In 1979, Milton Erickson and Jeffrey Zeig spent five hours reviewing a demonstration that Erickson conducted at a teaching seminar. That demonstration is now available as a training video for Ericksonian practitioners. Erickson’s experiential methods include the symbolic use of hypnotic phenomena, encouraging resistance, naturalistic confusion technique, seeding, and using isomorphic anecdotes. Jeffrey Zeig discusses the mechanics of Erickson’s unique approach to psychotherapy. Working with Resistance provides an opportunity to watch a master hypnotherapist demonstrate his technique.
Ericksonian psychotherapy emphasizes the utilization of people's resources. When working with children of divorced parents, I focus on strengths and keep in mind the Ericksonian interventions should be brief because children may get tired of being in therapy for a long time. In a case with two children, techniques including the use of toys will be discussed. How to make several brief interventions quickly while utilizing "toy co-therapists" in home assignments, and the combination of conversational trance with tasks will be emphasized. There also will be references to the importance of working with the family system.
Women who face unplanned pregnancies may experience a wide range of emotions and go through deep crises when they learn they are pregnant. In this workshop, the presenter will describe how brief Ericksonian interventions can help them explore possibilities and cope with their crises during unplanned pregnancy. Examples of quick interventions and conversational trance will be given as well. There will be references to the importance of hope and exercises for coming to terms with previous experience.
BT12 Short Course 04 – Using Movies in Ericksonian Therapy – Daniel Bass, Dipl. Psych
Movies are complex multisensory stories reflecting a specific world. They transport messages and solutions in order to provide the viewer with the possibility of identifying with the movie characters, get absorbed in it, empathize, recognize consciously or subconsciously one’s own central topics in life. They provide the possibility of being catalysts for developmental processes that can be used in psychotherapy. In this presentation participants will learn about the processes of watching movies and the transfer into therapy.
BT12 Workshop 10 – Brief Family Therapy – Camillo Loriedo, MD, PhD
The therapeutic relationship appears to be the key element for short-term treatment. The use of rapport in Ericksonian Psychotherapy is an excellent example of the essential use of the therapeutic relationship in Brief Family Therapy. As demonstrated by Carl Whitaker’s position in family therapy, therapist’s emotions, fantasies, and isomorphic behaviors can provide useful suggestions both for diagnosing and effectively utilizing the therapeutic relationship.
Many schools of psychotherapy have been derived from the seminal work of Milton H Erickson M.D., including strategic therapy, interactional therapy, NLP and solution focused therapy. In some approaches hypnosis is central; in other approaches hypnosis is more peripheral. This class features two experts personally trained by Dr. Erickson, each of whom approach psychotherapy from somewhat different perspectives. In his approach, Possibility Therapy, Bill O'Hanlon epitomizes the strengths of a solution focused orientation. In his experiential approach, Jeffrey Zeig shades treatment in the direction of developing dramatic reference experiences.