The Wisdom of

The Wisdom of
Milton H. Erickson M
Ronald A. Havens, PhD is “Havens has done a magnificent job of selecting and organizing ideas and concepts ilton H. Erickson
co-director of the Milton H. Erickson from the work of Milton Erickson. He provides the casual reader an intensive was one of the most
Institute of Springfield, Illinois. overview, the scholar an invaluable reference source, and the therapist clear creative, dynamic and
principles of psychotherapy and hypnosis. The clear narrative provides logical effective hypnotherapists and
He is Professor of Psychology at the psychotherapists of the twentieth
and understandable sequencing while leaving the purity and wisdom of Erickson’s
University of illinois and is in private
practice in Springfield.
words to stand alone. My father would be proud of this book as well as feeling The Complete Volume century. He used unconventional
techniques with remarkable success.
honored by it.”

Milton H. Erickson
Betty Alice Erickson, MS, LPC, Private Practice, Dallas this outstanding work of research
extracts the core wisdom of Milton H.
“Once again united in one volume, The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson provides a EricksonÕs life-long work.
fascinating read. …Ronald Havens’ impressive collection of quotations should be a
core component in any hypnotherapist’s library.” Gleaned from the records of over
Peter Mabbutt, FBSCH, FBAMH, 140 publications and lectures given
Director of Studies, London College of Clinical Hypnosis by Erickson during his career, this
combined volume is an essential
“… a very clear, absorbing, and helpful orientation to Erickson’s philosophy and part of the available literature
approach.” on Dr. Erickson. Part one on
Stephen Gilligan, PhD, Psychologist, author of Human Behavior and Part two on

The Complete Volume

Therapeutic Trances, The Legacy of Erickson, and The Courage to Love Psychotherapy, present his methods
and lessons, including his feelings
“… Havens is to be credited for providing us with a clear and focused view of the on the use of objective observation,
man behind the legend.” the uniqueness of the conscious
Michael D. Yapko, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, author of mind, the realities and abilities of the
Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis unconscious mind, the creation and
“… one of the finest and thorough books detailing Milton Erickson’s work I have use of a therapeutic environment,
seen to date.” and many other aspects of the life
Tom Barber. DHp, Dip.Psych, MNCP, MGHR, and work of this remarkable thinker
Principal, UK College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy and teacher. Part three, Hypnosis
and Hypnotherapy, presents a

Ronald A. Havens, PhD

“I have read many books about Milton Erickson, but this is the only one that I’ve clear account of how Dr. Erickson
ever understood immediately. Ronald Havens completely demystifies his subject … conceived of hypnosis, particularly its
A brilliant book!” access to the unconscious and its role
Pat Doohan, National Council of Psychotherapists in the process of therapy.

Psychotherapy
ISBN 978-190442496-3
90000
Crown House Publishing Limited
www.crownhouse.co.uk
www.crownhousepublishing.com

Photograph courtesy of the Milton H. Erickson

Foundation, www.erickson-foundation.org
9 7 81 904 42 4963
Ronald A. Havens, PhD

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The Wisdom of
Milton H. Erickson

Ronald A. Havens, PhD

Crown House Publishing

www.crownhouse.co.uk
 Published by

Crown House Publishing Ltd

Crown Buildings, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen, Wales, SA33 5ND, UK
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and

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New Preface Copyright © Ronald A. Havens 2003

Complete volume published with permission of Ardent Media, Inc.
Copyright © 1996 Irvington Publishers, Inc., paperback edition
Copyright © 1989 by Irvington Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 1985 by Irvington Publishers, Inc.

The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson was originally published by Irvington

Publishers, Inc. in 1985. This complete volume was first published in
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All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current

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Printed and bound in the UK by

Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow

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Contents

Preface to the Complete Volume ...................................................................v

Acknowledgement .........................................................................................vii
Preface ................................................................................................................xi
An Introduction to Milton H. Erickson, MD ............................................xv
How and Why This Book was Created ....................................................xxv

Part One: Human Behavior .............................................................................1

Chapter One Objective Observation Yields Wisdom ...............................3

Observations Regarding the Influence of Breathing
Patterns ...................................................................................6
Observations Regarding Learning About One’s Body .....7
Observations Regarding the Meaning of Words ............10
Observations Regarding Nonverbal Communication ....11
Observations Regarding Physiological and Behavioral
Patterns .................................................................................11
Observations Regarding Cultural Differences ...............12
Relevant Quotations ...........................................................14
Summary ..............................................................................20

Chapter Two The Conscious Mind............................................................23

Every Person is Unique .....................................................23
The Primary Joy of Life is Freedom .................................25
Experience is the Source of Learning ...............................26
The Importance of Expectation and Reward ..................29
Integrating With Reality ....................................................30
Learning the Constraints of Reality .................................32
Building a Frame of Reference ..........................................33
Language Development .....................................................35
Rigidity and Non-objectivity of Conscious Frames of
Reference ..............................................................................37
Complexity of Conscious Frames of Mind .....................38
Summary ..............................................................................40

Chapter Three The Unconscious Mind .......................................................41

The Reality of the Unconscious ........................................42
The Separate Abilities of the Unconscious .....................43
The Unconscious is a Storehouse .....................................50
The Unconscious is Unknown Potentials .......................54
The Unconscious is Brilliant ..............................................56
The Unconscious is Aware ................................................57
The Unconscious Perceives and Responds Literally .....59
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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

The Unconscious is Childlike ...........................................61

The Unconscious is the Source of Emotions ...................62
The Unconscious is Universal ...........................................62
Summary ..............................................................................64

Chapter Four Normalcy and Pathology....................................................67

What is Abnormal? .............................................................68
Conscious Sources of Abnormality ..................................70
Rigidity of Abnormality .....................................................72
The Protection of Abnormality .........................................74
Forms of Abnormality ........................................................77
Minimizing Abnormality ...................................................80
Summary ..............................................................................84

Part Two: Psychotherapy ...............................................................................85

Chapter Five The Goal of Psychotherapy ................................................89

Focus on the Possible, Not on Perfection ........................89
Focus on the Future, Not on the Past ..............................91
Objectivity Cures ................................................................94
Objectivity Requires Reorganization ...............................95
Only Experiences Can Initiate Reorganization ............100
Behavior Generates Experiences ....................................102
Patients Can and Must Do the Therapy ........................104
Summary ............................................................................108

Chapter Six Creating a Psychotherapeutic Climate ...........................109

Therapists Provide Therapeutic Climates .....................109
Therapists Provide Motivation .......................................112
Therapists Solicit Trust and Cooperation ......................113
Therapists Recognize and Accept Each Patient’s
Limitations .........................................................................115
Patients Are Ambivalent About Therapy ......................117
Patients Are Unreliable Sources .....................................120
Therapists Must Decipher What Patients Say ..............122
Therapists Must Acknowledge the Patient’s Reality ..126
Therapists Protect Patients ..............................................129
Therapists Must Give Freedom to Patients ..................130
The Patient’s Welfare is the Only Concern ...................132
Summary ............................................................................136

Chapter Seven Initiating Therapeutic Change .........................................139

Unique People Require Unique Interventions .............140
Use Whatever the Patient Presents ................................147
Use the Patient’s Desires and Expectations ..................152
Use the Patient’s Language .............................................153
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Contents

Use the Patient’s Emotions ..............................................155

Use the Patient’s Resistance ............................................157
Use the Patient’s Symptoms ............................................158
Use Your Own Observations ...........................................160
Summary ............................................................................161

Part Three: Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy ................................................165

Chapter Eight Understanding Hypnosis ................................................169

Trance Involves Focused Attention ................................169
Reality is Less Important in Trance ................................172
Attention Turns Inward During Trance ........................173
Subjects Respond to Internal Realities ..........................174
Hypnosis Facilitates Rapport ..........................................178
Hypnosis Facilitates Responsiveness .............................178
Subjects Create Internal Realities Via Vivification .......180
Hypnosis Offers Access to Unused Potentials .............182
Hypnosis Does Not Create New Abilities ....................184
Hypnotized Subjects Are Not Automatons ..................186
Trance is Manifested in a Variety of Ways ....................190
Deep Trance Involves the Unconscious .........................191
Subjects Become Childlike and Literal in
Deep Trance .......................................................................195
Somnambulism and Post-Hypnotic Suggestions .........197
Physiological and Perceptual Alterations .....................199
Summary ............................................................................202

Chapter Nine Inducing Hypnosis: General Considerations ...............205

Anyone Can Be Hypnotized ...........................................205
Hypnosis Requires the Right Atmosphere ...................207
Hypnosis Depends Upon Cooperation .........................209
Subjects Create Hypnosis ................................................211
Hypnosis Must Be Tailored .............................................214
Use Whatever the Subject Presents ................................218
Use Language to Elicit Responses ..................................221
Communication with the Unconscious .........................226
Summary ............................................................................230

Chapter Ten Inducing Hypnosis: Specific Techniques ......................231

Keep Your Role and Goal in Mind .................................231
Fixate Attention .................................................................233
Direct Attention Away from Reality ..............................237
Direct Attention Internally ..............................................239
Use Ideomotor Responses ...............................................243
Use Demonstrations and Simulations ...........................246
Use Boredom or Surprise ................................................248
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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

Use Confusion ...................................................................249

Create a Conscious/Unconscious Dissociation ...........257
Allow Plenty of Time .......................................................258
Maintain the Trance ..........................................................264
Maintain a Belief in Success ............................................265
Get Subjects to Do It .........................................................267
Summary ............................................................................271

Chapter Eleven Utilizing Hypnosis Therapeutically: General

Considerations ..................................................................273
Hypnosis is Only a Tool ...................................................273
Hypnosis Increases Access to Potentials .......................277
Hypnosis Helps Overcome Conscious Barriers ...........283
Hypnosis Facilitates Learning ........................................287
Hypnosis Allows Unconscious Psychotherapy ...........292
Allow Unconscious Psychotherapy to Remain
Unconscious .......................................................................299
Summary ............................................................................307

Chapter Twelve Utilizing Hypnosis Therapeutically: Specific

Techniques .........................................................................309
Ideomotor Responses .......................................................309
Projection Into the Future ................................................314
Revivification .....................................................................320
Dissociation ........................................................................324
Amnesias ............................................................................331
Pain Control .......................................................................336
Terminating a Trance ........................................................340
Summary ............................................................................344

Chapter Thirteen Becoming a Hypnotherapist ..............................................347

Overcoming Skeptics ........................................................347
Increasing Awareness .......................................................350
Increasing Flexibility ........................................................351
Experiencing Hypnosis ....................................................353
Utilizing Autohypnosis ....................................................357
Exceptions ..........................................................................360
Overview Summary and Conclusion ............................360

References.......................................................................................................365
Index ................................................................................................................377

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An Introduction to Milton
H. Erickson, MD

Milton H. Erickson was probably the most creative, dynamic, and

effective hypnotherapist the world has ever seen. Not only could
he hypnotize the most difficult and resistant patients imaginable,
he could even do so without their conscious awareness that they
were being or had been hypnotized. He hypnotized people by talk-
ing about tomato plants in a certain way, by describing the objects
in his office in a certain way, and even by shaking hands in a cer-
tain way. There were, in fact, several colleagues who refused to
shake hands with him after he had successfully demonstrated his
handshake induction upon them. During a lecture in Mexico City
in 1959 he hypnotized a nurse in front of a large audience using
only pantomime gestures, a feat made even more impressive by
the fact that this Spanish-speaking nurse had no idea when she
volunteered that she was to be a subject in a demonstration of
hypnosis. In a sense, the variety and effectiveness of Erickson’s
hypnotic inductions defies imagination, though none seems less
likely to be effective than his “Shut up, sit in that chair there and
go into a deep trance!”, an induction technique that he made work.

As a psychotherapist he was equally creative and effective. It is

doubtful that many therapists would conclude that effective inter-
vention should involve teaching patients how to squirt water
between their teeth, stepping on patient’s feet, sending them out to
climb mountains, having them strip naked in the office and point to
each part of their bodies, or having them eat a ham sandwich. Yet
these are some of the strange strategies that Erickson employed with
outstanding success, and with each patient he seemed to generate
another unique and almost outlandish intervention. His psychother-
apy style was so completely innovative and his success rate was so
high that many of his patients were people referred to him by other
psychotherapists or were those other psychotherapists themselves.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that Milton H. Erickson

has been described by other hypnotherapists in some of the most
laudatory terms imaginable. At various times he has been referred
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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

to as a master hypnotist, as a psychotherapeutic wizard, and as the

world’s foremost authority on hypnotherapy and brief strategic
psychotherapy. ln 1976 he became the first recipient of the only
award presented by the International Society of Hypnosis: the
Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal. This medal was inscribed “To
Milton H. Erickson, M.D.—innovator, outstanding clinician, and
distinguished investigator whose ideas have not only helped create the
modern view of hypnosis but have profoundly influenced the practice of
all psychotherapy throughout the world.’’

In December of 1980 several thousand professionals descended

upon Phoenix, Arizona to pay posthumous tribute to him and to
participate in workshops and presentations on his hypnotherapeu-
tic techniques. This International Congress of Ericksonian Approaches
to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy had been preceded for years by a con-
stant stream of professionals to training sessions in his office in
Phoenix. Elsewhere throughout the country and throughout the
world workshops on Ericksonian techniques have become almost
mandatory inclusions in the programs of professional conferences
in psychotherapy and hypnosis. Books by and about him have
become bestsellers almost overnight and Dr. Ernest L. Rossi has
even edited a four-volume collection of almost all of his numerous
published and unpublished articles. In short, it probably would
not be an exaggeration to state that Erickson has had a greater
impact upon the human services professions than any other single
individual since Freud.

It is somewhat ironic that the peak of his public recognition

should have occurred only after he reached the age of seventy.
Prior to that time the value of his work was acknowledged only by
a relatively small group of devoted followers. His therapeutic
techniques were rarely mentioned in textbooks on psychotherapy
and even books and articles on hypnosis by some of the most
prominent scientific investigators in the field often gave no more
than a brief mention of his techniques or research contributions. In
fact, it is easy to get the impression that Erickson was intentionally
ignored by many of his contemporaries. Whether or not this was
the case, the fact remains that he was a maverick to a large extent,
a unique person with strong and unusual convictions, and an
unselfconscious person who was not afraid of confrontations. His
background and professional activities both explain and demon-
strate this quite clearly.
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An Introduction to Milton H. Erickson, MD

Erickson was born on December 5, 1901, in the now defunct town

of Aurum, Nevada. His pioneer parents eventually moved “east” in
a covered wagon and settled on a farm in a rural section of
Wisconsin. Even as a child he experienced the world in ways that
were quite different from those of his friends and relatives. Aside
from an intense curiosity and a general reluctance simply to accept
the beliefs and superstitions of his rural community, Erickson’s
world was different from others for physiological reasons as well.
For example, he had an unusual form of color blindness that
enabled him to perceive and enjoy the color purple but little else. As
a result, he surrounded himself with this color in later life and even-
tually became quite interested in the hypnotic induction of color
blindness. He was also arrhythmic and tone deaf, phenomena that
led to his intense interest in the effects of alterations in breathing
patterns associated with the “yelling” that others called singing. In
addition, he experienced dyslexia. The various difficulties created
by that anomaly actually intensified his familiarity with and inter-
est in the meanings and implications of words. It is especially
intriguing that a person who would eventually become one of the
world’s experts on the use of language did not learn to talk until the
age of four and even then, because of his arrhythmia and tone deaf-
ness, spoke in a rhythm totally unlike most Americans. Various
experts have compared his speech pattern to that of a Central
African tribe, that of a Brazilian tribe, and that of a Peruvian tribe.

Finally, Erickson experienced a lifetime of physical ailments begin-

ning with a life threatening bout of polio at age 17 and culminating
in a second case of polio in 1952. Although he was able to recover
almost completely from the total paralysis of his first bout with
polio, the unusual second case took a more severe toll. For most of
his later years he was confined to a wheelchair with no real use of
his legs, little or no use of his right arm, and restricted use of his
left arm. Eventually, he was able to use only half of his diaphragm
to speak and his mouth had become partially paralyzed as well. In
addition he suffered from chronic intense pain which he moderat-
ed with autohypnosis.

In spite of his many physical discomforts and handicaps he

remained active and therapeutically effective until his death on
March 25, 1980. Throughout his lifetime he was forced to overcome
an incredible variety of adversities, but he had a way of turning all
of his difficulties into advantages and valuable opportunities for
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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

learning. He was fond of saying that life’s difficulties were merely

necessary roughage. Few other people have ever made more effec-
tive use of so much roughage.

Perhaps because he was so atypical physiologically, Erickson

began observing and influencing the behavior of others while still
a small child. For example, he enjoyed walking to school early
through the new fallen snow, leaving behind him a crooked path.
His journey home that afternoon was then made more interesting
by observing how many other children had walked to school fol-
lowing his crooked path instead of creating a straighter one of their
own. Similarly, as he slowly recovered from the total paralysis of
polio he spent many days simply observing the behavior of those
around him and gradually, as a result, he became remarkably sen-
sitive to body language and developed methods to elicit needed
help from others without asking for it directly.

He used his skills at influencing the behavior of others during a

one-man canoe trip of over 1200 miles that he undertook as physi-
cal therapy in the summer of 1921 following his first year as an
undergraduate. When he began this summer trip he was so weak
from the aftereffects of polio that he could swim only a few yards
at a time and could not even lift his canoe out of the water. He had
some beans, some rice, and slightly more than two dollars with
him to purchase additional supplies. Yet without ever directly ask-
ing for assistance he managed to elicit enough fish from curious
fishermen, money from odd jobs along the river, and help in get-
ting his canoe over dams to manage quite well. In fact, by the time
he returned to Wisconsin he could swim a mile, could carry his
own canoe, and was more than ready to begin his second year of
classes at the University of Wisconsin.

During the first semester of his sophomore year at the University

of Wisconsin, Erickson experienced one of his many spontaneous
autohypnotic phenomena. This experience seems to have had a
profound effect upon his thinking and may have set the stage for
his subsequent introduction to hypnosis by Clark Hull. Erickson
had decided that he wanted to earn some extra money by writing
editorials for the local newspaper and he had planned to write
them by using an ability he had discovered when he was younger.
This ability consisted simply of sometimes being able to dream the
correct solutions to arithmetic problems. Accordingly, he planned
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Chapter Six

Creating a Psychotherapeutic
Climate

Although Erickson has been memorialized as a powerful and effec-

tive clinician who could cure even the most resistant or hopeless
patients, he was exceedingly modest about the importance of the
therapist within the therapy process. He challenged the “primacy
of the therapist” attitude that pervades most other approaches and
argued vehemently that it is the patient’s needs, beliefs, abilities,
and welfare which should define the character of therapy. He ques-
tioned the value and validity of pre-packaged, technique-oriented
approaches to therapy that specify how a therapist should conduct
a therapy session or what should be accomplished in therapy
without reference to the individual patient. He rejected the use of
a general theory to prescribe specific goals or techniques and he at-
tacked the prejudices and professional inhibitions that often pre-
vent therapists from recognizing or doing those things that are
most responsive to a patient’s needs.

In short, Erickson insisted that it must be the patient who provides

the goals, defines the process, and actually does the therapy.
Because he realized that it is up to the patient to undergo the
desired changes, he recognized that the therapist can do little more
than provide a setting conducive to those changes. The attitudes
and behaviors necessary to create such a setting were the subject of
many of his comments and form the bulk of the material contained
in this chapter.

Therapists Provide Therapeutic Climates

According to Erickson, the therapist is a relatively unimportant
component of the therapy process, merely the creator of a catalytic
situation. Thus, the first and most important thing that a therapist

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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

can do is create a setting that will permit and motivate patients to

undergo the restructuring events necessary to enable them to
apply their experientially acquired learnings effectively within a
more objective view of themselves and of the world. Therapists do
not even have to know the nature of the presenting problem or
understand what needs to be done to resolve it. All therapists real-
ly need to know is how to create a situation or relationship that will
motivate patients to use their own experiences and capacities to
accomplish their own therapy.

I don’t think the therapist is the important person; I think the

patient is the important person in the situation.
[Erickson, 1977b, p. 22]

The therapist is really unimportant. It is his ability to get his

patients to do their own thinking, their own understanding.
[Zeig, 1980, p. 157]

What the therapist knows, understands, or believes about a patient

is frequently limited in character and often mistaken. What he is
willing to let patients discover about themselves and to use effec-
tively is of exceedingly great therapeutic importance. [1973]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 38, p. 349]

It is the patient who does the therapy. The therapist only furnishes
the climate, the weather. That’s all. The patient has to do all the
work.
[Zeig, 1980, p. 148]

I didn’t know what her problem was. She didn’t know what her
problem was. I didn’t know what kind of psychotherapy I was
doing. All I was was a source of a weather or a garden in which her
thoughts could grow and mature and do so without her knowledge.
[Zeig, 1980, p. 157]

I don’t think the therapist does anything except provide the oppor-
tunity to think about your problem in a favorable climate.
[Zeig, 1980, p. 219]

I don’t need to know what your problem is for you to correct it.
[Erickson & Rossi, 1979, p. 172]

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Creating a Psychotherapeutic Climate

The therapist merely stimulates the patient into activity, often not
knowing what that activity may be, and then guides the patient
and exercises clinical judgement in determining the amount of
work to be done to achieve the desired results. [1948]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 4, p. 39]

How to guide and to judge constitute the therapist’s problem,

while the patient’s task is that of learning through his own efforts
to understand his experiential life in a new way. [1948]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 4, p. 39]

In psychotherapy you teach a patient to use a great many of the

things that they learned, and learned a long time ago, and don’t
remember.
[Zeig, 1980, p. 38]

What they [therapists] say or do serves only as a means to stimu-

late and arouse in the subjects past learnings, understandings and
experiential acquisitions, some consciously, some unconsciously
acquired. [1964]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 13, p. 326]

What is needed is the development of a therapeutic situation per-

mitting the patient to use his own thinking, his own understand-
ings, his own emotions in the way that best fits him in his scheme
of life. [1965]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap 20, p. 223]

I think that in hypnotherapy and in experimental work with sub-

jects you have no right to express a preference; that it is a coopera-
tive venture of some sort, and that the personality of the subject or
the patient is the thing of primary importance. What the hypnotist
or the therapist thinks, or does, or feels is not the important thing;
but what he can do to enable the subject or the patient to accom-
plish certain things is important. It’s the personality involved and
the willingness of the therapist or the hypnotist to let the subject’s
personality play a significant role.
[Erickson, 1977a, p. 14]

Thus, a favorable setting is evolved for the elicitation of needful

and helpful behavioral potentialities not previously used, not fully

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Chapter Nine

Inducing Hypnosis: General

Considerations

Before attempting an hypnotic induction, there are several general

principles that must be taken into consideration. These general
principles form the context within which the actual induction
process should be conducted. Interestingly, these principles bear a
striking resemblence to many of the general considerations previ-
ously reviewed in the discussion of psychotherapy.

Anyone Can Be Hypnotized

Most contemporary research has indicated that only a small per-
centage (about 20%) of the general population is highly hypnotiz-
able. The remainder is usually labeled only mildly hypnotizable or
not hypnotizable at all. Erickson challenged the accuracy of these
findings and attributed them to the faulty or inappropriate hyp-
notic techniques used to elicit hypnotic responses in the research
tradition. To him, hypnosis was a normal and common experience
in which virtually anyone can participate given the right circum-
stances and the right hypnotist. Obviously, no hypnotist can hyp-
notize everyone, but Erickson maintained that a good hypnotist
could hyponotize many more people than the research would
suggest.

So far as I know, hypnosis as a form of human behavior has been

in existence since the beginning of the human race. [1960]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. II, chap. 33, p. 341]

Trance is a common experience. A football fan watching a game on

TV is awake to the game but is not awake to his body sitting in the
chair or his wife calling him to dinner.
[Erickson, Rossi & Rossi, 1976, p. 47]

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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

In an airport I will notice someone seated, staring into space in

what I recognize as the common everyday trance.
[Erickson & Rossi, 1981, p. 49]

Hypnotic phenomena are universal and must be taken into consid-

eration in all efforts to understand the neuroses. [1939]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. III, chap. 23, p. 253]

It [hypnosis] is a normal phenomenon of the human mind, fairly

explicable, as are all other psychological processes, in our crude
concepts of mental mechanisms. [1932]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 24, p. 493]

The best hypnotic subjects are normal people of superior intelli-

gence and any really cooperative person can be hypnotized.
[Erickson, 1941b, p. 14]

Any normal person and some abnormal persons can be hypnotized

provided there is adequate motivation. [circa 1950’s]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 21, p. 226]

One hundred percent of normal people are hypnotizable. It does

not necessarily follow that 100 percent are hypnotizable by any one
individual. [1959]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. III, chap. 4, p. 29]

The eidetic imagery of children, their readiness, eagerness and

actual need for new learnings, their desire to understand and to
share in the activities of the world about them, and the opportuni-
ties offered by “pretend” and imitation games all serve to enable
children to respond competently and well to hypnotic suggestions.
[1958]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 15, p. 180]

Practically all normal people can be hypnotized, though not neces-

sarily by the same person, and practically all people can learn to be
hypnotists. [1944]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 2, p. 17]

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Inducing Hypnosis: General Considerations

Hypnosis Requires the Right Atmosphere

Because hypnosis is a cooperative endeavor, it requires almost
exactly the same atmosphere as psychotherapy. If the interperson-
al communication of ideas necessary for hypnosis is to be accom-
plished, the hypnotist must create a situation wherein the subject
experiences a confident expectation of success, a casual freedom,
a considerate protection, and an appreciative acceptance by the
hypnotist.

One needs the respect, confidence, and trust of a subject.

[Erickson, 1941b, p. 15]

I learned that when you give suggestions, therapeutically or exper-

imentally, you try to give them in a way that is going to permit the
patient or the subject to handle them in a fashion that does not
arouse too much difficulty.
[Erickson, 1977b, p. 21]

You must be careful to protect the integrity of the personality and

not exploit the trance state.
[Erickson, Rossi & Rossi, 1976, p. 13]

A systematic effort is made to demonstrate to the subjects that they

are in a fully protected situation. Measures to this end are relative-
ly simple and seemingly absurdly inadequate. Nevertheless, per-
sonality reactions make them effective. [1952]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 6, p. 150]

In any hypnotic work careful attention must be given to the full

protection or the subjects’ ego by meeting readily their needs as
individuals. [1952]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 6, p. 151]

In addition she was made aware at a deep level that she, as a per-
sonality, was fully protected, that her functioning rather than the
hypnotist’s was the primary consideration in trance induction, and
that utilization of one process of behavior could be made a step-
ping-stone to development of a similar but more complex form.
[1952]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 6, p. 157]

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The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson

This protection should properly be given subjects in both the wak-

ing and the trance states. It is best given in an indirect way in the
waking state and more directly in the trance state. [1952]
[In Erickson, 1930, Vol. I, chap. 6, p. 149]

Appreciation must be definitely expressed in some manner, prefer-

ably first in the trance state and later in the ordinary waking state.
[1952]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 6, p. 151]

You always give praise to the unconscious.

[Erickson & Rossi, 1979, p. 183]

She was always adequately praised for her cooperation in both the
trance and waking states. [1960]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. IV, chap. 16, p. 185]

I make this clear to patients in the waking state as well as in the

trance state, because you are dealing with a person that has a con-
scious mind and an unconscious mind.
[Erickson & Rossi, 1981, p. 6]

The simpler and more permissive and unobtrusive is the tech-

nique, the more effective it has proved to be. [1964]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 1, p. 15]

The more casually hypnotic work can be done, the easier it is for
subjects to adapt to it. Casualness permits ready utilization of the
behavioral developments of the total hypnotic situation. [1952]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 6, p. 166]

An essential consideration in this technique, however, is an atti-

tude on the part of the operator of utter expectancy, casualness, and
simplicity, which places the responsibility for any developments
entirely upon the subject. [1959]
[In Erickson, 1980, Vol. I, chap. 8, p. 186]

In brief, hypnosis is a cooperative experience depending upon a

communication of ideas by whatever means available, and verbal-
ized ritualistic, traditional rote-memory techniques for the induc-
tion of hypnosis are no more than one means of beginning to learn

208
 The Wisdom of

The Wisdom of
Milton H. Erickson M
Ronald A. Havens, PhD is “Havens has done a magnificent job of selecting and organizing ideas and concepts ilton H. Erickson
co-director of the Milton H. Erickson from the work of Milton Erickson. He provides the casual reader an intensive was one of the most
Institute of Springfield, Illinois. overview, the scholar an invaluable reference source, and the therapist clear creative, dynamic and
principles of psychotherapy and hypnosis. The clear narrative provides logical effective hypnotherapists and
He is Professor of Psychology at the psychotherapists of the twentieth
and understandable sequencing while leaving the purity and wisdom of Erickson’s
University of illinois and is in private
practice in Springfield.
words to stand alone. My father would be proud of this book as well as feeling The Complete Volume century. He used unconventional
techniques with remarkable success.
honored by it.”

Milton H. Erickson
Betty Alice Erickson, MS, LPC, Private Practice, Dallas this outstanding work of research
extracts the core wisdom of Milton H.
“Once again united in one volume, The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson provides a EricksonÕs life-long work.
fascinating read. …Ronald Havens’ impressive collection of quotations should be a
core component in any hypnotherapist’s library.” Gleaned from the records of over
Peter Mabbutt, FBSCH, FBAMH, 140 publications and lectures given
Director of Studies, London College of Clinical Hypnosis by Erickson during his career, this
combined volume is an essential
“… a very clear, absorbing, and helpful orientation to Erickson’s philosophy and part of the available literature
approach.” on Dr. Erickson. Part one on
Stephen Gilligan, PhD, Psychologist, author of Human Behavior and Part two on

The Complete Volume

Therapeutic Trances, The Legacy of Erickson, and The Courage to Love Psychotherapy, present his methods
and lessons, including his feelings
“… Havens is to be credited for providing us with a clear and focused view of the on the use of objective observation,
man behind the legend.” the uniqueness of the conscious
Michael D. Yapko, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, author of mind, the realities and abilities of the
Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis unconscious mind, the creation and
“… one of the finest and thorough books detailing Milton Erickson’s work I have use of a therapeutic environment,
seen to date.” and many other aspects of the life
Tom Barber. DHp, Dip.Psych, MNCP, MGHR, and work of this remarkable thinker
Principal, UK College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy and teacher. Part three, Hypnosis
and Hypnotherapy, presents a

Ronald A. Havens, PhD

“I have read many books about Milton Erickson, but this is the only one that I’ve clear account of how Dr. Erickson
ever understood immediately. Ronald Havens completely demystifies his subject … conceived of hypnosis, particularly its
A brilliant book!” access to the unconscious and its role
Pat Doohan, National Council of Psychotherapists in the process of therapy.

Psychotherapy
ISBN 978-190442496-3
90000
Crown House Publishing Limited
www.crownhouse.co.uk
www.crownhousepublishing.com

Photograph courtesy of the Milton H. Erickson

Foundation, www.erickson-foundation.org
9 7 81 904 42 4963
Ronald A. Havens, PhD

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