Join us again for another year for our powerful and enlightening virtual conference dedicated to exploring the complexities of anxiety and depression. The Anxiety and Depression Conference brings together top experts and mental health professionals committed to advancing mental well-being. Engage in meaningful discussions and discover innovative strategies for understanding, preventing, and managing anxiety and depression.

REGISTRATION

$399

Register by June 30th for $199

Date/Time

Sep 27, 2025 thru Sep 28, 2025
Starts at 8:45am Pacific Time on Sep 27th

What’s Included?

12 CE credits, conference recordings and transcripts

Are you a student?
Reach out to support@erickson-foundation.org for more information about our student discount

Faculty

  • Lilian Borges, MA, LPC

  • David Burns, MD

  • Lynn Lyons, LICSW

  • Dan Short, PhD

  • Reid Wilson, PhD

  • Michael Yapko, PhD

  • Lilian Borges, LPC, is an experienced therapist, teacher, presenter, and podcaster who has treated individuals and couples for more than thirty years. Being binational herself, she can understand multicultural issues naturally, and perform and teach psychotherapy in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

    She’s an expert in Ericksonian Hypnosis, which she teaches both nationally and internationally and uses with individuals and couples to become and live their higher selves, and she’s trained professionals in hypnosis around the world for more than two decades. Lilian is part of the Milton Erickson Foundation Intensive Hypnosis Training faculty since 2001 where she trains other mental health professionals in Ericksonian Hypnosis.

    She is Certified PACT therapist, and uses her dynamic, experiential, and hypnotic work with couples.

    She currently has a private practice in Arizona, where she uses an array of techniques to help her patients with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, pain management, weight management, smoking cessation, etc.

    She is co-host (with Rick Miller, LICSW) of the popular podcast Modern Couples.

  • David D. Burns is an adjunct professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the author of the best-selling books Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy and The Feeling Good Handbook. Burns popularized Aaron T. Beck's cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) when his book became a best seller during the 1980s.

  • Lynn Lyons is a psychotherapist in Concord, New Hampshire specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders in adults and children for over 30 years.

    Lynn speaks about anxiety, its role in families, and the need for a preventative approach at home and in schools. She is a featured expert in the 2023 documentary Anxious Nation and has appeared in the New York Times, Time, NPR, Psychology Today, Good Morning America, Today, and other media outlets.  

    She is the co-host of the popular podcast Flusterclux. 

    Lynn has authored several books and articles on anxiety, including The Anxiety Audit, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents, and the companion book for kids, Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids (with Reid Wilson.)

  • Dan Short is a licensed psychologist and the current Director for the Phoenix Institute of Ericksonian Therapy. He is the former Assistant Director at the Milton H. Erickson Foundation and has nearly thirty years of experience training members of the helping professions, which include medical providers, psychologists, counselors, life coaches, educators, and para-professionals. Dan is the author of numerous books and book chapters on the competency-oriented strategies of Milton H. Erickson, including the 2005 classic, Hope and Resiliency, which he co-authored with two of Erickson’s daughters. Dan maintains a private practice in Scottsdale, AZ, where he provides hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, and life coaching. Dan has conducted field work in the poorest regions of the world and is an affiliate of Hypnosis Without Borders. He conducts consultation groups for local professionals, provides supervision and training for professionals inside and outside the United States, as well as serving as visiting faculty at Ericksonian institutes across France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Japan.

  • REID WILSON, PhD is a psychologist in Chapel Hill, NC. He has spent 40 years developing treatment protocols for anxiety disorders and OCD. In 1991 he co-authored with Dr. Edna Foa the first-ever self-help book on exposure and response prevention (ERP), Stop Obsessing! How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions. He is author of Stopping the Noise in Your Head: The New Way to Overcome Anxiety and Worry and the classic self-help book Don’t Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks, as well as Facing Panic: Self-Help for People with Panic Attacks (ADAA). He is co-author, with Lynn Lyons, LICSW, of Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous & Independent Children and Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids. He directs www.anxieties.com, celebrating 26 years this year as the largest, privately-run free self-help site on anxiety and OCD. He designed American Airlines’ first national program for the fearful flier and served as the expert on anxiety for WebMD’s Mental Health Community. He is a Founding Clinical Fellow of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) and is a Fellow of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT). In 2014 he received ADAA’s highest service award, and in 2019 he received the highest service award from the International OCD Foundation.

  • Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist residing in Southern California. He is internationally recognized for his work in advancing clinical hypnosis and outcome-focused psychotherapy, routinely teaching to professional audiences all over the world. To date, he has been invited to present his ideas and methods to colleagues in more than 30 countries across six continents, and all over the United States. His presentations are well known for being practical as well as enjoyable.

    Dr. Yapko has had a special interest for nearly five decades in the intricacies of the clinical applications of hypnosis and directive methods, especially in the treatment of depression. He is the author of 16 books and editor of three others, as well as dozens of book chapters and articles on the subjects of hypnosis and the use of strategic psychotherapies. These include his most recent book, Process-Oriented Hypnosis: Focusing on the Forest, Not the Trees, the 5 th edition of his widely used hypnosis text, Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis, as well as Depression is Contagious and Breaking the Patterns of Depression. He is the only 5-time winner of the Arthur Shapiro Award for the “Best Book on Hypnosis” from the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. His works have been translated into ten languages. He also served as Guest Editor for two special issues of the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis on “Hypnosis and Treating Depression” in January and April of this year. More information about Dr. Yapko’s teaching schedule and publications can be found on his website: www.yapko.com.

    Dr. Yapko is the recipient of numerous major awards for his innovative contributions in advancing the fields of hypnosis and brief therapy, including lifetime achievement awards from The American Psychological Association’s Division 30 (Society of Psychological Hypnosis), the International Society of Hypnosis (the Pierre Janet Award), and The Milton H. Erickson Foundation.

Schedule

Saturday, September 27th

Convocation

8:45 am to 9 am Pacific Time

The Discriminating Therapist: Using Hypnosis to Enhance Decision Making in Depressive Stress Generation

  • Cognitive psychology, the study of how people think, has given rise to new understandings about how people gather and use information. This includes how people decide, usually at a level outside of awareness, what is salient to pay attention to in a given context and, likewise, what is essentially irrelevant. When people get sidetracked into irrelevancy, paying too much attention to what doesn’t really matter and too little attention to what does, their perceptions and responses naturally lead them astray. More important, when someone’s perspective is so global or over-general that they simply don’t know how or what to decide, they are far more likely to make poor decisions on the basis of hurt feelings, old history, misconceptions, or blind faith. There are many different ways of making key life decisions, and when one employs an ineffective one, the results can be enduringly painful.

    Instead of following the therapy tradition of analyzing why someone makes the choices they make, The Discriminating Therapist focuses on how people choose. Illustrative examples from client interviews will be included. We will especially focus on what they failed to either notice or discriminate in their global response to some circumstance. From this non-pathologizing and gentler perspective, we can focus on ways to use hypnosis to help people make better decisions.

    1. Identify cognitive style and its effect on experience in general and symptomatic experience in particular

    2. Identify the role of global cognitions in client problems

    3. Describe and model how asking “how” questions can identify the client’s experiential deficits (i.e., missing or incorrect information that work against effective decision-making)

Keynote 1 - 9 am to 10 am Pacific Time

Process-Oriented Hypnosis: Expanding Targets of Depression Treatment

Workshop 1 - 10:15 am to 12:15 pm Pacific Time

  • To Be Determined

    1. To be determined

To Be Determined

Workshop 2 - 10:15 am to 12:15 pm Pacific Time

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Lunch

12:15 pm to 1:30 pm Pacific Time

What REALLY Causes Depression and Anxiety?

Keynote 2 - 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm Pacific Time

  • For centuries, thinkers have debated a bold claim by Epictetus: that our emotions don’t stem from events, but from our thoughts about them. So—do thoughts cause feelings, or is it the other way around?

    In this provocative keynote, Dr. David Burns shares groundbreaking findings from a study of nearly 7,000 users of the Feeling Great app. Using cutting-edge assessments and advanced modeling, his team tested the real-time causal links between negative thoughts and feelings. The results may upend conventional wisdom—and transform how we treat depression, anxiety, and self-doubt. You’ll also learn how a rapid, digital intervention can lead to dramatic mood improvement—in minutes.

    1. Understand one key teaching of the Greek stoic philosopher, Epictetus.

    2. Describe two hotly debated theories about the causal linkages between cognitions (belief in negative thoughts) and feelings.

    3. Describe the potential role and limits of an automated digital device in the modification of negative thoughts and feelings.

Advanced Empathy for Beginners (and Beginners’ Empathy for Advanced Practitioners)

Workshop 3 - 2:45 pm to 4:45 pm Pacific Time

  • Do you know how empathic you really are? And does it actually matter? In this interactive workshop, Dr. David Burns shares surprising research showing that therapists often overestimate their empathy—and that even small blind spots can derail progress.

    You’ll learn powerful tools to assess and dramatically improve your empathy skills in real time. Whether you’re a seasoned clinician or new to the work, this workshop will challenge, inspire, and elevate your practice.

    Topics include:

    • The Five Secrets of Effective Communication

    • The Law of Opposites

    • Real-time empathy assessment tools

    • How to respond skillfully to angry, critical patients

    Bring your curiosity—and your courage.

    1. Describe the accuracy of therapists in estimating their empathy for patients, as perceived by patients.

    2. Describe two powerful and accurate ways to assess empathy at every therapy session.

    3. Describe the philosophy of “joyous failure” when practicing the Five Secrets of Effective Communication.

    4. Explain the Law of Opposites.

To Be Determined

Workshop 4 - 2:45 pm to 4:45 pm Pacific Time

  • To Be Determined

    1. To Be Determined

Sunday, September 28th

To Be Determined

  • To Be Determined

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Keynote 3 - 9 am to 10 am Pacific Time

To Be Determined

Workshop 5 - 10:15 am to 12:15 pm Pacific Time

  • To Be Determined

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The Sequence of Engagement for Anxiety

Workshop 6 - 10:15 am to 12:15 pm Pacific Time

  • In this two-hour workshop, we will explore an evidence-based framework for helping individuals regulate anxiety, using an adapted version of Bruce Perry’s ‘sequence of engagement’ model for trauma intervention. This session will prepare professionals to work effectively with highly anxious individuals by guiding them through four key phases of intervention: 1) Regulate – Learn how to calm the central nervous system and create a safe space for nervous system regulation; 2) Relate – Understand how to help individuals feel seen, heard, and understood, fostering trust and safety; 3) Reason – Explore how to activate critical thinking and probability estimation to challenge problematic thinking patterns; and 4) Experiment – Discover effective ‘reality testing’; strategies like opposite action and practicing panic to deactivate anxiety triggers in real-world settings. The core message is that omitting any of these steps can undermine what would otherwise be an effective intervention.

    1. Identify and describe the four phases of the Sequence of Engagement for Anxiety (Regulate, Relate, Reason, Experiment), demonstrating an understanding of how each phase contributes to managing anxiety in clients.

    2. Demonstrate the application of evidence-based techniques for regulating the nervous system, building trust, challenging cognitive distortions, and implementing real-world interventions, such as opposite action and practicing panic, in simulated or case-based scenarios.

    3. Develop and implement a structured intervention plan incorporating the Sequence of Engagement, effectively using anxiety-deactivation strategies to address specific anxiety triggers and measure client progress.

Lunch

12:15 pm to 1:30 pm Pacific Time

To Be Determined

  • To Be Determined

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Dialogue 1 - 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm Pacific Time

To Be Determined

  • “You’re unique…just like everyone else.” This statement highlights a challenging conundrum: if everyone is special then is anyone special? Anyone who has been doing therapy for any significant length of time will likely have noticed that while each person is unique as an individual, their problems are often remarkably redundant: here’s yet another person suffering with an anxiety disorder, another couple suffering in a distressed and depressing marriage, and another person feeling unhappy with life, and so on. Is the problem in them? Or is it in their process, i.e., the steps they follow leading to distress? By asking ‘how’ questions rather than ‘why,” we can more readily identify unhelpful processes and know where to intervene. In this address, I’ll describe how hypnosis can be used to help build better processes that are life-enhancing.

    When people follow ineffective sequences, identifiable steps that lead them down a symptom-producing path of experience, anyone following those same steps will end up in the same psychological place. Individual differences matter less: it no longer matters how many academic degrees they might have, or what their job is, or what they like to do on their days off. For as long as they continue to do whatever they do (cognitively, behaviorally, emotionally, interpersonally, etc.) in the same problematic way, the unfortunate outcome can be quite predictable. The problem is not in them. Rather, it’s in their process.

    Based on Dr. Yapko’s recent book, Process-Oriented Hypnosis: Focusing on the Forest, Not the Trees, the advantages of a macro-view of people’s problems will be described as a complement to the more typical micro-views clinicians focus upon. The Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis gave this book its esteemed Arthur Shapiro Award for being the “best book on hypnosis in 2021.”

    1. To describe and discuss recent studies on the role of over-general cognitive style in treatment response.

    2. To demonstrate how general language can generate specific effects in the listener.

    3. To list and describe the key components of a “process-oriented hypnosis”

Keynote 4 - 2:45 pm to 3:45 pm Pacific Time

Exploring Integrative Approaches

  • Join two experienced Ericksonian therapists as they discuss innovative, client-centered strategies for addressing anxiety and depression. This dialogue explores how hypnotic techniques can align with evidence-based practices, enhance client autonomy, and reframe emotional conflict. Practical examples highlight the nuanced use of language, pacing, and suggestion in therapeutic conversations.
    This dialogue doesn't require previous knowledge about hypnosis. It will enhance the knowledge of professionals who use hypnosis in their practice as well as those who don't.

    1. Explore Integrative Approaches: Attendees will be able to describe how hypnotherapy can be integrated with evidence-based treatments for anxiety and depression, including cognitive-behavioral and somatic approaches.

    2. Demonstrate Strategic Communication: Attendees will observe and analyze conversational techniques used by hypnotherapists to elicit client motivation, reframe internal conflict, and support adaptive engagement with distress.

    3. Apply Contextual Interventions: Attendees will learn how to tailor hypnotic interventions to the client’s natural language, values, and lived experience to enhance therapeutic alignment and reduce resistance.

Dialogue 2 - 4 pm to 5 pm Pacific Time

Closing

5 pm to 5:15 pm Pacific Time

CONTINUING EDUCATION ACCREDITATION

The Anxiety and Depression Conference is open to professionals in a health-related field with a master’s degree or higher, and students currently enrolled in an accredited graduate program in a health-related field. 

The Anxiety and Depression Conference provides 12.0 hours of continuing education credit. Registrants of the Anxiety and Depression Conference will receive one certificate after the conference is completed. Partial credit will be issued to sessions attended, registrants will need to attend every session in order to receive full credit on certificates. CE credit will not be given for any time spent watching videos. CE Credit is only given for sessions attended via live webinar and all sessions must be attended.

The Milton H. Erickson Foundation encourages attendees to contact their individual state licensing board if you have questions regarding eligibility of a course for continuing education credit prior to registering.

A.C.C.M.E.

  • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

  • A.M.A.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., designates this live activity for a maximum of 16.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ per level. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  • A.P.A.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

  • A.S.W.B.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc, #1489, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 5/2/2024-5/2/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 16.0 continuing education credits per Level of training.

  • B.R.N.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., is approved by the Board of Registered Nursing in California to offer continuing education for nurses (Provider no. CEP 9376). This program is eligible for a maximum of 16.0 contact hours per level.

  • CA B.B.S.

    • Licensees with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences
      The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc is approved to provide CE’s by the NBCC and the APA in the state of California. As of 7/1/15, California BBS accepts CE hours from CE providers approved by either the NBCC or the APA for all license types per Title 16 California Code of Regulations (16CCR) § 1887.4.1 and § 1887.4.3

  • Florida L.C.S.W., L.M.F.T., L.M.H.C.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. is approved by the Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling as a provider of continuing education (CE Provider #: 50-2008).

  • N.B.C.C.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5056. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

NY L.C.S.W. and L.M.S.W.

  • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0304.

  • New York L.M.H.C.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0116.

  • New York L.M.F.T.

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists. #MFT-0052.

  • New York Psychologists

    • The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0069.

NOTE: Please tell us if you are physically challenged and about any accommodations you require.

 CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION POLICY ON DISCLOSURE

     The Milton H. Erickson Foundation is justifiably proud of the conferences and other educational opportunities it sponsors, taking care that the conduct of these activities conforms to the standards and principles of behavioral and medical sciences, thus insuring balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor in all its individually sponsored or jointly sponsored educational activities. All faculty participating in a sponsored activity and those who review and therefore are in control of content are expected to disclose to the activity audience all financial interest or relationships with ineligible companies. Ineligible companies are those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial interest or relationships can include such things as grants or research support, employee or ownership, consultant, stockholder, member of speaker’s bureau, etc. The Foundation’s compliance with these standards assures that potential conflicts of interest are identified prior to our educational activities. The intent of this disclosure is to provide listeners with information on which they can make their own judgments. It remains for the audience to determine whether there are interests or relationships that may influence the presentation with regard to exposition or conclusion.

The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Board of Directors, Administrative Staff and the following presenters have indicated they do not have any financial relationships with an ineligible company to disclose.

  • Commercial Interest: Defined as any entity producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing healthcare goods or services, used on, or consumed by patients. Providers of clinical service directly to patients are not considered to be commercial interests.

    Conflict of Interest: Circumstances that create a conflict of interest when an individual has an opportunity to affect CME content about products or services of a commercial interest with which he/she has a financial relationship.

    Financial Relationships: Relationships in which the individual benefits by receiving a salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, consulting fee, honoraria, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit. Financial benefits are usually associated with roles such as employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities from which remuneration is received or expected. An accreditation agency considers relationships of the person involved in the CME activity to include financial relationships of a spouse or partner.

    Relevant Financial Relationships: Defined as financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create a conflict of interest. They are considered relationships with commercial interests in the 12-month period preceding the time that the individual is being asked to assume a role controlling content of the CME activity. There is not a set minimal dollar amount for relationships to be relevant. Inherent in any amount is the incentive to maintain or increase the value of the relationship.

    Role or Activity: Employment, management position, independent contractor (including contracted research), consulting, speaking and teaching, membership on advisory committees or review panels, board membership, and other activities.

    Compensation: Salary, royalty, intellectual property rights, research grant, consulting fee, speaker fee, ownership interest (e.g., stocks, stock options or other ownership interest, excluding diversified mutual funds), or other financial benefit.

 DISCLAIMER

If the Milton H. Erickson Foundation (hereby referred to as MHEF) cannot hold the Intensive Training seminars due to acts of nature, war, government regulations, disaster, civil disorder or curtailment of transportation facilitating other emergencies making it inadvisable, illegal, or impossible to provide the facilities or to hold the meeting, each prepaid attendee will receive a copy of related handouts and any other materials that would have been distributed. Fixed expenses will be paid from the pre-registration funds. Remaining funds will be refunded to pre-registrants. MHEF is not responsible for any other costs incurred by pre-registrants in connection with the Intensive Training.

The views and opinions expressed by presenters are their own and do not necessarily represent those of MHEF.

MHEF disclaims any responsibility for the use and application of information presented at this training.

CANCELATION POLICY

Cancellations submitted on/or before August 20th will be given a full refund. Cancellations submitted after August 20th but before before August 2, 2025 will receive a full refund, with a $50 service fee. Those who cancel after September 3 and before September 10, 2025, will receive a 50% refund. We will not issue refunds for cancellations made after September 11, 2025. Please allow 8-10 weeks processing. If paying by check, please note that those who submit a non-sufficient fund check will be charged a $20 service fee. Cancelations received that are NOT postmarked by Friday, August 20th, will NOT be eligible for a refund. You must notify the Foundation of any changes by emailing support@erickson-foundation.org or calling 602-956-6196.

 CONTACT

Please contact support@erickson-foundation.org for inquiries.