Ericksonian Hypnosis
At the heart of Introspective Hypnosis is the hypnotic trance allowing you to connect with the power of your subconscious mind.
And the Milton Erickson hypnosis technique is the main hypnotic technique I use in my sessions.
Born in Nevada, America in 1901, Milton Erickson was a very successful psychotherapist specialising in medical hypnosis and family therapy. But he's probably more widely known for influencing the creation of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
"Ericksonian hypnosis stresses the importance
of the interactive therapeutic relationship and purposeful engagement of the inner resources
and experiential life of the subject."
You see, Dr. Erickson believed that, regardless of whether you were in a hypnotic trance or not, hypnotic suggestions could be made as long as they resonated with your subconscious mind.
And this is the most important aspect of hypnosis.
Because, contrary to what you may believe, when you are under a hypnotic trance you cannot be made to say or do anything that will harm you in any way. Your True Self is always looking out for you and won’t allow this.
In fact, one of the key aspects of Ericksonian hypnotherapy is encouraging resistance – where we acknowledge there may be things you don’t wish to reveal in the session and so we focus on the things you do want to discuss.
This allows your conscious mind to relax, knowing it is in safe hands – giving your True Self the green light to start the healing process.
Harnessing the power of stories
One of the most effective methods Dr. Erickson used in his practice was the use of therapeutic metaphors and stories.
Every person’s map of the world is as unique as their thumbprint. There are no two people alike. No two people who understand the same sentence the same way… So in dealing with people, you try not to fit them to your concept of what they should be
– Dr. Milton Erickson
So, while talking to a client during a session, Dr. Erickson would break off into telling a story. And hidden in this story would be certain language patterns and suggestions to help the client overcome whatever their issue was.
However, Introspective Hypnosis bypasses the need for me to construct a story with complex language patterns.
Because in order for you to overcome whatever’s holding you back in life, you just need to revisit the stories you already know.
The 'false' versions of past events we spoke about earlier.
Where the edited recollections from your past are now obscuring the valuable facts needed to overcome your life-limiting beliefs. Which ultimately stops you from living the life you deserve.