Ericksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
by Jeffrey K Zeig
Over 2000 professionals from all over the world gathered in Phoenix in December 1980 for the extraordinary International Congress honoring a master therapist - Milton H. Erickson. In this volume of the Proceedings of tthis Congress, colleagues and students of ERickson demonstrate the far-reaching influence of his work and futher our understanding of his precise, often confusing, extremely effective techniques.
The full extent of ERickson's tremendous impact not just on the practice of hypnotherapy, but also on the development of ffamily therapy and paradoxical psychotherapy, as well as on technquies in medicine, dentistry, and psychotherapy, is just beginning to be recognized. Many of the contributors to this volume have taken Erickson's message -- "Each person is a unique individual. Hence psychotherapy should be formulated to meet the individual's needs, rather than tailoring the person to fit the Procrustean bed of a hypothetical theory of human behavior" -- and used it as the basis of innovative approaches to the treatment of disturbed human behavior.
Most of the contributors had extensive personal contact with Erickson. The chapters about Erickson as a person, as well as many of those on Erickson as a therapist, are sprinkled with warm, often humorous anecdotes which vividly reveal his unique outlook on life and therapy.
In addition to keynote addresses by Jay Haley and Carl Whitaker, this volume includes extensive sections on Ericksonian Psychotherapy, Hypnotic Induction, Ericksonian Language, Erickson's Influence on the Work of the Mental Research Institute, Erickson and Family Therapy, Case Studies, Approaches in Medicine and with Children and Adolescents, Pain Control, and Transcultural Issues.
For anyone intererested in innovative, effective approaches to psychotherapy, this eminently readable volume offers an abundance of riches -- personal glimpses, clinical material, and insights into the thinking of this unorthodox master therapist.
