Sceptics out there will think this title is a joke. However, the book by Valerie Austin which is titled “(A Safe Self-Help Guide) Self Hypnosis” (ISBN: 0-7225-2924-4) will place a decent argument in favour of this practice. I was given the book in November and shrugged it off and hoped never to read it; it wasn’t until some boring day in January that I decided to pick it up to read and mock the preface. I was immediately drawn into it, I read the first 30 pages before putting the book down and in under a week (whenever I had the opportunity) I had read most of the book.

The book gives a decent introduction into the author’s history in order to give some precedent into understanding that hypnosis isn’t for just quirky artsy people who look for niche forms of therapy, medicine, to feel different from the norm. In fact, the book instantly began to make me feel better even without giving myself any of the self-hypnosis, just the confirmation that the human mind is like a vast computer operating system that we are just beginning to understand made me realize that it is quite an objective thing and does not rely on faith, good vibes or what moon you were born under.

Following having read this book I booked an appointment with a hypnotherapist to give this hypnosis thing a fair blast and surely enough it was amazing. I went for a session relating to confidence and self-esteem and optimistically hoped that everything would be dealt with in 1 session. Sure enough, I was mistaken but all the same: I was induced, I was regressed and sure enough I spoke like the child I had regressed to with the same vocabulary and same naive ways, I felt the confusion and upset and loneliness in the situation I was told to regressed to and then explained back to my younger self with my new matured understanding of such situations that the misconceptions I had developed and spent a lifetime misleading myself with were unfounded.

The session was over and I came back and felt great. Sure, the world didn’t change, I wasn’t a shiny new Neil with amazing new super-powers. I was the same old me really. Except now I just deal with situations that I had previously routed in that misconception. It isn’t the case that I block it out as I don’t, I think about it, but then that’s it. I don’t brew over it, I don’t let myself get beaten up. I digest, I progress and move on. In fact, I’ll go back for more treatment soon for confidence and other self-esteem issues. I’ve just not decided when. It is quite pricey.

I really recommend you to look into this, I can’t think of many people that couldn’t do with a little hypnosis. Get the book or a similar book and read up on it, decide if it’s for you.