Hello all,

[Unregistered]

I was wondering if there was a comprehensive book list on the site. I've read Merlin's FAQ, which, I feel, is an excellent start for finding resources. Would it be possible for a moderator or administrator to create a sticky thread where a book/author list could be posted for those of us wanting more material for our to-buy/check out list?

Being a beginner, I'm also reading articles in peer reviewed journals and would like to give people access to them so that I can hear their thoughts on the matter(s). I apologize if I come off as wanting a specific script or direction. I'm simply interested in learning as much as I can through books and articles at the moment.

Here's a few of the articles I've bookmarked for reading in the near future. Any comments would be appreciated.

Methodological and empirical considerations in assessing the validity of psychoanalytic theories... By: Silverstein, Steven M.. Genetic, Social & General Psychology Monographs, Feb93, Vol. 119 Issue 1, p7, 48p; (AN 9607240042)

Many of the Contemporary Hypnosis journals; there are too many specific articles to list.

Adjunctive non-pharmacological analgesia for invasive medical procedures: a ... By: Lang, Elvira V; Benotsch, Eric G; Fick, Lauri J; Lutgendorf, Susan; Berbaum, Michael L; Berbaum, Kevin S; Logan, Henrietta; Spiegel, David. Lancet, 04/29/2000, Vol. 355 Issue 9214, p1486, 5p, 2 charts, 1 diagram, 3 graphs; (AN 3054019)

PHENOMENOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNDERSTANDING HYPNOSIS: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. By: Woodard, Fredmck. Psychological Reports, Dec2003 Part 1, Vol. 93 Issue 3, p829, 19p; (AN 12110070)

Legitimatizing Psychology's Prodigal Son. By: Seidman, Barry F.. Skeptic, 1999, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p40, 5p; (AN 1961166)

The Effects of Hypnosis on Dissociative Identity Disorder: A Reexamination of the Evidence. By: Rowell, Russell A; Gee, Travis L. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Nov99, Vol. 44 Issue 9, p914, 3p, 3 charts; (AN 2623835)

Dissociations and dissociation theory in hypnosis: Comment on Kirsch and Lynn (1998). By: Kihlstorm, John F.. Psychological Bulletin, Mar98, Vol. 123 Issue 2, p186, 6p; (AN 376597)

Hypnosis in sports: An isomorphic model. By: Robazza, Claudio; Bortoli, Laura. Perceptual & Motor Skills, Oct94, Vol. 79 Issue 2, p963, 11p, 1 chart, 2 diagrams; (AN 9502022264)

The altered state of hypnosis. By: Kirsch, Irving; Lynn, Steven Jay. American Psychologist, Oct95, Vol. 50 Issue 10, p846, 13p, 3 diagrams, 2bw; (AN 9510291952)

Artifact in the Hypnosis-Creativity Relationship. By: Jackson, Lynne M.; Gorassini, Donald R.. Journal of General Psychology, Oct89, Vol. 116 Issue 4, p333, 11p; (AN 5016995)

Effects of Hypnosis and Level of Processing on Repeated Recall of Line Drawings. By: McKelvie, Stuart J.; Pullara, Maria. Journal of General Psychology, Jul88, Vol. 115 Issue 3, p315, 15p; (AN 5023593)

Most of these articles are probably best read by people that have far more understanding of the subject than myself. These are just a few, as there are nearly a thousand in the database; the majority of which, as mentioned before, come from the journal "Contemporary Hypnosis." All of these articles are completely free to read and most are available in HTML and pdf format.

[Owen]

No one is interested? Am I overlooking something that is staring me in the face?

[Don]

Go to http://www.ampac.edu/bookstore.html and scroll down to the hypnotherapy section. No reviews, just a listing of good books.

To find out what the books cover, go to http://www.ampac.edu/hypnosisdegree.html and compare the course number with the books' course number

[Merlin]

> Am I overlooking something that is staring me in the face?

Yes. 2 points

1-Not all posters here live at this web board.
It may take several days to get a response.
2- I (for one) have not memorised those articles, nor do I have the time to search for them :( sorry.

[skip]

If you want me to read the articals you mentioned, and parse them for you, give me a reason to, other than your expectation, that your every desire, is my obligation.

That said, yours is an often-asked question and it is difficult to answer accurately because no one really knows what you want the knowledge for.

Try this site for reviews on NLP and Hypnosis books:

http://www3.mistral.co.uk/bradburyac/

Here is my recommended reading list. I have made some categories, which I hope will help. This list is by no means exhaustive and changes from time to time according to whim.

1. NLP

Ok the classic text here is "Frogs into Princes"; most of the old classics by Grinder & Bandler as well as the old crowd of NLPers are fantastic. So "Reframing", "Using your brain for a change", "Heart of the Mind", "Sleight of Mouth" etc are all great. The books that started it all were "Structure of Magic Vol 1 & 2", these are more academic reads but still well worth the read if you want to truly understand the heart of what makes NLP work - the structure of people's thinking!

As a starter I'd recommend read "Frogs into Princes" and work you way into the others over time (especially after you have taken some NLP training), that’s how I began.

2. Hypnosis

OK there are many more great books in this category than you can shake a stick at. So forgive me if I keep the list relatively brief (I could go way OTT on this!)

is. Trance Formations (Grinder & Bandler): this is still one of the best intro texts into hypnosis and language. It’s simple to read, elegant, and presents some very useful and powerful models of hypnosis.

ii. Therapeutic Trances (Stephen Gilligan): an absolute masterpiece of
Ericksonian hypnosis. Gilligan is the man that did a full deep trance ID with Erickson (wheelchair, paralysis & everything!) back in the 70s and it really shows in this masterful exposition of hypnosis. It’s a harder, more advanced read however.

iii. Training Trances (Overdurf & Silverthorn): This is another classic book in the "Trance Formation" vein. The whole book is written in hypnotic language and is a very elegant description of the foundational Ericksonian patterns of trance. Very nice double induction at the beginning using some very elegant phonological ambiguities.

iv. Monster's & Magical Sticks - There's No such Thing as Hypnosis? (Steven Heller): This is a great light read about hypnosis, again demonstrating Ericksonian hypnosis at work in many different situations. Its a lovely read and demonstrates some of the principles very elegantly. Not so much of a how to book.

v. Erickson's Published Papers CD-Rom (available from
www.anglo-american.co.uk): This is an absolute treasure, a bit pricey but worth it. These people have published on CD-Rom pretty much every paper that Erickson ever published, plus a few unpublished ones. There are some real gems to be gleaned from arguably the world's greatest master of hypnosis. This is NOT for beginners, as it can get very technical and at times requires some wading through, but persistence is rewarding!

vi. Therapeutic Metaphor by David Gordon. This book is in textbook style so it isn’t an especially easy read. But it does teach you how to craft a metaphor to have therapeutic results for a specific client. It will also give you insight to Virginia Satirs use of categories.

The above is what I would recommend as a core library for any NLP/Hypnotist. There are thousands of other great texts however (e.g. Elman's "Hypnotherapy", Esdaille's "Mesmerism in India", Sidis' "The Psychology of Suggestion" and Most of Ernest Rossi's books on clinical subjects)

3. Hypnotherapy

- see above

4. Stage Hypnosis

There’s is really only one classic that tops them all in this category:

The New Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnosis (Ormond McGill): Includes pretty much everything you need to know about stage hypnosis from cover to cover (including a few sample shows!) It’s a great light read (though repetitive at times). Ormond is very much an "Old world" hypnotist into his mysticism and mesmerism - which is fine if you ascribe to that, and quaint if you do not. Much great advice is given on all aspects of a show, from understanding hypnosis, to understanding showmanship (NOT the same thing!) and even advertising you.

5. Clinical Hypnosis

Its easier to recommend authors than actual books in this field, so here goes: Ernest Rossi, Jeff Zeig, Stephen Gilligan, Erickson, Michael Yapko, Jay Haley, Andre Weitzenhoffer, Erickson (usually co-authored with another person)

6. Altered States of consciousness

is. Clark Hull's "Hypnosis and Suggestibility" is an old classic that details almost 1000 experiments in hypnosis. A great read, but NB Hull is the one that made the original mistake in the 30s which has plagued hypnosis ever since - he tried to pigeon hole trances by putting a standard induction on a record and then concluding that only 20% of people can go into a deep trance. Hogwash! 20% can only go into a deep trance using only that SPECIFIC method! So watch out for that mistake.

ii. Erickson's Hypnotic Realities is again a fascinating though slightly
Academic text.

iii. Mind Games (Masters & Houston): A great collection of hypnotic
adventures and explorations based on Ericksonian hypnosis.

iv. Extreme Spirituality (Tully Berkan): defined for me the path from belief, to certainty, to action.

v. Holographic Universe (Michael Talbot): Wow, this book combines the theories of two premier researchers, one a physicist and the other a psychologist to form a coherent theory about reality and how we create it.

vi. Miracles of mind Russell Targ and Jane Katra PhD This is the most definitive book on the interconnectedness of the universe, what Jung called the collective unconscious. It also has the best references to double blind studies on ESP, PSI, and remote viewing. Explicit instructions on how to remote view yourself and how to enhance your ability. Fabulous discussion on time, and its properties and its relation to precognition. And then Jane takes up on energy healing. Absolute must read, and the references cited are a trail filled with gold nuggets!

vii "Prometheus Rising" Robert Anton Wilson" Without a doubt one of the best at teaching the difference between reality and belief and how belief shapes and creates your reality, both tangible and intangible. Each chapter has a couple of "exercises" so that you actually get to experience the things taught in that chapter. Don’t read this if you like your current illusion.

viii "The Hiram Key" Knight and Lomas. Take care with this book! By taking a historically accurate look at the origin of Christianity you are liable to have your faith in 'Christianity' severely tested, or your faith in any other religion for that matter.

skip

[Owen]

Go to http://www.ampac.edu/bookstore.html and scroll down to the hypnotherapy section. No reviews, just a listing of good books.

To find out what the books cover, go to http://www.ampac.edu/hypnosisdegree.html and compare the course number with the books' course numberDon,

Thank you for the links, There are many titles I've found that I would very much like to read in the near future.

Yes. 2 points

1-Not all posters here live at this web board.
It may take several days to get a response.
2- I (for one) have not memorised those articles, nor do I have the time to search for them :( sorry.Merlin,

Thank you for telling me. I was curious to see if I was missing something only because I'd seen moderators post answers to other threads while mine was up. I realize that what I asked was something that could very possibly require a more detailed response than what some people had time for. I also realized that there very well could have been something I was just missing.

I did not expect anyone to have any of those articles memorized. I wanted to put something I thought of as a good resource as a showing of my interest. I wanted to avoid simply saying, "Hey, what are some good books. Tell me now." I thought it better to offer something in return for the time people spent answering my inquiry.

The reason I offered the articles is because they are very easy to get access to. They are all available absolutely free over the internet, and I am willing to provide people with the public information necessary to access the database if they would be interested in reading some of them, or just looking around to see if there's something that catches their eye. Thank you for your input.

skip,

Though I feel it might be a bit over the top to quote your reply, I want to thank you for an absolutely amazing answer. I appreciate it beyond what I believe I can express in written words. That will be enough reading for a LONG time.

Regards to all,
Owen