The 48 Laws Of Power

386 LAW 44

you,

or

they

canstarttothinkaboutthemselves.Andevenif

theyignore

you,you

willhave

planted

a

seedintheirunconsciousthatwill

eventually

takeroot.When

you

mirrortheir

behavior,

incidentally,

donotbeafraidto

addatouchofcaricatureand

exaggeration,

asIvandid

byenthroning

a

TaItar—itisthelittle

spice

inthe

soup

thatwill

open

their

eyes

andmake

themseetheridiculousnessintheirownactions.

Observance

V

Dr.MiltonH.

Erickson,

a

pioneer

in

strategic

psychotherapy,

wouldoften

educatehis

patientspowerfully

but

indirectlybycreating

akindofmirror

effect.

Constructing

an

analogy

tomake

patients

see

thetruth

on

their

own,

hewould

bypass

theirresistance

to

change.

WhenDr.Ericksontreated

married

couplescomplaining

ofsexual

problems,

for

instance,

heoften

foundthat

psychotherapy’s

traditionofdirectconfrontationand

problem-

airingonlyheightened

the

spouses’

resistanceand

sharpened

theirdiffer-

ences.

Instead,

hewoulddrawahusbandandwifeoutonother

topics,

oftenbanal

ones,

trying

tofindan

analogy

forthesexualconflict.

Inone

couple’s

first

session,

the

pair

were

discussing

their

eating

habits,

especially

atdinner.Thewife

preferred

the

leisurelyapproach——a

drinkbeforethe

meal,

some

appetizers,

andthenasmallmain

course,

allat

a

slow,

civilized

pace.

Thisfrustratedthehusband-—hewantedto

get

din-

nerover

quickly

and

to

digright

into

the

main

course,

the

bigger

thebetter.

Astheconversation

continued,

the

couplebegan

tocatch

glimpses

ofan

analogy

totheir

problems

inbed.Themoment

they

madethis

connection,

however,

Dr.Ericksonwould

change

the

subject,carefullyavoiding

adis-

cussionofthereal

problem.

The

couplethought

Erickson

was

justgetting

toknowthemandwould

dealwiththe

problemdirectly

thenexttimehesawthem.

But

attheendof

thisfirst

session,

Dr.Ericksondirectedthemto

arrange

adinnerafew

nightsaway

thatwouldcombineeach

person’s

desire:Thewifewould

get

theslow

meal,

including

time

spentbonding,

andthehusbandwould

get

the

big

disheshewantedto

eat.

Without

realizingthey

were

acting

under

thedoctor’s

gentleguidance,

the

couple

wouldwalkinto

a

mirroroftheir

problem,

andinthemirror

they

wouldsolvetheir

problems

themselves,

ending

the

eveningjust

asthedoctorhad

h0ped—by

mirroring

theim-

proved

dinner

dynamics

inbed.

In

dealing

withmore severe

problems,

suchas

the

schizophrenids

mirror

fantasy

worldofhisorherown

construction,

Dr.Ericksonwould

al-

waystry

toenterthemirrorandworkwithinit,Heoncetreateda

hospital

inmate whobelievedhe was

Jesus Christ-—draping

sheets aroundhis

body,talking

in

vagueparables,

and

bombarding

staffand

patients

with

endless

Christian

proselytizing.

No

therapy

or

drugs

seemedto

work,

until

one

day

Dr.Ericksonwent

up

tothe

young

manand

said,

“I

understand

you

havehad

experience

asa

carpenter.”

Being

Christ,

the

patient

had

to

say

thathehadhadsuch

experience,

andErickson

immediately

put

himto

work

building

bookcasesandother

useful

items,

allowing

himtowearhis

Jesusgarb.

Overthenext

weeks,

asthe

patient

workedonthese

projects,