How to view Ericksonian Principles
I think the way to look at âEricksonianismâ is that we should take the lead from the man
himself. By this I mean, Erickson, would have been uncomfortable with the idea of his
approach being seen as a âschool of thoughtâ. Erickson was an integrative practitioner when
this discipline did not exist. We as practitioners of Ericksonian Hypno-Psychotherapy need to
show the behavioural flexibility that Erickson had with his clients, but must be mindful of
not mimicking. Also, we should use some of these approaches like salt, a little bit makes a
good thing taste better, but too much will ruin the meal. All too many practitioners over do
the language patterns or metaphors in their working with clients, sadly sometimes
Ericksonians seem more interested in being clever rather than being effective therapists. No
one can do Ericksonian hypnosis like Erickson, in the same way no one can do hypnosis the
way I do it. We should embrace Ericksonian approaches, but be flexible enough to use
whatever approach is going to be most beneficial to our clients and not being tied to one
school of therapeutic thought.
