The Most Important Skill in Therapy

If there is any single skill that might be used to summarize what the most effective Ericksonian therapists are able to do really well, it would be the general ability to connect with others in deep and compelling ways. Whether you are describing the therapist’s use of effective communication, interpersonal flexibility, skillful observation, or love […]

The Trans-Mental and Trans-Temporal Problem Solver

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 […]

Can You Be Like Erickson?

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” […]

Is Hypnosis Compatible with Non-Directive Process Work?

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 […]

Tell Me a Story: The Power of Storytelling

“Information brings knowledge, but stories bring wisdom.” These words guide my clinical work more than any others, for I have learned that it is the power of the patient’s story, rather than that of the patient’s dogged data, that defines and informs psychotherapy’s curative properties. Or, as Mark Twain once put it, “Never let the […]