June 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…
Accessing and Contextualizing Resources in Hypnosis with Michael Yapko, Ph.D.
Presented at the 2004 International Congress on Ericksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Hypnosis cures nothing. It’s not the mere fact of being hypnotized. It’s what happens during the hypnosis—what new ideas you stimulate, what new possibilities you help this person conceive and apply.” —Michael Yapko, Ph.D.
What does it really mean to do therapeutic work in a hypnotic state?
In this video from the Erickson Foundation’s archives (available via our All Access pass or to purchase individually), clinical psychologist and internationally recognized hypnosis expert Dr. Michael Yapko goes far beyond simply the techniques of trance induction. Speaking to a packed room of early morning attendees, Yapko takes his audience through a masterclass on the purpose, structure, and transformative potential of hypnosis—not as a novelty or ritual, but as a grounded method for delivering therapeutic ideas.
The presentation was part of the conference’s Fundamentals of Hypnosis track, and it’s a clear and energizing example of how clinical hypnosis, especially when practiced in an Ericksonian spirit of utilization and responsiveness, can help clients access new internal resources, reinterpret limiting beliefs, and begin meaningful change.
🎯 Integrating Hypnosis into Anxiety and Depression Therapy
Dr. Yapko, who will be a featured speaker at the Foundation’s Anxiety & Depression Conference (September 27–28, 2025, virtual), is known for his groundbreaking work on how hypnosis can enhance the effectiveness of treatment for depression and anxiety.
In “Accessing and Contextualizing Resources in Hypnosis” from the 2004 Ericksonian Congress he doesn’t just explain the value of hypnosis, he demonstrates how it can be used to help clients:
• Break free from rigid cognitive patterns that often maintain depressive symptoms—using methods that go beyond insight alone.
• Experience shifts in physiological and emotional states that are difficult to achieve through conscious effort, offering new tools for calming anxious arousal.
• Reconnect with internal strengths that may have been obscured by hopelessness or helplessness—without needing to “analyze the problem” directly.
Rather than relying on theory, Yapko shows how these outcomes are delivered through experience. In doing so, he invites clinicians to consider how hypnosis can do what talk therapy sometimes cannot: immerse clients in change.
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“People have more abilities than they know how to consciously connect to. You discover that you have abilities you didn’t know you had. That is so empowering for people.”
— Michael Yapko, Ph.D.
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🧠 What You'll Learn in This Video
This video holds rich educational value, especially for those trained in Ericksonian methods or those curious about how to apply them in contemporary practice.
Throughout, Yapko reinforces one of Milton Erickson’s core insights: what you focus on, you amplify. In hypnosis, this means choosing your focal point with precision whether it’s a feeling, a belief, a sensation, or a relational pattern…and helping clients experience it in a new way.
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🔍 For Ericksonian Clinicians
This session is especially rich in Ericksonian themes, which Yapko explicitly and implicitly teaches.
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💬 Clinical Wisdom to Take With You
Yapko reminds us that hypnosis is not the change, it’s the frame for change. And when that frame is skillfully built, the client can do extraordinary things within it. As he says:
“I still do not know of any way to increase a person's sense of control over themselves the way that hypnosis affords them to.”
INSERT VIDEO CLIP HERE (10:32 “Hypnosis cures nothing…” to 11:20)
This presentation was originally recorded at the 2004 International Congress on Ericksonian Approaches to Hypnosis and Psychotherapy. Dr. Yapko’s insights here remain deeply relevant today, offering timeless strategies for treating depression, anxiety, and cognitive rigidity through hypnosis.
📅 Don’t Miss Dr. Yapko Live
September 27, 2025 • Virtual • 12 CE Credits Available
🌐 Virtual attendance available worldwide
Dr. Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., will be delivering both a keynote address and a live workshop on Saturday, September 27, as part of the Milton H. Erickson Foundation’s Anxiety & Depression Conference. Widely regarded as one of the foremost clinical voices in the integration of hypnosis and depression treatment, Yapko’s dual presentations will offer both intellectual depth and immediate clinical relevance.
🗝️ Keynote Address:
The Discriminating Therapist — Using Hypnosis to Enhance Decision Making in Depressive Stress Generation
🕘 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PT
In this incisive keynote, Dr. Yapko draws on the insights of cognitive psychology to examine how individuals, particularly those experiencing depression, often fail to notice key discriminations when making life decisions. Instead of asking why someone chooses poorly, Yapko emphasizes the value of asking how they make decisions.
You'll learn how hypnosis can be employed to:
• Refocus attention on what actually matters
• Interrupt overgeneralization and global thinking
• Promote more nuanced, context-sensitive decision making
This session offers a non-pathologizing, process-focused framework for helping clients improve their cognitive and emotional filters…skills especially vital in treating depressive disorders.
🛠️ Workshop:
Process-Oriented Hypnosis — Expanding Targets of Depression Treatment
🕥 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM PT
Building on his award-winning book Process-Oriented Hypnosis, Yapko explores how unhelpful mental and behavioral sequences (not personality traits) often drive psychological suffering. Using a process-focused lens, this workshop helps clinicians recognize and intervene at the level of cognitive-emotional patterns that repeatedly generate anxiety and depression.
Participants will learn to:
• Identify process redundancies across seemingly unique clients
• Use hypnosis to interrupt symptom-producing sequences
• Implement general suggestions that create specific, client-centered effects
This training is ideal for clinicians who want to move beyond “insight into cause” and toward strategic alteration of process, especially with clients who struggle with repetitive emotional outcomes.
Whether you're new to clinical hypnosis or a seasoned Ericksonian, this is a great opportunity to witness Dr. Yapko’s blend of scientific clarity, clinical creativity, and deep therapeutic respect…all grounded in decades of experience treating complex emotional disorders.
________________________________________ 🖥️ [Register for the Anxiety & Depression Conference] ________________________________________
