David Gordon, Maribeth Meyers-Anderson Phoenix Therapeutic Patterns of Milton H. Erickson by unknow

Author:unknow
Format: epub

In the case of the Squaw Peak couple Ericsson engages them in experiences that are intended by him to provide them with new perspectives. But how is it that tasks that are seemingly as irrelevant to marital difficulties as climbing Squaw Peak and visiting the Botanical Gardens nevertheless prove to be impactful learning experiences? Part of the answer resides in Erickson's use of the presuppositions of the existing context. This couple had traveled a great distance and were spending a considerable sum of money to work on their marital difficulties. They would naturally assume that whatever transpired between themselves and Ericsson would be relevant to the problem they were paying to explore. It was this presupposition, upon which their presence in Phoenix is based, that compelled this couple to furnish (on some level) some kind of relevancy for their field experiences. Both of them used their experiences at the Botanical Gardens and on Squaw Peak to reorient their thinking with respect to their marriage. The context for their experience was established by the fact that they were in Phoenix to work on their relationship (and, surely, dependent upon their belief that Erickson's assignments were meaningful rather than frivolous, sincere rather than exploitive). There was no need for Ericsson to assume and then specify to them the new perspectives that each of them "should" glean from their experiences. Instead he provided them with two different experiences and the opportunity to utilize and generalize from those experiences within the context already established by their presence in Phoenix.

The second part of the answer to the question about the source of the impact of Erickson's intervention with this couple resides in the nature of the experiences he assigned them. The fact that Ericsson leaves the couple free to generate their own understandings as a result of their experiences does not, of course, mean that the nature of the experiences assigned were irrelevant. The Botanical Gardens is a place where one ran wander among neatly arranged examples of the varieties of thorny plants to be found in the desert, while at Squaw Peak they faced a difficult ascent which when scaled offered a new view of the desert. The experiences Ericsson assigned them, then, were ones which had inherent within them certain metaphorical connotations and relationships that Ericsson considered would be useful in providing additional appropriate contexts for their deliberations.

As is evident in virtually all of the case histories described in this book, Erickson's intuitions about what kind of experience would be likely to generate the learnings that were needed are phenomenal. The response of Erickson's students to his competence at knowing what experiences to go for has usually been to chalk it up to that arcane commodity know as "intuition". As a commodity it is treated by most individuals as one of those things that you get so much of and is of a certain quality . . . and that's it. You've got it or you don't. Erickson's intuitive capabilities are certainly astounding and rare, but they are not the result of a fortuitous allotment.

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