“Ericksonian” Hypnosis and Forgiveness of Self

by Christian Skoorsmith, MA, CH

It is often helpful, in professional settings, to understand both commonalities and distinctives 5-PATH® ® has with other schools of thought in hypnosis and mental health. One of the most commonly recognized forms of hypnosis was spawned by Milton H. Erickson (which itself gave birth to Neuro-Linguistic Programming or “NLP”). When discussing hypnosis or 5-PATH® techniques with other helping professionals, it is valuable to be familiar enough with NLP to have some knowledge of how our approach differs from and is similar to Ericksonian practice.

Milton Erickson was, of course, only one hypnotist (gifted as he truly was). He was so novel in his approach and successful in his results that his techniques were studied by many individuals and continue to be widely influential in both psychotherapeutic and clinical hypnosis environments. What follows is “Ericksonian” in the sense that it looks to practitioners who studied Erickson’s work and who think of themselves as “Ericksonian.”

Four Ericksonian strategies can be seen to have parallels with our work in 5-PATH®, particularly (though not exclusively) in Phase IV (Forgiveness of Self): Developing Resources, Paradoxical Strategies, Reframing, and Belief-System/Self-Image Changes.
Erickson’s therapeutic approaches were based on an assumption that clients have sufficient resources to generate meaningful changes, but that those resources or choices are dissociated from the context(s) in which they are needed. (“Trance-Forming Anxiety” by Christopher J. Beletsis, Brief Therapy Approaches to Treating Anxiety and Depression, Michael D. Yapko, Ed., 1989.) One of the basic goals of therapy is to develop resources and integrate them into the problem contexts. Integration is when resources and learnings are consolidated and woven into the client’s active bank of possible/probably/empowered responses. We see this strategy employed to great effect throughout the 5-PATH® process: in the High-Road exercise in Phase I, the Informed Child Technique (ICT) in Phase II, and the Age Progression in Phase IV are primary examples.

Paradoxical strategies are ones that encourage or exaggerate the symptoms or problem behaviors/attitudes/emotions. Erickson pioneered the utilization of whatever the client offers as the basis for therapy. It assumes that every aspect of the individual has value. This should resonate with 5-PATH® ers who make use of the Secret Language of Feelings and its precept that “all feelings are good.” We see this principle masterfully employed in Phase III, when the client is encouraged to be angry, for instance. Typically, people try to devalue or stop negative feelings. However, encouraging a client to develop the feelings in this “paradoxical” way does three things: (1) by accepting the feeling there is less resistance (since the client is being encouraged to do what she has been doing already). (2) It gives the hypnotist and client the opportunity to learn any positive value/function of the symptom (think of the transformation of the Mistake-Making Part/MMP to the Protective Part/PP in Phase IV, for instance). (3) It may implicitly demonstrate to the client that she can control the feeling(s) because she has intentionally exaggerated it and expressed it in a variety of ways. This increased understanding of one’s own control can be another “resource” of the client brought to bear in the process of 5-PATH® hypnosis.

Sometimes clients experience a conflict between wanting to feel self-assured and safe, but actually feeling anxious and afraid (for example). One Ericksonian approach to resolving this conflict is to develop a full experience of each side. We can see this at play in the High-Road/Low-Road exercise and the forgiveness work in Phases III and IV. The integration of these different “sides” is culminated in the MMP-to-PP-to-Bodyguard process in Phase IV. In Ericksonian work, moving back-and-forth between the two “sides” is believed to make it easier for the client to bring the (positive) resources into the “problem” state – in other words, greater integration. It also has the benefit of lowering resistance, since the client is paradoxically being encouraged to experience, validate, explore, and utilize the “problem” behavior or emotion. The client doesn’t have to fight against their symptoms and is thereby freed to follow instructions/suggestions more deeply.

Reframing is a buzz-word in NLP and refers to a commonly held presupposition that a “frame” already exists, a context in/through which a situation or behavior is understood, an interpretation of the symptom or “problem.” Reframing is the substitution of a different perspective for understanding the given problem. This often includes the presumption that the feeling (or symptom or problem) actually holds some benefit for the client. We, of course, know this from the Secret Language of Feelings. A key reframe is to highlight the benefit of the “problem,” thereby turning it into an ally (something we are well familiar with in our work in FOS – and really, throughout 5-PATH®). The “problem” is often a way for the PP to do the best it can (with its limited perspective and tools). As we know from Phase IV work, seeing the PP or symptom/problem as an attempt to help the client empowers the client to dial that behavior back. In 5-PATH® we do this explicitly when we reassign the PP to the Bodyguard, essentially offering more appropriate ways for the PP/Bodyguard to assist the Self. Ericksonian hypnosis and NLP encourage “talking to” the negative behavior/feeling/belief to understand it, which might be a parallel to the initial dissociation of the MMP in FOS, but I believe 5-PATH® is advantageous in that it raises the emotions (abreaction) involved and thereby elevates the transformative potential of the reframe/insight.

I add here that use of 7th Path Self-hypnosis® offers an element that Ericksonian/NLP hypnosis often misses: a direct re-information of the subconscious. As opposed to just NLP or even 5-PATH® alone, including 7th Path gives the client more than a reframe. It gives her alternate programming that directly contradicts/replaces/re-informs her, rather than relying on analogy or hope that the subconscious finds the new frame powerful enough to supplant the (deeply rooted) previous beliefs/programming. I haven’t seen this same kind of direct refutation of limiting beliefs as a prominent part of NLP, as Ericksonian hypnosis prefers indirect suggestion as a way of bypassing resistance and the critical factor.

This leads us naturally to a discussion of Belief-System/Self-Image Changes. I find that “ego boosting” is best done at virtually every stage of hypnosis because clients almost invariably have some poor image of themselves, some deficit, some belief of inadequacy. As hypnotists, we know all too well the self-fulfilling prophecy that negative self-talk and imagery produces. Ericksonian and NLP techniques often utilize some form of age progression to experience a heightened resource state, and so do we in 5-PATH®. We also go the other way in utilizing the ICT to bring the present resources (adult understanding, perspective, conviction, insight, and so on) to the child, empowering her to experience troublesome scenarios with greater understanding. Ericksonian techniques rely on analogy for this kind of work but can also use role play (a kind of age progression) as a way to integrate a new self-image.

Both Ericksonian and 5-PATH® work presupposes and relies on the existence and utilization of the client’s own resources in making the desired change. The client understands themselves far more than we could ever do and speaks their own experiential and symbolic language with complete fluency. Our techniques capitalize on the client’s native wisdom, coached and guided by evidence-based methodology, to achieve that desired end efficiently and profoundly.

Christian Skoorsmith, MA, CH, is a full-time hypnotist/hypnotherapist in Seattle, WA at WholeHealth Hypnosis. He was named one of the “Top Three Hypnotherapists” in Seattle in 2019, and has been recognized for excellence by the BBB, Bark, and the Greater Seattle Business Association.