Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: An American Healer (Profiles in Healing series) [Paperback]

Bradford Keeney PhD (Editor), Betty Alice Erickson MS (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0918172551 | ISBN-13: 978-0918172556 | Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Detailing the life and work of a major innovator and leader of contemporary therapeutic hypnosis, this biography of Milton H. Erickson highlights the work that endures through the practice of thousands of Ericksonian psychologists and the transformative treatment of thousands of patients. Placing Erickson in the larger circle of shamanistic healers and practitioners of alternative medicine worldwide, this account by his children and colleagues provides a vivid portrait of his teaching, reputation as the archetypal "good father," interactions with other psychologists, and unique accomplishments as a healer. The volume contains biographical essays by his daughter, a well-known therapist, and his other children, appreciations by colleagues, a dialogue with Aldous Huxley, and a never-before-seen film of a therapy demonstration on the accompanying DVD.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A creative genius at his profession often has a tattered personal life. Likewise, a great man is supposedly never a hero to his family. Erickson, the "father" of medical hypnosis, seems to have been an exception to both rules. In this warmly affectionate tribute by family and friends, he stands out as a man who used his own experience as the conscious inspiration for many of his professional coups. For example, shortly after being stricken with polio as a teenager, he undertook a two-month-long recuperative canoe trip. His journal of the trip reveals a person who believed that healing comes from within. This person would later become founding president of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and set trends in tapping the curative power of the mind. Chockablock with Erickson's humor, personal notes, and family photographs, as well as a transcript of a clinical consultation, this book is more memoir-cum-scrapbook than biography, which the unconventional psychotherapist well might have relished. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

A welcome bulwark against the slide into dogmatism or formula that attends so many approaches to psychotherapy. --Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery

Salutes the creativity and spirit of this healer, who reminded many of the shamans...of past eras. --Spirituality & Health

An extraordinary rich book. In this masterful blend of his own words and those of family and colleagues, you experience Milton Erickson like never before. The similarities between Erickson and traditional shamans leave the reader thinking about the powers of connection and what is possible in the world of expanded thinking. --Anthony Robbins, author of Unlimited Power

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Leete'S Island Books (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0918172551
• ISBN-13: 978-0918172556
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything Else Left out of the other books, May 24, 2006

By 

S. Hoye "Corvus" (New York City, New Your) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: An American Healer (Profiles in Healing series) (Paperback)

I purchased this item believing it would be another in my collection of biographic works about Erickson. In actuality, the insights from his childrren, collegues, and students goes beyond anything else I've read. It really gives a sense of the man, his humanity, and his ability to be present with each person at their level.

This is a must read for anyone on the path of a therapist or hypnotist.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Erickson is such a mentor, even though he is dead, January 4, 2007

By 

Jennifer A. Schieffer "psychologist and spiri... (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: An American Healer (Profiles in Healing series) (Paperback)

I am so glad to first read about Milton Erickson from this book. I am so glad to have a window to the man instead of isolating things the man did. He lived and persevered through some profound experiences, esp. teaching himself to walk again at age of 17. Erickson Brief Therapy is so much more about the presence of Erickson in witnessing where the client was at and "offering the client a big pile of love" as daughter Betty Alice described it at a recent conference that sparked what he said and did with a client. The man was mostly working from a trance place himself and was not about taking power away from someone, rather about empowering someone through provocative thought and experience via hypnosis.
The DVD is quite a treat and quite provocative. Hard to hear (it's from the 40s or 50s!), but wow, to see him talk and gesture and to see the client behavior and demeanor shift through the process is just a profound synergy of human interaction.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice, unique view of Erickson and people close to him, May 12, 2007

By 

James R. Webb "Sunspower" (Tempe, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: An American Healer (Profiles in Healing series) (Paperback)

This is a rich story and just adds to the deep collection of wonderful stories by and about Milton H. Erickson. The section containing Erickson's diary during his summer river trip as a young man is worth the price of the book alone: what a revealing view into Erickson's process, values and character.
This book would be a bargain and three times the price and includes a nice DVD of an Erickson hypnotherapy session.