Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume 3, Issue - 6, 1 December 2018 | Page 11

Saturday, 24 November 2018
• Shocks and ordeals
Erickson is famous for pioneering indirect techniques, but his shock therapy
tends to get less attention. Erickson was prepared to use psychological
shocks and ordeals in order to achieve given results:
When the old gentleman asked if he could be helped for his fear of riding in
an elevator, I told him I could probably scare the pants off him in another
direction. He told me that nothing could be worse than his fear of an
elevator.
The elevators in that particular building were operated by young girls, and I
made special arrangements with one in advance. She agreed to cooperate
and thought it would be fun. I went with the gentleman to the elevator. He
wasn't afraid of walking into an elevator, but when it started to move it
became an unbearable experience. So I chose an un-busy time and I had
him walk in and out of the elevator, back in and out. Then at a point when
we walked in, I told the girl to close the door and said, "Let's go up.”
She went up one story and stopped in between floors. The gentleman
started to yell, "What's wrong!" I said, "The elevator operator wants to kiss
you." Shocked, the gentleman said, "But I'm a married man!" The girl said,
"I don't mind that." She walked toward him, and he stepped back and said,
"You start the elevator." So she started it. She went up to about the fourth
floor and stopped it again between floors. She said, "I just have a craving
for a kiss." He said, "You go about your business." He wanted that elevator
moving, not standing still. She replied, "Well, let's go down and start all over
again," and she began to take the elevator down. He said, "Not down, up!"
since he didn't want to go through that all over again.
She started up and then stopped the elevator between floors and said, "Do
you promise you'll ride down in my elevator with me when you're through
work?" He said, "I'll promise anything if you promise not to kiss me." He
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