Book review on the book Consumer Guide to hypnotism - Essay Example

HYPNOTISM Damon’s Consumer Guide to Hypnotism is an effective introduction to a process with a fairly long and controversial history, that of hypnotism. First aligned with the rise of Freudian and other new psychological and psychoanalytical states in the 20th century, hypnotism represented at the time, and to many currently, an exploration of the subconscious and unconscious layers of mind or self. Damon presents an effective guide to the process by including a diverse range of authorship, acting as the editor of this book, which compiles stories told by hypnotists themselves, writers, and even therapists who use hypnotism in practice.

The book is not intended for experts, so the reader doesn’t have to worry about having a background in theory and can find a basic book that covers the basic definitions of hypnotism, its benefits, its history, and the various controversies which have surrounded it. After reading Damon’s guide, the reader won’t know all there is to know on the subject, but they will certainly be better informed than when they began, and will hopefully have many of their misconceptions cleared up. The book works as an effective introduction of different methodologies used to place individuals under a state of hypnosis, as well as different reasons that people seek hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

For example, many people use hypnotism to quit smoking, and the guide has a definitive text on this. Still others use the process to lose weight, and duly this subject is also covered in one of Damon’s fifty guides, each written by an expert writer or professional in the field of hypnosis. More controversial aspects of hypnosis are included as well, which still have many skeptics wondering. Some of these aspects include the idea of channeling past lives or incarnations, fighting cancer, interpreting dreams, and other subjects that are less widely accepted.

This guide runs the gamut from widely accepted notions of hypnotism, such as how the process is used in sports psychology, to more specialized aspects, such as age regression therapy. A holistic and comprehensive manual is provided by this editor. The fifty pieces in the book do not require a doctorate degree to understand, and are also accessible to someone who doesn’t even have any background in hypnosis. In this book, the authors provide a thoughtful, literate, and articulate reckoning of the various parts of hypnotism and hypnotherapy as well as discussion, as they are presented in the reviewed text by Damon, the editor.

The authors blend paraphrased ideas and sections from experience, text and others directly with their own interpretations and comments, which makes the chapters easier to read and more informative at the same time, since it mixes the summative and analytical functions of the book. Therefore, this guide is strong because it follows the form of a meta review and summarizes the theories and hypotheses surrounding the various perspectives on hypnotism. The writers use a variety of forms in which they explore ideas by discussing the issues associated with hypnosis, and then they go on to show the findings through their own understanding of application.

These writers in Damon’s collection really involve themselves with the reviewed material and show the reader that they understand it, instead of just paraphrasing directly from other texts and not showing any sort of personal analysis of the material. This, as intimated above, made the book by these writers much easier to read and more informative, because it did not just summarize other texts. This was overall an informative and comprehensive guide. REFERENCEDamon, D (2008), ed. Consumer Guide to Hypnotism.

Washington, DC: National Guild.