Word magic and the rhetoric of common sense: Erickson's metaphors for mind

Abstract

Milton Erickson did not produce a systematic theory of psychotherapy. His talent was as a storyteller, inventing metaphors and more extended healing fictions for his patients. A great many of Erickson's cases did not involve hypnosis in any conventional sense of the term. He used a wide range of persuasive rhetorical forms to encourage behavioral change in his patients. Nevertheless, taken together his work represents a significant shift in paradigm from prevailing schools of psychotherapy. Erickson captured the power of word magic in the language of common sense. This coupling of magical power with folk psychology accounts for much of his current popularity. Attempts to experimentally test his techniques are likely to be unsuccessful because these techniques were unique inventions tailored to the individual idiosyncrasies of patient and context. Although regularities in his work can be found, Erickson's most important contributions are not techniques but changes in the values or ethos under which psychotherapy is conducted.