International Hypnosis Research Institute - Ericksonian Hypnosis

Marital Hypnotherapy: A Session with Milton Erickson with Commentary.

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 16:27:00 -0500

Hypnosis has primarily been used to treat individual problems. Occasionally, it has been applied to couples' problems such as infertility. We present a transcript of a treatment session of Dr. Milton Erickson in which he works with a married couple and interpret his techniques. We emphasize the following principles. Dr. Erickson's assessment was brief, just long enough to determine a general target. He used hypnotic induction to build responsiveness. He used evocative communication. He seeded ideas that, when presented later, had a powerful impact. He moved in small, strategic steps. The main intervention was designed to elicit dormant resources and adaptive states. He followed through, providing suggestions on how to use these resources. In presenting this case and our analysis of it, we highlight some of Dr. Erickson's methods and conceptualization of several intervention techniques. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2020 Jul-Sep;68(3):263-288. doi: 10.1080/00207144.2020.1762493. Epub 2020 Jun 12.

Utilizing Ericksonian hypnosis in psychiatric-mental health nursing practice

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:22:00 -0500

TOPIC: Ericksonian hypnosis conceptual framework. PURPOSE: To acquaint psychiatric-mental health nurses with hypnotic principles and how these can be integrated into their practice. SOURCES: Published literature and author's clinical experience. CONCLUSIONS: Ericksonian hypnosis offers an array of potential interventions for psychiatric-mental health nurses to integrate into their practices in a framework familiar to nurses: holism, honoring and respecting individuality, and capitalizing on an individual's strengths. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2002 Jan-Mar;38(1):15-22. Zahourek RP. New York University, Division of Nursing, New York, USA. rorryz@aol.com

Ericksonian hypnosis in chronic care support groups:

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 03:48:00 -0500

This Rogerian study examined how traditional and Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic support groups facilitated self-defined health-promoting goals and power as knowing participation in change for 49 participants with chronic physical illness. The participants were randomly assigned to either a traditional support group or an Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic support group. Measurements of power and self-defined health-promoting goals were obtained seven times over a 10-week period. The results indicated that both the traditional support groups and the Ericksonian hypnotherapeutic support groups experienced significantly enhanced power and progressed significantly toward their health-promoting goals. Correlations for the self-defined health-promoting goals and power progressively and significantly increased through time. This study supports Barrett's claim that power relates to health. Nurs Sci Q. 2007 Oct;20(4):357-69. Larkin DM. The College of New Rochelle, School of Nursing, New Rochelle, New York, USA.

Characteristics of change in Ericksonian hypnotherapy: a cognitive-psychological perspective

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 08:30:00 -0500

Milton H. Erickson's approach to hypnosis and psychotherapy has established itself as a therapeutic paradigm in recent years. As its popularity grows, however, myths and misconceptions about his approach have also emerged. Some of them claim falsely that Erickson's therapy consists of nothing more than a set of quick, symptom-management formulae. To understand Erickson's hypnotic psychotherapy in a proper context, a systematic review is warranted. From a cognitive-psychological perspective, four of the major characteristics of therapeutic change underly Erickson's work: (a) self-efficacy, (b) spontaneous compliance, (c) cognitive/experiential reorganization, and (d) global distribution of information.