Product reviews for Beliefs (Second Edition)

The key to this book is in the title: -˜Beliefs', for it is through our personal beliefs about the world that we interpret our place in it and our relationships within it. The degree of skill in “managing” our beliefs affects the degree of personal control with which we react to events and interact with people (and hence manage change). The skill described in this book is mainly (but not exclusively) NLP.

Negative belief systems and -˜interference' beliefs limit and unconsciously sabotage growth and fulfilment, so, identifying these obstructive beliefs and learning how to deal them becomes the key to effective change. The book takes the reader through a discussion about different belief types with case illustrations, anecdotes and transcribed workshop therapy demonstrations, together with follow-up questions and answers. The examples are detailed, very readable, and the book certainly offers strategies and reframing techniques that can be applied to any -˜non-NLP' clinical hypnosis work. Many of the approaches in the case histories in fact demonstrate a combination of -˜traditional' Ericksonian hypnosis and -˜traditional' NLP, and the inference is that the two, in fact, overlap and are synergistic.

As Dilts says in his introduction, “the primary purpose of the book is to provide the “how tos” of belief change”, and this book can thus be looked upon as a -˜descriptive workshop'. It is easy to read and is intended for a wide readership, ie learners new to NLP and change management, and not just experienced practitioners; however it does not exclude the general public, and in this way the book may encourage some individuals to seek further professional help from hypnotherapists. I found the book an interesting -˜workshop/seminar' and a refresher on the importance of uncovering those deep, obstructive beliefs that can get in the way of success in therapeutic work.