A Teaching Seminar With Milton H. Erickson

I think I'd have to say this book is every bit as important to understanding Erickson and his methods as  Hypnotherapy: An Exploratory Casebook . It's similarly broad, and shares quite a few stories with the Casebook, but told in new ways. The inclusion of Erickson's interactions with his students throughout the teaching provides an invaluable angle on all those "old" lessons - and there's plenty new, as well. There's not only a lot to learn here about hypnotherapy, but also about psychotherapy in general, and the human mind's irrational but predictable patterns.The appendix, which makes up a solid 20% of the book, provides a very useful meta-commentary wherein Zeig and Erickson go over a portion of the seminar and pause to discuss various things as they unfold. It's a sort of director's commentary, and being able to observe Erickson discuss the why and how of his methods in such detail is a privilege. The whole book is full of such insights, but the appendix is especially rich. I'm not one to highlight books, but I highlighted a good 20-30 passages in the course of this one.I'd also add that it's a good read for the analytical depressive who wants to get better but feels they can't possibly. I recommended it to just such a friend, who devoured the book in a weekend and promptly found themselves in a forward-thinking state of epiphany. As Erickson liked to say, the patient does all the work - the therapist just creates a fertile environment for change. For some, that lesson is just what they need to break the illusion of being powerless.

A very interesting book. Being that it is a transcript, it requires a bit of imagination to follow some of the dialogue and description, but I found it to be most informative. Milton Erickson's methods are an eye opener to say the least. This book has blasted away a number of my long held assumptions. As I write this I am not completely through with the entire book, but I have already gotten my money's worth. Which leads me to the next topic of my review. As a first time customer, I am quite impressed with worldofbooksusa. The book arrived from out of the country in very timely fashion. Also it was in very good condition (as described) at a very reasonable price. I'm happy all the way around.

Excellent material from Erickson, which has so many layers that it will take multiple reads to pick up the majority of possible learnings. This is great material for people to continue learning hypnosis. Very good stuff!

This book is a direct transcript of a week long hypnosis/psychotherapy seminar performed by Milton Erickson at the end of his life, and at the height of his expertise. It reads with the hypnotic fluidity of a good novel while teaching a tremendous amount- about many things. Erickson weaves his way through various teaching tales while interacting with people in the seminar. The reader is pulled down into one story, only to emerge back into the world of a previous story from a few pages back. While adrift between worlds, the reader learns an awful lot about psychotherapy, hypnosis, human behavior, farm life, developmental processes- to name a few.

Brilliantly insightful. Erickson has much to be studied. Zeig did a great job converting this seminar to a valuable book... next best thing to having been there...

This one came on 6/22! I started reading it, and I couldn't put it down. I felt as if I were there in person, at that seminar, and I'm still learning. What an incredible experience! I am so glad that this and other Ericksoniana are available for all of us, professional and otherwise, to enjoy and to learn from.

As a student studying psychology, this is a great find. Throughout reading the book one notices that Erickson does not really use psychological theory to bring about change in a patient. Erickson sneaks in life experience implicitly in the stories he tells the group. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Erickson is asked about life and death. Erickson makes the joke, " just remember to wake up", I laughed at how simple but genius this statement was.

I read this 14 years ago and wanted it for my library. Felt like I was at his feet learning.

Good read, and inspiring.

Excellent pour comprendre comment le docteur Erickson formait ses élèves. Je lis et relis se livre avec plaisir, un tres bon retour aux bases de l'hypnose.