Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Nicotine: The Drug that Never Was by Chris Holmes

Title: Nicotine: The Drug that Never Was (Volume I: The Biggest Medical Mistake of the 20th Century)
Author: Chris Holmes
Format: Book
Source: Amazon.com
Price: $36
Rating: Good


Most hypnotists work with smokers at some point, and even those that don't will still field a lot of questions about smoking cessation. I've found in my own practice that no matter what I advertise, I get smokers calling me to ask if I can make them quit. In short, the nature of cigarette smoking is something every hypnotist spends some time thinking about.

British hypnotherapist Chris Holmes spent so much time thinking about it that he wrote a book, in two volumes, about the subject. Not surprisingly, he finds grounds to disagree with a lot of what the establishment has told us about nicotine and cigarette smoking. While I can pick a number of nits with his book, overall I have to say that Holmes' views make good sense and are presented in an enjoyable format.

Nicotine: The Drug that Never Was (Volume I: The Biggest Medical Mistake of the 20th Century) presents a rollicking look at why hypnotherapy works when Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) doesn't. The title is slightly misleading—the book is as much about hypnosis as it is about nicotine. A glance at the cover of the book (all black with a skull and crossbones above the title) leads the reader to expect an investigative expose, rife with uncovered details of how nicotine came to be regarded as an addictive drug rather than a deadly poison.

If you are expecting an investigative work, the book falls short. Though some studies are noted, especially in the later chapters, Holmes' work is not primarily investigative. He does restate his arguments a number of times without presenting new evidence, a technique that reminds me a bit of simply repeating a suggestion enough times that the unconscious mind accepts it—a fine technique for hypnotherapy, but a little bit annoying in a book.

Ultimately, the work is aimed more at potential clients than at hypnotherapists. In one sense, it's an expanded pre-talk. It makes the argument that hypnosis is the best tool for smoking cessation, but it doesn't provide a working hypnotist with much specific information on how to do a good smoking session for a client. I'm not criticizing; I just want to be sure that my readers (mostly hypnotists) know what they're getting.

Before I discuss the numerous good points about Nicotine: The Drug that Never Was, I'd like to briefly address a few flaws.

First off, there are several contradictions in argument. The author claims that the success of NRT in clinical trials was the result of the widespread myth of nicotine addiction, yet he also claims that the myth arose alongside the use and marketing of NRT. That timeline doesn't work; if the myth is part of the marketing, then the myth couldn't have influenced the initial trials involving NRT. Similarly, he insists that smokers don't actually know the effects of nicotine, which may well be true. But he then argues that smokers in patch trials must have recognized the presence of nicotine, thus enhancing the placebo effect and invalidating the results. Either smokers know the effects of nicotine or they don't—you can't have it both ways.

That said, most of Holmes' arguments stand up to scrutiny. More on that later.

There are a few other points I didn't like, but only a few. For instance, in his explanation of hypnosis, the author is somewhat derisive of stage hypnotists, though he stops short of calling for total condemnation and legislation to ban performance hypnosis. As readers of my blog already know, I believe performance and clinical hypnotists can work together for mutual benefit. I don't believe in deriding one to bolster the other.

Likewise, Holmes' attacks on the accuracy of animal testing of NRT are marred by his rants on the immorality of the same, undermining his argument. Finally, he makes some unsubstantiated claims that NRT producers funded the trials of NRT, thus biasing the results. While that may be true, speculation without evidence again undermines the author's otherwise convincing arguments.

Those criticisms aside, the book is otherwise quite good. It is built around clear, simple, common-sense arguments about the nature of nicotine. For example, Holmes debunks the idea that smokers enjoy nicotine; if that were the case, he argues, teens would be sneaking nicotine gum to each other, and smokers on airplanes would gladly wear the patch so as to enjoy transatlantic flights. I'd give more examples, but I'm sure the author would like it if you read his book to learn more.

Holmes provides "Case Mysteries" as interludes between his chapters, and these are highly entertaining and illuminating. Filled with anecdotes about quirky clients and unusual cases, the interludes do a lot to spice up the book, especially for the hypnotists amongst the readers. One such interlude de-constructs the work of Allen Carr, a British smoking cessation guru. By the time Holmes is done with Carr, there is not much left; it's a great read that made me laugh out loud.

The book is self-published, but relatively free of the numerous typos and grammatical errors that plague many self-published tomes on hypnosis. The author might have benefitted a bit from working with a professional editor, if only to rein him in now and then. Holmes comments that his wife took on the job of telling him when to stop trying to be funny. While I do believe humor has great value, and I did guffaw a number of times while reading, there were other times when I wish that Mrs. Holmes had been more strenuous in her duties.

I especially enjoyed this book's discussion of hypnosis and the subconscious mind. Holmes compares talking to the conscious mind to effect change as being like trying to persuade the receptionist of a major corporation to make a company-wide policy decision. The subconscious, he explains, is truly the CEO. That's a brilliant comparison I now use with my own clients.

Overall, I can point out a number of minor flaws in Nicotine, but in the end, the arguments make sense. Just as importantly, they are presented in an entertaining and insightful way, making this book useful to hypnotists and those who would like to stop smoking. I'd like to check out Volume II when I get a chance.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Medical Meditation by Richard Nongard, Ph.D.

Title: Medical Meditation
Author: Richard Nongard, PhD
Format: Book
Source: www.subliminalscience.com
Price: $14.95
Rating: Excellent

[Full Disclosure: Richard Nongard is a friend of mine who has provided a great deal of advice and encouragement. He gave me a complimentary copy of Medical Meditation to review, fully aware that I might give it a bad review despite our friendship. So what follows is my unbiased opinion.]

Regular readers of my hypnosis reviews blog might wonder why I'm reviewing a book about meditation. Well, the reason is simple. As the author explains on page 3, meditation and self-hypnosis are sister arts; indeed, for his purposes, the terms are interchangeable. Kudos for calling a spade a spade.

At first glance, Medical Meditation might seem like a slim offering in the world of mind-body medicine. How much can an author teach in just 74 pages?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

Dr. Nongard has a talent for stripping a topic down to its barest essentials and then teaching it in simple baby steps, and that's exactly what he does in this volume that is conveniently light enough for even the weakest of invalids to hold.

Though the book lists a number of applications for medical meditation, the text mostly focusses on chronic pain, cancer recovery, and meditation for pre- and post-surgery. This makes sense, as these are the areas with which the author or close associates have first-hand knowledge. Though the work is aimed primarily at patients with no prior knowledge of mind-body medicine, it's a good read for hypnotists; I can envision building an entire series of workshops around these methods for my local cancer center.

The book carefully guides non-meditators through the steps of deep breathing, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, and autogenic training, first with simple, brief exercises, and later with expansions on each. Along with a brief chapter on lifestyle changes for the chronically ill, these simple but powerful techniques make up the core of the book.

The instructions for basic autogenic training are especially exciting, as information on that topic is surprisingly rare. The author has also created a five-week autogenic course that is available on DVD; perhaps I will review that at some point.

Best of all, Dr. Nongard explains and teaches meditation in a way that is free from all metaphysical trappings—other than a brief statement that positive belief really does foster positive outcomes in ways that defy explanation—thus making meditation accessible to anyone who needs it, despite religious background. For those who fear that meditation is about chanting with gurus, living in communes, eating vegetarian, and seeking enlightenment, this book is a welcome breath of fresh air. A deep abdominal breath, at that.

Can I complain about the book? Not much. I do have a pet peeve for typos, and the text is mostly free of them. There is, however, one typo of a sort I see over and over in the writing of hypnotists. How many times have I seen the words "breath" and "breathe" mixed up? Usually it's "breath deeply." That error sets my teeth on edge.

Well, the good news is that the typo only appears once in Medical Meditation. The bad news is that it appears in a very prominent, all-bold section title. Ouch.

Otherwise, though, I really can't complain about Medical Meditation. It's a practical guide, light enough in the hand that even the bedridden can use it, and light enough on the wallet that anyone can afford to give it as a gift. I wouldn't be surprised if some doctors kept a stack to hand out one to every patient. There are even some affordable recordings available to support the exercises in the book.

All in all, a deceptively simple text—like the practice of "doing nothing" for a while each day, it has a value far beyond what is apparent at first glance. I'm tempted to give it to a friendly doctor, but I think I'll be keeping it for myself.