Last week I was talking about Paul McKenna’s book The Hypnotic World of Paul McKenna
He has some good quotes, too:
“The most powerful person in any group is the one who is most flexible… who has most ways of looking at things and hence the greatest scope for control.” (p. 45.) I would probably say “the one who has the most options,” because being able to see things in different ways doesn’t give you power until you can act on it; if someone else in the group will only allow one interpretation, and they have the option to enforce that, they are still more powerful than you. But it’s a good principle.
“Too many people leave therapy cured of their therapists’ problems.” (Leslie Bandler, quoted on p. 79.) Actually now that I think about it I think too many people leave therapy with their therapists’ problems added on to the ones they already had, but the reminder is important: When the client is in the room, it’s all about them. I say jokingly to my clients, “You get the big chair because it’s all about you,” but that’s true.
“The unconscious mind is not logical but purposeful.” (p. 153, speaking of Milton Erickson’s insights.) Most of our mind does things for reasons that seemed good at the time that the response was set up, but which make no sense if you look at them rationally. Looking at them rationally is part of changing the responses. But just because your behaviour isn’t rational doesn’t mean that there isn’t a good reason.
And finally, the reason that Paul McKenna and I can’t help everyone with every problem that they have (even ourselves): “It’s hard to get somebody better without in the process showing them that they are responsible for themselves, and not everyone is ready to find that out.” (p. 167). I had a client recently who wanted to have a less extreme reaction to a habit of her partner’s that bothered her. I commended her for her insight that this was something she needed to work on, rather than trying to send the partner to me to be broken of his habit which he wasn’t finished with yet. If someone comes to me who isn’t ready to change, I might as well sit and recite the alphabet to them for all the good it’s going to do.
Anyone else read the book and want to highlight some part of it that was especially well put or useful?
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