and probably worth buying. It is not a great book on the subject, nor is it anywhere near being a comprehensive one. Its contents are also not evidence-based but derived largely from anecdotal sources. Try reading Weitzenhoffer's The Practice of Hypnotism for a more authoritative and scientific account of hypnotherapy.