Este estudo apresenta o trabalho do psicanalista e hipnoterapeuta americano Milton Hyland Erickson a partir de seus dados biográficos e de sua relevância para a chamada terapia estratégica, propondo, em consonância com sua experiência profissional, uma nova epistemologia para a mudança; propõe ainda uma comparação entre a trajetória de Freud e a de Erickson em relação à hipnose, bem como um apanhado histórico sobre essa técnica. Com base nessa recuperação teórica, os padrões ericksonianos de linguagem são investigados à luz do Metamodelo e do Modelo Milton, criações de Richard Bandler e John Grinder, tomando por base alguns conceitos da Programação Neurolinguística (PNL) tais como sistemas representacionais, filtros, modelagem, espelhamento e rapport. Empreende-se uma análise do discurso ericksoniano a partir de três casos selecionados dentre seus atendimentos clínicos, evidenciando os padrões de linguagem apresentados nas categorias e subcategorias do Metamodelo e do Modelo Milton, com o objetivo de validá-los tanto teórica quanto empiricamente

This study aimed at scrutinizing Milton Hyland Ericksons theoretical framework and therapeutic methodology with a view to the understanding of their relevance to the so-called strategic therapy. That aim was carried out through analyses of issues such as Ericksons professional experience, his shared points and differences with Freudian hypnosis and particularly his patterns of discourse as well as his very clinical technique. Those analyses were accomplished under the guidance of the Metamodel and the Milton Model as proposed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder within the references and concepts comprised in the Neuro-Linguistic Programming such as representational systems, filters, modeling, mirroring and rapport. In order to ground and illustrate the theoretical analyses, this work was enriched by the scrutiny of three Ericksonian clinical cases. This strategy proved to be effective since it has provided evidences about both Ericksons language patterns and empirical data for the observation of the categories and subcategories of the Metamodel and Miltons Model, as a kind of a quest for validation of his theory and methods. The results put into light Ericksons understanding of the therapeutic work