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the Hypnotist Jonathan Chase asks - Erickson, what is all the fuss about?
I've watched every video in existence of Erickson working and in all but one of them I don't see anything except an average hypnotist. In one he fails totally.
His style of therapy seems elegant to the casual observer but when you know suggestion and what works it looks, and is, cumbersome and erratic.
He success rate was higher than his peers, who were all on page 3 when he was on page 6, but in most cases took months and even years to achieve.
The guy was obviously very intelligent, dedicated and 'nice', except to stage hypnotists who he hated with a passion which to me always shows a complete lack of common sense. And makes me smile as most of his techniques are taken from a lot of the stage performers who pre-date him and put into the clinical setting which always impresses the student.
I fail to see how he has become celebrated, nay, worshiped, as the man who changed hypnosis. He did but not for the better. He added psychotherapy which, over time has watered hypnosis down from the rapid magical thing it was to what I call relaxatherapy.
And before anyone asks yes, I've read the complete works and all the books, but wouldn't recommend either to someone who wants to change lives. And I have no doubt on ocasion he got the odd miracle. Even the most innept prctitioner of the art will accidentally get hypnosis now and then and that's when the thing works.
To discuss? Without the overstated hearsay and hero adulation from his handful of compatriots, is there a single thing Erickson did that can not be achieved with simple, rapid, direct suggestion?
His style of therapy seems elegant to the casual observer but when you know suggestion and what works it looks, and is, cumbersome and erratic.
He success rate was higher than his peers, who were all on page 3 when he was on page 6, but in most cases took months and even years to achieve.
The guy was obviously very intelligent, dedicated and 'nice', except to stage hypnotists who he hated with a passion which to me always shows a complete lack of common sense. And makes me smile as most of his techniques are taken from a lot of the stage performers who pre-date him and put into the clinical setting which always impresses the student.
I fail to see how he has become celebrated, nay, worshiped, as the man who changed hypnosis. He did but not for the better. He added psychotherapy which, over time has watered hypnosis down from the rapid magical thing it was to what I call relaxatherapy.
And before anyone asks yes, I've read the complete works and all the books, but wouldn't recommend either to someone who wants to change lives. And I have no doubt on ocasion he got the odd miracle. Even the most innept prctitioner of the art will accidentally get hypnosis now and then and that's when the thing works.
To discuss? Without the overstated hearsay and hero adulation from his handful of compatriots, is there a single thing Erickson did that can not be achieved with simple, rapid, direct suggestion?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pete Atan on -
Mate your entitled to your opinion re Elman v Erickson etc but to contrast Gil Boyne, a living legend of some FIFTY years experience and a visionary well ahead of his time, with those other limp wristed FAKES from these shores that you mention; is frankly taking matters a bit too far!!! You have a great day though eh...
Graham Old said:Hmmm...
Jon, didn't you just recently state, '"An arrogant man tells you how bad everyone else is."'?
I've seen you slating Erickson a number of times and I really don't understand why. Who would you posit as better than Erickson? I can't think of anyone and I've seen countless videos of you, Elman, Boyne, Banyan, Jacquin, Smart... etc.
Perhaps the difference - and I can't believe you're missing this - is that Erickson would work with people that some 'direct' hypnotists would turn away.
You know, introduce me to one hypnotist who's helped one person quit smoking and I'll gladly put that person on a pedastal. I don't care if that's you or Erickson or Eastabrooks or Royle. It's an incredible thing to change someone's life. Erickson, who influenced Strategic Therapy, Brief Therapy, Hypnotherapy, NLP and Family Therapy changed countless lives. How about you give him some respect for that?
I know it would take a lot of pride-swallowing on your behalf to answer that question, but I know you've got it in you.
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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on -
Thank you for this reference, it lead me to this fascinating article regarding Erickson and traditional Native American healing: http://www.erickson-foundation.org/10thCongress/HandoutCD/Presenter...
Contained within:
"Traditional Native American healers use a wide variety of diagnostic methods to
determine what is wrong with a patient. A Navajo medicine man, Ben Silversmith (1994)
said "The five ways of contacting the Spirit are hand trembling, star gazing, fire listening,
crystal gazing, and hot charcoal study. Star gazing and crystal gazing are the Navajo Xrays.
The healer selects a certain star and concentrates on it, or looks into a crystal and
concentrates on it. Before long the star or crystal will yield a detailed picture of the organ
within the patient which is diseased".
As mentioned earlier, Erickson possessed a medicine bundle that contained a
gazing crystal. In his therapeutic work he sometimes used crystal-gazing with clients who
were hypnotized (Rossi, 1980). The client would be asked to look into a natural crystal, a
crystal ball, or a mirror and see what images appeared. Some clients saw extensive
imagery of, for example, themselves walking down a street and doing various activities
(Erickson, 1954; Haley, 1967).
Erickson also sometimes asked clients to hallucinate a crystal ball, in which they
could picture past experiences or images of future activities (Zeig & Munion, 1999).
According to Battino (2006) Erickson asked people to visualize a crystal ball, look into it
and see themselves in the future after they have solved their problem, and then report
how the changes occurred. Eventually Erickson actually preferred to have clients
visualize imaginary crystal balls, and found that he had better results than when he used a
real crystal ball (Waterfield, 2002). He said he considered external devices (such as
crystal balls, mirrors, metronomes, and flashing lights) incidental aids to be discarded as
soon as possible, in favor of the utilization of the client's behavior (Erickson, 1980).
Steve de Shazer borrowed Erickson's crystal ball visualization technique and made it an
important component of Solution-Focused Therapy (de Shazer, 1985; 1978)."
Jonathan Chase said:The crystal ball technique? Sorry please educate me?
Graham Old said:Hi Jane,
I think that's a great observation. However, I think that's just one aspect of Erickson's comprehensive 'utilisation' and observation. They'd definitely deserve a vote as signs of his contribution.
Having said that, if I had to come up with one thing to describe as 'the best thing' Erickson did, it would probably be his simple Crystal Ball technique. It laid the foundations for Brief Solution focused therapy and is a a genuinely useful tool.
Jon, you'll have to show me where I've been defensive. I've got no investment in this debate.
Jane Bregazzi said:The best thing that Erickson did was to say the phrase 'That's right' That has to be one of the most though provoking things you can say to someone.
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Permalink Reply by Graham Old on -
Pete,
What on earth made you think I was contrasting Gil Boyne with anyone, other than Erickson? Please read my post more carefully, eh?
Oh, and I'm not sure what you mean by "limp wristed", so if that's meant to be an insult, please choose another.
I did have a great day though! Thanks.
Pete Aiton said:Mate your entitled to your opinion re Elman v Erickson etc but to contrast Gil Boyne, a living legend of some FIFTY years experience and a visionary well ahead of his time, with those other limp wristed FAKES from these shores that you mention; is frankly taking matters a bit too far!!! You have a great day though eh...
Graham Old said:Hmmm...
Jon, didn't you just recently state, '"An arrogant man tells you how bad everyone else is."'?
I've seen you slating Erickson a number of times and I really don't understand why. Who would you posit as better than Erickson? I can't think of anyone and I've seen countless videos of you, Elman, Boyne, Banyan, Jacquin, Smart... etc.
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