The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Recently I gave a two hour talk at the Louisiana Hypnotherapy Organization conference in New Orleans. Although part of the talk was about research, during the second hour I dared to venture into the mysterious arena of neuroscience and hypnosis. While there were many in the audience who seemed to be able to understand the significance of my comments, unfortunately about one out of every eight members of the audience were politely lost. Nevertheless, my contention still is that the future of hypnosis must consider the recent innovations in brain and cognitive research. I am glad to say that after my presentation I was pleasantly beset by many of my colleagues who enthusiastically wanted to know where I was going with my ideas.

My recent reading, re-reading, and exhaustive study of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge, M.D. was a mind-changing experience. Constantly I was informing my staff of how pregnant with ideas this book truly is. Yes, to some brain stuff is brain science and therefore beyond the reach of mere mortals. And, getting past the mumbo-jumbo of neuroanatomy is bogging to most. However, in reading Doidge's book, I found that even the most brain-phobic reader can appreciate the revelations shown on each and every page. On the other hand, the most ardent scientist will appreciate the book's completeness with almost 75 pages of notes. (By the way, his notes are one of the best parts of the book. I must have gone through that section at least twice -- with usual underlining and staring the most important concepts.) This book is a highly readable page-turner book for the lay person as well as a stimulating journal for the left-brain scientist.

The central theme is that despite the previous view that all brain functions are localized, meaning restricted to only one part of the brain, the brain's ability to restructure itself is truly amazing. Calling this brain plasticity, he shows its relevance by relating plasticity to concepts such as stroke recovery, learning, autism, addictions, and others. What comes out of this book is a complete appreciation of not only the power of the human brain to change as part of a recovery process, but how we can break out of our self-limiting concepts.

If you are a hypnotherapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist or any other healing professional who deals with the human mind, this book will stimulate your curiosity and have you asking for more. It allows you to get past any "brain-science phobia" and into the realm of appreciating the relationship between the brain, the body, and behavior. This is a must read for the mental health related professionals.