One way of understanding Ericksonian therapy would be by understanding the Milton Model from the world of NLP.

The Milton Model is built of Hypnotic language patterns that pace the listener’s experience allowing him to process the information by himself, without any external additions.

The patterns move the listener into higher levels of thought and more introspective states of mind and therefore induce trance naturally.

Cause and effect: Where what is said proposes that it came to be because of a cause.

Which can be true or not.

For Example. "If you do not eat ,you will not grow".

Mind reading: Where one claims to know what someone else is thinking or feeling..

For Example. "I know that you think I am bad".

Presuppositions: Where something that is not stated is taken for granted.

For Example. " After you relax for a while I wonder what you will be doing next".

Nominalizations: Where a verb is turned into a noun.

For Example. "Trance is a naturally occurring phenomenon".

There are something like 21 language patterns that can be found in any NLP literature.

The point is that those language patterns are only part of Ericksonian therapy.

There is of course also the beautiful part of Tasking.

In which you give the client a task that while performing it he processes the

meanings of what he is doing and thus reaching new conclusions.

To add to all these, we have Embedded commands, Metaphors with nested loops or without and we have Guided Imagery and the workings of Gestalt.

Milton used to say, "Utilize everything".

Putting all those tools together we can do Indirect Hypnosis and achieve wonderful results.

No wonder therefore that Ericksonian therapy is so proclaimed among therapists.

Emil Capone

Certified Trainer of NLP, CCHT and Advanced practitioner of EFT.