Milton Erickson's "Triple Helix": how it works, examples. Neuro Linguistic Programming

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Milton Erickson's name appears quite often in the field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. His work, based on numerous studies in the field of altered states of consciousness, has become key in medical hypnosis. It was this American psychiatrist who created a hypnotic technique called the Triple Helix, which allows you to put a person into a trance state so that he does not feel and is not aware of the hypnotic effect.

The essence of the Milton Erickson technique

As mentioned earlier, this is a hypnotic technique that can put a person into a trance state in such a way that the subject does not feel the impact. This technique is one of the most powerful in Neuro Linguistic Programming. Its basis is effective methods of speech influence, thanks to which the result of this technique is amazing. The Essence of Milton's Triple Helix TechniqueErickson is as follows: a specialist who owns it tells a story in which there are specially selected key phrases that need to be instilled in a person. Surprisingly, the session consists of three stories that are completely unrelated.

How does it work?

So, the specialist starts by telling the first story, and then, when approaching the final, abruptly switches to the second, without connecting them together. After that, such a trick is carried out with the second story, abruptly moving on to the third story. The final text should contain key phrases that need to be "embedded" into the client's subconscious. Undoubtedly, this story is composed using certain mind control techniques. Further, after telling the third story, the hypnotist instantly moves on to the second text and finishes it. After that, the first story ends, and it is important to start from the place where it was originally finished. For this monologue to bear fruit, it is important not to lose sight of any detail, and also not to make long pauses. To avoid mistakes, you can consider what this technique looks like in practice.

Triple Helix Examples

The presented version will contain a hidden suggestion to relieve pain and improve well-being. The following three stories will be given in order.

Story 1 (beginning)

In the bustle of weekdays, we forget about our physical andmorale. Burrowing into domestic and work problems, we put off going to the doctors and remember our he alth only when serious problems lie in wait for us. When at the doctor's appointment I was told that the operation was necessary, I did not postpone it, and it was performed the very next day.

Story 2 (beginning)

It is a pity that not everyone knows how to listen to the signals that our body sends us. Sometimes they serve as a sign that it is necessary to change the habitual life. My dad got sick very often when he worked on the steaming of tankers: his chronic bronchitis was in the exacerbation phase. He often took sick leave, underwent treatment, but the result was short-lived. Due to the specifics of the job, he got worse and worse each time.

Story 3 (suggestion)

When I don't feel well, I try to stop, catch my breath and listen to my body. Staying in an unhe althy state, I analyze and suggest possible options for the causes of my diseases. For example, a headache can be caused by overexertion, and a lack of joy in life or life's difficulties can cause pain in the heart. At such moments, I take a deep breath in and out, relax, calm down, and notice that after a while the pain goes away.

Story 2 (end)

After dad changed jobs, where working conditions are not so difficult, bronchitis began to torment him much less often. After it turned out that his constant illnesses were a signal for the need for changes in his life.

Story 1 (end)

The surgery went well and I feel much better after. Usually, an understanding of what is happening comes to us after we have to part with something. And at that moment I realized that you need to be conscious and live every moment of your life, be able to listen to your body and not take the situation to extremes. Now I always find time to rest and take care of my he alth.

The following example is programmed to make the listener believe in himself.

Story 1 (beginning)

It happened in the spring of the year before last, when I was a student at the Pedagogical University in my last year. All five years I was an example for my fellow students, I studied well and went to a red diploma. But the conflict with the supervisor for the thesis crossed out the further opportunity to successfully defend his work and receive the coveted red diploma.

Story 2 (beginning)

Sometimes the various difficulties that life brings us lead us to despair, and only then do we realize that it was all for the good. I made this conclusion when my sister was looking for a job for a long time.

Story 3 (suggestion)

In those moments when I am faced with various problems, and it seems that there is no strength to fight, and my hands are already falling, I diligently tell myself: "Be confident in yourself. You are strong. Believe in yourself and your strength. You will definitely succeed!" These words help me cope with anxiety and understand that everything is solvable. These are not difficult wordscapable of performing miracles. Therefore, do not forget about the power of the word and your own inner power.

Story 2 (end)

While my sister was looking for a job, she went through more than forty job interviews in two years. Due to the lack of self-realization, a favorite business and financial income, she began to lose heart. But one day, being at the next interview, when she was asked where she sees herself in five years, she realized that she wanted to become a child psychologist. After my sister entered the university and received special training, she immediately found a job as a psychologist in a children's institution, where she enjoys working to this day.

Story 1 (end)

There were only three months left before the defense of my thesis, but there was nowhere to go: I plucked up the courage and achieved that they changed my supervisor. On a decisive day for me, namely, on the day of graduation, in order to avoid an incorrect assessment of my first supervisor, she was asked not to take part in the assessment of my work. Thus, the selection committee rated my performance and work for the highest score, and thanks to this I received a red diploma. As it turned out later, my new supervisor turned out to be the director of a large holding company. After a brilliant defense of the diploma, he invited me to work in his company. And for a year now I have been heading one of the departments of this holding. This life situation made me understand that in no case should we deviate from our goals, and all the difficulties that are given to us sometimes go to usonly for good. One has only to accept the problems that fate presents us, and solve them with our heads held high.

This story ends. Now stop and remember all three stories you have read. Analyze them and try to isolate the suggestion contained in the third story.

Revealing secrets

The emphasis in the Triple Helix concept is that stories can control the mind of the listener. For this reason, it is important to take into account the interests of the person when compiling them. Abrupt transitions from one story to another help to confuse the mind of the listener and automatically make him search for meaning. And it is at this time that the suggestion takes place. Considering that the state of confusion and confusion can discourage the consciousness, at this point the suggestion penetrates the subconscious. Actually, this is the result of the "Triple Helix" in NLP.

The concept of technique includes three important points:

• Stories should be as simple and accessible as possible, but, in addition, they should be interesting to the listener. This is important so that the consciousness of the person you are telling to is able to capture the essence of the stories, as well as skip the suggested information further - into the subconscious. At the end of your entire monologue, the listener will not be able to reproduce in detail the third story, which contained the main information. But then this message will penetrate into his subconscious. If all actions were performed properly, then the subject did notwill be able to realize the suggested information.
• It is worth considering that stories should not be interconnected, but they must be told without interruptions, pauses and stops, and directly in the sequence required by the methodology.
• When composing a suggestible phrase, it is important to ensure that there is no “not” particle in it, because the human subconscious is arranged in such a way that information in a negative form is not perceived. Therefore, it is always necessary to speak in a positive way. For example, if a person gives himself the setting: “I will not get sick,” in this way the subconscious will receive the command: “I will get sick.”

In conclusion

Thanks to this technique, scientist Milton Erickson was able to prove that everyone is capable of falling into a trance state. In addition, all people have a need for it, just like, for example, there is a need for sleep. A person may sometimes have the feeling that in the process of thinking he seems to fall out of the real world for a short time. Or, when engaging in monotonous activities, actions become mechanistic, and consciousness begins to wander somewhere. Trance is such a state of a person in which the degree of his conscious participation in the processing of incoming information changes. To successfully use the trance state of human consciousness, it is important to know in practice how the Triple Helix works.