Handwriting Analysis : Putting It to Work for You

in mid-December, less than a month ago, i purchased three handwriting analysis books written by different authors, each of whom i was unfamiliar with. my favorite purchase has been Andrea McNichol's book, Handwriting Analysis: Putting it to Work for You. her book is packed with writing samples and explanatory text that point out and address traits revealed in the samples. newbies to handwriting analysis need a starting point to begin making distinctions. this book speaks to a needed beginning stage by pointing out obvious contrasts, accompanied by references to deeper wadings into subtleties and nestings of traits. McNichol's approach is friendly yet serious. she has instilled confidence in me as a reader by comparing samples of writing that reveal clearly contrasting traits while explaining that there are many aspects to consider in an overall analysis, that traits are confirmed when there exists a multi-faceted presence in different samples. on the other hand, things like writing something untrue, lying on paper, is manifest and recognizable in isolated pieces of writing because the revealing comparisons are part of the surrounding writing of the sample itself. it turns out that a lie is captured in writing much as a moment in time is captured by a camera (my interpretation). this is perspective gleaned from McNichol's book, and i include it to make the point that, while introductory, her book is also non-trivial. i will not provide names of the other books or authors, will only say they all had good reviews on amazon. my purpose in this path is two-fold. first, i teach in a prison, and would prefer not to be blind-sided if there are personality or behavioral traits that i can alert myself to proactively. and i'm not just talking about negative traits, but traits such as: creativity, are there learning issues, is an individual social or withdrawn, is he feeling isolated or frightened, is he overly sensitive to criticism, is he highly intelligent, artistic, is his focus on the past or the present, ...? my inmate students (aged 19 to 75) like to doodle and draw on their papers almost without exception. if i can use their doodles, for example, to better understand them as individuals, it will be an amazing aid to help support their journies with learning. McNichol's book includes a section on doodles, as well as a lot of information about handwriting traits of convicted felons--she has a lot of experience in solving crimes. my second purpose is personal: to include handwriting analysis in an overall mental-, physical-, and emotional-health-improvement program. now age 56, i have been familiar with handwriting analysis since age 13. i always believed it was awesome but never seriously studied it. it seemed obvious that changing one's writing should effect changes in one's behavior and attitudes, and, to that end, i have made changes in my writing throughout my lifetime, most of them intuitive. now, however, i am looking to exploit its potential in a more explicit way. i spoke with a friend of 29+ years about incorporating handwriting analysis into an overall therapy plan with her, and was amazed to learn that not only was she supportive of including it in our work together, but about 20 years ago, she actually attended handwriting analysis courses for the purpose of including information gleaned from them in her ongoing work with patients. the specifics she took away have been applied intuitively in her practice ever since then. further, she was already familiar with, and an admirer of, McNichol's work, which inspired me to contact Andrea McNichol to request an analysis of my handwriting through her consulting agency, Graphology Consultants International. she agreed to do it, and the results will be incorporated into my therapy sessions! i am so excited to include handwriting analysis in my personal life as a tool for change and improvement, and in my professional life as a tool for better understanding and assisting inmate students. i should also point out that i have friends from youth whose family has owned multiple Alphagraphics stores for over 35 years. right from the beginning, they hired a handwriting analyst to screen job candidates. from as far back as 1976, they have shared with me that on the occasions when they have hired someone against her advice, they have regretted it without exception. i think handwriting analysis is a valuable tool to be taken seriously. i feel confident about the long overdue decision to put it to work in my life. i went into this with no horse in the race, with no favorites, perusing the books from smallest to biggest, so i opened McNichols book last, because it was biggest. but when i got there, i stayed there. her approach to the subject matter and overall information provided, combined with her vast experience in forensics, totally carried the day for me.

I bought this book on a whim expecting it to be moderately interesting, knowing nothing about handwriting analysis. The day it was delivered I started reading it and I could not put it down! I read the entire book in one sitting because it was so fascinating. McNichol's colloquial style makes the book easy to read, not dry like a text book. In her book, she goes through every aspect of a person's handwriting and includes numerous examples so the reader is very clear as to what every tiny detail looks like. After reading this book, I can tell if a person is extraverted or introverted, happy or depressed, stable or unstable, and when a person is lying, just based on their handwriting. And that's just the beginning! I especially enjoyed the chapter on signatures. Did you know that the way a person signs their name on paper is representative of how they present themselves to the world? Cool eh? I had no idea. While reading the book, I took out some of my old papers and analyzed them as I read. Everything I read was dead on. It's creepy to think that when someone reads my paper, they can learn so much about me. McNichol's book is a great read. I recommend it to anyone who is interesting in handwriting analysis.

I had a cousin who was a master graphologist. He could look at a person's handwriting of someone whom he had never met and could describe an amazingly accurate personality profile of that individual. I bought this book mainly for fun. It's fun fringe "science", but entertaining with some interesting - and probably valid to some extent - observations about the personality behind sweeping flourishes, tightly spaced letters, and the like. A fun read and a better conversation starter sitting on the coffee table.

Reading this book was quick and easy and it does a pretty good job of going through the different explanations and examples. There were a few examples where I thought it was a little hard to see exactly what she was talking about, and red arrows or circles might have helped. Overall I think the book did an excellent job of explaining graphology to someone new to it. Explanations were simple and fun - great stories behind some of the examples! I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in learning how to read handwriting. The only area it did not touch on was the concept of changing your writing, change your life - it briefly mentioned it as a possibility but nothing more.

Ich habe mir dieses Buch gekauft aus Interesse und weil sich Handschriften auch mit der Persönlichkeit entwickelt .

It’s wonderful

Very interesting. Keeps you captivated

Still holds up after 25 years in publication.

沢山の例が表示してあって、理解しやすい本です。英文ではありますが、日本語にも応用可能な解析法です。