The TurboCharged Mind
Eliminate Bad Habits with Hypnosis
Dian Griesel, a counselor and certified hypnotherapist, a self-described serial entrepreneur, and a nationally recognized health spokesperson, codeveloped the trademarked TurboCharged franchise with her brother, Tom Griesel, a health and wellness advisor. The Griesels are coauthors of TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust, a popular lifestyle book whose eighth step, “Seeing the Prize,” inspired the siblings to write The TurboCharged Mind. Their new book expands upon a technique described in the original—use of visualization and self-hypnosis as weight-loss tools—and shows how those tools could be used for general self-improvement.
The book has twelve short chapters and more than fifteen pages of bibliography and promotional content. Each chapter ends with a series of statements called “TurboCharged Mind Seeds” that serve as food for thought by either succinctly summarizing or expanding upon the chapter’s content.
In the first chapter, the authors explore the pervasiveness of mental conditioning, and they artfully dispel any illusions that we are totally free thinkers. They conclude by challenging the reader to be open to some potentially radical new concepts about truly free-will thinking.
Chapters two, three, and four contain an elementary introduction to hypnotism. The Griesels do an excellent job of explaining hypnosis; they believe that everyone has been subjected to it, knowingly or unknowingly, and that it is an invaluable way to achieve deep relaxation and effect positive change. The next several chapters delve into how the conscious and subconscious work and how visualization and self-hypnosis can influence the subconscious to alter behavior and self-image.
The reader’s relationship to food is used as the book’s main example. And although the Griesels emphasize that all the other issues one struggles with can be addressed through their methods, it still feels more like a diet book than anything else. This is the main weakness of The TurboCharged Mind. The original book, TurboCharged, is so often referred to in The TurboCharged Mind that the latter seems more like a sequel than a stand-alone work.
An additional criticism is that the tone of The TurboCharged Mind is sometimes too friendly. In chapter six, for example, Dian Griesel expounds on the benefits of using hypnotism to overcome a low self-image. She writes, “You are saying to yourself, ‘Yeah, right Dian—I’m just going to run out and get myself some supportive, happy life experience—when I can’t even look at myself in the mirror.’” This recurring artificial intimacy with the reader comes off as patronizing, especially as it seems to assume that every reader struggles with self-image issues.
Nevertheless, as an easy-to-read, well-written primer on using hypnotism as a tool for self-improvement, The TurboCharged Mind is a good choice for a general audience. Fans of the original book and franchise should enjoy the Griesels’ latest offering.
Reviewed by
Patty Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
