Book Review: The Holistic Guide to Hypnotherapy
Steve Webster

On the cover of 'The Holistic Guide to Hypnotherapy' is a star burst graphic that proclaims proudly, 'The Hypnotherapy Bible!' It isn't wrong. You would be hard pressed to find something that is more thoroughly researched and compiled, and that manages to cover so many topics even just in Volume 1.

At 863 pages in length, you can't say that Steve Webster skimps on any details. What I loved about this text is that it is literally crammed full of golden nuggets of tips, techniques, and insight. You can tell that Steve is very passionate about the world of hypnotherapy and the level of depth that he goes into on many of the topics presented in the book really highlights that.

Take for instance the topic of inductions. This is potentially one of the most comprehensive and thorough texts on inductions that I've come across to date. Not only does he go into detail about inductions themselves but also about how to access what kind of client you have in front of you and what kind of induction is going to best work with that type of client. While heavily influenced by the work of Dr John Kappas, his insights are fascinating and certainly something worth considering in the work that we do with clients.

This book also looks at topics such as guided imagery, abreactions, ideomotor responses and hypno-diagnostics - some more an overview than others however enough for you to gain an understanding as to what experience Webster has to offer.

As I was reading the Kindle version, I was surprised to find that I had reached the Appendices around 60% into the book. What came next continued to raise an eyebrow; literally page after page of induction scripts and techniques (covering primary, secondary, shock and rapid inductions, self-hypnosis, deepeners and convincers). If that wasn't enough, Webster then goes on to offer up sample referral and intake forms, questionnaires, performance agreements, a glossary of hypnosis and NLP terms and, finally, one of the most extensive electronic source references I've seen in some time.

If I was to offer up any criticism on this book, it would be simply this; this is a BIG book. In many ways, it feels like this could've been three or four books combined into one. Now, that is great value however, as I reached the end, I felt like I needed to go back to the start and dive back in again to really soak up everything that this book has to offer. Really, this is potentially a great problem to have.

The other minor criticism is that this book can some times divert off into areas that may not be seen as strictly related to hypnotherapy itself; for example, there is a lot of information on diet and food supplements within the content on Weight Management. For some people, this would be absolutely awesome and for others, it might be something that isn't aligned with their own personal values and may just move on from. I'll leave the argument for and against, and while it wasn't something I'd necessarily explore, I was grateful to have a text that does go into this area with some detail should I need to come back and explore it down the track.

This is a very comprehensive, complete body of work and you could imagine that there was a considerable amount of time and energy invested by Steve Webster to create all this. This is where the real 'deal sealer' comes into it; how much would you expect to pay for something as extensive as this? If you go for the digital e-book version, your entire investment for volume 1 is a grand total of AUS$3.88 on Amazon Australia. Yep, $3.88. At that price, this should be an essential purchase for everyone.

There is a volume 2, which I'm looking forward to jumping into next (and will review), and this is equally impressive at 520 pages for only AUS$4.27 on Amazon Australia (Kindle version). To have close to 1400 pages of content for under AUS$10 is just phenomenal value.

This really is a text that beginners and experienced practitioners alike are going to stand to benefit from. It's a shame that the hard copy versions are just so expensive although I know this is why the soft copy versions have been made so affordable. I'd certainly encourage everyone with even a passing interest in hypnotherapy to explore these outstanding volumes of work.

You can grab 'The Holistic Guide to Hypnotherapy' from Amazon Australia although you will need to also have the Kindle app installed on your iPad, Android tablet or computer Desktop to enjoy it.

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