I love Stephen Johnson as a writer, I’d read his shopping list. He presents ideas in a beautifully coherent way, in this case by cleverly using an examination of his own brain as a structure for exploring the latest theories from neuroscience. Stunningly relevant on many levels, and a lovely read.
The User Illusion
When I first read this book the first 100 pages or so were such a trial I could hardly bear to continue. Something made me persevere, and I’m glad I did. The book opens up into a wonderful exploration of information theory applied to consciousness. Probably ahead of its time, it really makes you think […]
Authentic Happiness
Martin Seligman is the guy who began the Positive Psychology movement, which has provided some of the most useful insights into how to improve our mental wellbeing. Authentic Happiness is packed with the results of studying how happy people create their happiness – and how unhappy people can change. Optimism is a state of mind […]
Blink. The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Malcolm Gladwell is one of my favourite writers. He has that rare ability to find stories that link together to both inform and entertain. The subject of Blink is what Galdwell calls ‘thin slicing’; the ability of our intuition to make a decision based on a momentary exposure to information. As a therapist and trainer […]
Monsters and Magical Sticks
Steven Heller is sadly no longer with us, and it says much for this beautiful book that by the end of it I felt the loss of someone I’d never met. Incredibly prescient, this book is written so wittily and so familiarly that the pages flow by. Based around his view that ‘there’s no such […]
Trances People Live
This is the book that began a completely new direction for me as a therapist. I think it contains the basis for a revolution in therapy by getting us to recognise that trance states are just part of normal brain functioning; the means by which the brain creates our perception of reality – including our […]
The Psychobiology of Suggestion?
Every now and again I come across a book that stops me in my tracks. Trances People Live was one, The User Illusion was another. A few months ago I was given a book by a graduate of ours as a present, which is the best thing people can ever get me (the name of […]
It’s what they believe that’s important
Please note, that, despite the best efforts of my mind to convince me otherwise, I recognise that nothing I say in this article is true. So if I slip up by inferring otherwise please forgive me, I’m doing my best not to be human. As someone who isn’t a person with faith I often gaze […]
Regression and Barabasis Law
The dictionary describes a network as “a system of interlinking operations“. By that definition we are surrounded by them. Social networks, business networks, even the ecosystem which keeps us alive are examples. In fact, we ourselves can be described as a network, we are probably the most complex organic network we currently know of. Recent […]
Choosing a therapist
Our first every podcast explores some of the things a member of the public would be wise to consider when choosing a Hypnotherapist. Please feel free to leave any feedback below. Choosing a Therapist
