--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Therapy is often a matter of tipping the…" description: "\"Therapy is often a matter of tipping the first domino.\" — Milton H. Erickson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/milton-h-erickson-17386_firsts_therapy-is-often-a-matter-of-tipping-the_1296175.png" --- # Therapy is often a matter of tipping the first domino. ![“Therapy is often a matter of tipping the first domino.” quote by Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/milton-h-erickson-17386_firsts_therapy-is-often-a-matter-of-tipping-the_1296175.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/milton-h-erickson-17386_firsts_therapy-is-often-a-matter-of-tipping-the_1296175.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b70/milton-h-erickson-17386_firsts_therapy-is-often-a-matter-of-tipping-the_1296175.png) > “Therapy is often a matter of tipping the first domino.” [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Therapy works by creating a small, decisive change that triggers broader transformation. **In simple terms:** A tiny shift can start a larger healing process. Key Takeaway Identify and act on the first small change. Themes psychotherapy change momentum Mood hopeful reflective Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - counseling sessions - habit formation - crisis intervention Key Concepts Systems thinking catalysis Questions to Reflect On - What small action could start your healing? - How can you sustain momentum after the first shift? A Different Perspective Change may stall if underlying issues aren't addressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy/) ## Related quotes > [To me, wrestling is therapy. No matter how bad my personal situation is, when I step into the ring, all my troubles disappear. 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The work that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-dunst/i-ve-always-used-my-own-personal-emotions-and-things-that-i-ve-gone/) [Kirsten Dunst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-dunst/) > [Therapists need to have a long experience in personal therapy to see what it's like to be on the other side of the couch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvin-d-yalom/therapists-need-to-have-a-long-experience-in-personal-therapy-to-see/) [Irvin D. 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A cognition refers to the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/the-first-principle-of-cognitive-therapy-is-that-all-your-moods-are/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [Music is almost like a therapy for me. It helps keep me centered and think straight. Before I discovered it, I was walking around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banks/music-is-almost-like-a-therapy-for-me-it-helps-keep-me-centered-and/) [Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banks/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) ## More by Milton H. Erickson > [The most important thing in changing human behavior is the person's motivation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/the-most-important-thing-in-changing-human-behavior-is-the-person-s/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [The conscious ego cannot tell the unconscious what to do?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/the-conscious-ego-cannot-tell-the-unconscious-what-to-do/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [Little is really known of the actual potentials of human functioning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/little-is-really-known-of-the-actual-potentials-of-human-functioning/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [The unconscious mind works without your knowledge and that is the way it prefers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/the-unconscious-mind-works-without-your-knowledge-and-that-is-the-way/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [As for my dignity... the hell with my dignity. I will get along alright in this world. I don't have to be dignified, professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/as-for-my-dignity-the-hell-with-my-dignity-i-will-get-along-alright/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [Change will lead to insight far more often than insight will lead to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/change-will-lead-to-insight-far-more-often-than-insight-will-lead-to/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [Life is lived in the present and directed toward a future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/life-is-lived-in-the-present-and-directed-toward-a-future/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [Emphasis should be placed more on what the patient does in the present and will do in the future than on a mere understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/emphasis-should-be-placed-more-on-what-the-patient-does-in-the/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [There are so many things in human living that we should regard not as traumatic learning but as incomplete learning, unfinished learning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/there-are-so-many-things-in-human-living-that-we-should-regard-not-as/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [We always translate the other person's language into our own language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/we-always-translate-the-other-person-s-language-into-our-own-language/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [Every person's map of the world is as unique as their thumbprint.There are no two people alike. No two people who understand the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/every-person-s-map-of-the-world-is-as-unique-as-their-thumbprint/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [The unconscious mind is decidedly simple, unaffected, straightforward and honest. It hasn't got all of this facade, this veneer of what we call adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/the-unconscious-mind-is-decidedly-simple-unaffected-straightforward/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [Shut up, sit in that chair there and go into a deep trance!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/shut-up-sit-in-that-chair-there-and-go-into-a-deep-trance/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [People do not come into therapy to change their past but their future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/people-do-not-come-into-therapy-to-change-their-past-but-their-future/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) > [What is easiest to see is often overlooked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-h-erickson/what-is-easiest-to-see-is-often-overlooked/) [Milton H. Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) [Explore all 37 Milton H. Erickson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-h-erickson/) ## More Firsts quotes > [I always say there are two things to be successful. 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Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. 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Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [Meanwhile someone is shining my head to get it dry to attach my top-hat to my head with toupee tape. I get into microphone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tituss-burgess/meanwhile-someone-is-shining-my-head-to-get-it-dry-to-attach-my-top/) [Tituss Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tituss-burgess/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) Browse all 32,432 Firsts quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Therapy is often a matter of tipping the first domino.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Milton H. 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