5 books to help you learn more about hypnotherapy

When it comes to self-improvement, the sky really is the limit. According to one 2019 survey, an overwhelming 94% of millennials said they had made monetary commitments to personal improvement. Thanks to skill-sharing platforms, experts sharing their know-how through channels such as YouTube, Instagram, and during live webinars, it’s never been easier to learn more about something that could help improve your life. In the UK alone, there has been a 20% increase in the number of self-improvement books sold, with over three million copies making their way into our homes. From pop psychology to tips on winning friends and influencing people, we can’t seem to get enough.

While we may have learnt more about the common types of therapy and holistic approaches available to us, there are still many myths and misconceptions when it comes to hypnotherapy. If you’re interested in learning more and aren’t quite sure where to get started, we’ve put together a list of five authors to help.

1. Audiobooks by Paul McKenna to help ease you in

The self-proclaimed ‘number one hypnotherapist in the world’, just about everyone has heard of TV celebrity and modern self-help guru, Paul McKenna. An internationally best-selling author with more than 10 million copies sold across 32 languages, McKenna blends together psychology and hypnotherapy to help readers (and listeners) make big life and habit changes.

With nearly a dozen books helping readers with happiness, sleep, weight, and confidence issues, if you’re looking for an easy introduction to help with a specific problem, his audiobooks can be a great way to get started. For a shorter listen, try Hypnotic Gastric Band or if you’re looking for a longer title to begin with, I Can Make You Confident is a great place to begin.

2. Hypnobirthing: Practical Ways to Make Your Birth Better by Siobhan Miller

Committed to empowering women and their birth partners to have positive birth experiences, Siobhan Miller – the woman behind The Positive Birth Company – has created an in-depth, practical guide to using hypnotherapy to have a better birth experience. A qualified hypnobirthing teacher with a background in psychology, Hypnobirthing: Practical Ways to Make Your Birth Better aims to make hypnobirthing more accessible for everyone. 

Along with the best-selling book, The Positive Birth Company also offers digital courses and audio clips to help you discover more about hypnosis for childbirth and how it can help not only those who are giving birth but their support person to be there for them throughout their journey. 

In an earlier interview with Hypnotherapy Directory, Siobhan explained more about how hypnobirthing can help you to overcome anxiety and fear around birth. “Your hypnobirthing toolkit [what you learn through hypnobirthing] techniques are proven to reduce anxiety and aid relaxation. 

“Hypnobirthing tools and techniques are life skills! They can be used at any point in your life when you feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. They are beneficial to everyone.”

3. Hypnosis for Change by Josie Hadley and Carol Staudacher

Offering practical knowledge and tips to help readers naturally change or remove unhealthy habits, improve themselves, and make positive changes, Hypnosis for Change shows readers how they can start making sustainable changes to their behaviour.

With simple, step-by-step details to help readers understand how hypnosis can help you to harness the power of your own mind, different areas covered within the book include learning about trance states, self-hypnosis techniques, and how hypnosis works. 

4. The Seven Most Effective Methods of Self-Hypnosis: How to Create Rapid Change in your Health, Wealth and Habits by Dr. Richard Nongard

Focusing on the benefits of self-hypnosis for personal development and growth, hypnotist and family therapist Dr. Nongard’s book explores how you can effectively maximise your success and make lasting, impactful changes using autosuggestion and self-hypnosis. 

If you are new to self-hypnosis or are looking to learn more, The Seven Most Effective Methods of Self-Hypnosis provides a solid introduction that focuses on practical ways you can learn more about the subject in simple, easy to understand ways. 

5. My Voice Will Go With You: Teaching Tales of Milton H Erickson by Milton H Erickson and Sidney Rosen

For those after for a more in-depth look into hypnotherapy, look no further. Written by one of the most influential hypnotherapists and the creator of Ericksonian hypnosis, psychiatrist Milton Erickson, My Voice Will Go With You shares more about this unique approach to hypnosis. 

Unlike with other forms of more traditional hypnotherapy, Ericksonian hypnosis uses indirect suggestion, metaphor, and storytelling to help alter behaviour, rather than through direct suggestion. Using teaching tales which shock or surprise, alongside playful humour, questions, and puns to help individuals see their situations in new ways, this book collects over 100 of the teaching tales used by Erickson. 

Ready to take the next step and start your journey to change with hypnotherapy? Find an experienced, qualified hypnotherapist online, by telephone, or for face-to-face sessions near you using our advanced search.