Milton Henry Erickson, MD (1901 – 1980) was a psychiatrist and psychologist regarded by many as the foremost practitioner of medical hypnosis in his time.
He wrote “Hypnotic Realities” and many other books dedicated to the “Art of Hypnosis” and which document the many things he learned while treating the many patients he encountered.
He was a scientist and deeply gifted hypnotist.
He was founding president of the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, as well as a fellow of several APAs: The American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychological Association, and The American Psychopathological Association.
He was noted for his often unconventional approach to psychotherapy, such as described in the book “Uncommon Therapy” by Jay Haley; for his extensive use of therapeutic metaphor and story as well as hypnosis; and for coining the term Brief Therapy for his approach of addressing therapeutic changes in relatively few sessions, often only a single session.
Erickson’s work and techniques were ‘modeled’ by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, the co-founders of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
For a very in-depth look at Erickson, written by Jay Haley while Erickson was still alive, click here.