Magical Moments with Milton
By Norma Barretta, Ph.D. & Philip Barretta, M.A
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 1 second
The very first time we met with Milton Erickson there were just five people present: Three physicians and the two of us sitting with the awesome Dr. Erickson. A woman walked into the room with her husband. She wanted to be hypnotized so that she could comfortably pass a licensure examination free from the anxiety often generated by such a test.
Erickson asked her husband if he was a qualified professional with a degree. The husband nodded his head affirmatively and said, “I have a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering.”
Dr. Erickson’s response surprised all of us: “You’ll have to leave. Come back in an hour.”
The woman said, “But he’s my husband.”
Erickson responded, “And he’s not a qualified professional in our profession…” and as we all watched she was already in a trance.
Erickson merely chatted about interesting challenges that we encountered every day and he described several dozen in detail. The hour flew by and she left.
Some years later, she took a workshop with us and we all remembered having met in Phoenix. She had absolutely no memory of what Erickson had said to her. She took and passed the exam with no fanfare. “It was just a routine challenge that day,” she said. “Not much different than any other day.”
Perhaps that was our introduction to what Ernest Rossi calls “the every day ordinary trance” which occurs with regularity.
It was also a brilliant demonstration of utilization. What we encounter on a daily basis can be reframed to become the catalyst for change.
Erickson’s office and his home were a veritable treasure box of iconic metaphors. There were artifacts of every ilk. One such artifact was a piece of ironwood that sat on the coffee table in the living room.
Erickson asked Phil to bring it to him. Phil reached over to lift it with one hand and could not pick it up. He had to get up and use both hands. As he carried the ironwood over Dr. Erickson looked directly into Phil’s eyes and said, “Remember Phil, things are not always as they seem.”
What an alteration of perception that produced in our lives. We’ve both learned to suspend judgment until we’ve gathered enough information to respond with some degree of judicious wisdom.
No doubt Milton Erickson influenced many others just as he influenced us. We often discussed cases in our own practice asking for his input. Some of his suggestions sounded ludicrous. Yet, when we applied them there were profound changes in the progress of those patients. In a sense that was his influence on us influencing others. That sphere of influence from this remarkable man continues to widen. His wisdom is ageless and limitless.
From 1977 until 1980 our times with Erickson provided some life-altering experiences. From our very first days together he seemed to know us as well as, or even better than, we knew ourselves. One metaphor after another that mirrored our lives (with an occasional “alteration” included) helped us to define our own roles and our relationship, which was a mere 30 years old at that time. This year marks the 58th year of our marriage. We both think those moments with Erickson helped us to close the “gaps” (p. 12 – The life of Milton H. Erickson, Zeig & Munion). We most certainly have “progressed” in our “development” (Op. cit.) and we’ve “evolved” instead of merely “resolving life issues definitively.” (Op. cit.)
Reference:
Zeig and Munion,(1999). Milton H. Erickson (Key Figures in Counselling and Psychotherapy) Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
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No. 1 Presentation to the San Diego Society of Clinical Hypnosis
by Milton H. Erickson, MD
Type: Softcover
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is pleased to announce the release of The Seminars of Milton H. Erickson. Culled from the Foundation’s private archives, these volumes offer access to never-before published transcripts.
Each edition is designed to highlight new dimensions of Erickson’s thinking and practice, laying the groundwork for a scholarly understanding of modern hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and strategic approaches.
The Presentation to the San Diego Society of Clinical Hypnosis, April 29, 1962 , is the first offering in the series. This seminar describes essential differences between traditional hypnosis and the more versatile practice of modern hypnosis. Information is presented on specific clinical problems, including sexual dysfunction, pain management, psychosomatic problems, and parent-child issues. The contents of this lecture are divided into five chapters:
That Which Occurs Within
The Inward Orientation
Frigidity and Impotence
The Individual Approach
Common Sense Suggestion
A Personal Encounter
by Peter Nemetschek
Type: Softcover
Milton H. Erickson Lives has the feel of an impressionist painting. In its details and broad strokes, the book focuses on an unusual man - from the perspective of an unusual ma. Original transcripts, rare photographs, and the special tone and palette on memory draw the reader into the vid experience of what is being described. It was an exciting moment for Milton H. Erickson and those who surrounded him, a moment of great clarity, intellectual explosion, a paradigm-shifting investigation-a moment that continues to reverberate powerfully beyond the parameters of that specific period.
Una Introductión Al Hombre Y Su Trabajo
por Jeffrey K. Zeig
Tipo: Tapa blanda
“Este libro vale la pena ya que es una descripción muy adecuada de la persona del Dr. Erickson y su muy personal manera de entender los problemas psicológicos y sus soluciones. Describe al hombre más como humano y menos como extraterrestre. Transcribe diálogos que tuvo con Erickson, la forma en que le explicaba al Dr. Zeig cómo podía ayudar a sus pacientes usando historias y referencias que se pueden aceptar sin que las preconcepciones previas interfieran con la nueva perspectiva.”
—Ricardo Figueroa Quiroga. MSc.
Director Instituto Milton H. Erickson de Guadalajara.
México.
“El volumen presente, principalmente un recuento personal de las experiencias personales que el autor tuvo con Erickson, es una contribución importante hacia la comprensión de muchas de las actitudes y métodos utilizados por Erickson con sus pacientes. Al¬gunas de sus intervenciones fueron un resultado de las técnicas de afrontamiento que él empleaba para moderar el dolor y las incapa¬cidades resultantes de la poliomielitis de su infancia. La lucha con¬tra sus deficiencias hicieron una mezcla única de inventiva, flexi¬bilidad, ingenio, astucia e improvisación las cuales mezcladas con un estilo poco ortodoxo y una propensión a manejar una situación hasta más allá del límite, han creado un modelo de psicoterapia que emociona al leer, pero es difícil de duplicar para el terapeuta promedio educado en el diseño de tratamiento tradicional. Sin em¬bargo, hay lecciones que aprender no solamente de las formas há¬biles con las que Erickson se relacionaba consigo mismo y con sus pacientes, pero también de las dramáticas experiencias diseñadas por este talentoso innovador.”
—Lewis R. Wolberg, M. D.
Fundador y Decano Emérito
Postgraduado en el Centro para Salud Mental
Ciudad de Nueva York
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.