Transforming Your Self: Becoming who you want to be

Steve Andreas creates a masterful book with Transforming Yourself! Written primarly from the transcripts of seminars he presented on the topic, you'll find countless examples of application....something many so called "how to" books fail to provide. If you will STOP...and actually do the exercises provided at the end of each section, you're sure to come away with a structural change of your self concept, one that will support you in anything else you might desire to do or achieve.

Reviewer: Jessie Milan, MA, LPC author of It's Okay to Cry [...] One of Steve's best pieces of work, Transforming Your Self: Becoming Who You Want to Be The intricacies and specific processes of the whole pattern are brilliant. A true breakthrough procedure of "how to" change our self concept exacetly "where we want" it changed. The writing is understandable, practical, has many examples; as well as humorous and always honoring who we are. The book, therefore the whole pattern, was presented in a very organized manner even though it is a complex idea with many, many details. Steve offers the "how to", not just discussion. I am wondering if the few reviewers who did not like the book, actually did the exercises on themselves or used them with clients. I have, and the processess involved in the pattern are straightforward and the results are profound. My experience is that the changes are at the core of my concept of self and has influenced all aspects of my life. Also, the clients who have participated in this pattern report similar experiences. As they and I both say: "Oh, I AM DIFFERENT and I like it"! Steve offers the internal building blocks of our self-concept and the processes can be accomplished in small steps. When I was in graduate school I gained a breadth and depth of understanding and knowledge of personal change work that has been valuable in my work. Although the philsophies, some techniques and theories were useful; they did not consistently offer me the "how to" to get the results that I get with my clients using NLP. What has been and is particularly gratifying to me as a therapist, is that the field of neuro linguistic programming continues to expand due to work such as Steve Andreas has accomplished in this arena of Self Concept. Of all my work with clients in my private practice, this is the pattern that was most needed. I found at times there was a certain point that a "piece was missing" for them. That "piece" was at the level of self-concept. I am grateful to now have the use of this pattern along with all of the other NLP patterns. The years Steve put into the research on self-concept has now given all of us the opportunity to study this intricate and profound pattern and to implement it for others and ourselves. Steve Andreas' book on self-concept is an OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANITY.

I `ve been reading this book with great enjoyment and interest, taking time to do the incremental exercises, although the temptation is to rush ahead! It's very satisfying, solid, thorough and well-organized, with a nice mix of attention to detail and ability to hold the bigger picture, and a sense of the author's depth, experience and humanity sustaining it all. I appreciate the careful crafting of the methods used and patient attentiveness to make sure that it all supports sanity, and not adding to the hubris and inflation that can easily occur when people think about working with their own self-concept.

The first time I encountered the writing of Steve Andreas was when I read his superb book "Awareness" written under the name John O. Stevens. That was over twenty-five years ago. Since then, Andreas, in his writing and teaching, helped to found NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) and to guide NLP towards sensitive morality and technical effectiveness. The subject of this book--transforming your self--is a tricky one. Any book on this subject must guide readers to change their self with--guess what?--their self doing the guiding. This is a complex, paradoxical endeavor, one Andreas deals with well throughout the book through the use of many specific examples. What makes this book and its subject especially important is this: our sense of self influences many aspects of the rest of our lives: our values, our feelings, our relationships, our decisions, our hopes and dreams, and certainly our behaviors. Andreas treats this important subject much like he treats his workshop participants--with care, sensitive guidance and technical skill. He accomplishes this without falling into a review of often confusing and contradictory philosophical theories. Instead, he goes beyond theories to practice. He focuses on what we *can actually do,* to transform our sense of self in the privacy of our own minds. The process Andreas reveals in this book not only helps us to enhance our sense of self, but also offers something else: the book's workshop-style format helps therapists, educators and other professionals to discover how to pass on what they've learned to their clients and students. Parents too can benefit in this way, passing on what they learn to their children. For all of these reasons, I highly recommend Steve Andreas's book, Transforming Your Self: Becoming Who You Want to Be. Kelly Patrick Gerling, Ph.D.

Working at the identity level can be very spooky, so many people and therapists avoid it. Steve has developed an effective approach that is respectful of THE PERSON YOU ARE while you gently BECOME THE PERSON YOU WANT TO BE. Steve shows you how to build on your stengths systematically. Humor and some pretty good jokes make the read fast and fun. I slowed down enough to actually do some of the exercises and found some new stuff for My Self. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in helping others improve their lives, or who just wants to learn some new ways to enrich their own life experience.