The Milton H. Erickson Foundation

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.

During the next 40 years, the Erickson Foundation organized more congresses, held every four years. The final Erickson congress was in December of 2019. Zeig also conceptualized the Brief Therapy Conference, the Couples Conference and the Evolution of Psychotherapy Conference, and since 1985, these conferences have been going strong. The foundation also offers the online Intensives Training Program, The Art of Psychotherapy, and The Grandmasters’ Approaches to Psychotherapy classes. Our organization has a rich and expansive archive; a press, which publishes informational resources and books of Dr. Erickson’s methods and Ericksonian-related topics; a newsletter; and the Erickson Historic Residence, the former home where Dr. Erickson lived and worked the last decade of his life.

Mission:
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is a non-profit organization designated to advance practice in the mental health professions and perpetuate the teachings of the late Milton Erickson, MD. For over 40 years the Erickson Foundation has pioneered cutting-edge therapeutic continuing education. Through your support, the Foundation can continue to develop new educational offerings and preserve psychotherapeutic history.