Milton H. Erickson

"My Voice Will Go With You"

by Betty Alice Erickson, M.S., L.P.C., L.M.F.T.

Milton H. Erickson's history, personal and professional, is a tapestry of unusual events and opportunities. The framework of his psychotherapy is virtually impossible to separate from his life. Some have used that as one of the reasons his therapeutic methods seem to strike such deep chords in so many. Regarded as outside the mainstream of psychiatry for many years, Erickson jokingly claimed that he learned to be a maverick when he was a child. He was born in a Nevada silver mining camp in 1901, and traveled with his family to a farm in Wisconsin where he grew up.

At 17, he was severely crippled with polio. What he learned from his year-long recovery remained evident his whole life. Lying paralyzed, Erickson watched his baby sister learning to walk. He focused on recalling and visualizing those same movements in himself. With a great deal of effort, he regained the use of his muscles and relearned how to walk. Shortly thereafter, he undertook a solitary ten-week canoe trip on the Wisconsin River from Milwaukee to St. Louis on the Mississippi, and then paddling back upstream to Milwaukee. He was on crutches when he left, but he returned with a wealth of knowledge and strong enough to walk with a cane.

After medical school, he began his career in psychiatric hospitals. In the early 30s, he began working to legitimize hypnosis as a valid medical and therapeutic tool. He published information about its safety in The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. In 1934, he was appointed director of psychiatric research at Wayne County General Hospital in Michigan, where he stayed for 14 years. He later moved to Phoenix for health reasons, and went into private practice.

Communication Factors: Hypnosis and Psychotherapy

In the 1950s, Gregory Bateson was working on a project about communicative factors as a part of schizophrenia. Bateson told a young research associate, Jay Haley, about work Erickson had done on the double bind in communication.

Haley later began visiting Erickson at his home in Phoenix, where his office was located, and discussing Erickson's methods of communication in hypnosis and psychotherapy. From these conversations came Haley's seminal book, "Uncommon Therapy: The Psychiatric Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D.," first published in 1973. The book is widely regarded as the beginning of brief and strategic therapy. In 1985, Haley compiled the tapes he had made of these consultations into a three volume set, "Conversations with Milton H. Erickson, M.D."

Erickson never lost interest in working with hypnosis. He became the founding president of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis in 1957, and remained founding editor of the Journal for a decade. During this time, hypnosis became accepted as a tool by both the medical and psychotherapeutic professions. Virtually every medical school began including a class on the use of hypnosis and the American Psychological Association officially accepted its use. Erickson regarded the bringing of hypnosis into the 20th century as one of his proudest professional accomplishments.

His Foundation Continues to Inspire New Generations of Professionals

The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, incorporated in 1979, traces its beginnings to the serendipitous circumstances of Jeffrey K. Zeig's cousin's choice of a college roommate. Zieg had a conversation with his cousin while they were both students about the works of a remarkable therapist, Milton H. Erickson, M.D. The cousin remarked that her roommate, Roxanna, was one of Erickson's daughters. An introduction was arranged through the two roommates and Zieg began studying with Erickson at his home in Phoenix. They worked together intermittently. Erickson believed in the sharing of knowledge and rarely charged his graduate students. In appreciation for this gift of learning, Zieg decided he would organize a meeting: The First International Congress on Ericksonian Hypnosis and Psychotherapy to be held December 1980, to honor Erickson's 79th birthday. Unfortunately, Erickson unexpectedly passed away before the Congress was held. Erickson and Zeig were on the original Board of Directors. Zieg remains the current director of the Foundation.

Erickson's methods of psychotherapy are elegant and deceptively simple. His methods are firmly based in reality, future oriented and goal directed. They are also flexible, use problematic behavior as building blocks for more productive behavior and have as an overall goal productive living within the bounds of society. The communicative tools of hypnosis are an integral part of presenting material in palatable ways to patients.

Sowing Seeds

Erickson was educated in the psychoanalytic tradition but he did not accept the premise of incompatibility of basic human urges and civilized living standards. During World War II, he worked for the Selective Service and examined literally thousands of young draftees. From this experience, he expanded his understanding of human nature and gained a larger appreciation for the vastness of the normal human life. He also began his understanding that a very brief encounter could have significant information contained and exchanged. The seeds of brief and strategic therapy were sown.

Even though he had a great faith in the basic goodness and normalcy of most people and used that as a part of his therapy, Erickson recognized mental illness and pathologies. Cutting his professional teeth before the advent of psychotropic drugs, and having done part of his internship in a prison hospital, Erickson knew the depths mental illnesses could create.

The name Erickson has become almost synonymous with "indirect metaphors and storytelling." He often believed that approaching a problem indirectly was most effective because it allowed patients independence and dignity, and bypassed resistance because it did not require direct information from the therapist. He did not hesitate, however, in being extremely direct and forceful. He also did not hesitate to make clear he had strong morals and that the right way for people to behave is with consideration, kindness and respect toward themselves and others. He valued the discipline that came from hard work and believed that almost every experience contained a seed of valuable learning.

Erickson kept office in his home throughout his professional life. His widow, Elizabeth, still lives in Phoenix. They had eight children; the youngest five were living at home during those years. Without exception, they each remember patients fondly as an important part of their growing up.

Leaving a Legacy

In Erickson's later years, he primarily concentrated on teaching students. He always emphasized that they were to learn from his methods and construct their own ways of working effectively with people.

One of the many books written about Erickson is "My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson, M.D.," (edited by Sydney Rosen, M.D., Norton, 1982). Erickson's work has been so widely accepted that it is easy to forget how innovative and startling some of his ideas originally were -- and that alone is an impressive legacy.

The Foundation also continues to organize and sponsor meetings furthering the development of Ericksonian Hypnosis and Psychotherapy throughout the United States and participates in co- sponsoring this training worldwide. Intensive training programs with fundamental, intermediate and advanced levels are held throughout the year in Phoenix. The 20th anniversary meeting of the Foundation is scheduled for 1999 in Phoenix.

Erickson's work has inspired multitudes of people. During his lifetime, several groups of students asked his permission to form institutes that further his methods of hypnosis and psychotherapy. From this modest beginning has sprung an enormous network of Milton H. Erickson Institutes throughout the world. There are now 73 Institutes located in the United States and in 20 other countries. Each is an autonomous organization even though the Foundation has certain requirements for the establishment of an Institute.

One of the precepts of Erickson's life and work was to welcome opportunities and then to help build upon those offered opportunities. But no one could have possibly predicted the outcomes of that meeting between Zeig and his cousin's roommate's father. In December of 1980, the Foundation began collecting audio and videotapes and other historical materials related to his work. Over 350 hours of Erickson's original materials have been donated to the Foundation.

The Foundation has become a hub of teaching and educational activities affecting thousands of people every year. Zeig created a lasting and important organization from an idea. And Erickson's innovative and creative work continues to inspire new generations of professionals.

The Foundation has a quarterly newsletter. For more information about the newsletter or the Milton H. Erickson Foundation contact Dan Short, the editor-in-chief. The mailing address is 3615 Euclid, Dallas, TX, 75205. The newsletter includes features and spotlights various Institutes, as well as discussions of interesting cases, interventions and reviews of various books, audio and video tapes. Contributors come from a wide range of disciplines.