In 1979, Milton Erickson and Jeffrey Zeig spent five hours reviewing a demonstration that Erickson conducted at a teaching seminar. That demonstration is now available as a training video for Ericksonian practitioners. Erickson’s experiential methods include the symbolic use of hypnotic phenomena, encouraging resistance, naturalistic confusion technique, seeding, and using isomorphic anecdotes. Jeffrey Zeig discusses the mechanics of Erickson’s unique approach to psychotherapy. Working with Resistance provides an opportunity to watch a master hypnotherapist demonstrate his technique.
During this seminar, Dr. Erickson describes essential skills for working with resistant patients, the use of permissive language, ordeal therapy, geometric progression, and therapeutic double binds. Erickson conducts a demonstration, answers questions from the audience, and elaborates on his thinking with case illustrations that include: sexual dysfunction, stuttering, bed wetting, childhood eating disorders, compulsive habits, phobias and self-defeating behavior.