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The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc.

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The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc.

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.

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.

The full transcript of his 1938 commencement address is available to read in our blog. https://www.erickson-foundation.org/blog/milton-erickson

📷 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)⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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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.

Audio from this course is available for purchase or free with an All Access membership. https://catalog.erickson-foundation.org/group/details/97
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01/26/2026

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.

📖 Polster’s book Uncommon Ground invites readers to think about how psychotherapy can reach more people in meaningful ways. Available for purchase in The Milton H. Erickson Foundation bookstore. https://www.erickson-foundation.org/books/p/uncommon-ground-harmonizing-psychotherapy-community-to-enhance-everyday-living?rq=erving%20polster

📷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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01/08/2026

From the Archives ✨

At the 2014 Brief Therapy Conference, Esther Perel offered a powerful keynote on the paradox of modern relationships. Drawing from her book “Mating in Captivity,” she explored how our need for safety and closeness can collide with the very elements that keep desire alive.

Perel described eroticism as “aliveness, vibrancy, vitality” and showed how attachment history, imagination, and a sense of separateness all shape the “erotic blueprint” partners bring to long-term relationships. Her work invited therapists to see erotic intimacy as a reflection of play, curiosity, and the parts of ourselves that feel most awake.

Available for purchase in our Clinical Media Library, or included with an All Access Membership. https://catalog.erickson-foundation.org/item/bt14-keynote-05-mating-captivity-unlocking-erotic-intelligence

📸 Pictured: Esther Perel at the 2014 Brief Therapy Conference in Orange County, CA
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12/30/2025

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. 121). New York, NY: Irvington Publishers, Inc.
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12/23/2025

Joanne Ginter, M.A., Registered Psychologist, has over 35 years of experience working with individuals and families. With academic training in both psychology and religious studies, her clinical work integrates psychological practice with attention to cultural and spiritual dimensions of healing. Her areas of focus include trauma, family violence, play therapy, and intercultural therapy, drawing on narrative, solution-focused, and Ericksonian approaches.

📖 Ginter’s book "The Fifth Position" explores how religion, spirituality, and cultural pluralism can be thoughtfully incorporated into therapeutic practice. Available in our bookstore. https://www.erickson-foundation.org/books/p/the-fifth-position?rq=ginter

📷 Photo of Joanne Ginter at the 2019 International Congress on Ericksonian Approaches to Psychotherapy in Phoenix, AZ
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12/22/2025

From the Archives

📸 Milton H. Erickson, MD, with Seymour Hershman, MD, William S. Kroger, MD, and an unidentified colleague — c.1960s

Captured during a pivotal era when the medical legitimacy of hypnosis was still being forged, this rare photo features several early clinical innovators.

Erickson pioneered the indirect and individualized approaches to trance work, Kroger advanced hypnosis in obstetrics and gynecology, and Hershman contributed to the growing dialogue around permissive therapeutic techniques.

➡️ "An Epic Life" by Dr. Jeffrey K. Zeig explores this period and many others through 90+ firsthand accounts spanning Erickson’s evolving legacy across five decades of transformative work. Purchase in our bookstore. https://www.erickson-foundation.org/books/p/anepiclife
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Address

2632 E Thomas Road, Ste 200
Phoenix, AZ
85016

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 4pm
Friday	8am - 4pm

Telephone

+16029566196

Website

https://mailchi.mp/erickson-foundation/link-in-bio

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Our Story

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.