Milton Erickson (1901-1980)

Early Life
Milton Erickson was born on December 5, 1901 in Aurum, Nevada. He was raised in Wisconsin and suffered a series of illnesses as a child. He referred to many of his childhood experiences as autohypnotic “flashes of light,” and recalled one of his most vivid autohypnotic moments while afflicted with polio. During his illness, he experienced a hypnotic state and spent many weeks becoming keenly aware of how his physical communication would often contradict his verbal communication. Erickson spent much of his early adulthood in solitude, focusing on learning how to understand his own body language. This interest would prevail throughout his career.

Professional Life
Erickson attended medical school and received his degree in psychology while still working toward his doctorate. Later in his life, Erickson developed a secondary condition from the polio and resorted to the use of a wheelchair. To deal with the muscle fatigue and pain, he employed his self-hypnosis techniques that he had developed and used many years before. During his career, Erickson had the fortune of working with many great experts in the field of psychology, including Gregory Bateson, Margaret Mead, John Grinder, and Jay Haley. It was Haley who brought Erickson’s work in hypnosis to the attention of the clinical field with the publication of the book Uncommon Therapy. After the release of the book, Erickson became a much sought after expert in the field of hypnosis and hypnotherapy. He influenced the works of many who followed after him and contributed greatly to various realms of medicine, including psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy.

Contribution to Psychology
Erickson developed a unique therapeutic approach that integrated language and hypnosis. Based on the premise that resistance to hypnosis is a natural extension of one’s resistance to change their behaviors and thoughts, Ericksonian Therapy uses a hypnotic language approach that provides a client with complete control over what facts to disclose while allowing them the opportunity to reveal as much as they choose. This form of therapy uses double-blind exposure and relies on metaphors to create a bridge of understanding between thoughts and emotions. Metaphors are often viewed as non-threatening and can be presented in ways that invite the participation of an otherwise unwilling or hesitant client. Some of the other tools used in Ericksonian Therapy include encouraging a client to relapse in order to control the relapse and allow the client to view it as predictable and positive. The unique approach taken through Ericksonian Therapy gives a therapist an opportunity to work with a client in a new and innovative way, often addressing issues from a totally new dimension. For clients who may have little success with other forms of therapy or who are resistant to change, Ericksonian Therapy creates an environment in which they can assume the direction of their therapy while under the guidance of the therapist.