Re: Erickson techniques little disclosure

Most of the "techniques" used by Dr. Erickson were tools of Rhetoric. As such, I rather think everyone should use them. The idea of being mindful of the listener's state and helping the listener come to understand your concept with steps that are measured by the listener's needs would improve much that is wrong in the interpersonal world. Your question begs the old debate of manipulation in communication. Outcomes are co-created. Especially, in a lecture such as the one you mentioned, I suspect people are presenet to be motivate, inspired, in-formed, and change in various way as a result of their own participation.

People are not coersed by such communication...they are offered associations to their expereince. People will not "get" an experinece sufficient to move them in a direction that is not in league with their overal desires to change. That is the difference between power used for coersion (which this is not) v. the power of rhetoric that co-creates motivation, inspiration, and creative association (which these techniques are).

But I think the real aggrivation is when this sort of thing is used as the marketing message 'sell' this or any other person's 'special talents.' This is especially true when the person is a non-professional and didn't even study with Erickson. Then it is stretching the point to say these even are 'Ericksonian Techniques' at all. All they have in common is the field of Rhetoric. They should be called techniques of rhetoric to be honest in this case (but that wouldn't sell as well and hense the hype.)

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