Dr. Erickson cannot recognize a good piano player by the noise he makes because he is tone deaf. This, too, he defines as an asset in his work. "So much is communicated by the way a person speaks," he says. "My tone deafness has forced me to pay attention to inflections in the voice. This means I'm less distracted by the content of what people say. Many patterns of behavior are reflected in the way a person says something rather than in what he says."
Dr. Erickson is also color blind, and this too became an asset when he experimented with producing color blindness with hypnosis. Experimenter bias was avoided. To this writer, one of the more extraordinary scenes in research is reported in "The Hypnotic Induction of Hallucinatory Color Vision Followed by Pseudo Negative After-Images." Experimental subjects in trance were shown white sheets of paper and they hallucinated colors upon them. Then they were immediately shown white sheets of paper and hallucinated the after-image, this being the complementary color. Holding up the white sheets was Dr. Erickson who could not visualize the colors whether awake or in trance. (The one color he can enjoy is purple. Although it might not always be an appropriate color, he manages to surround himself with it whenever he can. He wears purple ties and sport shirts, his pajamas are purple, and the bathroom in his house has purple walls.)
Dr.Ericksonlikestodescribetherapyasawayofhelpingpatientsextendtheirlimitsandhehasspenthisownlifedoingthat.In1919whenhewasstrickenwithpoliohewasinformedthathewouldneveragainbeabletowalk.Afterspendingmanyhoursconcentratingonachievingaflickerofmovementinthemusclesofhislegs,hewasuponcrutcheswithinayear.Heevenmanagedtoobtainandholdasitting-downjobinacannerytohelpfinancehiswayintotheUniversityofWisconsin.Afterhisfirstyearattheuniversity,hewasadvisedbyhisphysiciantospendhissummervacationgettingagreatdealofexerciseinthesunshinewithoutusinghislegs.Decidingthatacanoetripwouldprovidetheappropriateexercise,EricksonsetoutinJuneina17-footcanoe,wearingabathingsuit,apairofoveralls,andaknottedhandkerchiefonhisheadforahat.Hedidnothavethestrengthin
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