MAY 2008, VOLUME 36 NUMBER 2, Abstract 1
AN ERICKSONIAN APPROACH TO HYPNOSIS: THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL OF HYPNOSIS; THE NATURE OF HYPNOTIC “STATES”; MULTILEVEL COMMUNICATION AND INDIRECTION; AND WHY ALL HYPNOSIS IS NOT SELF-HYPNOSIS
Jeffrey K. Zeig, The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Phoenix, Arizona
From a phenomenological perspective, hypnosis can be deconstructed into five component subsets in three categories: intrapsychic, interpersonal, and contextual. The five subsets are: altering attention; modifying intensity; fostering dissociation; eliciting responses; and defining the situation as hypnosis. Each subset is explained and illustrated herein. The synergistic combination of some, or all, of the five sets elicits in the patient the experience of hypnosis. In this position paper, the nature of “states” is explained, as is the purpose of multilevel communication and indirection. Also addressed are the distinctions among hypnosis, self-hypnosis and related “states” including meditation, active imagination, autogenic training, mindfulness, and relaxation.