Making Ericksonian Stories Work - NLP & Hypnosis
Summary
TLDRThe speaker explores the hypnotic power of stories in therapeutic settings, contrasting diagnostic and dialogic approaches. Diagnostic work involves identifying issues and offering solutions, while dialogic work co-creates with the client, allowing for a more adaptive and resourceful process. The use of metaphors, particularly in an Eriksonian storytelling manner, is highlighted as a potent method for mind-shifting, especially when tailored to the client's openness and resistance levels. The importance of understanding problem structures and the client's readiness to engage with therapeutic narratives is emphasized for effective results.
Takeaways
- 📚 The script discusses the use of stories in hypnosis and therapy, highlighting their potential to be hypnotic and mind-shifting.
- 🔍 A distinction is made between 'diagnostic work' and 'dialogic work', with the former involving a diagnosis and solution, and the latter focusing on co-creation with the client.
- 🤔 The speaker favors a dialogic approach, which engages with the client's unconscious mind and resources without imposing external ideas.
- 🌟 Clean language is cited as an example of a dialogic approach, where the facilitator minimizes presuppositions to allow the client to connect with what's relevant to them.
- 🦂 The story of the Scorpion and the Turtle is used as an example of an Eriksonian metaphor, which can be used diagnostically to address a client's issue.
- 🌱 Metaphors and stories should emerge from the client's own experiences in a dialogic approach, rather than being imposed by the facilitator.
- 🧠 The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the structure of problems, which comes with time and experience, rather than from a formulaic approach.
- 🔄 The effectiveness of a story or metaphor in therapy depends on the client's openness to the messages within it.
- 💡 Working diagnostically can inform a dialogic process, allowing solutions to adapt and be unique to the client's situation.
- 🔑 The speaker suggests that having a strong sense of self can help individuals not take things personally and avoid cognitive dissonance when misunderstood.
- 🌐 The script concludes by emphasizing the importance of knowing why one is telling a story in therapy and the value of integrating diagnostic insights within a dialogic, co-creative dialogue.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the video script?
-The main topic discussed in the video script is the use of Ericsonian storytelling in hypnosis and therapy, and the distinction between diagnostic and dialogic approaches in therapeutic work.
What does the term 'Ericsonian stories' refer to in the context of the script?
-In the context of the script, 'Ericsonian stories' refers to the use of stories as a therapeutic tool, as practiced by Milton Erickson in his approach to hypnosis.
What is the difference between diagnostic work and dialogic work as mentioned in the script?
-Diagnostic work involves assessing a client's situation, identifying what is wrong, and offering a solution. Dialogic work, on the other hand, is a co-creative process with the client, where the therapist does not diagnose but engages in a back-and-forth dialogue to unfold solutions.
Why are stories considered to be hypnotic according to the script?
-Stories are considered hypnotic because they draw people in, create absorption, and can be a powerful mind-shifting technique.
How does the speaker describe the process of working with clean language in a dialogic approach?
-The speaker describes working with clean language as facilitating a psychoactive process with minimal presuppositions, creating space for the client to connect with what's relevant to them without outside imposition of ideas.
Can diagnostic information be used in a dialogic process according to the script?
-Yes, diagnostic information can inform dialogue, but it is not necessary for working dialogically. It should be held with a loose enough grip to allow the solution to adapt and come alive uniquely for the client.
What is the significance of metaphors in the dialogic approach as described in the script?
-In the dialogic approach, metaphors that emerge from the client are significant as they drive the co-creative process and are simple, reflecting the client's own experiences and insights.
How does the speaker use the story of the Scorpion and the Turtle in a therapeutic session?
-The speaker uses the story of the Scorpion and the Turtle as an Ericksonian metaphor to help a client understand not to take things personally and to recognize the nature of things, which is not necessarily about them.
What was the outcome of the therapeutic sessions involving the use of Ericksonian storytelling as described in the script?
-The outcome was positive, with the client achieving a significant amount of resolution, improved sleep, peace of mind, and a better ability to manage the situation and create change.
What is the key to making a story effective in therapy according to the speaker?
-The key to making a story effective in therapy is the degree to which the client is open to the messages within it. If the client is open and curious, storytelling work can be incredibly powerful.
Why is it important for the therapist to understand the structure of problems when using metaphors in therapy?
-Understanding the structure of problems is important because it allows the therapist to select or create metaphors that resonate with the client's specific issue, making the therapeutic intervention more effective.
Outlines
📚 The Power of Storytelling in Hypnosis and Therapy
This paragraph introduces the concept of using stories, particularly in the context of hypnosis and therapy, as a powerful tool for mind shifting. The speaker acknowledges the hypnotic nature of stories and their ability to draw people in, creating absorption. The paragraph also presents a distinction between diagnostic work, which involves analyzing a client's issue and offering a solution, and dialogic work, which is a co-creative process without diagnosis. The speaker expresses a preference for the dialogic approach, emphasizing its alignment with the client's unconscious mind and resources, but also acknowledges the value of diagnostic work when integrated into a dialogic process.
🤔 Exploring Diagnostic and Dialogic Approaches in Practice
The speaker delves into the practical differences between diagnostic and dialogic approaches using examples. Diagnostic work is exemplified by the use of metaphors based on a diagnosis, such as the story of the Scorpion and the Turtle, to convey a message or lesson to the client. The dialogic approach is illustrated through the use of clean language, where the facilitator minimizes presuppositions to allow the client to connect with what's relevant to them without external imposition. The speaker also discusses the importance of being open to the messages within stories and the role of the facilitator in guiding the client through metaphors that emerge from the client's own experiences.
🌱 The Transformative Impact of Ericksonian Storytelling
This paragraph discusses the transformative effects of using Ericksonian storytelling in therapy sessions. The speaker recounts a specific client case where diagnostic and dialogic methods were combined to address a family conflict causing the client distress. Metaphors such as handling a cactus and respecting its nature were used to help the client understand not to take things personally. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being responsive and adaptive in therapy, watching for shifts in the client's perspective, and nurturing a co-creative dialogue. The client's significant improvement after the sessions highlights the effectiveness of Ericksonian storytelling when combined with a dialogic approach.
🔑 Unlocking the Potential of Metaphors and Storytelling
The final paragraph wraps up the discussion by emphasizing the importance of understanding the structure of problems and the client's openness to the messages within stories. The speaker suggests that while there is no formula for diagnosing the structure of a problem, experience and good mentoring can accelerate this understanding. They also caution against using a random selection of Ericksonian stories without a dialogic interaction, as this could lead to a less effective therapeutic process. The speaker concludes by encouraging feedback, sharing the content with others, and subscribing to the channel for more resources.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Hypnosis
💡Diagnostic Work
💡Dialogic Work
💡Clean Language
💡Metaphor
💡Eriksonian Storytelling
💡Resistance
💡Personal Sovereign
💡Cognitive Dissonance
💡Co-creative Dialogue
💡Psychological Grip
Highlights
Ericsonian storytelling is a hypnotic technique that can be used in therapy to create mind shifts.
Stories are inherently hypnotic as they draw people in and create absorption.
A distinction is made between diagnostic work, which involves identifying issues and offering solutions, and dialogic work, which is a co-creative process with the client.
Dialogic work does not diagnose but engages in a back-and-forth with the client, allowing for unique solutions to emerge.
Diagnostic work can inform dialogue but is not necessary for a dialogic approach.
An example of dialogic work is using clean language, which facilitates a psychoactive process with minimal presuppositions.
Metaphors in dialogic work usually come from the client and are simple, reflecting their own experiences.
Diagnostic work involves making hypotheses about the client's situation and offering solutions based on these hypotheses.
An example of diagnostic work includes using metaphors like 'the scorpion and the turtle' to convey messages about not taking things personally.
The importance of being open to the messages within a story for it to be effective in therapy.
Resistance to outside information can be lower when working dialogically, as clients are more connected to their own materials.
The value of storytelling in therapy is emphasized, especially when the client is open and curious about the therapist's offerings.
The process of diagnosing the structure of a problem is complex and typically developed over time through experience with clients.
The effectiveness of metaphor work is enhanced when the therapist understands the psychological grip a problem has on the client.
The session concludes with the importance of knowing why you're telling a story in therapy and the potential impact it can have.
A call to action for viewers to engage with the content, share it with friends, and subscribe to the channel for more resources.
Transcripts
so I've had a request come in via the
comments to share some thoughts on Eric
sonian stories so I'm assuming most
people know what that refers to Milton
Ericson as part of his approach to
hypnosis would often tell people stories
often in a hypnotic way there's an
argument that could be made that all
stories are hypnotic they draw people in
they create absorption and that this is
a powerful mind shifting technique I
happen to agree with this but I want to
give a little bit more on this topic and
offer a few contrasts that will help
make sense of this so first thing I want
to share quickly is a distinction
between diagnostic work and dialogic
work okay now diagnostic work is simply
you look at what's going on or you
listen to the client and you come up
with a diagnosis as to what is off you
know what is wrong how are the gears
crunching here rather than meshing and
then you offer a solution okay or you
take somebody through a process that
creates a solution in alignment with how
you have diagnos things I'll give an
example of this in just a moment a
dialogic approach is different a
dialogic approach doesn't diagnose at
all dialogic approach just engages in a
cocreation with the client there's a a
back and forth and difference unfolds
from that and if we take that idea that
somebody's unconscious mind is powerful
adaptive has all the resources it needs
as we engage in this co-creation the
approach or the solution that gets
created that unfolds from it is
generally pretty healthy and generally
pretty ecological so I really like
working this way I like working
dialogically and have a bias towards
working dialogically but I also work
diagnostically and I want to point out
that whilst these things can be in
Conflict they are not necessarily in
Conflict okay so if you
diagnose and you have an idea right this
is what's going on and I think this is a
good way of treating this so long as you
hold that with a loose enough grip you
can then bring that into a dialogic
process okay which actually enables the
solution to adapt and really uh come
alive in a unique way for the client so
diagnostic information can inform
dialogue but you don't need diagnostic
information to work dialogically so I
want to give a couple of examples here
of um in action or in practice what the
difference between Diagnostic and
dialogic might be so one of the best
examples of working dialogically is
working with groan clean language now
the aim with groy and clean language is
You are facilitating a very psychoactive
process with somebody but you're keep
keeping your presuppositions to a real
minimum okay and this is to create as
much space as possible for the client to
connect with what's relevant to them
without any outside imposition of ideas
and you as the facilitator yes you're
helping people connect to what they have
within them but you are your job is to
help to reweave it in different ways and
maybe blow on various Embers and so they
can catch light but it's very much
driven by what comes out from the client
now in this kind of work uh metaphors
emerged but they emerge from the client
and they're usually simple metaphors not
complex metaphors like somebody might
say well it was like you know like a
knife in my heart or something like that
or they might say you know uh when I
feel that freedom I feel like an eagle
soaring above a canyon or something like
this so the the metaphors that come out
tend to come out from the client so this
is very dial logic as in it's a
backwards and forwards it's a
co-creation uh when I'm doing this kind
of work which I never do purely but it's
worth practicing purely and I'm just
there to weave together in different
ways or to encourage of weaving together
in different ways what is coming out
from the client however I also work
diagnostically now let me give you an
example of working
diagnostically I work with a client
recently who
uh was deeply upset by a family
situation right things had been said and
he was feeling that it was unjust and it
was
unfair and basically that he personally
had been wronged he was taking it very
personally now listen to me saying that
he was taking it very personally that's
me
diagnosing right my diagnosis of the
situation is he was making all sorts of
meanings
out of um out of what have been said
that were potentially saying things
about him and I and nobody wants to be
in the wrong they you know there's a
line I often use with people which is
relates to the song uh oh Lord Please
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood a lot of
people suffer from that they cannot be
comfortable with being misunderstood why
is that well they cannot be comfortable
being
misunderstood because deep down they
don't have that strong certainty or
strong sense of self under the surface
that says no actually this is the way it
is so they're being led into doubt led
into cognitive dissonance when they are
misunderstood and they feel threatened
now all of that hypothesis I just gave
that's all diagnosis is it true maybe
maybe not maybe it's closer to the truth
I'm basically runal diagnosis based on
models I've worked with clients for a
long long time I've built up a lot of
models in my mind as to
uh problem patterns and how problems
form uh what kind of binds what kind of
internal binds there are and um I
immediately go right I think I see a
pattern here if that pattern was to
dissolve that would be extremely useful
now this is where for me I often work
with kind of er exonian style metaphors
of Storytelling now an ER exonian
metaphor is basically a story a clean
language metaphor is a much simpler
actual type metaphor
so to give an example one of the things
that I did with this particular client
was I um told the
story of the Scorpion and the turtle
okay and the story of the Scorpion and
the turtle if you don't know it goes
like this I'm not going to do this in a
particularly hypnotic way because this
is not a hypnosis session right now and
uh I just want to get this information
across so I'm just giving you the story
not necessarily how I would deliver the
story there's a hypnotic delivery to
stories that's uh worth being aware that
will be there so the story of the
Scorpion and the turtle is simply this
uh one day there was a turtle at the
edge of a river and uh he was mining his
own business and a scorpion showed up
and said excuse me I wonder if you could
help me I need to get across to the
other side of the river but I can't swim
would it be possible for me to ride
across the river on your back if you
could swim across I could ride across in
your back now the Turtle says um what
are you crazy I'm not going to let you
ride on my back you're a scorpion you
know you'll just sting me and then I
I'll die you know why would I why would
I take that risk why would I take that
chance the Scorpion says oh come on
that's ridiculous why on Earth would I
sting you I mean if I got on your back
and we were halfway across the river and
I stung you you became paralyzed and
died you would uh you would die but I
would die too because I would drown
right that would be crazy why would I
sting you now the turtle thinks well
that makes sense actually that's pretty
logical and he's a good-hearted
character so the Turtle says okay hop on
I'll take you across halfway across the
river he feels this burning pain in the
back of his neck suddenly and and feels
the uh the paralyzing Venom start to
enter his system and his breathing
starts to shut down with his last Ghasts
he says to the Scorpion why why and the
Scorpion says because I'm a
scorpion okay now I told this story and
I told many other stories other
metaphors I used with this client I said
you know when you're handling a cactus
it's worth being aware of the nature of
a cactus there's nothing wrong with a
cactus but you need to be a bit careful
when you handle a cactus cuz they're
prickly I said you know particularly
those ones I used to have these ones
when I was a kid with little hooks in
and they were terrible they get hooked
in the skin of your fingers you have to
be very careful if you're handling them
but absolutely beautiful you know I used
to love having these
cacti so there's all sorts of metaphors
that I'm sharing and these are just a
couple that I shared with this client
around not taking things personally
recognizing that things have a nature
and that nature isn't necessarily about
you okay so this was based on a
diagnosis as to how
he was creating this problem how he was
holding it in place how he was creating
his upset because the issue was the
upset that he was experiencing the upset
that he was creating and of course
another not of course but another aspect
to it was the fact that the family
members he'd had the disagreement The
Fallout with who had said things that he
had found hurtful did not want to sit
down and discuss the matter they didn't
want to discuss it right so I also
shared various other metaphors around um
people's personal sovereign in their
choices and how you you cannot make
people do things that they're not ready
to do um now I also did dialogic work
with him as well but this was dialogic
because what I'm doing I'm diagnosing
and I'm coming up with these metaphors
based upon a diagnosis but then I'm
feeding them in to a co-creative
dialogue I'm not there trying to force
the client to get the point that isn't
the aim of the game I'm there just to
seed the ideas now when I'm working this
way I am watching for shifts I am
watching for responses I'm still running
dialogically so I might say later on in
the session I might say so I'm curious
you know what are you what are you
seeing now what are you aware of now
that's different from before we began
this conversation today right and I'll
get feedback from that because I want to
be calibrating and I want to be maturing
any changes that are unfolding uh as it
happened this guy got a huge amount of
resolution from this session and the
follow-up session I did two sessions
with him in the main and I did a third
session actually but there really was
nothing that needed to be done in the
third session at all he was in a really
good place before the work he'd been
upset he'd been agitated he'd been
unable to sleep he was having intrusive
thoughts about this all day uh it was
starting to affect his relationship with
his wife he was really hooked into this
this system afterwards he was sleeping
fine he was at peace with it he'd really
given the people permission to be as
they are and do as they are and and he
was feeling very good about himself in
terms of his ability to manage the
situation to create change and was
feeling good about the person he was
becoming because he very much saw
himself as uh becoming somebody
different and that part of the issue now
in his mind after we' done the work was
that people in his family were resistant
to the changes he was making that he
valued so it was a big shift and a lot
of that was done through a kind of Eric
sonian storytelling approach so there's
real value in that approach it really
can move Minds one last thing I'll just
say about this the difference that makes
the difference often as to whether a
particular story is going to land or
move somebody's mind or whatever is the
degree to which they are open to the
messages within it my old mental Steve
charer used to say when the mind is open
it will shift one of the good things
about working in a more kind of clean
language way or maybe in a more strictly
dialogic way where you're drawing
resources out of the client or reweaving
what they've got is you get much much
lower levels of resistance in people
because people are always entranced or
enamored by their own materials if
you're offering a story that comes from
the outside some people can be more
resistant to that but it isn't
inevitable if you've got someone who's
very resistant to outside offered
information it's much
more uh useful to work in a more purely
dialogic way evoking resources from
within and encouraging the client to
make their own connections people tend
to have very low levels of resistance
for that uh but if somebody is very open
they come in from a very open place and
they're curious about what you have to
offer what you have to bring then
storytelling work can be incredibly
powerful often is incredibly powerful
but the thing is is to know why you're
telling the story okay and this is
something that has attempted to be
addressed I think in uh in some NLP
books I think therapeutic metaphors by
David Gordon attempt to address this but
I think this is what I believe I don't
think you can get a formula that tells
you how to diagnose the structure of a
problem I think understanding the
structure of problems is something that
you come to Across Time through working
with clients obviously that process can
be accelerated by good mentoring and
that kind of thing I don't know of any
good books that really show how to do
that because it's a reasonably complex
thing it's something you get a feel for
across time but there are certain
typical structures things like uh
resistance you know what you cannot be
with will not let you be personalizing
things taking them very personally
that's a another huge thing um taking
one's thoughts too seriously being
caught in single perspectives there's
all sorts of things like this doing what
I call blocky renderings over fluid
renderings um a blocky rendering is
where something is absolute right uh
somebody might go I am such an idiot
that's a very blocky way of rendering
things so once you start be to hear
structures he how things are being held
what kind of psychological grip a
problem is being held in then the
metaphor work becomes very very useful
if you've just bought a book of
eriksonian stories and you're going to
randomly tell them I'm not going to say
you're not going to get good results
with that because you might get good
results it's just a little bit more of a
I don't know a bit more of a hit and
miss process but that's not a problem if
you have good dialogic abilities and you
can put the work inside of a dialogic
interactive co-creative flow so uh if
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