Milton Erickson's "teaching tales" are extraordinary examples of the art of persuasion. These tales are not only "telling stories" but are major elements of his therapy. They were used whenever necessary as they were an integral part of the therapeutic structure.
From time immemorial metaphor has been used as a mechanism of teaching and instilling ideas and beliefs, of changing and enriching our appreciation of ourselves in the domain of life. It should not be surprising that the proper use of metaphor should be in the toolbox of every practicing psychotherapist. Each of the "teaching tales" has a wide variety of techniques; the insights are limited only by experience and imagination. As these tales are assimilated the fabric may be woven into the psyche of patients as needed. The linguistic structures are vast and deserve many volumes. Indeed there are many volumes in both therapeutic and non-therapeutic works describing metaphors.
Therapists use linguistic patterns as a basic building block. Perhaps the first detailed modeling of Milton Erickson's techniques are those of Bandler and Grinder 1 . Given that a therapist understands these basic building blocks, weaving them together into metaphors is described by David Gordon 2 . Studying these processes helps in discovering the various components of the "teaching tales" but this is certainly a far cry from being able to effectively use them in ordinary everyday therapy. There is a great deal of practical knowledge necessary for the successful application of metaphor; practice, practice and more practice will certainly prove a positive benefit. As the various components of linguistics and metaphor structure sink into the bones of the therapist, the metaphors will definitely improve. Someone is confronted with some problem that is resolved in some way. If the conflict and resolution are similar enough to one of your conflicts, the story immediately becomes significant to you. The identification with people and things familiar arouses curiosity and provides an interest in the resolution. The formulation of such metaphors is a useful skill.
"Unconscious learnings."
An "unconscious learning" is a state wherein patients intuitively understand the meaning of dreams, symbols and other unconscious expressions. This state is less involved with thoughts and issues. The patient accepts suggestions with a reduced critical sense. If the suggestion conflicts with the patient's values, the acceptance will not occur or will be transient.
Erickson believed that most of our life is unconsciously determined. This does not mean that the unconscious is unchangeable. All our experiences affect both conscious as well as unconscious parts of our being. Change is more permanently and effectively accomplished by focusing on unconscious patterns.
Erickson started telling more stories with groups of people because he had to spend too much time with one patient. He wanted to teach a lot of people how to think, how to handle problems. This was a result of having many letters from former patients stating that his stories altered their lives for the better. People came in groups to see Erickson and brought positive expectations and communications. This permitted Erickson to transmit the messages into the unconscious in the light hypnotic trances that developed in his groups. If amnesia developed, then Erickson believed the story was even more effective.
Trance is a state in which learning and openness to change are most likely to occur. The resulting hypnotic response is related to the patient's needs, the vast storehouse of learning, and expectations and the therapist's direction. Therapeutic suggestions may be indirect, interspersed in ordinary conversation or an interesting tale.
A patient responding well will have subtle changes of a "responsive attentiveness" described by a flattening of facial expression, staring, absence of blinking, and almost immobility.
The beauty of this "unconscious learning" is that, when properly performed, it is self-reinforcing and will lead to further changes. When introduced as a means to change in the direction of growth and "opening" in a climate permissive of such change, then the patient is more likely to continue his own self-actualization in the possibilities for further growth.
The impact of external emotive linguistic forces upon internal gestalt structures as typified by Milton Erickson's optimistic and growth supportive input can significantly modify that gestalt. A patient's internal struggles for many years may discover that the intrapsyche changes initiated by the views of metaphor can break old well-established thought patterns and permit the emergence of new possibilities on both the conscious and unconscious levels.
Often the feeling of accomplishment of a character in a metaphor permits an external situation to be approached with greater confidence - and that confidence can feed upon itself and lead to further expectations of success. Those feelings of success and accomplishment experienced in trance-like states have powerful potentials. Single phrases that have been anchored while in trance states can significantly increase freedom and creativity. "My voice will go with you" is certainly a very good candidate: imagine Milton Erickson's voice going with you everywhere, let him mentor you in whatever state and wherever you may go! This can significantly enhance your day.
The intrapsyche changes may be understood by examining the stories and their characters as representing internal psychic structures. Parents can represent sources of support or love if they are positive, or imprisoning irrational authority figures if they possess negative qualities. Frequently they are an irrational coercive force that children must deal with one way or another. A listener identifying with a child is likely to feel hopeful as the child learns to overcome the blockages and constraints placed upon him. Parents can either be a problem or a solution. Erickson was able to handle negative aspects of imprinting with a process of "reprinting" by replacing previously ineffective "parental" injunctions with new ideas instilled by posthypnotic suggestions. Frequently cueing phrases such as "And my voice will go with you" or "You will see a flash of color" that would be perceived as introjected into the psyche.
In a discussion with Signey Rosen, Milton Erickson turned to a psychiatrist at one of his seminars and remarked: "Do you think that therapy is just telling stories?" It was obvious that even though Erickson's therapy was not only "telling stories," the telling that developed into "teaching tales" was a major element of his therapy. Bandler and Grinder used a microscope with their neuro-linguistic programming to provide clues to internal linguistic assimilation of these stories. They noted that the stories were marked by suggestions highlighted by pauses, change of physical or tonal position. Frequently these "marks" were preceded by the patient's name.
Ernest Rossi analyzes Erickson's hypnotic inductions and suggestions into various stages: fixation of attention, depotentiating habitual frameworks and belief systems, unconscious search, unconscious process, and hypnotic response. There is evidence, as discussed by Watzlawick in The Language of Change and Change, of communicating with the right brain and its tendency to deal primarily in terms of archaic language, emotions, space, form and images.
Jeffrey Zeig, in A Teaching Seminar with Milton H. Erickson, lists advantages of metaphors as nonthreatening, engaging, fostering independence. They bypass natural resistance to change, they control the relationship, they model flexibility, they can create confusion and promote hypnotic responses, they provide memory tags or cues. These are very "right brain" tactics that deserve further study!
Erickson was keenly aware of the state of his patients. This deep awareness could be called "mind reading" that leads to a rapid rapport between the hypnotherapist and the patient. Erickson's sensory awareness permitted him to gauge the extent of responsiveness and allowed him to utilize another story or elaborate on another one. This symptom prescription, utilization of resistance and reframing patterns permitted change by actions and sometimes ordeals. These activities and inner psyche shifting happened in the context of a close and trusting doctor-patient relationship.
A very important point not properly emphasized in the text is the masterful use of linguistics. Erickson uses language in such a subtle manner that almost defies explanation. Certainly the proper use of sensory awareness shifts the next utterances, and certainly the submodality modifiers are properly adjusted, but the overall texture of language displays an incredibly masterful approach. A generally non-threatening metaphor specifically tailored to a patient with word tags makes the metaphor memorable. It's obvious from reading the tales that Erickson had absolute unconscious competency in this area and did not have to think about it. From the large variety of stories and their sometimes unusual plots he also had unconscious competency in weaving the perceived problems of the patient into a flexible metaphor that could easily be adjusted according to sensory acuity. These deeply ingrained skills permitted Erickson to have fun while he was doing this as his metaphors had principles of surprise, shock, doubt, confusion, implications, puns, questions and humor. Humor is important in breaking down resistance. Get someone to genuinely laugh and there is an unmatched openness.
