The ‘utilitarian’ approach emphasises the inter-actional nature of hypnosis.
Utilitarian Hypnosis
The ‘utilitarian’ or ‘utilisation’ approach derives from the work of Dr. Milton H. Erickson; a world renowned and pioneering psychiatrist and hypnotherapist (1901 – 1980).
Erickson’s work in the 1970s was observed and modelled by the authors of the first books on N.L.P. (neuro-linguistic programming) – John Grinder and Richard Bandler. For many Erickson is the ‘Founding Father’ of modern hypnotherapy and his ‘Milton Model’ fundamentally defined for future generations the unique language patterns within hypnotic communication.
Erickson stressed the interactional characteristics of hypnosis, focusing on the dynamic communication between hypnotist and subject. His view was that trance was a highly subjective experience that cannot be determined in advance. Effective therapy, therefore, must be centred on the subject’s reception to the ideas of the hypnotist. As such, every hypnotic experience varies according to the relationship established between client and therapist, and by the moods, expectations and intentions of both.
The hypnotist, within the ‘utilisation’ or ‘indirect’ approach, is a guide and facilitator who ensures that trance happens by whatever means is easiest and most appropriate to the subject. This affords a fully personalised approach, matched to the unique qualities of the individual, where every communication is ‘utilised’ in the direction of hypnosis. This guarantees customised rather than standardised responses, through which the client’s unique needs, preferences and personality become paramount.
Erickson maintained that trance is a common, everyday occurrence. For example, when waiting for buses and trains, reading or listening, or even being involved in strenuous physical exercise, it’s quite normal to become immersed in the activity and go into a light trance state, removed from any other irrelevant stimuli. These states are so common and familiar that most people do not consciously recognise them as hypnotic phenomena. Where classical hypnosis is authoritative and direct, and often encounters resistance in the subject, Erickson’s approach is permissive, accommodating and indirect.