Creative Self-Hypnosis: New, Wide-Awake, Nontrance Techniques to Empower Your Life, Work, and Relationships

In one word, I was "floored" by this book. Initially drawn in by the subject title of the book, my expectations was that the author would explore a variety of induction techniques related to hypnosis. Having been disappointed by many guides on meditation that inextricably link active introversion to spiritual nonesense, my hope was that this book would be different. My hope was more than satisfied. The authors primary argument is that a society has been socialized into behaving mindlessly by what are acceptable norms, in much the same way as an individual is susceptible to being lulled into a mindless trance by their monotonous habits or rituals. The result is an society of sleep-walkers, incapable of finding spontaneous joy or personal satisfaction. By employing a degree of active creativity through self-hypnosis, one is then able to direct life in a concerted, thoughtful and meaningful way. A clinicial sociologist, Roger Straus is a follower of the "Chicago School" of humanistic thinkers. It is these individuals who are responsible for recognizing the concepts of self fulfilling prophesy and mid-life crisis. Their method? The study of human behavior as an aggregate. This approach is very unique and very different. This is not pop-psychology nor pseudo-scientific tripe. A reader will find exercises and alongside them, relevant principles and tactics to guide a personal transformation journey starting with a very profound set of self-directed observations. In a masterful way, Straus has already anticipated the readers answers and this I find makes the book ingenious. If one is familiar with the Landmark Forum, the themes of this book will be familar, sans the commercial promotions. The commonality between the author's message and other personal development material is the idea that your self-esteem is the key factor that governs the quality of your life. Whereas other books will work head on towards changing the self-concept of the consumer, this book allows self-esteem to build itself. Creative living through Creative self management implies that a person should recognize situations in life and treat each situational fact as resources. The author contends that we are all actors in the game of life and we cannot not participate. Our lives are really works of art, not science. How we live, and what we do is really what we are. Straus' approach is to guide a reader through a process of self-discovery, visualization and active participation in a strategic program while adapting with the ebbs and "flows" of life. Goals and future state are drawn from the inside out, not imposed. All of this makes up "Creative Self Management", the belief that you don't have to follow rules for living, particularly those that you have not chosen or with which you don't agree. I find that the principles and ideas contained in this book transcend the intellectual boundaries of mind control, and are applicable to any field. Eminently practical, extraordinarily we

Straus' book is one of the few reasonable, low-hype self-help books out there. It is a thorough, clear and exciting book, with exercises that are illuminating and easy to do. There is a lot of excellent material on what hypnosis is and how to best use it to accomplish one's goals. This book, and its companion book, Creative Self-Hypnosis, bear little similarity to the lurid, sensationalistic, and shoddy popular books out there on self-hypnosis and mental training...this is the real deal, by a practicing clinical sociologist and hypnotherapist. A very very good and useful book.