Biography of Milton Erickson

Dr. Milton Erickson was probably the most important hypnotherapist of the last century. From an early age, he was afflicted with serious illnesses and had to hypnotize himself to manage his pain. Over his lifetime, he hypnotized thousands of people and achieved remarkable successes.

Milton H. Erickson (1901–1980) was likely the most significant hypnotist of the 20th century. Erickson used language in an artfully vague manner, allowing clients to derive the meaning that was most appropriate for them. He induced trance states and made them usable, empowering people to overcome their problems and discover their inner resources. His revolutionary ideas about communication for change marked a milestone in the development of this young discipline. Many NLP presuppositions stem from his work. He influenced brief therapy strategies that were developed at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto. His life story and therapeutic style are closely intertwined.

In 1919, Milton Erickson graduated from high school and contracted polio. He fell into a coma, and it initially seemed he would not survive the illness. But after three days of complete unconsciousness, he woke up. He had survived the infection. However, he was completely paralyzed and had lost all physical sensation. He could still see and hear, but could barely move his eyes and could only speak with great difficulty. Doctors said he would remain an invalid for the rest of his life. With so much time on his hands, he trained the remaining areas of perception, focusing on increasingly finer nuances.

In his second year of college, he encountered hypnosis and immediately began hypnotizing volunteers. Fascinated by the possibilities, he hypnotized everyone he could. He explored a variety of techniques to influence people’s actions. He began presenting his techniques to doctors and professors and conducting lab experiments. Hull was interested in more standardized techniques—Erickson was interested in individualized methods that allowed for a strong therapeutic relationship in each case. He demonstrated willpower and moral courage.

Through various research projects, he became the chief psychiatrist of the research department at the Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. At that time, the use of hypnosis was forbidden—seen as disreputable. Nevertheless, within the department, Erickson conducted intensive research. He later changed positions and worked with many thousands of patients.

After a serious accident in 1947, the following 15 months were marked by joint and muscle pain as well as frequent sudden collapses. In addition, Erickson developed a severe allergy to pollen. Several times he had to be hospitalized in critical condition. The allergy ultimately forced him to move to a different climate—Phoenix, Arizona. There, Erickson opened a private practice.

In 1953, Erickson became seriously ill again. On the advice of a friend, he went to Maryland to undergo extensive testing at Johns Hopkins Hospital. However, it was months before a neurologist was able to make the correct diagnosis: Erickson had contracted polio again. Such a second infection was highly unusual and extremely rare, but the increasing loss of muscle soon confirmed the dreadful suspicion. For the rest of his life, Erickson suffered from recurring bouts of illness.

In 1957, he founded the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, becoming its president. He also initiated the journal "The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis," which he edited himself for ten years.

In 1969—now 68 years old—Erickson gave up his extensive travel. For health reasons, he had to stop working with patients in his private practice five years later. By then, thanks to the publications of Jay Haley, his approach to psychotherapy had become so well known that many students and practitioners sought him out. As a result, he taught entire groups of students at his home during the 1970s. His seminars were usually fully booked up to a year in advance. It was during these courses, as mentioned earlier, that Richard Bandler, John Grinder, and other members of the NLP development groups received their hypnotherapy training.

Toward the end of his life, Erickson had become an old, frail man. The increasingly frequent muscle atrophies and paralyses had progressed to the point that he could barely speak. He was hardly able to read or write. Since 1976, he had been completely confined to a wheelchair. Each episode of illness brought further deterioration of his physical abilities and increased pain. The cramps were sometimes so severe that some muscles simply tore.

In addition to co-authoring five books, Erickson had published more than 130 articles by the end of his life. This prolific output earned him the nickname "Mr. Hypnosis." By his own estimate, he had hypnotized over 30,000 people during his lifetime. Remarkably, no one had ever succeeded in hypnotizing Erickson himself. However, he was a master of self-hypnosis. In his final years, he spent many hours controlling his intense pain. Considering the extent of the physical suffering he endured throughout his life, it becomes clear what strength and perseverance it must have taken for him to become the most renowned clinician of the 20th century.

Erickson died on March 25, 1980. He was skeptical of hypnosis, which is why it was less popular during Freud’s era.

Erickson's Goals

Presentation of the goals Erickson pursued with his style of hypnosis:

• Meeting the patient's level:
  The therapist always aligns with the verbal and non-verbal level of thinking and behavior presented by the patient. Erickson explained things to engineers using technical examples, and to gardeners using plant-related ones. In this way, he could best connect with the patient and build a trusting relationship (rapport). He fully immersed himself in the client’s model rather than acting as an objective advisor. Erickson saw himself as the cause and responsible for the client's change—if there was no success, he believed he had failed, not the client.
• Adoption of the patient's system:
  By strongly tuning into the patient, the therapist becomes part of the patient’s system of thinking and imagination. This enables the therapist to do something completely unexpected, causing uncertainty and destabilizing fixed attitudes. This forms the basis for modifying the patient’s behavior.
• Utilization:
  The overall situation is then structured in such a way that the changes that occur can be utilized in the desired manner and direction, aligned with the patient's wishes and intentions. Even belief systems and values—everything the client brings—are used. Resistance itself is also utilized.
• Protection:
  "A fundamental part of every therapy is to protect the patient and to provide safety within the treatment." (Kossak, 1989, p.132).