Although I do not consider insight to be the most important component in therapy, it can be very helpful when it occurs. I conduct therapy from a problem-solving perspective, which is based on the assumption that people will live happier more fulfilled lives when they are able to function as capable problem solvers. If you […]

During a recent meeting of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Phoenix, Marilia Baker turned to me and said, “Don’t you think that just as ‘suggestion’ is the golden rule of hypnosis, ‘utilization’ is the golden rule of Ericksonian hypnosis?” She then proposed that in Ericksonian hypnosis these two concepts are conjoined. Indeed, utilization itself […]

I just recently delivered a talk at the 2016 Brief Therapy Conference in San Diego and made a promise to my audience that I would send a one page summary of the talk and attach a link to the slides, which can be found at my website. Milton Erickson often warned his students of the […]

For my keynote address at the Erickson Congress in Puerto Vallarta, I shared a memorable experience when I was confronted with the urgent needs of a former patient of Milton Erickson. The man was experiencing a full-blown psychotic episode. He had the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia and was absolutely insistent that he must “find Erickson” […]

During my earliest days of studying Milton Erickson’s work, there were many fascinating premises which I could not understand. One of these was his warning that you need to leave some small component of the clinical problem in place. In other words, it is a mistake to strive for full clinical success (to learn more […]

Throughout life, we find ourselves forced to make choices, “Do I choose A, or do I choose B?” And in most instances, it is a false dilemma. Dichotomous reasoning leads us to think, “If I do one, I cannot do the other.” Yet, often, we can do both. This is why Ericksonian practitioners are able […]

Those who use hypnosis for clinical problem solving are often trained in the observation and management of states of consciousness. While changes in consciousness can help produce new opportunities for learning and performance on therapeutic tasks, it is a change in mindset that governs the overall response of a person to his or her life. When […]

There is a type of thinking that is so deeply ingrained within Western culture that it seems the only way to think. In science-based education we are taught to advance toward defined outcomes by means of goal-oriented thinking.  This type of thinking is a skill that enables us to improve our circumstances by setting goals, […]

Anyone who has ever studied a foreign language, knows that with new vocabulary comes new ways of seeing and understanding the world. As an example, if you ask a German to describe a suspension bridge, he is likely to say it is a thing of beauty. However, if you ask a Spaniard to describe a […]