As all passionate endeavors, the Milton H. Erickson Foundation began with a dream.
In 1974, a young, earnest psychologist named Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D. had a noble aspiration. 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.
Erickson M. 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. The Milton H. 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.
Our mission is to promote and advance the contributions made to the health sciences by the late Milton H. Erickson, MD. The Foundation is dedicated to training health and mental health professionals through conferences, workshops, and programs. The Foundation
also offers audiotapes, CDs and DVDs and videotapes on the online store. These products are available to professionals in health-related fields, including physicians, doctoral-level psychologists, podiatrists and dentists who are qualified for membership in,
or are members of, their respective professional organizations (e.g., AMA, APA, ADA), and to professionals with graduate degrees from accredited institutions in areas related to mental health (e.g., MA, MS, MSN, MSW).
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation hosts two major conferences a year – the Brief Therapy Conference in December and the Couples Conference in April. The Foundation also hosts International Congresses and the Evolution of Psychotherapy
Conference, both alternately held every four years. Our conferences can draw anywhere from 1,000 to 8,000 attendees.
Throughout the year, we also offer the Intensives Programs. The Intensives is a dynamic learning experience that is focused, tailored and goal-directed for professionals to learn the principles, applications and techniques of Ericksonian hypnosis and therapy.
The Foundation’s Master Classes are designed for professional to greatly enhance their skills and to learn in an experiential four-day workshop. The Intensives and Master Classes are typically held in Phoenix, Arizona and approximately 30% of attendees live
outside the U.S. There are more than 140 Erickson Institutes worldwide and Foundation’s educational opportunities often attract foreign students. The Erickson Foundation in Phoenix, which governs over the international Institutes, is considered the official
educational foundation and a paradigm.
In addition to live-venue education our online store features audio downloads, CDs, DVDs and videotapes. We also offer live conference webcasts. The Foundation Press publishes hard and soft cover books on Dr. Erickson’s methods and Ericksonian-related topics
and the Foundation has a newsletter, published three times a year, with approximately 10,000 online subscribers.
The Foundation Archives are a repository, attracting professionals around the world in the fields of psychology and anthropology. Our headquarters include an archive and viewing room where historic materials can be perused. The archives encompass three distinct,
but overlapping collections: The Milton H. Erickson Archives; the work of Erickson’s contemporaries and successors; and the Foundation’s Archives. The dimensions of the archives have changed over the years: There are more articles and stories relating to Dr.
Erickson’s influence and conferences of an Ericksonian nature that have been recorded and donated. The Foundation is moving forward in digitizing the archives into several file formats, including mp3s and mp4s. In addition, Dr. Erickson’s Phoenix home on Hayward
Avenue where he lived and worked for the last decade of his life is being transformed into a museum, open to professionals and the general public by appointment only. The Foundation’s Master Classes are traditionally held at the Hayward home.
In the future, the Foundation hopes to offer CEUs with online products. In keeping with our mission, we strive to promote and advance the contributions made to the health sciences by the late Milton H. Erickson, M.D. and are dedicated to training health
and mental health professionals thorough all avenues of education.