Milton Erickson was an American psychiatrist who believed that the unconscious mind was separate from the conscious mind. The unconscious mind, he believed, was always listening — so whether or not a patient was in a trance, a suggestion could make an impact on an unconscious level.
Erickson also believed that a trance was not a special mental state — it was a common, everyday occurrence. Any person could at any time become so immersed in an activity that it blocked out all other stimuli. During these everyday trances, you might notice a person gazing off to the side, the body becoming still, or a period of being oblivious to your surroundings. Think about a long drive — do you ever reach your destination and can’t quite remember how you got there? You may have been in one of Erickson’s everyday trances.
During therapy, Erickson worked with the idea that effective hypnotic suggestions left space for a patient’s unconscious mind to fill in the blanks. For example: you will stop smoking vs. you will become a non-smoker. The second suggestion is Ericksonian because it allows the unconscious mind room to step in and figure out HOW you will become a non-smoker. The suggestion is not a command, but an opportunity to change.
Here are a few more Ericksonian therapies that are still in use in various forms today:
- Communication by metaphor: focusing the conscious mind on a story that guides the unconscious mind to a particular place or outcome.
- Using a change in physical position to change a person’s mental perspective. For example, switching chairs in a family therapy session to help patients see a problem from another point of view.
- Emphasizing the positive: Erickson was a polio survivor and had to re-learn how to communicate and move in his late teens. This made him more aware of little things that others might overlook or take for granted.
- Seeding ideas: similar to using metaphors, this can expose a patient to an idea before attempting to use it in therapy. For example, asking a person if they have ever been in a trance before introduces the idea that a trance may be in their near future.