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.
03/17/2026
From the Archives
In 1920, at age 19, Milton H. Erickson undertook a long solo canoe journey during his recovery from a severe case of polio he had contracted at 17.
Erickson was left nearly paralyzed and confined to bed for many months. Physicians told him he would likely never walk again. But through prolonged observation, mental rehearsal, and gradual physical effort, he slowly regained movement and strength. The canoe trip marked an important milestone, serving as a demanding physical challenge and a confirmation of his regained abilities.
Erickson frequently described his early illness and rehabilitation as formative experiences that shaped his emphasis on careful observation, incremental change, and respect for individual capacities…principles that would later characterize his work in psychotherapy and hypnosis.
📷 Photo of Milton H. Erickson on his 1920 canoe trip
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03/10/2026
Quote from the book “The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson”
Erickson & Rossi (1979). Hypnotherapy: An Exploratory Casebook in R.A. Havens (Ed.), The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson (pp. 25). New York, NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.
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03/04/2026
From the Archives ✨
📸 Naji Abi-Hashem, PhD, is pictured here leading ‘Short Course 15: Grief, Trauma and Bereavement’ at the 2002 Brief Therapy Conference in Orlando. He drew on decades of research, clinical work, and cross-cultural experience to challenge narrow diagnostic thinking and highlight the full human impact of catastrophic loss.
Abi-Hashem introduced a framework for working with what he called the “traumatized bereaved,” individuals whose mourning was compounded by violence, disaster, sudden death, or war. He taught that grief was not a single emotion but a lived process involving body, mind, relationships, culture, and spirituality. He encouraged therapists to help clients transform suffering into meaning, without rushing or pathologizing natural responses to loss.
A Lebanese American psychologist with extensive international experience, Abi-Hashem brings a global and humanitarian lens to clinical practice, highlighting how culture, faith, community, and resilience shape the healing process.
Jay Haley (1923–2007) was a central figure in the development of strategic and family therapy and a key contributor to the wider recognition of Milton H. Erickson’s work. Through his writing, teaching, and clinical leadership, Haley helped reshape how therapists understand change, responsibility, and intervention.
At the 2000 Evolution of Psychotherapy conference, Haley addressed questions that remain central to contemporary practice today, including how therapists navigate competing models, increasing institutional pressures, and the demand for effective, time-limited treatment. He challenged clinicians to focus less on theoretical allegiance and more on what actually produces change in the present moment. Haley's conference sessions are available for purchase through our website.
📷 Photo of Jay Haley at an Authors’ Hour session during the 2000 Evolution of Psychotherapy conference in Anaheim, California.
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02/24/2026
What if the way you guide decisions changed everything?
The 2026 Ericksonian Choice Architecture program introduces a fully redesigned curriculum with new modules and new tools you won’t find in earlier versions.
Ready to go deeper?
Registration is open. CE credit available.
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02/18/2026
From the Archives
📜 In June 1938, Milton H. Erickson, MD, returned to Reeseville High School to deliver the commencement address.
He had been a student there less than twenty years earlier. Shortly after graduation, a severe bout of polio forced him into months of paralysis and recovery. By the time he returned to give his speech, Erickson had become a physician.
During his address, Erickson spoke about community, responsibility, and perseverance. He also emphasized the satisfaction of doing good work. These ideas are reflective of the convictions that had shaped both his life and his work.
📷 Photo: Front of Reeseville High School building in Wisconsin. Undated.
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02/16/2026
✨ Introducing the New Ericksonian Choice Architecture Program (2026)
Most meaningful change happens before we’re consciously aware of it. This newly redesigned training explores how unconscious decision-making shapes motivation, resistance, and growth—and how to ethically guide it.
Blending classic Ericksonian communication strategies with modern behavioral science, this multi-session intensive introduces new frameworks, new tactics, and practical tools you can use immediately in clinical and professional settings.
Now open for registration. CE credit available.
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02/10/2026
Quote from the book “The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson”
Zeig, J.K. (1980). A Teaching Seminar with Milton H. Erickson In R.A. Havens (Ed.), The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson (pp. 24). New York, NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.
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02/04/2026
From the Archives
Australian therapist and former actor Richard Hill became involved in Ericksonian training in the mid-2000s. At the 2014 Brief Therapy Conference he presented a short course entitled “The Curiosity Oriented Approach.” Drawing on Ericksonian principles, neuroscience, and interpersonal neurobiology, Hill examined how curiosity can shift clients from threat and avoidance toward openness, play, and possibility.
Erving Polster (1922–2024) was a widely respected psychotherapist, teacher, and author whose work emphasized presence, dialogue, and the lived experience of the client. Associated with the Gestalt therapy tradition, Polster was known for helping clinicians translate humanistic theory into practical, moment-to-moment therapeutic work.
In the later years of his career, Polster reflected on the limits of established therapeutic frameworks and on how the field itself was evolving. These reflections grew out of decades of clinical practice, teaching, and dialogue with colleagues across traditions.
📷Photo taken at 2000 Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference in Anaheim, California
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01/20/2026
From the Archives
📸 A rare behind-the-scenes photograph showing Milton H. Erickson, MD, seated in a television studio during the filming of an educational segment, likely in the late 1950s. Elizabeth Erickson can be seen seated as part of the panel in the background.
During this period, local and regional stations often invited medical specialists to discuss or demonstrate emerging topics in science and clinical practice, including hypnosis, which was rapidly gaining public interest.
This photo offers a glimpse into how early television helped introduce broader audiences to contemporary psychological ideas, and how Erickson’s work intersected with public education efforts of the era.
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01/14/2026
Quote from the book “The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson
Erickson & Rossi (1981). Experiencing Hypnosis In R.A. Havens (Ed.), The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson (pp. 130). New York, NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.
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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.
