Michele Ritterman
Michele Ritterman, PhD, is recognized as the Mother of the integration of hypnosis and family therapy, in her classic text: Using Hypnosis in Family Therapy (1982). One of Erickson’s leading students, she originated the concept of the symptom as a trance state that is suggested by people and social structures. From this basic concept that Erickson himself admired, she framed therapy as the production of COUNTER-INDUCTIONS, hypnotic SEQUENCES that impact the symptom trance. Her latest book The Tao of a Woman (2009) is a tool for us to carry with us to move from the symptom trance to the healing stance. Her book in progress is From Trance to Stance.
In 1991, Dr. Ritterman wrote the groundbreaking "Hope Under Siege: Terror and Family Support in Chile", which brought understandings of contextual/systemic trance inductions and trauma to the arena, long before the diagnosis of PTSD existed.
