Who and What

[Simple Guy]

If you were given the opportunity to speak with any person significant to the
field of hypnosis or NLP (living or not), who would you choose and what questions
would you want answered?

[Obi Wan]

Jay Haley - because he is living, he was a student of Erickson's, he started the debate about personal power in therapy, he played a key role in the development of strategic therapy, and systems theory. He's never seen a client, which I think is immensely fascinating.

I would talk about football with him.

But someone's who's dead, the man himself good ole uncle milty. I would discuss everything I could except hypnosis.

[Simple Guy]

Obi Wan,

Haley's "Uncommon Therapy" is one of my favorite books. This is the first time
I'm reading that he never saw a client. This is fascinating to me, as well. Do
you know why he didn't?

[joethelayperson]

Robert Dilts


he strikes me as a caring and thorough therapist, I believe his caring and spiritual side make him better than most


others?

Milton (obviously)

and though not a hypnotist, he did achieve altered states via body work:

Dr Wilhelm Reich


from here:



Skip, Merlin, Don (though I would be asking as many Magick questions as Hypnosis ones), Annie (her enthusiasm and joy for life would be worth the meeting besides any hypnosis skill she has)

[Steve]

hello,

Skip, He's cool just to visit with. A good friend to have. (hi Skip)
Merlin, She's cool, but her behavior can be intimidating. (hi Merlin)
Don Haven't met him
(though I would be asking as many Magick questions as Hypnosis ones),
Annie Lovable, but she can leave you on overwhelm. There's so much to her. (hi Annie)
(her enthusiasm and joy for life would be worth the meeting besides any hypnosis skill she has)

I'd probably want to meet Mesmer, Braid, and Esdaile. Discover the roots.

[joethelayperson]

Wow yeah



never thought of Esdaile but now I come to think of it, I would LOVE to see how he achieved his results. The most detailed account I have read was in Hypnosis by Dr David Cheek.......he mentioned how Esdaile used to run his hands over the persons body about an inch away from the skin..........similar to Mesmeric passes


Wow yeah that would be cool.....especially when you think of the conditions he was working under......then again, too much blood for my liking


Your comments about Merlin were funny. I used to find her posts too short and 'curt' but she is probably just fed up answering the same nonsensical questions from laypeople like me over and over.......since I asked her to be a little more detailed and less cryptic in her responses on here she has been more than generous.....though I have never met her face to face :)

I love Terry's responses ......but he can come accross a little cantankerous.......NOT that he has ever been wrong about me.......but he can be a (Liverpool term) Narky old bugger

[Merlin]

>I used to find her posts too short and 'curt'...

My apologies Joe.
I prefer short answers to give others a chance to comment :)

[joethelayperson]

I know


it was just that in the past, I sensed and 'knew' that you were one of the more informed and competent of the posters on here and as such, I personally found the cryptic style frustrating

Laziness was another reason I found your posts tough.....rather than let them flower like a Zen koan.....I wanted a "I do it this way"

Merlin, your posts are uniformally excellent but I again would like you to post more. You say that you want other people to have the chance to comment......well seeing that your opinion is at least as valid and in most cases even more valid than most.......please take this as an invitation to write and write and write and write and write :)

[EC]

Respectfully,

To all those that have gone before and contributed much, so that we are where we are, I would like to speak to that hypnotist that passed in in the year 3000, having surpassed us !


Hi all, been busy for awhile

EC

[Simple Guy]

EC,

It's awesome to think that every one of us, in some way, perceptibly or not,
is contributing to wherever that year 3000 hypnotist will have advanced to.
(It's kind of humbling, don't you think?)

[EC]

Hi Simple Guy,

Yes. it most certainly is.

We spend a lot of time looking backwards, wishing we could know more of what some before us knew. Truth is, we have surpassed them. Certainly this is due to their contributions and our own good sense to study their work. Hopefully we will contribute something significant to the one that will pass in 3000 or so.

Actually, I think we would be dissapointed to discover that hypnosis is an antique art by the time 3000 rolls around. By then one will likely just need a "little tweaking" of his/her chip/program if problems are encountered.

At this moment. the pharmaceutical conglomerate in the U.S. could write a check for the entire african continent, all of it's held assets and all the wealth of the people. The scary thing is, they wouldn't miss the money. How much control will they have in a few hundred years ?

Now that is humbling !

EC

[unhypnotizablynot]

If you were given the opportunity to speak with any person significant to the
field of hypnosis or NLP (living or not), who would you choose and what questions
would you want answered?

Merlin, of course, and I would want to know if she considers my purple leather thong to be an acceptable accessory to deep trance.....

;)

[Merlin]

Hi EC,

I would *hope* in 3000 that there would be those who surpass us.
Alas, considering how many today have not surpassed those of yesteryear, finding such a person may be difficult.

So EC, who would you seek out today who has surpassed Dr. Erickson (25 years ago) or even Mr. Elman (closer to 50 years ago)?

[EC]

Hi Merlin,
I agree that it may be difficult even today to find many that have surpassed Erickson or Elman, but hey, we have only had 25 and 50 years respectively to study, practice and learn new things. We are only human.

Actually, I had the good fortune of training under and then working for several years with a fellow that did "IMO" study the masters and surpass them in different ways.

As already stated, I would like to quiz the hypnotist of 3000, but have my doubts it will still be a practical art.

EC

[skip]

Merlin,

I happen to believe that many, perhaps even most, who are open minded, and willing to learn, from all those who have gone before, instead of picking and choosing, based on foolish beliefs, will surpass Erickson and Elman, and ...

Just look at the information we have available at our fingertips via the internet! Look at the interaction we have with the current leaders in the field! My God what Elman or Erickson would have given for the opportunity we now have. Imagine what they might have been able to accomplish if they had not been so reliant, on such limited information. That imagining is our birthright!

And look at the change in climate, both in the medical profession, and the general public from just 20 years ago.

I dont know about you, but expect to fly in this comming "golden age".

skip

[unhypnotizablynot]

It is interesting, is it not, to speculate about the possible future(s) of hypnosis.

Perhaps technology will play an even greater role.

Who knows, in just a few short years, each and every one of us might be able to have Merlin herself 'virtually' and 'holographically' beamed into our living rooms, to fascinate us all with her infinitely mesmerising charms......

;)

[Merlin]

So, let's get together then and talk :)

[Merlin]

>will surpass Erickson and Elman...

A few, perhaps. But I'm pessimistic. I don't see very many even heading that direction.

[skip]

Well, I dont have the advantage you do, of knowing in advance, which area of the unknown, is going to be earth shaking, and which isnt.

But I do agree with your point. There are a lot of people, who arent going anywhere except deeper into their own personal belief system.

And further, they they are prone to attempting to criticize and condemn those who are looking into the current "woo woo" avenues. Forgetting that much of what is now common place, was "woo woo" yesterday.

Now, a lot of that "looking" admittedly is likely to lead up blind alleys.

But IMO it is better than sitting still.

Cheers Mer,

skip