Milton H. Erickson: biography of this hypnosis researcher

Milton Hyland Erickson was a renowned American psychiatrist and hypnotherapist who, despite having suffered throughout his life terrible pain this did not prevent him from having an outstanding career professional.

He went down in history for revolutionizing the conception of the subconscious, in addition to using hypnosis as a therapeutic tool within a serious clinical context.

As a sign of a prolific life he founded several bodies focused on the study of hypnotherapy, leaving his mark in the fields of psychiatry and psychology. Let's take a closer look at his life through this biography of Milton H. Erickson in summary form.

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Biography of Milton H. Erickson: who was this psychiatrist?

Milton is known for having perfected hypnotic techniques beyond a purely psychoanalytic context, and can be extrapolated to other currents of psychiatry and psychology. Among his most notable vital milestones are having founded organizations such as the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, in addition to participate in the creation of other institutions such as the American Psychological Association and the American Association of Psychopathology.

Early years

Milton Hyland Erickson was born on December 5, 1901 in Aurum, Nevada, United States. His family consisted of his parents, seven sisters and a brother, all of them immigrating to Wisconsin to work on a family-owned farm.

His childhood was not a bed of roses. From a very young age, Erickson suffered from various illnesses that made his health look very weakened. In fact, in his adulthood Milton H. Erickson would admit that he barely remembered his early years, and that much of his memories could be encompassed within a kind of "self-hypnotic trances."

At the age of 17, Erickson contracted polio, a disease that with the medicine of the time was barely treatable, claiming the lives of many people. Polio left him serious sequelae, losing much of his mobility to the point of making his doctors think that he would not survive. However, this experience would turn out to be fundamental for the development of his career, marked by strong determination and the fight against adversity.

Bedridden with illness, barely able to move or speak, Erickson began to realize the power of body language to communicate with others. Additionally, Milton H. Erickson claimed that it was around this time that he began to have what he called "body memories" of movements that, before losing mobility, he could do with ease.

To cope with the disease, Erickson she began to use her own memories of him, concentrating on these bodily memories and, little by little, she regained control of her body to the point of being able to speak and move their arms normally.

His doctor recommended exercising upper body strength and Erickson listened to him, taking it very seriously. So seriously that, to recover as soon as possible, He planned to make a trip of no more and no less than 1600 kilometers in canoe, with the intention of intensely strengthening his body and being able to attend university. After this dangerous feat, Erickson was able to walk again with the help of a cane, and attend the University of Wisconsin to study medicine and psychiatry.

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Academic training and contact with hypnosis

Studying in Wisconsin, Milton Erickson began to be documented on the effects of suggestion in patients. It would be a matter of time before he discovered hypnosis, a field relatively unknown even to psychiatrists and, perhaps due to her mystical appeal or the interest in discovering more about her, began to deepen about the topic.

The then medical and psychiatric student would realize that he could use self-hypnosis as a way to combat pain that had caused her polio, which were terribly intense. Thus, through autosuggestion, Erickson was acquiring a better quality of life for a time, which motivated him to further improve his knowledge of this field.

At the age of 30, he had already gained a certain fame within North American psychiatry. His work on hypnosis and his especially remarkable way of applying it in therapy earned him a great reputation, which allowed him to practice as a psychiatrist while working as a teacher at various universities.

Start in private practice

In 1948 Milton H. Erickson moved to Phoenix for medical reasons, since in that city he could enjoy a healthier climate. Unfortunately, after a year he was forced to give therapy from his own home, as his physical condition worsened and he ended up having to use a wheelchair, in addition to being in constant pain.

To combat these discomforts, Erickson himself used self-hypnosis techniques every morning that reduced the intensity of his pain. Thus, he could cope with the tasks of his daily life adequately. It is thanks to the use of these techniques and his strong determination that Milton Erickson continued to perfect his knowledge, making great advances in psychiatry.

One of the great contributions of this era was founding the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis in 1957, serving as its president for several years. In addition, he founded the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, which was the first publication in the United United in treating the subject of hypnosis seriously, Erickson being its editor for a decade.

Last years

Milton H. Erickson got worse over the years. Nevertheless, he continued to have a really active professional life. In fact, in the decades after he began as a private therapist he was the author of hundreds of articles and five books on clinical hypnosis and its application. Among the most notable books we have Hypnotic realities (1976) and The February Man (1989), published posthumously.

He did not shy away from academic life, continuing to teach seminars and travel around the world. As his health deteriorated, he was receiving his students in his own house and, in fact, a few days before he died he continued working with his students in their home. As a teacher and therapist he was widely respected within the psychiatric community.

One of the aspects that made him especially respected was being able to treat very serious cases, which no other therapist could solve. This caused several of the techniques proposed by Erickson to be transferred to other types of therapy, making his influence continue to be present today.

Milton Hyland Erickson died in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, on March 25, 1980 at the age of 79, shortly after inaugurating the Milton Erickson Foundation. and being in full preparations for what was to be the largest meeting of psychotherapists held to date, the conference “The Evolution of the Psychotherapy ”.

Theory and hypnosis

Erickson he insisted a lot on the role played by the unconscious. However, his way of understanding it is not similar to how the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud did it, but seeing it rather as a reservoir of personal resources to solve the problems of each individual by himself.

As we have been commenting, Milton Erickson's approach to psychotherapy was very unconventional for the time, even for hypnotherapists themselves. His method is so special and striking that it has become an independent branch from the rest of the disciplines that use hypnosis, calling itself “Ericksonian hypnosis”.

The more traditional hypnosis was based on the idea that we can communicate with the subconscious mind at specific times. These moments are called "trance states" and that is why the most conventional hypnotherapists try to induce them to be able to speak directly to the subconscious of their patients. Thus they can apply suggestions and, based on his psychotherapeutic vision, cause a change in behavior, emotions and thoughts.

This was not the opinion of Erickson, who believed that the subconscious mind was always listening and therefore it was possible to communicate with it even when the subject was not in a trance. Thus, all his therapeutic techniques were aimed at reaching that part of the mind, indirectly and without awakening resistance in the patient.

Traditional hypnotherapists used techniques such as relaxation or deep inductions to weaken the defenses of patients and thus induce them into a trance state. Instead, Erickson he used other tools such as speaking to clients using metaphorical stories, which at first might seem irrelevant but actually contained hidden hypnotic suggestions that affected his subconscious.

The confusion

Among the tools used by Milton H. Erickson in therapy he is confusion one of the most famous. It consisted of using seemingly pointless stories, or using other devices that were intended to confuse the conscious mind of the patient. Thus, Erickson was able to introduce his patients into a trance not as intense as that of other hypnotherapists, suggesting them without their noticing.

Among the techniques within the confusion, the induction by handshake is very prominent.. Erickson developed a technique that allowed him to confuse patients simply by shaking hands. What seemed harmless allowed him to introduce deep hypnosis to the patient, which from his point of view allowed him to work on their minds.

As surprising as it may seem, this method worked very well for Erickson, so much so that even his own acquaintances were apprehensive about shaking hands to avoid being hypnotized. Other therapists found this technique so helpful that they incorporated it into their therapies, as is the case of the founder of neurolinguistic programming Richard Bandler.

Erickson also used confusion through speech, using techniques such as the false dilemma. In this tool, the patient is presented with two options that are convenient for the psychiatrist but that give the individual the impression that he has the ability to choose how the course of psychotherapy will take place, which makes the therapy itself and its results much easier.

Bibliographic references:

• O'Hanlon, W.H., (1993), Deep Roots. Basic Principles of Therapy and Hypnosis by Milton Erickson, ed. Paidós Family Therapy, Spain.
• Robles, T. (1991), Cut to Measure Therapy. An Ericksonian Seminar with Jeffrey Zeig, ed. Milton H. Erickson from Mexico City, Mexico.
• Rosen S., (1991), My voice will go with you. The didactic Tales of Milton H, Erickson, Ed. Paidós, Argentina.
• Simon, F.B., Stierlin, H. and Wynne, L.C., (1988), Family Therapy Vocabulary, ed. Gedisa, Argentina.
• Zeig, J. (1991), Ericksonian Hypnosis Training, ed. Mexican Center for Neurolinguistic Programming, Mexico.
• Zeig, J. F., (1992), A Didactic Seminar with Milton H. Erickson, ed. Amorrortu, Buenos Aires.