August Video of the Month
Timeless Presentations from Erickson Foundation Events
A series exploring keynotes, workshops, dialogues, etc. from past Erickson Foundation conferences—featuring the field’s most influential voices.
These recordings from The Milton H. Erickson Foundation archives offer more than historical interest — they hold lasting clinical value. Each session distills complex therapeutic ideas through lived examples, practical experience, and the subtle choices of the presenters and participants. These sessions continue to invite reflection, offer perspective, and reconnect us with core principles that remain relevant across time and context.
This month’s selection is…
The Art of Persuasion: Changing the Mind on OCD – Reid Wilson, PhD
Brief Therapy Conference 2012 | San Francisco, CA
Reid Wilson, PhD, has spent over four decades refining and advancing treatment protocols for anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Author of multiple influential self-help books, including Stopping the Noise in Your Head and the classic Don’t Panic, Wilson is widely regarded for translating evidence-based approaches, particularly exposure and response prevention (ERP), into practical, accessible strategies for both clinicians and clients. His collaborations with leaders like Edna Foa, and co-authored works with Lynn Lyons such as Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents, have influenced generations of therapists and helped bring evidence-based anxiety treatments into the public sphere.
In this workshop from the 2012 Brief Therapy Conference, Wilson explores the delicate and powerful art of persuasion in treating OCD. He argues that while tolerating discomfort is important in OCD treatment, lasting change comes from reshaping the frame through which clients understand their symptoms and choices. Using humor, metaphor, and vivid clinical examples, Wilson demonstrates how to engage clients in ways that disrupt entrenched avoidance patterns and invite them into active, strategic confrontation with their fears.
Wilson describes persuasion in therapy as a skill that combines understanding and careful word choice. He explains how therapists can use language in a strategic way to lower a client’s resistance, turning the work from something that feels forced into something the client chooses to take on. He encourages viewing symptoms as chances to build skills, seeing setbacks as hidden progress, and learning to welcome feared experiences as a step toward freedom.
One of the attributes that makes this workshop valuable is its blend of Ericksonian sensibilities with modern CBT and exposure principles. Wilson’s use of paradox, in which clients are invited to seek out the very sensations they dread, reflects Milton Erickson’s deep appreciation for indirect influence and reorientation. He weaves in stories and analogies that humanize the process and embed therapeutic strategies in memorable, client-friendly language.
🌀 Ericksonian Threads in Wilson’s Work
Utilization: Wilson builds on whatever the client brings, transforming symptoms into therapeutic leverage points.
Strategic use of paradox: Encouraging clients to “want” their feared sensations disrupts avoidance and reframes the therapeutic task.
Tailored language patterns: He crafts persuasive, individualized framing to meet clients at their readiness level while moving them toward greater engagement.
In this clip, Wilson transforms a stuck hand-washing compulsion by weaving in several new, deliberate layers. He shifts the emotional state, adds a self-soothing sensory step, and creates a built-in deterrent to re-washing. This playful, indirect approach reflects Ericksonian principles by adding elements to a pattern to alter its emotional and cognitive impact, rather than trying to strip it away. By making the ritual more complex and less automatic, Wilson opens the door to lasting change.
Why This Matters Now
For clinicians preparing to attend the Anxiety and Depression Conference in September, this session provides an ideal primer on Wilson’s unique blend of strategy, empathy, knowledge, and precision. While the upcoming conference will explore his latest thinking on panic disorder and related conditions, this archival workshop offers a foundational look at the persuasive skills that underlie his most effective interventions.
Watch this month’s selection and see how persuasion, when applied with clarity and compassion, can become a catalyst for lasting change in OCD treatment.
🗓️ Don’t Miss Reid Wilson at the 2025 Anxiety and Depression Conference (September 27–28, virtual)
At the upcoming 2025 Anxiety and Depression Conference, Reid Wilson will share his expertise in three highly anticipated sessions:
1. Workshop – Provocative Treatment of Panic Disorder
Moving beyond the traditional permissive approach (“It’s OK that I’m anxious”), Wilson takes a more confrontational stance (“I want to get anxious!”). Participants will learn how to:
Explain the therapeutic function of seeking out symptoms of panic
Construct a simple formula to generate a request to increase threatening stimuli
Implement at least four types of interoceptive exposure that can be conducted in the treatment office
2. Keynote – The Fear of Being Seen: How to Treat Social Anxieties
Wilson will explore strategies for helping clients confront and reframe fears related to visibility, judgment, and social performance. Drawing from cognitive strategies, paradox, exposure methods, and the removal of “safety crutches,” he will outline a broad strategic intervention designed to shift clients’ orientation toward anxiety and fear in social contexts.
3. Dialogue – Challenging Questions and Answers: What’s Happening in Anxiety Treatment? (with Lynn Lyons, LICSW)
A candid and practical discussion covering:
Three trends in anxiety treatment that have improved outcomes
The most common mistake in OCD treatment
Practical resources for clients to use outside of sessions
Together, these sessions will showcase Wilson’s hallmark blend of strategic precision, paradoxical interventions, and deep clinical engagement… making them essential for any clinician working in the anxiety field.
