Book Review
An Epic Life: Milton H. Erickson: Professional Perspectives
American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis Book Review
Written by Jeffrey Zeig
Reviewed By Anita Jung, ASCH
By presenting An Epic Life: Milton H. Erickson: Professional Perspectives, Dr. Zeig distinguishes between first- and second-generation scholars of various professional fields, weaving not an ordinary linear biography, but rather an exquisite mosaic. The bibliography is silhouetted as a cyclorama of stories and memories, providing a glimpse into the multifaceted professional life of a healer and teacher and, above all, a homage to the man, to hypnosis, and to psychotherapy. Dr. Zeig illustrates Dr. Erickson's development from being authoritatively directive to becoming evocative throughout his years. It consists of interviews beautifully assembled to create a more comprehensive picture of how he operated in the world and how his conceptual rather than didactic communication inspired professionals around the globe. Dr. Zeig's organization of the material and the countless interviews all point in one direction: the profound understanding that Dr. Erickson was one with his craft and lived a life worth remembering, thereby instilling purpose and hope in professionals and patients alike.
The book is divided into five sections and starts with a prologue and a compelling story of the author's first meeting with Dr. Erickson. Section 1 activates our neural pathways by inviting us, the readers, to see and feel ourselves in the modest office of Dr. Erickson and, at the same time, seeds the idea of future biographies fluorescing on the new horizon.
Section II charmingly continues to set the stage by providing fascinating background information about Dr. Erickson and the beginnings of the Milton H. Erickson Foundation. Dr. Zeig's condensed history of hypnosis and psychotherapy further sets the stage for this biography.
Section III beautifully unravels the rich history of Ericksonian development. Dr. Zeig points out, for instance, that Dr. Erickson was never interested in creating a separate school of psychotherapy or certification programs that would teach stepwise techniques. Furthermore, he beckoned his students and followers to "plant their own seeds and reap their own unique harvests” (p. 39). Additionally, the visual of the Professional Genealogy bears testimony to that bountiful harvest which he depicts in an illustration. The effective placement easily conveys the web of influence that Dr. Erickson implicitly casts on institutions, such as ASCH, and disciplines, such as Strategic Therapy, Interactional Therapy, Mind-Body, and even Neurolinguistic Programming. These disciplines, in turn, resulted in future modalities, such as Interactional Therapy, Strategic-Cognitive, Feedback-Informed Treatment, Solution Focused Therapy, Possibility Therapy, and Self-Relations.
Section IV spans slightly over 350 pages, choreographing a symphony of highly engaging contributing reviews and writings of 90 luminaries who studied with Dr. Erickson. The author also clarifies how the brilliance of second generation colleagues and students contributed to Dr. Erickson's notoriety. The abundance of the contributors spanning across the globe leaves one mesmerized. Interview after interview illustrates the profound transformation that Dr. Erickson evoked in professionals worldwide from all fields and genres of life. One might note that Dr. Zeig resisted the temptation to only include material from professionals who favored Dr. Erickson; instead, he also included interviews of colleagues in opposition or indifferent to Dr. Erickson. This provides an honest and a refreshing look, leaving the reader to explore their own perceptions. Additionally, Dr. Zeig offers commentary and annotations to provide clarity and background information after each interview, thus facilitating a better understanding. It does leave one wondering what philosophers or professionals inspired Dr. Erickson on his journey; this we might discover in future biographies. In summary of the stories, Dr. Erickson's visionary artistry inspired others to transcend and emancipate within their highly trained empirical power. Section V ends the book with a postscript along with a brief deconstruction of Erickson's characteristics and an illustrative case story:
To conclude, Dr. Zeig and his diverse luminary storytellers elegantly bring across how Dr. Erickson seemed to literally intuit the simulacrum of his patients' reality and thereby helped individuals thrive while, at the same time, preserving the persons' integrity and sense of self. The biography leaves the reader with the sense that Dr. Erickson exuded a breath of spontaneity regardless of his physical challenges, which conjures up remnants of the Greek philosopher Epictetus. Epictetus conveyed that freedom from all impediments stems from renouncing attachments to outward things (Ritter, James, & Morrison, 1846). Dr. Erickson's freedom, too, was a way of life, and his teachings did not follow a theoretical discipline; instead, he provided experiences and from those experiences, professionals and patients found their freedom to transcend and thrive.
In the same way that our professions hold a desire to move patients toward wholeness, Erickson chose his attitude in any given circumstance to obtain the last of one's freedoms (Frankl, 1962, p. 65). Similar to Frankl (1967), Dr. Erickson also believed that psychotherapy is an art and ought to be more than a technique while moving beyond pure science will result in wisdom. Whatever of an epic life is to be found in the professional biography of Dr. Erickson and in its succeeding times emanates from him and is at most, but the echo of his sentiments and wisdom, which Dr. Zeig eloquently illustrates. There is no romanticizing that Dr. Erickson struggled greatly in his physical ailments, and that time caught up with him just a tad bit too early. Nevertheless, he transcended his mortality with inner freedom and created meaning, thereby sparking a transformation into a genuine immortal genius for all of us, professionals, who, too, desire to transform ourselves and others at the core of our being.
References
Frankl, V. E. (1962). Man's seurch for meaning: An introduction to logotheripy. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Frankl, V. E. (1967). Logotherapy and existentialism. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 4(3), 138-142. doi:10.1037/h0087982
Ritter, H., James, d., & Morrison, W. (1846). The history of ancient philosophy (Vol. 4, pp. 213-214). Oxford, UK: D. A. Talboys.
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Professional Perspectives
by Jeffrey Zeig, PhD
An Epic Life is a biography written by many authors. Throughout his professional life, Milton H Erickson attracted a diversity of critics and supporters, and this book gives all a voice. Erickson was known to work with patients to elicit in them the innate ability to “connect the dots” to discover their adaptive potentials. Readers will delight in being able to connect the dots too, piecing together a portrait of an extraordinary and complex figure, as they look through the eyes of the men and women who met him at important junctures.
An Epic Life draws upon four decades of interviews with professionals who knew Erickson. The incisive perspectives are interlaced with commentary from Jeffrey Zeig to clarify and contextualize. The images of Erickson that emerge are congruent, divergent, myriad. In the end, readers gain unusual access to the man, his commitment, and his work. There is nothing simple in what is conveyed, and yet the impression it makes is coherent — and lasting.
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by Jeffrey Zeig
Type: Softcover
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As part of a communications project conducted in the mid-1950s and spearheaded by anthropologist Gregory Bateson, Jay Haley, and John Weakland went to Phoenix, Arizona to learn from and collaborate with Milton Erickson.
The meetings of these three great minds were recorded. Their explorations together both advanced the Bateson Project’s Double Bind Theory and helped to develop more effective approaches in psychotherapy.
Advancing Psychotherapy is a glimpse into an important time in the history of the field and a rare opportunity to learn from those who shaped the future of psychotherapy. Its content will improve your practice of psychotherapy.
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Milton Erickson was my mentor intermittently for more than six years; he was also an inspiration in creating the Master Class. At his essence, Erickson was experiential. He was the most radically experiential therapist to ever practice. Creating transformative experiences is a component in many schools of therapy, including rational emotive behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy, but for Erickson being experiential was not merely a component; it was most of his therapeutic work. Hypnosis is essentially an experiential technique. The subtext of hypnosis is this: “By living this experience, you can be different.” Hypnosis is not a means of providing information.
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