Self-Hypnosis: The Complete Manual for Health and Self-Change

by Brian M. Alman

First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Health

283 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

To me, self hypnosis is just another form of meditation, and it can work well to counter stress or anxiety. The instructions in this book are pretty clear.

As far as practical results: Like I said, it helps with relaxation. I can't say I've felt as if I were completely in some kind of trance, nor have I tried to use hypnosis to help reach specific goals, like losing weight, so I can't comment on how effective that might be. I do know at least one person who claims to have been able to stop smoking immediately and completely after hypnosis (although not self-hypnosis). There was a legendary guy here in Boston some years back that people called The Mad Russian. I don't know his real name. He claimed he could break people of the smoking habit through hypnosis. A woman I knew, and considered trustworthy, said she went to him and it worked. I went to a relaxation workshop where the the instructor taught the group some hypnosis techniques, and they seemed to have an effect. Placebo effect, maybe? That experience was what got me interested in learning more about hypnosis, though.

The authors do seem to endorse a few dubious claims/practices, such as neurolinguistic programming (which I know little about, but am not sure if it's really a thing--hence I say "dubious"). When they say you can use hypnosis to clear your skin, that makes me wonder. Maybe it would help if stress was a cause of the breakouts. But I tend to think they make too many claims about what hypnosis will do for you.

[Ard · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teenager I read a couple of books about self hypnosis but, apart from the relaxation exercises, I never really applied those techniques. Now, many years later, as a hypnotherapy student this book was recommended to me and so I read about this topic with new eyes and a lot more experience. It's a fine introduction into self hypnosis and possibly all you'll ever need to get you started if you want to try this out for yourself. It's got plenty of theory but of course also a lot of exercises to try out and various chapters about applications for deeper relaxation, pain control, losing weight, getting rid of phobias etc. It inspired me to really start working with it and already it proved pretty effective for improving my dream recall. Definitely recommended.

[Christian Zenker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein gutes Buch für die Grundlagen der Selbsthypnose. Es werden dabei auch verschiedenste Problembereiche angeschnitten, mit Erläuterungen, wie dort Selbsthypnose helfen kann. Jedoch werden keine vollständigen Skripte präsentiert, sondern die Grundideen, damit jeder die nötigen Suggestionen etc. für sich selbst erstellen kann.

[Nuria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, concise and practical.

[Chaitat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting book. It's about a way to make use of our unconscious mind (or brain) for our own benefits.

[Maria Ku · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book found me during my dark days, and I knew it was there to help me reconnect to the world. It did. I read a poem per night and lived through it and it held my hand softly but reliably. I also shared some poems with my friends-and-family circle, and that allowed for conversations that mattered.

[Natasha 4E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked a book about self-hypnosis, because one of my penpals told me about it, and I was pleasantly surprised. I found out there are a lot of similarities between the shamanistic trancejourney's I already did, and self-hypnosis. I learned some new things.

[Georganne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not as helpful as I'd hoped it would be.