Im interested in purchasing this book, however, I have never read the first one. I have read that this is a continuence from the first book. Is it neccessasry to gain the full effect of this information by first reading the first book, or can a person just read this one and still come away with some good information?

It will stand on its own without having the first one. I prefer the second one although both are great. I presently use 3 great effects from Psych 2 and that's a lot.