In the late 1970s I knew a woman who was finishing a double doctorate in Clinical and Counseling Psychology. She piqued my interest by saying I was using (unconsciously) techniques pioneered by Dr. Milton Erickson. She gave me a book to read, "Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson Volume I" (1975).

http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Hypnotic-Techniques-Milton-Erickson/dp/091699001X

Thus began my lifelong study of communications with the unconscious mind and how the conscious mind processes data.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_H._Erickson

I have used these techniques to achieve some dramatic, fast results in myself and others.

Has anyone here used similar techniques?

EDITED 4/23/12

I knew a man who had been an "infiltrator" during the Viet Nam war. He would sneak out and get close to enemy installations, gather intel and sneak back to camp, He was lightly armed and stealth was of utmost importance. If he was seen, he was likely to be killed. He was proficient in martial arts and loved to read about Ninjas.

Returning to civilian life, he acquired a job as a pizza delivery man. His problem was other drivers. He might be under a traffic light with another driver in front of him making a left hand turn, the light changed, but the other driver did not move quickly and he was stuck behind him with oncoming traffic. He would explode, blow the horn and shout threats and obscenities.

People would see the pizza sign on top of his car, call in and report his over-the-top behavior. He had been warned several times and was about to be fired. Yet he could not help his reactions.

He was telling me several of these episodes in which he felt entirely justified in his explosive behavior. He was quite concerned that he was going to be fired and asked me for help.

I put him in a light trance and asked him what would it be like if he was a Ninja pizza delivery man? That his mission was to sneak out, a shadow in the night, very, very low profile, deliver the pizza and sneak back to the store for another delivery.

I kept repeating, 'A shadow in the Night". No-one knows you are there. No-one sees you. No-one hears you except when you ring the doorbell, deliver your "package" and go back to headquarters for another mission.

It was a complete one-shot trance-formation! He became one of the top delivery guys and never had another brush with road rage.

I used a little bit of embedded commands, I used his military rank and name in directing him to his "mission." A bit of matching and mirroring. A bit of subconscious communication. But I think that reframing his 'problem' was the key to effective behavioral change. It was a dramatic change in one session.

asked 21 Apr '12, 08:45

Dollar%20Bill's gravatar image

Dollar Bill
11.9k29113

edited 23 Apr '12, 19:15

1

@Dollar Bill, please can you clarify what specific question you are asking regarding Dr Milton Erickson? As it stands, people can only answer yes or no.

(21 Apr '12, 12:33) Barry Allen ♦♦

@Barry Allen - Trying to think about rephrasing the question. Could you please help?

(21 Apr '12, 21:14) Dollar Bill
1

@Dollar Bill, I can't help you phrase the question because I don't know what you wanted to ask. If this is meant to be information only, rather than a question, it should be made Community Wiki

(22 Apr '12, 02:52) Barry Allen ♦♦

@Doller Bill- can you suggest any effective technique for self hypnosis?

(12 Feb '13, 11:00) Zee
showing 2 of 4 show 2 more comments

Uummm... Milton Erickson didn't create NLP. Richard Bandler and John Grinder did. They made prolific use of Erickson's hypnotic techniques. Erickson is famous for his own brand of hypnotic language patterns and how he used stories and physical manipulations to put people into deep trances pretty much at will. NLP came later.

link

answered 22 Apr '12, 05:37

Rindor's gravatar image

Rindor
1.3k6

@Rindor, true. Bandler and Grindler modeled certain people who were incredibly effective in causing change.

In many cases these "agents for change" used these techniques they had personally developed. B&G recorded sessions, studied people like Erickson and wrote books describing the processes in easy to understand terminology, bringing together a powerful body of information they labeled NLP.

@Rindor - I have edited my question to reflect your comment, thank you.

(22 Apr '12, 07:11) Dollar Bill

Good question. With enough study and practice one can develop the expertise to use Erickson's hypnotic language patterns to alter the consciousness of an individual and then embed commands and instructions within the subconscious mind of that individual which should result in a more favorable kind of behavior and/or body function with little or no resistance. Done well it is an elegant and masterful method, although nowadays I consider this the long slow route to positive change.

(22 Apr '12, 10:41) Rindor

@Rindor - I use the Milton Model regularly and have never found anything faster. Often one-shot therapy. Dramatic behavioral change. Embedded commands is a minor part of the process. So is matching and mirroring, though those are part of the therapy. A great many of Erickson's patients had fewer than three sessions and completely changed negative patterns.

(23 Apr '12, 18:50) Dollar Bill

you Dollar Bill that analyse mind what result did you find out with interaction with me?

(23 Apr '12, 19:26) white tiger

@Dollar Bill, I apologize for the "long, slow route" comment. Ericksonian hypnosis is quite effective in the hands of the skilled. Your Ninja example is impressive. My experience with NLP training taught me that it was cumbersome to remember all the different tools. And trying to figure out the best approach with hypnosis was sometimes difficult. That's why I'm glad EFT came along. Then later Midline Therapy and recently I've discovered The Sedona Method. Easily learned and also quite effective.

(24 Apr '12, 14:34) Rindor

Thank you @Rindor. I will take a more careful look at the methods you mentioned. I have heard, but not studied them.

(24 Apr '12, 18:19) Dollar Bill

@Dollar Bill & @Rindor, Thanks for your interesting feedback. Makes me wonder if seeing a hypnosis for manifesting something could/would move the process along a little faster? hehehe :)

(12 Feb '13, 17:52) figure8shape

@Dollar Bill what about tds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transderivational_search Erickson's metaphorical strategies can be compared with the teaching tales of the Sufis (those of for example the Nasreddin) and the Zen tradition of Koans, each also designed to act on the unconscious mind. James Braid, who coined the term "hypnotism", claimed that focused attention was essential for creating hypnotic trances; indeed, his thesis was that hypnosis was in essence a state of extreme focus.

(12 Feb '13, 18:46) white tiger

Fix a spot in front of you that is not there. be aware focus. do you see anything similar? make thines eyes single. in the bible more then 2000 years ago. are we doing tds right now?not so tuff to do tds to solve the puzzle even in the now from over 2000 years across many nation and language.am i telling the truth? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ2Cg6koHPQ can you see pass the spot?

(12 Feb '13, 18:59) white tiger
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