Milton Erikson is known as the "father of modern hypnosis" and is the leading authority on medical hypnosis, family therapy, and short-term strategic psychotherapy. He was also the founder of simple and fast therapy, he fought against diseases all his life, but he always devoted himself to the study of hypnosis and created a hypnosis of his own.
When he died in 1980, he was hailed as the father of psychopnosis. By this time he had become famous all over the world, and there are currently more than 50 institutions around the world named after him. And there are more than 100 books dedicated to his achievements. In his words, his achievements were all attributed to his physical defects, which may have been a great disaster for others.
Hypnosis has always been a mystery, and hypnosis has been studied and explored for centuries, but it has always been the most controversial issue in the field of psychology.
Like electricity, people know how to use it, but they can't feel his shape.
Erikson gave everyone a new perspective on hypnosis, changed everyone's understanding of hypnosis, and made a huge breakthrough in the study of psychotherapy.
His research strengthened the connection between hypnosis and science, while at the same time making it more mysterious.
In the field of psychology, hypnosis is a serious science and a unique means of treating mental illness.
For hypnosis, Erikson put forward a unique view, believing that hypnosis is a special connection between hypnotists and hypnotic objects. Therefore, there are multiple ways to hypnotize a person. Erikson once said that he could hypnotize a person even unconsciously.
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Erikson attaches great importance to the application of human behavior in psychotherapy, and he studies the hypnotic phenomenon of traditional Brazilian rituals, and the scientific hypnosis in psychology, which are actually different forms of hypnosis in the same psychological phenomenon. The kind of local ritual hypnosis is a way to adjust the public mental form.
Eriksen collaborated with anthropologist Dr. Magelen on a traditional Balinese hypnosis project, Maglen brought a film of the hypnotic rituals of the indigenous people of Bali, and after analyzing the behavior of various hypnotic states, Erikson summarized the unified laws of action in hypnotic behavior, the implementation and recovery of hypnosis, the depth of hypnosis, and the testing and human enjoyment of hypnosis, which he applied to psychotherapy.
One: Erikson with dyslexia
Erikson was born into a poor family in Nevada, which later even disappeared, and his family moved east in a horse-drawn carriage. He followed his father to settle on a small ranch in Wisconsin.
When Erikson was in elementary school, he began to discover many of his physical defects, he had particular difficulty reading and writing, he had severe dyslexia, and the dictionary was ranked from A to Z. When he was a child, his classmates gave him the nickname "Dictionary", because he often looked at the dictionary for several hours, and the classmates thought that he liked to read the dictionary, but they did not know that he was just looking for a word, because he did not know the order of the dictionary, he started from the first page every time, word by word.
In his studies, he could not distinguish between the letter m and the number 3, so the teacher had to tutor him alone, teaching him to write the words M and 3 every day. Until one day he finally understood that the letter M was like a horse eating with its head down, and the number 3 was like a horse's hoof raised. This is his ability to recognize letters, to be familiar with and adapt to letters and numbers. Because this will be the basis for his future hypnotic application.
For example, many years later his grandmother wanted to learn to read the Bible, and he said to her: Since you already know what a fork looks like, you know what a pitchfork looks like, and the letter M is nothing more than a pitchfork without a handle, and he uses the knowledge he already has in his head to guide his grandmother.
Two: Fight against the disease and eventually defeat the disease
At a young age, Erikson was influenced by a physician and decided to become a doctor.
Unfortunately, in 1919, when he was 17 years old, his college dreams came to naught because he contracted polio (commonly known as polio). He was completely paralyzed, unable to move a single finger, unable to do anything but speak and eye movement.
The doctor told him and his mother that he would die in the early morning. But even if he could survive, he would never be able to stand up, and he would be paralyzed for life.
He asked his mother to adjust the position of the mirror on the stage so that he could see what was outside the window. He wanted to watch the last sunset of his life.
Despite doctors' predictions, Erikson remained alive the next morning, and he remained alive 60 years later.
Erickson's wife, Elizabeth, said that after Eriksen contracted polio, his mother and a nurse took good care of him, and the nurse also developed a method that used a series of hot compresses, massages and moving paralyzed limbs to stimulate Erickson's body.
While the nurse took care of him, she put a towel over Erikson's face so much that he couldn't see anything. She would stroke a part of his body and ask him if he felt her touching that part of his? Erikson said: "I need to guess, left leg, or right leg, my abdomen or my hand, my left hand or my right hand, or my face." It took me a long time to learn where my toes were, and the distinction between my feet and other parts of my body.
When Erikson was sick, they tied him to a rocking chair and left him alone in the room for a while, and he used to look out the window to see what was going on the farm, so he kept looking out the window. The 17-year-old suddenly realized that the wheelchair slowly began to shake, and he thought: What is going on, I am paralyzed, how can the wheelchair shake? Is it that my longing and hope allow some of my muscles to move? Incredibly, the 17-year-old discovered the principle of hypnosis.
Of course, he didn't know that this was the role of hypnosis, but he began to make constant contact, observing how his hand held the spoon, so he stared at his hand and fingers, thinking about how he had picked up the spoon before, until one day, he finally bent his finger, he felt that he was ready, how did he move his arm when he was ready to climb the tree? How do you hold a pitchfork? Before he had ever heard the word hypnosis, he would use memory and consciousness to exchange and strengthen the connection between consciousness and bodily functions.
Within a year of his polio onset, Eriksen regained the mobility of his upper body.
He also barely moved his legs, and doctors advised him to exercise his arms and shoulders more, and to exercise his upper body, he practiced rowing for 1,000 miles.
He went alone for only a few dollars, taking a dip in the Mississippi River on a canoe, simple food and camping equipment.
At first, he couldn't walk or lift the oars to the boat, but after the 1,000-mile journey to the Mississippi River, he was not only able to swim a kilometer, but he could walk again.
This whole process of self-healing, a deep process of self-hypnosis, its power and the rich experiences in it, later became an inexhaustible resource for Erikson to develop his own hypnotherapy.
Practice paddling alone for 1,000 miles
Three: Become a master of psychotherapy hypnosis
After recovering, Erikson faced problems with college and graduate tuition fees, and despite his physical disability, he continued to work at Wisconsin State University. He said he rode his bike across the university city looking for a job and still couldn't find it. Later, he opened a student apartment so that he had a place to live.
He was interested in psychology and criminology, and later he found a job in identifying patients and prisoners, thus gaining a great deal of knowledge of pathological psychology, earning a master's degree in psychology and completing a bachelor's degree in medicine.
In 1930, Erikson entered The Whiskers State Hospital, the most prestigious hospital for psychological research at the time. He was soon promoted from trainee physician to attending physician until he was promoted to director of psychiatry.
At that time, he was already famous for his super high hypnosis technique, and he began to publish his books.
In 1933, he was appointed Director of The Research and Development Department at Iwais Hospital, where he worked for 15 years.
His best-known research was done at Ives Hospital, which examined hypnotic sensitivity in hypnotic subjects. In many of his experiments, there are cases in which hypnosis causes color blindness, and in the hypnotic state, it is impossible to distinguish the color of the jam, but the awake is able to distinguish the color.
Erikson also studied how to change people's behavior through hypnosis, and found that hypnosis could not change people's behavior. Most of his experiments are conducted in the lab, but he also likes to experiment with people in their natural environment.
After 14 years at Ives Hospital, the hospital recommended that Eriksen move to a suitable environment to treat his own allergies. He decided to move to Arizona, where he worked in a private clinic for a while and then quickly ran his own clinic.
His achievements were gradually recognized by society, and then he began his special research and therapeutic work.
He founded the American Association for Clinical Hypnosis, as well as the Society's Press and Editorial Board.
Four: Erikson in psychotherapy
He never confronts the symptoms of individual cases.
Once, when Erikson was treating an insomnia patient, he said: "I specifically helped you think of a treatment that will take up 8 hours of your sleep time, do you think it is worth losing this 8 hours of sleep time?" The patient said he had been losing sleep every night for so long all year, of course.
Erikson said, "Well, when you get home tonight, find a jar of floor wax and a piece of rag, and then wax the floor all night until your normal wake-up time in the morning, and then you'll continue your day's work so you might lose only two hours of sleep." ”
On the fourth night of his treatment, before starting the waxing, the patient told his son that I would close my eyes for a while, and then I slept until I got up at 7 o'clock the next day, and then the patient put the floor wax and rotten cloth at the head of the bed.
Erikson told the patient that if you have a luminous clock, if you sleep for 15 minutes, you still see the time displayed on the clock, and if you are not asleep, then you get up and wipe the floor, and he will never lose sleep again.
Another time, Erikson went to treat a schizophrenic patient with delusions of persecution. When Erikson entered the ward, he was nailing nails in the window, which he thought would prevent the enemy from attacking him. Erikson nailed the nails with him, and was more serious than he was. After the nails were nailed, Erikson suggested sewing up the gaps in the floor as well, so that the enemy would have no chance at all.
Erikson then advised him to work with the hospital's doctors and nurses to step up the hospital's preparedness and expand his security. The patient was accepted one by one, and as the work progressed, his scope of defense and activities continued to expand, and he gradually came out of isolation and loneliness.
This is Erikson's therapeutic style, and he never confronts the symptoms of the case, or attacks the logic of the case.
Erikson's approach to treatment came to be known as "selective management" therapy.
Erikson's observation ability is first-class, and he can detect many problems that others can't detect. The patient's movements all have a certain meaning to him, and he pays great attention to the patient's various expressions, because the expressions reflect the patient's inner nature. He said that any woman who walked into his office could see through her physical movements that the woman's problems.
He accepts all kinds of patients, whether it is a deranged patient or a child playing cards with him, he can be handy.
Erikson's way of working is typically American, he can either live by example, he can express his views through speeches, he can work with people and live in his own world.
When Erikson was able to take time off from his therapeutic work, he taught hundreds of young psychologists. His teaching methods are extremely unique, such as the interpretation of life, or the psychological study of a group of people on a person. There are many people who attend his classes, and there are many electronic devices used, such as video recorders.
Five: Erikson in his later years
Erikson is very kind, a lot of people like him, he loves gardening, his daughter Kerstin. Erikson (MD) said: I've been helping him weed and water all my life. Looking for saplings and plants, he lived on crutches when I was very young. But he would also often come out to stick our busy. What I admire most about him is that whether I bring a leaf into the house for him or go out to work in the garden by himself, it seems to him to be the same enjoyment.
The after-effects of polio followed Erikson throughout his life, and he had several serious relapses, as his poor eyesight and hearing were constantly diminished because of the constant atrophy of muscles. Despite his legendary erection, the muscles of his right half of his body had almost completely lost their strength, and he could only breathe on a small amount of intercostal muscles and diaphragm. In addition, he suffered from gout and mild emphysema.
When he was in his 70s, the morning was the most painful time in his body, and he usually spent hours managing the pain, making a lot of effort to get dressed and shave, but even so, he remained calmly optimistic. One day in 1974, he said to Sade: "At 4 a.m. today, I thought I might die, and at noon I was glad I was alive, and I've been happy since noon until now." ”
Erickson died in 1980, and his wife, Elizabeth, concluded: "He lived to be 78 years old, much longer than he had expected, and until a week before his death, he was still living an active and unremitting life. ”
Erikson often emphasized that his disabilities and defects had a positive impact on his work, and that the pain caused by disability was the best example, that he had spent his days in extreme pain of disability, that the colic in some parts of his body was so intense that some of his muscles were torn off the ligaments, that he used self-hypnosis to suppress some of the pain, and that in the process of dealing with and understanding his own pain, Erikson understood pain far better than other psychotherapists, because he himself grew in pain.
Erikson once said: Life is not a constant layer, although you don't want to, but some times will always end. We have to face reality, and I often wonder how to look at these changes and how to look at the new things you accept. From the age of 40 all the way to the age of 50 and 60, and even to the age of 80. Of course, I adjust myself through self-hypnosis and get a lot of enjoyment from it.
Stephen Gilrigan, Ph.D. in psychology, is Arickson's proud disciple, and Gilrigan says that during this recovery, Erickson deeply understood that there is no answer in the consciousness or mind, and if he asks the mind "what should I do?", then he can't find the answer, but whenever he asks himself the deeper inner subconscious, the subconscious can always tell him the answer. It was the best thing he had learned from his teachers: When you don't know what to do, try to relax and say to the subconscious deep inside, please teach me.
What motivates a person to overcome physical deficiencies? No matter how difficult things are, you have to resolutely get it done. It's basically the only option, you either try to overcome obstacles or you die, and what he means is not afraid of temporary pain, not afraid of the ridicule of others, not afraid of dirty circumstances. Just single-mindedly strive for the goal you want to achieve. His mind is really very powerful.
Where did Erickson learn how to face and endure pain, his understanding of pain is deeper than anyone else's, and the most important thing is to make us realize that pain is tolerable, that any pain is tolerable, and that it is not just some people who can endure it.
From Erikson's story, I deeply felt for the first time that human life can be so strong.