Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, The Milton H. In 1974, a young, earnest psychologist named Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D. had a noble aspiration. Erickson M. The Milton H.
Erickson Foundation provides psychotherapy conferences & continuing education events for mental-health professionals. He wanted to hold an educational meeting of mental health professionals. For six years, Dr. Zeig, along with other colleagues, trained and mentored under Milton H. D., the world’s foremost authority on hypnosis. Dr. Erickson never charged his students, so to express his gratitude and to offer Dr. Erickson an opportunity to witness the tremendous impact he had made in the field, Dr. Zeig organized the first Congress. As plans were underway, the need to establish a more formal non-profit educational foundation was recognized. Erickson Foundation was incorporated October 29, 1979. Unfortunately, Dr. Erickson died nine months before the Congress but was able to appreciate that 750 had already registered. The Congress, held in December of 1980, attracted more than 2,000 and was the largest meeting ever held on the topic of hypnosis. Over the next 30-plus years, the Foundation has grown to offer more Congresses; conferences on brief therapy and couples therapy; an Evolution of Psychotherapy conference; training workshops, including the Intensives and Master Classes; a rich and expansive archive; the Foundation Press which offers information resources and studies of Dr. Erickson’s methods and Ericksonian related topics; an Erickson Center for Hypnosis and Psychotherapy where patients pay on a sliding scale; a newsletter published three times a year; and more recently, a museum, formerly the home where Dr. Erickson lived and worked the last decade of his life. From its humble beginnings, the Milton H. Erickson Foundation has grown to become one of the most globally recognized and influential organizations in the field of psychotherapy today. However, it has only been possible with the support of registrants, faculty, donors, and those who strongly believe in the Foundation’s mission.
11/26/2025
From the Archives
At 17, Milton H. Erickson was paralyzed by polio.
Confined to bed, he read the dictionary cover to cover, studying language in detail.
The deep understanding of words that he cultivated in his youth helped shape his groundbreaking approach to hypnosis and psychotherapy.
For Erickson language was a key means of individualized connection. It was one of many ways he engaged with patients…adapting his words to each person’s unique patterns of perception, behavior, and communication.
📷Photo of Milton H. Erickson reading the dictionary, circa 1920
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11/21/2025
🌟 Meet the Faculty for Module 2 – Ericksonian Hypnotics 🌟
Take your skills further with our advanced module (Mar 6 – Apr 24, 2026), taught by these internationally recognized experts:
👩🏫 Lilian Borges, MA – ARE Format / Tailoring / Utilization / Treatment Planning
👨🏫 Dan Short, Ph.D. – Core Competencies / Pattern Interruption
👩🏫 Consuelo Casula – Indirection, Anecdotes, & Metaphor
👨🏫 Shawn Criswell – Strategic Hypnosis
📅 Fridays | 9:00–11:30 AM PT
👉 Register for Module 2 here: Link in Bio
Build your Ericksonian toolkit with these masters of the craft!
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11/20/2025
Quote from the book “The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson"
Erickson, M.H. (1980). The Collected Papers of Milton H. Erickson on Hypnosis Vol. IV, In R.A. Havens (Ed.), The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson (pp. 97). New York, NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.
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11/19/2025
Bert Hellinger (1925–2019) is widely recognized for developing Family Constellations, a therapeutic approach rooted in systemic theory and phenomenology. His work explores how unresolved traumas and disrupted relational dynamics within a family system can be transmitted across generations.
Central to Hellinger’s model is the premise that psychological well-being is closely tied to the natural order within a family…such as belonging, hierarchy, and balance in giving and receiving. When this order is disturbed, individuals may unconsciously carry burdens that do not belong to them, often manifesting as persistent emotional or relational difficulties.
Family Constellations aims to reveal these hidden entanglements through structured group or individual sessions, offering insight into inherited patterns and facilitating systemic healing.
📷 Photo of Bert Hellinger at the 2000 Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim, CA
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11/17/2025
🌟 Meet the Faculty for Module 4: Mastering Clinical Challenges 🌟
Join an outstanding lineup of faculty for this 8-week live online module, designed to help you navigate complex therapeutic situations with creativity and skill.
👩🏫 Bette Freedson, LCSW – Spiritual Dimensions in Hypnosis
👩🏫 Tobi Goldfus, LCSW-C – Compare & Despair → Self-Acceptance
👨🏫 Dan Short, PhD – Eliciting Feedback & Progress Monitoring, Paradoxical Methods, and Emotional Impact
👩🏫 Lilian Borges, MA – Managing Challenging Situations & Case Conceptualization
👨🏫 Stephen Gilligan, PhD – Generative Trance for a Creative Mind
This module offers cutting-edge strategies for addressing clinical complexity and deepening therapeutic impact—making it the perfect conclusion to the 2026 Intensive Training.
🌟 Meet the Faculty for Module 3: Clinical Applications of Hypnosis 🌟
We’re thrilled to bring together a powerful team of experts for this 8-week live online module! In Module 3, you’ll learn practical, evidence-based approaches to integrating hypnosis into clinical work from:
👩🏫 Dana Lebo – Hypnosis and Performance Enhancement
👩🏫 Lilian Borges, MA – Habit Control, Anxiety, and Medical Hypnosis & Pain Management
👩🏫 Roxanna Erickson, RN, PhD – Self-Hypnosis
👨🏫 Michael Yapko, PhD – Depression
👨🏫 Rick Miller, LICSW – Ego Strengthening and Self-Esteem
👨🏫 Dan Short, PhD – Hypnotherapy for Trauma
Each faculty member brings fresh insight and decades of experience to help you expand your clinical toolkit and apply hypnosis with confidence.
From the Archives
✨ Norman “Dr. Blue” Katz (1948–2023) was a psychologist, hypnotherapist, and international teacher whose work reflected a synthesis of science, art, and deep humanism. Trained first under Erika Fromm and Ted Barber, Katz later spent time in Phoenix with Milton Erickson. In interviews, he recalled that Erickson helped him see trance as part of everyday life, something people could learn to recognize and guide.
Known for his warmth and curiosity, Katz taught that hypnosis was “a skill and an aptitude” grounded in attention, imagination, and dissociation. He went on to train physicians and healers around the world in medical hypnosis and meditation-based healing.
At the 1983 International Congress, Katz presented “The Hypnotic Lifestyle,” honoring Erickson’s legacy by blending scientific rigor with the playful, creative spirit that Erickson modeled.
📸 Pictured: Katz at the 1983 International Congress
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11/10/2025
🌟 Meet the Faculty for Module 2 – Ericksonian Hypnotics 🌟
Take your skills further with our advanced module (Mar 6 – Apr 24, 2026), taught by these internationally recognized experts:
👩🏫 Lilian Borges, MA – ARE Format / Tailoring / Utilization / Treatment Planning
👨🏫 Dan Short, Ph.D. – Core Competencies / Pattern Interruption
👩🏫 Consuelo Casula – Indirection, Anecdotes, & Metaphor
👨🏫 Shawn Criswell – Strategic Hypnosis
Build your Ericksonian toolkit with these masters of the craft!
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11/06/2025
🌟 Meet the Faculty for Module 1 – Hypnosis Basics 🌟
Our first module (Jan 9 – Feb 27, 2026) introduces you to the foundations of hypnosis with a world-class faculty lineup:
👩🏫 Lilian Borges, MA – Introduction to Hypnosis & The Language of Hypnosis
👩🏫 Consuelo Casula – Hypnotic Suggestion
👨🏫 Robert Staffin – Experiential Induction & Building Rapport
👨🏫 Dan Short, Ph.D. – Imagery & Imagination / Phenomenology of Hypnosis
👩🏫 Roxanna Erickson – First Hypnotherapy Session & Ethics
📅 Fridays | 9:00–11:30 AM PT
👉 Register for Module 1 here: Link in Bio
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11/05/2025
Quote from the book “The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson”
Erickson, M.H. (1980). The Collected Papers of Milton H. Erickson on Hypnosis Vol. I, chap. 13 In R.A. Havens (Ed.), The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson (pp. 58). New York, NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.
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11/03/2025
✨ Module 4 – Mastering Clinical Challenges
Complex clients, resistant cases, advanced strategies — this is where it all comes together. 🔑
View the schedule for Module 4 – Mastering Clinical Challenges (Jul 10 – Aug 28, 2026) and join us for this capstone experience.
✨ Module 3 – Clinical Applications of Hypnosis
From anxiety to trauma to pain management — this module covers it all. 💡
See the schedule for Module 3 – Clinical Applications of Hypnosis (May 1 – Jun 26, 2026). Each week highlights practical strategies you can bring directly into your work.
📅 Fridays | 9:00–11:30 AM PT
👉 Register today: https://www.erickson-foundation.org/intensive-training
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The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is a globally recognized and highly influential organization in the field of psychotherapy. The Foundation offers conferences; training workshops, including the Intensives and Master Class; a rich and expansive archive; the Erickson Foundation Press, which publishes books on Ericksonian-related topics and studies of Erickson’s methods; a newsletter; tours of the home (now a museum) where Erickson lived the last decade of his life; online continuing education; and a soon-to-be-released subscription-based service that will provide access to a vast library of digital media.
Milton H. Erickson, MD (1901-1980), was a renowned psychiatrist and one of the world’s leading practitioners of medical hypnosis. He became known for his brief, strategic approaches to psychotherapy that included the use of utilization, orienting toward, tailoring, and gift-wrapping. Stricken with polio when he was 18, Erickson recovered but several decades later endured post-polio syndrome, which eventually made him wheelchair bound. Milton Erickson was a profile in courage. Despite his chronic pain and afflictions, he tirelessly worked helping and teaching others in his private practice and seminars. And he rarely charged the students he mentored, including one young psychologist named Jeffrey K. Zeig.
Like several of whom Erickson taught and mentored, Zeig sought Erickson out in the early 1970s after hearing of him and his innovative methods. For the next several years, Zeig traveled to Phoenix to learn from Erickson, and eventually moved to Phoenix to be closer to him. In the late 1970s, Zeig began organizing a congress that would coincide with Erickson’s 79th birthday. He wanted to show Erickson his deep appreciation for all the years he spent as his student and house guest. As plans for the congress were underway, the need to establish a more formal non-profit educational foundation was recognized. In October of 1979, The Milton H. Erickson Foundation was incorporated, and Erickson and his wife, Elizabeth (Betty), and Zeig and his then wife, Sherron Peters, were the first board of directors. The current board of directors include: Helen Erickson, Roxanna Erickson-Klein, Camillo Loriedo, J. Charles Theisen, Bernhard Trenkle, and Jeffrey K. Zeig.
The First International Congress on Ericksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy, held in December 1980, attracted more than 2,000 and was the largest meeting ever held on the topic of hypnosis. It was such a success that within a few years Zeig organized another conference: The Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference, which featured luminaries in the field. Tabbed “The Woodstock of Psychotherapy,” the first Evolution Conference was hailed as a landmark event by The New York Times and Los Angeles Times. The Brief Therapy Conference and Couples Conference, also conceptualized and organized by Zeig, soon followed. Since 1980, the Erickson Foundation has continued to offer these conferences and congress.
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation continues to grow, expanding its therapeutic reach throughout the world. And with the support of donors, registrants, faculty, and staff, it will carry on in perpetuity.
