73. Being Resourceful
Milton Erickson revolutionized hypnotherapy. His approach to therapy was so unique that many of his students have studied his techniques and methods to distill it to future hypnotherapists. The core competencies he used are as follows:
- Tailoring
- Utilization
- Strategic
- Destabilization
- Experiential
- Naturalistic
The second competency, Utilization, is considered to be one of his greatest contributions to psychotherapy (Core Competencies Manual R-2019, pg 31)
"Simply put, utilization is a psychotherapeutic strategy that engages circumstances, habits, beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, symptoms, or resistances in service of the overarching goals of therapy."
Essentially, almost anything the patient has can benefit the patient if you are creative enough.
Here are 3 more quotes about it.
“Exploring a patient’s individuality to ascertain what life learnings, experiences, and mental skills are available to deal with the problem … (and) then utilizing these uniquely personal internal responses to achieve therapeutic goals”
(Erickson & Rossi, 1979, p. 1).
“Utilization theory emphasizes that every individual’s particular range of abilities and personality characteristics must be surveyed in order to determine which preferred modes of functioning can be evoked and utilized for therapeutic purposes”
(Rossi, 1980, p. 147).
“The therapist’s task should not be proselytizing on the patient with his own beliefs and understandings. What is needed is the development of a therapeutic situation permitting the patient to use his own thinking, his own understandings, his own emotions in the way that best fits him in his scheme of life”
(Erickson, 1980, p. 223).