Milton H. Erickson

Milton Erickson, (Milton H. Erickson, MD – 1901-1980) is considered the greatest hypnotist of all time and was reputed to be able to induce a hypnotic trance in anyone. Indeed, everyone who saw him work was able to see the truth of this. He had many
techniques that he adapted to each patient. For him, there were no standardized techniques that would work in all cases. Erickson, when he was 17 years old, contracted infantile paralysis, being forced to remain in a wheelchair for almost his entire life. Despite this, using his voice and few gestures, he managed to take people into a hypnotic trance.

He completed his studies in psychiatry and psychology in 1929. He soon concluded that the methods then used to treat patients were very slow and, in his opinion, inefficient. The arsenal of medications currently used in psychiatry did not yet exist and he soon became interested in hypnosis, beginning to develop his own methods and techniques. He left few writings and was concerned about people who tried to trivialize his therapeutic approaches, fearing that they could be misrepresented and misapplied.