The Story Behind Ericksonian Hypnosis

Hypnosis has been widely used since long time ago. In TV shows we can see how a hypnotist can get a person into a deep trance state by giving them some direct suggestions. However its use in medicine and psychology was not accepted at the beginning, until some psychologists used it with some success.

Nowadays, hypnosis is very used in medicine as away to help treat patients. There is a way of hypnosis that is very spread currently. I am talking about Ericksonian hypnosis.

In Ericksonian hypnosis people are given suggestions and commands. Nothing new so far. However, the main characteristic of Ericksonian hypnosis is that suggestions are given indirectly not during a deep trance state. The main vehicle to send such suggestions is by storytelling.

The creator of Ericksonian hypnosis was a man called Milton Erickson. He was very poor man who lived in a rural area. He received a very bad education and he was color blind, dyslexic and tone deaf. Nobody could imagine that this man would become a very important psychologist and the creator of such powerful way of hypnosis.

Milton Erickson was very sick since he was seventeen. He got polio which left him paralyzed. His parents had to work all day so they had to tie him to a chair during the day. He spent all his time watching people movements and body language. He even noticed how bodies have their own way to communicate things that sometimes people do not intend to communicate. He liked to visualize himself walking and playing outside his house. Some time he even could move his chair with the power of his mind. He noticed his baby sister’s movements and started imitating her. One day he found himself walking!

Then as he grew up, his interest in hypnosis and the mind grew as well. He developed a way to hypnotize people with indirect suggestions instead of direct ones. He combined these indirect and direct suggestions with storytelling in order to create the Ericksonian approach to hypnosis.

In Ericksonian hypnosis, a topic is covered through storytelling over and over again until the subconscious mind gets the message that the hypnotist is trying to send.

The method of Ericksonian hypnosis has worked very well for people all over the world who have stated that traditional hypnosis has failed in them.