Stephen Gilligan

Stephen G. Gilligan (born December 26, 1954) is an American author, psychologist and psychotherapist. Gilligan was one of the first students and developers of the work of Milton H. Erickson, considered the founder of modern (or "Indirect") hypnotherapy. He is known for his work in hypnosis and psychotherapy, and was one of the contributors to the early development of neuro-linguistic programming. He has had a private practice in psychotherapy and has taught his approach to hypnosis and psychotherapy for the past 20 years.
Whereas Erickson emphasized hypnosis as a communication, Gilligan took this as a starting point to pioneer a field he called self-relations psychotherapy, which takes Erickson's viewpoint that all symptoms are communication. His work uses the concept of "sponsorship," the acknowledgment, holding and naming of positive and negative feelings and experiences.
Gilligan is the author of several books on psychotherapy, including Therapeutic Trances (1986), The Courage to Love (1997), and The Hero's Journey (with Robert Dilts, 2009).
Background and research
Gilligan received a Ph.D. degree in psychology from Stanford University. He became a teacher and practitioner in the field of Ericksonian hypnotherapy. His Therapeutic Trances (1986) explains nine hypnotherapy techniques the patient can use to explore the self.
Gilligan also developed a new therapy, known as self-relations psychotherapy, using ideas from Ericksonian, Aikido, Buddhism, meditation, and the performance arts. The cornerstone of the therapy is a process known as "sponsorship," where positive and negative experiences - including deeply traumatic experiences - are regarded as resources that need to be acknowledged, named and placed, a form of mindfulness. Gilligan argues that each self contains a cognitive and somatic aspect, and that when the latter is suppressed or not fully under control, the sponsorship and mindful awareness of each self, or aspect, can bring healing.
* The Courage to Love: Principles and Practices of Self-Relations Psychotherapy (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997)
* The Legacy of Milton H. Erickson: Selected Papers of Stephen Gilligan (Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, 2002)
* with Dvorah Simon. Walking in Two Worlds: The Relational Self in Theory, Practice, and Community (Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, 2004)
* with Robert Dilts. The Hero's Journey: A Voyage of Self Discovery (Crown House Publishing, 2009)
* "Generative Trance: The Experience of Creative Flow" (Crown House Publishing, 2012)

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