Milton H. Erickson called his use of the common everyday trance his ‘utilization approach,’ because he believed he was simply helping people utilize their own natural inner resources to solve their own problems in their own ways. This means that clinicians appreciate that the person who comes or help already has all of the resources and creativity that are required. The challenge of hypnosis is to evoke those resources and bring them to bear in adaptive ways. How do we meet this challenge with the neurodiverse: people with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual/developmental disabilities and brain injury? How do we interact with these unique individuals trance-formatively? What are the hypnotic strategies that evoke their innate abilities to find comfort, self-efficacy and mastery in their daily lives.
This workshop will use clinical stories, exercises and role-playing to gain a deeper understanding of hypnosis its use with the differently-abled.