A Wisdom Archive on Milton H. Erickson - The Handshake Induction

Confusion is the basis of Erickson's famous hypnotic handshake. Many actions are learned and operate as a single "chunk" of behavior: shaking hands and tying shoelaces being two classic examples. If the behavior is diverted or frozen midway, the person literally has no mental space for this - he is stopped in the middle of unconsciously executing a behavior that hasn't got a "middle". The mind responds by suspending itself in trance until either something happens to give a new direction, or it "snaps out". A skilled hypnotist can often use that momentary confusion and suspe ...

Read more here: » Milton H. Erickson: Encyclopedia II - Milton H. Erickson - The Handshake Induction

Erickson's personal history is remarkable, and he frequently drew upon his own experiences to provide examples of the power of the unconscious mind. He was largely self-taught and a great many of his anecdotal and autobiographical teaching stories are collected by Sydney Rosen in the book My Voice Will Go With You. Erickson identified many of even his earliest personal experiences as hypnotic or autohypnotic. Erickson grew up in Wisconsin in a modest farming family, and intended to become a farmer like his father. He was a late ...

Read more here: » Milton H. Erickson: Encyclopedia II - Milton H. Erickson - Personal History

Erickson is most famous as a hypnotherapist, but his extensive research into and experience with hypnosis led him to develop an effective therapeutic technique. Many of these techniques are not explicitly hypnotic, but they are extensions of hypnotic strategies and language patterns. Erickson recgonised that resistance to trance resembles resistance to change, and developed his therapeutic approach with that awareness. Jay Haley identified several strategies, which appeared repeatedly in Erickson's therapeutic approach. E ...

Read more here: » Milton H. Erickson: Encyclopedia II - Milton H. Erickson - Ericksonian Therapy

Erickson believed that the unconscious mind was always listening, and that, whether or not the patient was in trance, suggestions could be made which would have a hypnotic influence, as long as those suggestions found some resonance at the unconscious level. You can be aware of this, or you can be completely oblivious that something is happening. Now, Erickson would see if the patient would respond to one or another kind of indirect suggestion, and allow the unconscious mind to actively participate in the therapeutic process. In this way, what seemed like a normal conversation m ...

Read more here: » Milton H. Erickson: Encyclopedia II - Milton H. Erickson - Trance and The Unconscious Mind

Where 'classical' hypnosis is authoritative and direct, and often encounters resistance in the subject, Erickson's approach is accommodating and indirect. For example, where a classical hypnotist might say "you are going into a trance", an Ericksonian hypnotist would be more likely to say "you can comfortably learn how to go into a trance". In this way, he provides an opportunity for the subject to accept the suggestions they are most comfortable with, at their own pace, and with an awareness of the benefits. The subject knows they are not being hustled, and takes ful ...

Read more here: » Milton H. Erickson: Encyclopedia II - Milton H. Erickson - Indirect Techniques

Erickson recognised that many people were intimidated by hypnosis and the therapeutic process, and took care to respect the special resistances of the individual patient. In the therapeutic process he said that "you always give the patient every opportunity to resist". Here are some more relevant quotes pertaining to resistance: Whatever the behaviour offered by the subjects, it should be accepted and utilized to develop further responsive behaviour. Any attempt to "correct" or alter the subjects' behaviour, or to force them to do things they are not interested in, militates against trance induc ...

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Erickson was a prolific writer, often working in collaboration with others. His chief collaborator was Ernest L. Rossi. His books include: Hypnotic Realities ISBN 0829001123 (With Ernest L. Rossi) Hypnotherapy - An Exploratory Casebook ISBN 0829002448 (With Ernest L. Rossi) Experiencing Hypnosis ISBN 0829002464 (With Ernest L. Rossi) The Practical Application of Medical and Dental Hypnosis ISBN 0876305702 (with Seymour Hershman and Irving I. Secter) (out of print) Time Distortion in Hypnosis ...

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A confused person has their conscious mind busy and occupied, and is very much inclined to draw upon unconscious learnings to make sense of things. A confused person is in a trance of their own making - and therefore goes readily into that trance without resistance. Confusion might be created by ambiguous words, complex or endless sentences, pattern interruption or a myriad other techniques to incite transderivational searches. James Braid, who coined the term 'hypnosis' claimed that focused attention ("look into my eyes...") was esse ...

Read more here: » Milton H. Erickson: Encyclopedia II - Milton H. Erickson - Confusion Technique