Ericksonian Hypnosis, created by Milton Ericksonian, is a type of hypnosis that relies on indirect suggestion to access subconscious resources within the client. Carnival or comedy hypnosis uses direct suggestion and trickery in order to get a person to “preform”. Ericksonian suggestions a subtle technique where the client and hypnotherapist work together to find and utilize the client’s own strengths. The client achieves a trans state of mind, in which the conscious mind relaxes and the client can access deeper parts of the subconscious mind. In this state, the client is able to get curious about his/her own internal strengths, enter a state of learning, and then return to the conscious mind to utilize (put to work) the resources (tools) they discovered.
I began to learn about practicing hypnotherapy in 2015 after starting my own journey to heal trauma. Research studies show that Ericksonian hypnosis could successfully treat trauma, mental illness, and physical symptoms. I attended my first training in New Your City and later pursued an extensive training program through the Milton H. Erickson foundation in Arizona. Although I still use hypnotherapy techniques weekly, the overwhelming majority of my clients prefer traditional forms of therapy. The value of hypnotherapy for most outweighs the fear of having seen comedy shows or television shows where the subject of hypnosis simply loses control.
In 2021 I was contacted by a man, Adam, seeking alternative methods to medication in treating his long-term severe anxiety. He had read about Ericksonian hypnotherapy and searched for hypnotherapists. He was surprised to find someone trained in his own area, so he immediately scheduled an appointment. Being in his late 30’s now, he had suffered from somewhat debilitating anxiety since his first year in college. He has a history of trying many modalities of traditional therapy as well as several different medications. His anxiety was nearly crippling at times. From the outside, one would not guess his level of struggle. He was even the CEO of a multi-national corporation.
He started his own business and also engaged in several challenging hobbies. Behind his success, however, he continued to have difficulty sleeping, impaired social interactions, and thoughts of death controlling nearly every moment. He would not engage in any activity that took him more than five miles from a hospital, as he wanted to be near one “in case” a threatening physical health condition. He would frequently get in his car and drive to an emergency room, waiting in the parking lot for a heart attack. The attack never happened. The anxiety continued. He became disillusioned of both medication and counseling, feeling as though no matter how many treatment attempts he made, nothing made an impact.
Adam was nervous but honest about his enthusiasm around attempting to finally control his anxiety. He really thought he had the answers within himself, and he wanted support and guidance as he accessed deeper resources within his subconscious. Initially it was difficult for him to allow hypnotherapy to start. He was curious, but also controlled by fear. Being a person caught in his own mind, he had a lot of thoughts to process and could easily distract himself allowing his conscious to become quieter. When we finally started induction, his fear controlled the session. He would often be distracted not only by thoughts, but by physical symptoms as well. He would stop a session by rubbing his heart, again the old thoughts of having a heart attack were ruling.
By continuing to use suggestion and different induction techniques, he was able to achieve a trans state. We were not working on resourcing, just working on keeping his body and mind calm and quiet. He became better and then good at relaxing. He would return from trans states claiming he felt more rested than even after a night’s sleep. Then the inevitable happened during session. He began to panic. Working together, me guiding and him observing, he was able to make it through this difficult experience.
He returned to a state of full consciousness elated, powerful. He had faced down his fear and felt as though he had learned something about himself. As can be the case after achieving a trans state, his ability to express exactly what had occurred was limited, but Adam was certain something meaningful had happened. We completed a few more sessions just to solidify his progress. He no longer is preoccupied by his physical complaints or overwhelming thoughts of death. Occasionally, he returns for hypnotherapy sessions before he engages in his highly competitive hobbies, but not for anxiety. He enjoys the visualization process and uses hypnotherapy to increase his confidence in preforming.
Tomi Barbour
Licensed Professional Counselor
tomicwyo@gmail.com
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