Hypnotism

by George H. Estabrooks

Presents the methodology of hypnotism and its usefulness in education, psychology, and medicine

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

G.H. Estabrooks comes across like a kid in a candy store. He's so excited to share everything he knows about hypnotism.

I picked up this book out of sheer curiosity and to see where my perspective on hypnotism may land. Is it helpful or is it harmful? Based on Estabrooks' enthusiasm, it's the best thing since sliced bread and he doesn't try to PC his way through it. There are no codes of conduct or professional ethical practices followed. He experiments with impunity, but seems to have a decent, albeit unconscious, moral compass by which he functions. Decent according to the experiences he recounts in this book, anyway. Maybe there's more he's not telling? With this much enthusiasm and willingness to try anything, I wonder.....

Estabrooks claims people can't do anything under hypnotism that they wouldn't do when fully conscious. Depending on the level and investment of hypnotism, that is false.

He does lay out how to hypnotize others, but that's not the main target of this text. So I wouldn't pick this up as a "How To" instructional guide.

Interesting. Hypnotism is a tool and like all other tools; guns, magic, hammers, can be used for good or used for evil.

I'm not going to catalog his other books in my Goodreads list, but I also have these on loan from the library:

1. Man; The Mechanical Misfit - biology & nature of the body; written in '41; not convincing
2. Hypnosis: Current Problems - reads like an academic article; totally opposite of Hypnotism
3. Death in the Mind - WW II fiction
4. Spiritism - exploring suggestion (ghosts, mediums, seances, a bit of repeating from Hypnotism)

[Ben Ireland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me hypnotized .. haha :)

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The seamier side of hypnosis

Remember the movie "KIM" (1950) with Errol Flynn and Dean Stockwell (KIM) as Kim sees the broken pot being put back together? The warning not to let someone gesture in a certain way?

Well G.H. Seabrook covers it all from that angle. Although covering a large range of information he concentrates on what may be the negatives as shown in the table of contents.

1. Meet Hypnotism
2. The Introduction of Hypnotism
3. Usual Phenomena in Hypnotism
4. Posthypnotic Suggestion and Autosuggestion
5. Hypnotic States in Everyday Life
6. The Basic Nature of Hypnotism
7. Medial Uses of Hypnotism
8. Hypnotism in Crime
9. Hypnotism in Warfare
10. Hypnotism and Human Affairs
11. Conclusion

[James Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had expected more of a detailed how-to. I paid a lot to get this second hand book and the how-to parts mention stuff that doesn't fill all the details in.
It is a good read for hearing what can be achieved however