Treatment of Special Populations with Ericksonian Approaches
Monograph 3
by Stephen R. Lankton and Jeffrey K Zeig
This is the third volume in the widely hailed series of Ericksonian Monographs sponsored by the Milton H. Erickson Foundation as a part of its expanding educational forum for mental health professionals.
The Ericksonian Monographs make available original work - theory, clinical technique, case material, and research - on the cutting edge of Ericksonian thought and practice.
Ericksonian Monographs No. 3 includes a stimulating collection of papers from the Third International Congress on Ericksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy. The unifying theme of this volume is the clinical use of Ericksonian approaches for various special treatment populations, including clients with phobias, pain, stuttering, autism, psychosis, and multiple personality disorder.
Marc F. Weiss begins the volume with an article on a patient's reactions to the use of Ericksonian hypnotherapy as a surgical analgesic. Thomas South describes using hypnosis as an anesthetic during a cesarean childbirth. Noelle M. Poncelet then focuses on the resources and techniques used by people who deal successfully with chronic pain.
John A. Moran illustrates with case examples five basic guidelines for presenting treatment to phobic clients. Bernhard Trenkle compares and contrasts the approaches of Charles Van Riper and Milton H. Erickson for treating adult stutterers. Next is Susan Mullarky's lively article on Ericksonian approaches with homosexuals and lesbians, followed by Keiichi Miyata's on treating autistic children. John H. Edgette focuses on the management of acute psychosis.
Clude Millette adapts a utilization approach to the treatment of a case of multiple personality disorder. G. Dean Bathel and Carlos R. Carreon also find utilization techniques helpful in cross-cultural work with Mexican American clients. Finally, Madeleine M. Richeport applies an anthropological understanding to transcultural issues in Ericksonian hypnotherapy.
While the aim of the Ericksonian Monographs is to reflect the growing influence and applications of the work of Milton H. Erickson, it must be remembered that Erickson himself disapproved of schools of therapy, believing that any school focuses on its own delimiting approaches as the "right" way and excludes others as the "wrong" way to do therapy. He felt that the individuality of the patient and of the therapist is foremost and emphasized that psychotherapy should be formulated to meet the uniqueness of the individual's needs.
It is this spirit of intellectual freedom that inspires the Ericksonian Monographs as a vehicle that will contribute to the comprehensive and practice of effective therapy by therapists of many different theoretical schools.
