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During his lifetime, Milton Erickson became famous for his amazing 'miracle cures'. Since his death he has become a legend.Unorthodox psychiatrist, congenial family doctor, ingenious strategic psychotherapist and master hypnotherapist, Milton Erickson's influence has revolutionised Western psychotherapy. Thanks largely to Erickson the subject of hypnosis has shed its shackles of superstition and is now widely recognised as one of the most powerful tools for change.
Milton Erickson's Life and Background
Within his own life, Milton Erickson had many personal disabilities to contend with, which he often stressed helped him become proficient at practical problem solving for his clients.
His 'problems' began early. Born into a poor farming community in Nevada, Erickson didn't speak until he was four. Later, he was found to have severe dyslexia, to be profoundly tone deaf and colour blind. At the age of seventeen, he was paralysed for a year by a bout of polio so bad that his doctor was convinced he would die.
Despite his handicaps (or perhaps because of), Milton Erickson went on to qualify as a medical doctor and psychiatrist. In the following years he became the World's greatest practitioner of therapeutic hypnosis and one of the most effective psychotherapists ever.
It was perhaps Erickson's farming background which caused him to approach psychotherapy in such a practical way. Anyone who is interested in relieving human misery and developing human potential will benefit greatly from reading about and learning from this remarkable man.
Milton Erickson was a great researcher into the extent and limits of hypnosis as a tool for personal change. 'Hypnotherapy - An Exploratory Casebook' by Milton H Erickson and Ernest L. Rossi is a comprehensive and fascinating compendium of Erickson's cases, transcripts and ideas.
He influenced major thinkers like Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead, inspired the developers of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and laid the groundwork for innovators of brief therapy like Paul Watzlovitz, who wrote the influential book Change.
When Erickson was in his fifties he was struck by a second bout of polio that caused him a great deal of physical pain. Even this he was able to turn into a learning opportunity as he became highly effective at treating other people's pain with hypnosis. He details many of his approaches to sensory alteration and pain control in 'Hypnotic alteration of sensory, perceptual and psychological processes' by Milton Erickson. (The collected papers of Milton H Erickson Volume 2).
Despite severe illness in his old age, Milton Erickson continued to teach, demonstrate and practice his remarkable skills as a therapist, even when eventually confined to a wheelchair. He died at the age of seventy nine.
Reading his many case studies in such books as 'Uncommon Therapy' and the subtle metaphorical approaches of his storytelling in 'My voice will go with you' is like entering another dimension. I have read these books many times and still find unexpected elements buried within the entertaining prose.
