Getting Tough with Spirits By Lisa Larsen, PsyD

The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newletter Case Report , VOL. 41, NO. 3

Getting Tough with Spirits

By Lisa Larsen, PsyD

One of my most delightful experiences was working with a woman diag- nosed by her psychiatrist as schizophrenic. In spite of her hearing and seeing things that other people did not perceive, she was a very happy-go-lucky, func- tional human being who worked with special education students, attended to her daily living, and drove her own car. In many ways she was just like any other person. She feared earthquakes. But she was also visited by “spirits” — some friendly and cooperative, but others threatening, unkind, and persistent.

I used EMDR therapy to help her handle her fear of earthquakes. She was able to use it, along with an application on her smart phone, to distract herself and alleviate temporary distress. However, when she felt that she was vulnerable to the earthquakes, her imagination convinced her that everything was shaking.

In order to help her, I decided to utilize her powerful imagination. I told her that she has an amazing imagination, and that she could hear about earthquakes in any part of the globe and imagine that they were happening in her own home. She realized that she did indeed imagine the earthquakes, but felt powerless to control the effect that her imagination had long had on her.

What seemed to finally banish the fear for good was to have her hold onto things that she knew to be solid and stable when she started to enter the “bad trance” of the imagined earthquakes. I had her go through each body part men- tally and say to herself, “This body part is touching something solid and heavy. If I am touching something solid and heavy, is it moving? If I am touching that and it isn’t moving, am I moving?” With enough practice she could take herself out of the trance with physical reality testing.

She was happy to banish the fear of earthquakes, but then a few “bad spirits” attached themselves to her and interfered with her sleep. We did a number of hypnotic sessions that made her feel relaxed, happy, and in control. These ses- sions seemed to help prepare her to do battle with what still lingered and trou- bled her.

This woman was in her 40s and worked with teenagers in special education. The students had difficulty regulating their own feelings when they were thwarted or disappointed. She complained about not having very much control over what the spirits did or said to her. They often appeared as decomposing zombies who were seeking resolution between this world and the next. I did not argue with her about whether the spirits existed. She was taking antipsychotic medication, and under the care of a competent psychiatrist. Still, these “halluci- nations” seemed very real to her and still bothered her.

Some of the spirits could be sent on—to “go to the light”—where she be- lieved they would pass into the spirit world. She liked having the ability to help

the spirits, but did not like it when they made unreasonable demands of her. Sometimes they wanted her to pass messages on to their families, but then would not give her accurate information to get in touch with them. On rare occa- sions, the spirits were angry and made threats against her or her mother, which was very disturbing to her.

I asked what the spirits wanted, and she said that they wanted things that she could not give them. She often became flustered and angry when they asked her for these unreasonable things.

I asked if she was able to set strong limits with the kids at school when they made unreasonable requests. She said that she usually could. She explained that if she expressed anger toward them and lost her temper, they just escalated their bad behavior. If she was calm with the kids at school, they responded much bet- ter. I asked her how confident she was that she could de-escalate a situation like this, and she said she was very confident. I remarked that this seemed like a good approach to take with the spirits who would not leave her alone and made unreasonable requests.

I instructed her to go to a specific place in her home, where the spirits were likely to enter, and to bring water, a blanket, and a good book. When the spirits awakened her, she was to go to that area, sit down, and read the book, waiting patiently for the spirits to arrive. This was usually 3 a.m. When the spirits come, I suggested she treat them the way she would treat a student at school who was having a behavior issue. “Be firm, but don’t lose your temper,” I advised.

She said that she did this and no spirits came. But one came back a few weeks later when her guard was down. At that time, she took matters into her own hands. She did a smudging ritual and said a certain prayer, which seemed to banish that particular spirit forever. She was proud of the fact that she could con- trol how the spirit treated her, instead of being pushed around by an unhappy soul who had lost its way. Together we worked in being more creative in solving her problem, rather than her feeling victimized and helpless.

Commentary

By Eric Greenleaf, PhD

The artist Redon once said, “I have placed there a little door opening on to the mysterious. I have made stories.” Lisa Larsen patiently made stories with her pa- tient until the fear of earthquakes subsided and the annoying spirts receded.

Dr Erickson once kept a patient’s hallucinations in an envelope in his closet so that the patient could visit them when she came to see him. Just like Erickson, Dr Larsen showed the gentleness of hypnosis and the power of utilization. As Ernie Rossi put it, “Your job is to introduce the interplay between dreams and reality.” (Mirroring Hands Workshop, San Francisco, California, 5/5/19).