My Rare Hypnosis Books

I enjoy collecting rare hypnosis books and oddities. Some of the older retro books are great fun for their sense of vintage atmosphere and enthusiasm. It’s a shame that the most substantial books (e.g. Milton Erickon’s Hypnotic Realities) are difficult to get hold of these days, whilst the introductory watered down books are everywhere.

Some of my favourite hypnosis books:

Transforming Therapy by Gil Boyne. I trained with Gil just before he died, and really like his style. He blends an excellent understanding of hypnosis (he loved his rapid inductions) with gestalt therapy and great emotional work. His case studies (some are in the book) are absolutely fascinating for their efficiency and results. He uses the “bypass the critical faculty” model though which I don’t agree with.

Hypnosis: Directed Imagining and Human Potentialities by Barber, Spanos & Chaves. This is a fantastic book which breaks down a lot of myths about hypnosis as a ‘state’, experimentally testing each aspect to offer a purer understanding of what it is and how it works. I believe it’s far more useful than the majority of content taught on modern courses.

The Dark Side of the Inner Child by Stephen Wolinksy. An incredibly powerful, insightly book about how we automatically regress into the trances we developed as a way of coping through traumatic moments. It’s a game-changer in understanding yourself and other people. Wolinsky also writes some terrific books about developing conscious awareness.

Open to Suggestion, by Robert Temple. This was one of the first hypnosis books I got really stuck into. Temple is a layman, a hypnosis enthusiast, who researches, explores and reports on various areas. His intrigue and enthusiasm are contagious, if you’re curious about hypnosis then he’s done all the work for you. It won’t teach you much about practice but it gives a great overview of its uses and the nature of suggestibility.

Hypnotic Realities, by Milton Erickson. Milton was studied intensely during the development of NLP – but I find his books are much richer than the “distilled” versions that Bandler and Grinder put out. I would rather learn from the transcripts, and the intents behind them, than the raw, clinical language patterns which can seem a bit clunky out of context. Erickson’s works are generally brilliant, although I’m skeptical of how some of the case-studies and anecdotes may have evolved over time. Here’s a study sheet I made after studying his work.

Wake Up And Live, by Dorothea Brande. Not specifically about hypnosis, but a core feature of hypnosis lies at the apex of this book. It’s an excellent and relevant wake up call to living without fear of failure, and the positive benefits of doing so.

Findings in Hypnosis, by Dave Elman. Dave Elman was a true master – he somehow had an innate awareness for how suggestion worked and was able to wield it in really interesting ways, whilst always being down to earth and humble about it. He covers waking suggestion, somnambulism, therapy with ease, and has a really infectious enthusiasm.

Below are some rare hypnosis books, various bits and bobs that people interested in hypnosis or NLP might find interesting (everyone else will probably just think its a bit geeky and odd). I have watermarked some images because cheeky hypnosis sorts were stealing them.

This retro-oddity is a spinning hypnosis spiral. To see the blurb that was written to go along with it, see the hypnosis spirals page here.

This was from meeting Derren in Plymouth (I met him twice, he’s exceptionally polite. I’d say his early Derren Brown: Mind Control specials on TV were a big influence on me as well as many others, even if most – but not all – is misdirection).

Derren Brown’s Pure Effect is a great book. The dedication reads “To my splendid friend Richard Pope, who understands what I mean about standards.” Derren’s books, including Absolute Magic and the more widely available ‘Tricks of the Mind’ and ‘Happy’ are excellent reads and very witty. The subtle information about suggestion and forming an impression is just as relevant to a therapy professional as a magician – there are huge overlaps between the two in terms of suggestion and implying ideas.

An original RadioTimes from 1960 featuring Chan Canasta – this is the guy who inspired Derren Brown (slightly similar pose to Mind Reader above), his blend of showmanship, trickery and charm is very similar stuff. Excellent stuff.

Chan Canasta’s Book of Oopses – a collection of mind puzzles and visual tricks. Insanely rare, I once saw an unsigned tatty copy sell for over £300. Derren once said he’d buy the signed one from me.

Dave Elman was a great down-to-earth hypnotist and hero of mine, with a fascinating life story. He taught hypnosis to thousands of doctors. He got involved with the CIA after seeing a light flashing from a highrise office in a skyscraper opposite his radio building in Manhattan (where he hosted a show called ‘Hobby Lobby’). He was also raised in Fargo (same as the classic Coen brothers’ movie & excellent TV spin-off). Gil Boyne was a keen follower of Elman, and later published his book and seminars. When Gil Boyne moved from California to London I sent him a rare framed print of Elman as a house warming gift, and Gil said on the phone “who was that fella in the photo?” I was amazed that despite having the rights to sell all his stuff, Gil never knew what Dave Elman actually looked like.

Virginia Satir – one of the three was who studied for the development of NLP (the others were Milton Erickson and Fritz Perls, a pioneer of Gestalt psychology).

I bought this Richard Bandler (NLP) signed copy for 75p in a charity shop, which is a fair price. It says “Time 4 knew thoughts”. More like time for a new book (I find most Bandler stuff is over-hyped bullshit, with the exception of Trance-Formations).

This original news-sheet is full of great retro pics, and used to be framed on the wall. There’s even a section on animal hypnosis. I had a guinea-pig once, with a metronome the little fella just sat there staring catatonically into space and wouldn’t respond when you tickled his cheek (which he normally hated).

Some cool pics from one of many retro hypnosis books. Retro hypnosis books are great, and sometimes have delightful (if a little eerie) illustrations.

A 1900 edition of Trilby (with the original Svengali character), with the original pictures drawn by the author, George Du Maurier.

A rare hardback edition of the rare classic book “Trance-Formations”. NLPers tend to get all aroused about this book, although I must admit it’s one of the better ones.

William Kroger’s excellent book signed to someone called Mirella. Its a pretty hardcore book, covering many areas of hypnosis. Apparently Kroger was involved in the MKUltra programme, but I’m not sure of the details.

This book pioneered the use of ideo-motor signalling being used as an indicator of subconscious processes.

Andrew Newton trained Paul McKenna, which means nothing really. Andrew is pretty scathing of Paul McKenna in this book, saying that he hated his audiences. An interesting book though, very down to earth.

An excellent book, and super-rare. I love that the author John “Jack” Watkins signed this to one of the people who worked at the hospital where the patients from the book’s case studies resided. I really studied this book, analysing the case studies and drawing big charts of case-dynamics for each one.

Great hypnotic poster for a great film by Chris Nolan (The Dark Knight), which I used to have framed. Modern movies are very hit-and-miss, but The Prestige is a terrifically directed film, very intricate, thematic and intelligent. It’s one of my all time favourites. I saw it for the first time at Okehamptons great little cinema. I love that Thom Yorke’s ‘Analyse’ is used in the end credits.

Do you have any good hypnosis stuff? Please share!