Methodology Principles: Each person is a unique individual, so therapeutic approach must be tailored to that individual. The technique fits the person, not vice versa. “Patients are patients because they are out of rapport with their own unconscious.” “Patients are people who have had too much programming-so much outside programming that they have lost touch with their inner selves”. (Milton Erickson 1976) In Ericksonian work intervention is outcome-focused. Outcome is framed at the level of identity: how the person relates to other people and the world. Healthy adjustment. Patient enabled to live and participate in regular life, interact with other humans and contribute to society in a fulfilling way. Erickson’s approach was strategic: the clinician initiates and designs a particular approach to a problem, and controls the process. The patient’s unconscious supplies the content. “It is the patient who does the therapy. The therapist only furnishes the climate, the weather. That is all. The patient has to do all the work” In Karen Horney’s words: “Patients enter therapy not to cure their neuroses, but to perfect them.” If the patient is left to control the session they will unconsciously do whatever is necessary to prevent real therapeutic change. It is the clinician’s role to negotiate congruent goals and mobilize the patient’s resources to deliver them. “Don't give what is asked for, give what is called for, and at the appropriate time.” It is always up to the patient to choose their own solutions. This helps them to respect their own values and learn self-discipline. The therapist must stand by and be available when called for. Help is only offered to the extent that the patient wants it, and the therapist does not interfere when the patient is doing good work. Specific features of Erickson’s methods: Elicitation Utilization Rapport/ Deep trance identification Confusion Indirect communication: stories, metaphor, therapeutic tasks Strategic and outcome-focused approach
Methodology Principles: Each person is a unique individual, so therapeutic approach must be tailored to that individual. The technique fits the person, not vice versa. “Patients are patients because they are out of rapport with their own unconscious.” “Patients are people who have had too much programming-so much outside programming that they have lost touch with their inner selves”. (Milton Erickson 1976) In Ericksonian work intervention is outcome-focused. Outcome is framed at the level of identity: how the person relates to other people and the world. Healthy adjustment. Patient enabled to live and participate in regular life, interact with other humans and contribute to society in a fulfilling way. Erickson’s approach was strategic: the clinician initiates and designs a particular approach to a problem, and controls the process. The patient’s unconscious supplies the content. “It is the patient who does the therapy. The therapist only furnishes the climate, the weather. That is all. The patient has to do all the work” In Karen Horney’s words: “Patients enter therapy not to cure their neuroses, but to perfect them.” If the patient is left to control the session they will unconsciously do whatever is necessary to prevent real therapeutic change. It is the clinician’s role to negotiate congruent goals and mobilize the patient’s resources to deliver them. “Don't give what is asked for, give what is called for, and at the appropriate time.” It is always up to the patient to choose their own solutions. This helps them to respect their own values and learn self-discipline. The therapist must stand by and be available when called for. Help is only offered to the extent that the patient wants it, and the therapist does not interfere when the patient is doing good work. Specific features of Erickson’s methods: Elicitation Utilization Rapport/ Deep trance identification Confusion Indirect communication: stories, metaphor, therapeutic tasks Strategic and outcome-focused approach
Erickson-Manual-418.docx