Sarah Clinebell, who has been working on the Erickson archives since June 2022, has supplied us with a folder that includes pictures of the Erickson’s ancestors, the story of Croakers and sketches of the Erickson apartment at Eloise.  She also supplied us with pictures from the Erickson photograph collection including pictures of Erickson and his brother and Erickson inducing Betty Erickson into trance.  According to “An Epic Life 2” by Jeffrey Zeig, Ph. D., Erickson served as director of psychiatric research and training at Eloise from 1934 - 1948.  From 1938 – 1942 …

The best ideas often emerge from recognizing a need—the Couples Conference is a perfect example of this. What started as a conversation among colleagues became an event that has filled a crucial niche in the world of psychotherapy. The 2025 conference, titled “Reconnecting in a Disconnected World,” will be held virtually from May 2–4. Featuring an impressive faculty—Lilian Borges, Elliot Connie, William Doherty, Rebecca Jorgensen, Martha Kauppi, William Marsh, Rick Miller, Tammy Nelson, Terry Real, and Ari Tuckman—this year promises to

Growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s, it was impossible not to notice how Eastern culture began to influence the Western world. The Beatles met the Maharishi in 1968 and traveled to India to meditate and eat vegetarian food and the sound of the sitar crept into George Harrison’s music. The Nehru jacket had a brief fashion moment. My sister joined an Eastern religious cult …

Acknowledging What Is, is a compilation of fascinating and engaging conversations between journalist, Gabriele ten Hövel and German psychologist, Bert Hellinger (1925-2019). Hellinger is renowned for the Family Constellations or Systemic Constellations approach, which reveals hidden dynamics in families…how we are influenced by our ancestral relationships, often without conscious awareness. With an investigator’s curiosity and healthy skepticism, Gabriele ten Hövel questions how Hellinger’s approach can work, and her sense of wonder lightens the serious and tough questions she poses. Hellinger is concise and equally tough with his responses. He adheres to the strong principles and ideas that he maintained about life, albeit some controversial.

Whether you are a novice or experienced practitioner, Therapeutic Mastery by Charles H. Kramer, MD, is a seriously good book for achieving mastery in psychotherapeutic practice. Kramer starts from the ground up with the creative growth, development, and physical and mental health of the therapist. He wants therapists to be authentic, freed, exhilarated, and open to possibilities. His ethos mirrors that of Milton Erickson’s as he writes: “Mastery has to do with using a full range of our internal resources, our entire cast of characters. It means removing the self-imposed limits that shackle us, limits that keep us in ordinary competence or even mediocrity. Opening up to our latent creativity means letting go of the attachment …

The “Erickson Family History” chapter of “An Epic Life II: Milton H. Erickson Personal Perspectives,“ by Jeffrey Zeig, Ph. D. documents Erickson’s entry into interviewing suspects and convicts and reporting results to the courts. While in medical school at the University of Wisconsin, one of his professors recommended that he examine subjects and write reports for the Wisconsin State Board of Control.

Twenty-six of Dr. Erickson’s former students are practicing psychiatry in army and navy hospitals and are among the steadily increasing number using hypnosis in treating fighting men who are suffering from those psychiatric breakdowns which cruel physical and mental torture bring to the best of men.

Dr. Erickson is 43 years old and became first interested in hypnotism when he was 12, growing up on a Wisconsin farm. Another boy bought for 10 cents a book called, How to Be a Hypnotist. In spite of the detailed instructions, neither boy could hypnotize anybody, and young Milton, looking at the picture, said, “Of course you couldn’t learn to do that for 10 cents. But wait till I grow up. I’m going to be a hypnotist.”

Mrs. Milton H. Erickson, of Eloise, Mich., has two fine children – Betty Alice, 7 years old, and Allan, 4. When they were born Mrs. Erickson says she felt no pain, since her husband, each time, put her in a hypnotic trance and told her the birth would be painless, and sure enough it was.

Erickson was living at 32 West Cypress in Phoenix. He traveled extensively that year, crisscrossing the country providing 55 lectures, seminars and trainings. He presented at universities, dental, medical, and clinical hypnosis conferences, and hospitals and for the United States Army. He lectured for Seminars on Hypnosis, a Chicago-based firm, that handled registration for the seminars. The three-day seminars cost $150.00 which included luncheons. “The instructors are recognized leaders in the field. All are experienced teachers and are engaged in clinical practice of medicine or dentistry.”

Sarah Clinebell, who has been working on the Archives since June 2022, has supplied us with a folder named “Cruise Folder, January 4 – 18, 1958.” The contents include details of the cruise, correspondence setting up the lecture series, a brochure about the cruise vessel, excursions available at cruise stops, correspondence with Dr. Louis Mars (the contact person for the Port-au-Prince stay) an article regarding setting up of the first psychiatric hospital in Haiti, and correspondence regarding …

Sarah Clinebell, who has been working on the Archives since June 2022, has supplied us with a folder named “Cruise Folder, January 4 – 18, 1958.” The contents include details of the cruise, correspondence setting up the lecture series, a brochure about the cruise vessel, excursions available at cruise stops, correspondence with Dr. Louis Mars (the contact person for the Port-au-Prince stay) an article regarding setting up of the first psychiatric hospital in Haiti, correspondence regarding Erickson’s purchase of turtle specimens, and a Port-au-Prince shopkeeper’s purchase of a bola.

The following is a transcript of the Forgiveness Panel, one of the highlights of the 2023 Couples Conference. It was edited for readability and is not meant to be shared, cited, or published. The Erickson Foundation provides this transcript to registrants of the 2023 Couples Conference in appreciation of their attendance. I am grateful to Ellyn Bader of the Couples Institute for initiating the panel and suggesting the faculty. - Jeffrey K. Zeig, Ph.D.

This is a picture of Reeseville High School around the time that Milton Erickson was a student there. He graduated in June 1919 at the age of 18. Two months later he had a crippling bout of polio. Unearthed from the Erickson archives, we provide the following to illustrate the socio-cultural perspectives of Erickson. (For additional information: An Epic Life Milton Erickson, Professional Perspectives, and Epic Life II: Milton Erickson, Personal Perspectives, by Jeffrey K. Zeig, Erickson Foundation Press.)

It was Saturday, January 22, 2022, when I received the call letting me know Carl Hammerschlag had passed peacefully in his home. I sat quietly, reflecting on this news, letting my mind and heart wrap itself around the enormity of this loss. I then replayed his last phone message to me from the evening before: Sweet sister love, Shabbat Shalom! This is the last Shabbos call before I leave my office …I love you. I send you my blessings always, Carl.  

Several weeks ago, while researching an article on T.E.A. von Dedenroth, I came across a folder containing 85+ pieces of correspondence between Milton Erickson, M. D. and Eric M. Wright, Ph.D., M.D. of the University of Kansas covering the period from 1964 to 1966. In 1965, Wright was the president of …

Routines can help us structure our time, keep us focused on the task at hand and facilitate goal attainment. Yet routine can also get us into rigidity. In Phoenix, David Gordon and Mary-Beth Anderson recount Erickson’s experience eating breakfast with a colleague: “And we ALL have our …

Subsequent to the posting of “Say What? What’s in a Name?” we are following up with additional information about T. E. A., one of the more colorful people who studied with Erickson. T.E.A. was an internist who became a forensic psychiatrist after he studied with Erickson. He was Erickson’s personal physician and went on to testify in some high-profile cases as an expert witness.

Several weeks ago, while researching an article on T.E.A. von Dedenroth, I came across a folder containing about 80+ pieces of correspondence between Erickson and M. Eric Wright, Ph.D., M.D. of the University of Kansas covering the period from 1964 to 1966. In 1965, Wright …