Reviews

Exquisite Stuff! Wordweaving Volume I
By cherdavis on 03/08/2011

Wordweaving 1: The Science of Suggestion is the kind of book you just want to read again and again and again, each time finding yourself learning something new and inspiring, and this book also gives you the gift of understanding precisely how suggestion works on the unconscious mind.
Every page fills you with a kind of inner awe. It's like suddenly owning a magic key to a treasure trove of this amazing knowledge, which is presented in an easily understood, jargon-free, highly informative manner.
Enjoyably educational I'd say! :)

The Best Book on Therapy Ever Written Cognitive Hypnotherapy: What's That About and How Can I Use It?
By alisonturner on 12/01/2011

I have read self-help books and technical books on therapies since I was about 18. There are a few that stand out and I have kept them all these years, now dog-eared on my shelf. And it'll be a long time before I pick them up again, if ever.

If you are interested in therapy as a profession, if you are already practising or if you just want to understand why you respond the way you do to certain situations, this book is like a Haynes Manual to the human brain.

Layout - is clear, concise and appealing even to those like me who prefer visual impact. Helpful boxes that shout out key points draw the eye, so if you just want a five minute top up of pleasurable reading, you can open anywhere in the book and have a lightbulb moment.

Technical Support - if instead, you prefer lots of technical data designed to convince even the most hardened sceptic, it's all there.

Personal - for those like me who want to get closer to understanding who the writer is, Trevor Silvester's personality and approachability shine through.

I was surprised how big the book is when it arrived from Amazon. It feels weighty, chunky and solid, yet with a soft back cover, that makes it easy to carry around.

But most of all, it is absolutely packed with brilliant information about Cognitive Hypnotherapy, how it is a framework which can flex and bend to incorporate any other useful therapy method so that it can be used to help any client deal with their expression of their problem, rather than the label given to it. This book offers a vision for a future when therapy belongs to everyone as a set of tools that we can either do alone or ask for help with.

It's like the Apple that makes the PC look boring - suddenly the pompous image of a therapist looking down on their client and making a judgement on what their problem is - and dare I say it, pre-written books with hypnotic scripts - look really outdated.

A brilliant book - miss it and miss out.

Thoroughly recommend, not just for therapists Cognitive Hypnotherapy: What's That About and How Can I Use It?
By russelldavis on 10/01/2011

I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand how we make sense of the (our) world, why we do what we do, why we don't do what we want to do and what we can do about it. It is also invaluable for therapists wanting to brig a new dimension and further success to their practice. The book is in two parts, the first is the science and theory behind the practical applications outlined in the second part. You could just jump to the second part if you are not interested in the theory but it fascinated me. I found Trevor Silvester's style very easy to read. His attention to detail, personal examples, stories and most of all his humour meant I couldn't put it down.

You also get a lot for your money. A larger size book than most, and deeper with 290 pages full of 'aha' moments.

I nearly didn't give it 5 stars, for two reasons:
1. The cover seems not to be substantial enough to cope with the battering it is going to get as I keep picking it up and diving in for more and referring back to bits.
2. I wish Mr Silvester had written this 20 years ago and I had come across it then!!! Actually having just typed that I have had a realisation that I wasn't ready for it then, and that things come in to your life when you are ready for them. You might find yourself thinking you are ready for this - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Page after page of value, both as a therapist as well as personally Cognitive Hypnotherapy: What's That About and How Can I Use It?
By Rob Woodgate on 18/12/2010

Having thoroughly enjoyed Trevor Silvester's WordWeaving series of books, I was keen to get my grubby hands on his latest offering, 'Cognitive Hypnotherapy' - especially as it's been 4 years in the making.

Thankfully, one of the perks of being Editor of the NCH Hypnotherapy Journal means that I'm sometimes lucky enough to get a sneaky peak before everyone else, and so it was that I found myself immersed in the typesetter's copy of the manuscript one sunny afternoon in September, some 3 months before publication. A rare treat indeed!

There is no doubt that this is an ambitious book - 'Cognitive Hypnotherapy' sets out a comprehensive framework for understanding ourselves and our lives, and a way for therapists of all backgrounds to better tailor their treatments to their clients.

It has, at its core, a simple premise - that people are either engaged in 'growth', which empowers and enriches life, or in 'protection', which shuts down our creative abilities and choices in favour of survival.

As I read the book, which draws on a vast array of sources - from Bruce Lipton to Bruce Lee - I started to get a sense of why it has been so long in the making. This is no compendium of techniques, it's a fully thought out philosophy of therapy which embraces 'what works' from many disciplines and seeks to understand it within the Cognitive Hypnotherapy framework.

As the author notes, "[Cognitive Hypnotherapy] is not a 'style' of therapy, more a style of thinking to guide therapy".

In many respects, Cognitive Hypnotherapy is like an evolution of NLP - NLP models excellence to create interventions that work, and Cognitive Hypnotherapy takes interventions that work and seeks to understand the principles of mind which underpin their efficacy so the therapist is better equipped to respond fluidly to the needs of the client.

Reading this book was a real pleasure and I felt a genuine excitement - as if my subconscious mind were recognising some lost ancient wisdom in the message - and I found page after page of value, both as a therapist as well as personally.

Trevor's passion and knowledge shine through every page of this marvellous book, and whether you are a therapist or someone looking to help yourself, the message will touch your life profoundly.

WordWeaving Vol II Wordweaving Volume II
By Adrian Metcalfe on 27/09/2006

Having read the WordWeaving vol I, I was keenly looking forward to Vol II - but what it is is not what it was to be; what it is is more than it was to be. When you read something that fits your map of the world, everything just fits together, and this book does that for me.

The first read was my usual scan through and pick up some of the major points, but now I have read it a second time I realise how well it provides a framework for therapists wanting to create a framework for their own way of working. When an NLP process goes really well, your client often forgets what their problem was, right in front of you. With this book, as I get to the end of a chapter, I keep thinking, "this is so obvious, and it feels so natural to do it like this". Just like a really well-executed NLP process.

There are a couple of obvious errors with one diagram, and you can see where text changes have been rapidly put in just before publication. I appreciate that - it gives me the feel that I have been present at the start of something new. Now of course, I am looking forward to Vol III, but that's another story....

Word Weaving II Wordweaving Volume II
By Val Hird on 03/09/2006

FANTASTIC Read Word Weaving 1, and just when I thought a book couldn't get any better, along comes Word Weaving II! Trevor has that rare combination - skill, knowledge and generosity to share with all of us. Not only is this book, in my opinion, a very good read, but it is the only book, that I can quite honestly say, I use something from with every single client I see.

Thanks Trevor
Val

Wordweaving Vol II - The Question is the Answer Wordweaving Volume II
By Jan Gilbertson on 09/02/2006

Wordweaving II - The Question is the Answer is as much of a thrill to read as was Wordweaving I - The Science of Suggestion. This new addition surely is a must for any hypnotherapist and can only enhance their skills in hypnotic language. A wonderfully easy, chatty, read, this book not only brings to the reader a confidence of learning with perfection, but also an enthusiasm to practice the wonders of hypnosis safe in the knowledge that the hypnotic language taught within is as finely tuned as can possibly be. A truly brilliant book and I recommend it highly.

Wordweaving the Science of Suggestion Wordweaving Volume I
By Val Hird on 18/04/2004

Great book, good read, excellent content Simply the best, would give six stars if I could, but for now have to make do with 5!!

A must read 'mind nutrient' Wordweaving Volume I
By Elliott Wald on 23/02/2004

Most people like me, have a whole stack of books sitting on the side just waiting to be read, and as time goes by the pile begins to diminish. Only to be re-stocked as more and more 'mind nutrients' are added to the pile. Some of the books can literally take weeks to read, digest and evaluate, and clearly there is nothing wrong with this, but every once in a while I pick up a book and become transfixed on the content and the author’s ability to permeate information, to the point where it seems… almost, as I have begun to read I have completed the book. I am delighted to say that ‘Wordweaving’ is one of those books. I started reading the book Saturday morning and enjoyed it so much that I had read it by Monday morning. I have already pencilled a note in my diary to re-read in November.

It’s wonderful simplistic explanations and examples make this book a must for any good hypnotherapist

Elliott Wald, DCH, Dip Sp. Psy, Dip SC, MNLP, HA, BSSA EasyStop founder & course director Director Hypnotherapy Association

A much-needed shake-up Wordweaving Volume I
By Andy Smith on 05/08/2003

Trevor Silvester was a fellow student on my NLP trainer's training in 1997, impressing then with his congruence and charisma. This book revisits the NLP 'Milton Model' of hypnotic language, first set out by Bandler and Grinder in 1975, in the light of subsequent discoveries about how the brain processes events.

Silvester's "Matrix Model", like the similar "APET" model in the "Human Givens" approach, recognises the fact that our emotional responses to events precede conscious evaluation of what happens. By the time we form an opinion about an event, it has already been filtered through our unconscious associations and possibly generated an emotional response which if powerful enough can overwhelm rational thought.

This view of how we perceive events is more in line with current research knowledge than older models, such as the cognitive-behavioural, which attempt to address problems by challenging beliefs. Building on developmental psychology and Wolinsky's ideas of psychological problems as trance phenomena, Silvester shows how suggestions need to utilise these trance phenomena in order to be effective, and offers a step-by-step guide as to how to do this. He also shows how a problem may be focused at a particular level in Dilts' Neuro-Logical Levels model, and how to formulate suggestions to address each level. An interesting insight is the maxim that 20-30% of your suggestions should be focused at the Beliefs and Identity levels, to help clients build new beliefs about themselves and their situations, thus promoting generative rather than just remedial change.

This book definitely fills a gap, showing how to construct effective suggestions for many different conditions. 'Case histories' of typical client problems illustrate the process, and exercises are provided to help you build your skills step by step. Silvester is a wise and experienced hypnotherapist who has done his research, reading widely outside the disciplines of hypnotherapy and NLP and keeping up with recent developments in psychology and brain science. His passion for his subject shines through on every page. The book is also an easy and enjoyable read. These ideas are too powerful to be ignored and will bring about a much-needed shake-up in the curricula of many schools of hypnotherapy. Highly recommended, and should be on every hypnotherapist's shelf.