My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson, M.D.

Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: "If you going to tell yourself stories, you may as well make them good ones" is a sound piece of advice and "My voice will go with you" fills the bill nicely.

It's not hard to imagine some of these tales being included in popular anthologies of folk wisdom, yeah even unto Reader's Digest. Some might regard such a prospect with distaste, what with Erickson being so revered by many really smart people including writer Aldous Huxley. But it's actually an indication of his all-embracing humanity that so many of the tales make great points in ways that could easily please a very wide audience.

Sidney Rosen's commentaries uncover some of the principles underlying what Erickson was up to in these stories, thereby adding to the wealth of learning. His commentaries are mostly short and anyone wanting more extensive "under the hood" insights might care to check out Bandler & Grinder's "Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson".

"My voice will go with you" is an easy read, but no less worthwhile for that. A few stories run to several pages, many are just a page or so and some are even shorter. You can dip into it or zip through it in any direction with equal pleasure and edification.

Rating:
Summary: Learning was never so easy - before
Review:

Taken at face value this book consists of nothing more than a few anecdotes drawn from Milton Erickson's long and distinguished career as a hypnotherapist and teacher. Plus a commentary from Sidney Rosen, the editor and also an experienced and well-respected hypnotherapist in his own right.

But Milton Erickson is renowned for have developed to a fine art the use of "vague language" and "conversational hypnosis". Which is another way of saying that he was a master of the skill of using words to bring his clients to whatever realisations they needed in order to be able to help themselves.

Not surprisingly, then, Erickson used those same skills when it came to teaching other doctors, psychiatrists, etc. to use the skills he had so carefully developed.
So whilst these appear to be descriptions of stories that therapists might tell to their clients, they are actually effective 'as YOU read them'.
Thus every reader gets teaching and therapy all in one!

This is possibly one of the most seemingly innocent, yet magnificently powerful books I have ever come across.
So get a copy, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: It's all in the mind
Review: I had read about Erickson as the pioneer of NLP, and his work in hypnosis and psychotherapy and was intrigued. This book is a great introduction to Erickson.

These stories are case studies, people with all sorts of problems, and very interesting solutions, and great stories.

This guy is a genius. From bedwetting to alcoholism, to repression, I was particularly inspired by a very short story about the Turmahara Indians, and how knowing and thinking about their special abilities can increase your energy levels. If it works for me, it might work for you.

There was one story about how he treated one woman who was sexually unresponsive, and through using his storytelling method caused her to have an orgasm in his office without touching her! Before reading this book I had not realised how easily influenced we can be by indirect suggestion, and how powerful his techniques are.

Essentially this is a book of anecdotes, with the author who is himself a psychiatrist giving an explanation of the methods and techniques being used by Erickson.

Apart from the therapeutic benefits, if you read this book you can really improve your communication and storytelling skills if you follow the principles used here, so I would recommend this book to aspiring story tellers.

Think of Erickson as someone who was a master of effecting life altering personal change by being able to communicate on a deeper level. Applied to yourself you can most likely imagine the effect you can have on yourself and others and how you can win friends and influence people by learning this skill.

For more case studies, check out Conversations with Milton H. Erickson Vol 1 by Jay Haley. You might find situations in there that relate to issues in your own life. In fact, use the look inside feature and check out the index. I found the chapter on public speaking and performance anxiety quite helpful. Also, check out the Patterns of... Erickson book by Richard Bandler, which gives a a complete analysis of Erickson's induction methods.

I hope you find this review helpful, and, if you do please click yes.

Rating:
Summary: a true genius
Review: Sidney Rosen has done a masterful job conveying the therapeutic tales of a master hypnotist. Erickson comes alive, and the reader gets a first-hand experience of Erickson's use of conversational therapeutic metaphors. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Erickson's novel approach to clinical work.

Rating:
Summary: Great book that I'll keep with me always.
Review: This book is a real gem. Just from reading it, one immediately gets a feel for Mr Erickson's approach and technique. (Its a pity he's dead, I would've loved to meet this talented man in person even if its a one in a billionth chance.) The stories recounted are very interesting, even if just for their story-telling value. Its hard not to feel a sense of calm after reading one or two of them, which is amazing. Even if you don't "get" at first glance what each story is supposed to do for you...after reading each story, you know it had worked its magic on you even if in a small helpful albeit subconscious way. Normally I only read most books once, but this... I read again and again, time after time. This is one of those things I'll always carry with me, wherever I go and whichever country I'm in.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book.
Review: This book, in addition to the "teaching tales," contains a short biography of Dr. Erickson, which any student of hypnosis would do well to read, because it helps you to understand how his approach was developed.

The anecdotes are marvelous, absolutely alive with possibility, and deliberately not overly expanded upon - they mean what you want them to mean. The book is useful for the student of hypnotherapy as well as the potential patient, or just a casual student of the mind.

My only caveat regarding this book is that if you are a therapist, you must try to *learn* from Erickson: you must not try to *be* Erickson. Repeating these stories by rote will not be as effective therapeutically as using the *concepts* they teach to form your own suggestion metaphors.

Rating:
Summary: Great Stories, Great Book
Review: This is a great book loaded with lots life changing stories as told by Dr Milton Erickson. I found this to be well worth my money.

(Although Anthony Robbins is well known for teaching the masses about NLP, Dr Erickson was the real brain behind it.)

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

Rating:
Summary: stories that heal
Review: This is a great collection of stories that erickson tells his students to teach them about hypnosis. It's amusing and great to have in learning about how stories can be therapeutic. You can even analyze his stories and model from them to create your own stories. there is so many resources you can find by looking at each stories from different perspectives. the cool thing is that you can see how erickson tell stories from his mind view.

Rating:
Summary: Resourcefulness of Erickson
Review: This is a great introduction to skill, resourcefulness and versatility of Erikcson and the possibilities of Ericksonian hypnosis.

The stories are fun to read and they may also inspire solutions to problems presented by your own clients, but do remember that the essence of Ericksonian hypnosis is "utlization" of client's background, predispositions and preferences, rather than pick a script or a technique and use it on everyone indiscriminately.

It is not only techniques which are thought through NLP and Ericksonian hypnosis today that distinguished Erickson, but his respect for uniqueness of individual and the problem he was facing. Erickson was also open to using absolutely anything that may work, no matter how outrageous it would appear. And he was infinitely creative in his approach as you'll find out from the stories in this book.