As a practitioner of N.L.P I was delighted to read this book. Having trained in the early eighties and developed many of my own strategies in 'true NLP' fashion it was both refreshing and affirming to return to the ideas that have influenced how I train others to work so effectively in A Quiet Place today. It was like meeting old relatives that you have forgotten about and remembering their influence affectionately.

The User's Manual for the Brain is a practical training text book filled to the brim with ideas and exercises to use in a wide variety of situations.

The foundations of NLP are both skilfully explained and easy to understand. A step by step guide to learning and practising the tools of NLP that anyone can follow and for people like myself a reminder of the process and content and inspiration that is NLP. Clear examples of the techniques and application to a wide range of arenas make this a significant book, invaluable for anyone seriously interested in empowering effective change in people. I will be delighted to place it on our training book list for those of our practitioners who are interested in exploring further.



So thank you NLP and authors

This book is great! It encompasses every angle of NLP, and then more, from the basics to the latest thinking on the subject. It is an extensive, clearly written journal and includes exercises to hone your skills, as well as examples and illustrations so that the reader can really understand the many nuances of NLP.

Vol 1 is brilliant for the absolute beginner, or even as a refresher for the experienced practitioner. Anyone, no matter how practised, can learn something new from reading this. Get it, read it, use it ” it's worth it.



4 stars

This manual has achieved what no other book on NLP has. It provides a systematic, step-by-step understanding of what NLP is all about, making it an ideal facilitator for an introductory training, or even a first-read for anyone who wants to understand how the 'magic' of NLP happens.

As a small boy I believed that all the cars on the road were unique, the Ford Cortina, for example surely had a Cortina engine, suspension, gearbox etc. just for that car. To my surprise, I found that various engines would fit in the same car, and that various cars would use the same engine, so the Cortina components, were also Capri, Granada, Scimitar, TVR and Escort components. It appears that the manufacturers were just using the same components across different models ” even through different brands. This is called the modular build, at first I thought this lazy, but when I got my own cars, I began to recognise the beauty of the method, allowing flexibility of different models, yet easy availability of parts and ease of manufacture.

“What's all this? I'm supposed to reading a book review?”

Yes, I'm coming to that.

I've read a lot of L.Michael Hall & Bob Bodenhamer books and at first I thought them amazingly prolific. How did they have time to write all those books?

Then I read the Users Manual for the Brain - volume 1. I found I had read parts of it before, in the source book, hypnotic language, figuring people out, and a few more.

When I had heard of the Users Manual for the Brain - volume 1 before, I had no idea what it was, it sounded like some sort of collection of the same old mnemonic techniques, mind mapping techniques, maybe some speed reading.

When you read this book you are giving yourself a grounding in all the other books by these authors. Knowledge and techniques from over thirty years of disparate NLP writing are distilled and systemised within this 400 page modern classic. It is the text of choice, bar none for NLP trainers and students alike.

Whether an NLP initiate or complete beginner there is no other book that will compare. It's on my desert island list (at least it would be if I'd bothered to draw one up). The beginner may find the book a little dry but if you need sugar with your medicine, you'll be reading a ton of books to even touch on the depth and breadth of the Users Manual for the Brain - volume 1. With modular section, it makes it possible to pick up all the various aspects of NLP one by one, it doesn't need to be read front to back. This said, as a hypnotherapist doing work on slimming, phobias, smoking, confidence, and all other aspects of the human condition, in my practices in Stockport, Greater Manchester, I had already been using a lot of NLP in my professional practice, yet I found the book to just as rewarding as if I'd been a complete beginner. One of the fortes of the Users Manual for the Brain - volume 1, is that it's structure allows you build a complete picture of the relationships of all of the otherwise unconnected areas of NLP. As I remember from my studies into memory and mnemonics, our ability to recall and use information is based upon the meaning that information holds to us by way of an indexing system, not any limits in our physical memory capacity per se. I believe Hall and Bodenhamer had this in mind whilst creating this book because in it's very layout, it encourages recall and understanding of the material. Ultimately, this means that you can find it easy to use the material in real life, personally, professionally, for your self, for others.



There is a very small nod to the history of NLP, around two pages, and then you are straight into the good stuff. There are plenty of books out there about the biography, history and development of both NLP and the Ford Cortina, but ultimately if you want to put in that new clutch (or dissolve that phobic response) you are going to need the manual.

Nothing can match the energy and empowerment your experience during NLP Practitioner training, but the authors have made a great attempt in this book. Well written, clearly explained, and often fascinating, the entire NLP syllabus is here. What I particularly like is the coverage of the latest developments in NLP rather than straight regurgitation of original (and sometimes dated) NLP ideas.

I wouldn't suggest this as the first book on NLP you read ” a good introductory text will give you a foundation on which to build ” but it would be a great follow-up to take you forward, particularly to help consolidate the learning from a live NLP training.



This is an excellent book, full of wonderful ideas and giving a clear explanation of NLP techniques. I strongly recommend this to anyone wanting to go beyond “basic” NLP. My one criticism is the cost. A paperback edition at half the price would really place this book in the mainstream of NLP literature where it deserves to be.