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.

Consuelo C. Casula, Clinical Psychologist, has a degree in Philosophy, a University specialization in Psychology and one in Clinical Hypnosis. She carries out her clinical activity in her studio in Milan, Italy, where she deals with anxiety, phobia, depression, stress, resilience and post traumatic growth, women’s empowerment, aging, couples, conflict management, and bereavement.

She teaches in some Italian schools of psychotherapy and clinical hypnosis, and travels abroad as a guest speaker to give lectures and facilitate workshops.

From 2014-2017 she has been the president of the European Hypnosis Society (ESH).

In her clinical practice she integrates Ericksonian hypnosis with a pragmatic, systemic and strategic approach, combined with positive psychology and Mindfulness. She is the author of several books on leading groups, resilience, women’s empowerment, and metaphors. Her Italian book on metaphors has been translated into five languages, included English (Metaphors for Personal and Professional Evolution: Gardeners, Princesses and Porcupines. Kindle Edition); her Italian book on resilience has been translated into French. She is also the author of several articles published in national and international books and journals.

In 2012, The Italian Association of Trainers (AIF) Awarded her for “…having contributed to developing, disseminating and generating training". In 2016, the “Franco Granone-Centro Italiano di Ipnosi Clinica e Sperimentale” gave her the IV International Prize “Franco Granon” for “her contribution in the field of Hypnosis in Italy”. In 2022, the International Society of Hypnosis (ISH) gave her the Pierre Janet Award for “Her clinical excellence and her publications on her clinical experience have advanced our understanding of the uses of hypnosis to achieve effective results.” In 2023, the European Society of Hypnosis awarded her the title of Honorary Member of the ESH, in “recognition of her outstanding contribution to the field of hypnosis.”

Shawn R. Criswell, PhD, is a licensed professional counselor who provides clinical care to clients of all ages as well as offering consultation and training to healthcare professionals locally and internationally. For over 30 years, Dr. Criswell has used and taught clinical hypnosis in a range of settings including private practice, hospitals, academia, integrated medical clinics, and community mental health. She recently co-authored the 6th edition of Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis, with Dr. Michael D. Yapko.

Bette Freedson is a clinical social worker practicing in Southern Maine. A highly regarded speaker and teacher, Bette is the author of three books: Soul Mothers’ Wisdom: Seven Insights for the Single Mother, and Other Realms, Other Ways: A Clinician’s Guide to the Magick of Intuition. She is also a contributing author to ERICKSONIAN THERAPY NOW: The Master Class with Jeffrey K. Zeig, PhD. Bette’s most recent book is Passageways: Everyday Adventures into the Paranormal. As an approved consultant of The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), Bette incorporates hypnosis ethodology along with the wisdom of the non-conscious, aka the intuitive mind, into her writing, teaching, and clinical practice. With early roots in public education, Bette is mindful of tailoring her presented material to the needs and interests of each unique audience. Besides having taught for The Sweetser Training Institute, Adcare, and NASW, Bette has been a faculty member and moderator for conferences of the Milton H. Erickson Foundation. Bette currently serves as a facilitator for the Erickson Foundation’s Intensive Training program. Bette served for two years as a contributing member of the NASW specialty practice section on Children, Adolescents and Young Adults. (CAYA) Currently Bette serves as a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

You can follow Bette on Facebook, Instagram, Substack and Bluesky.

Tobi B. Goldfus, LCSW-C, BCD is a therapist, author and national/international speaker and trainer. She is an ASCH consultant with over 30 years of clinical hypnosis experience and is a certified EST therapist and consultant, national and international. In her book, From Real Life to Cyberspace and Back Again: Helping Our Young Clients Develop a Strong Inner Selfie (2017) and 2024 article in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, she focuses on ego states being practiced, predicating factors that make young people on social media/gaming sites more vulnerable to negative or traumatic experiences, and those that build strong social networks, and provides assessment and psychotherapy techniques to promote balance between online and real life. Her recent article (August, 2024, The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis) “The Impact of Social Media Use on Depression, Anxiety and Well-Being for Teens/Young People: Using Hypnosis to Build a Strong Sense of Self” outlines how this issue has formed a global concern for mental heal and ways clinicians can intervene. She is a member and has presented frequently as faculty that includes the Milton H. Erickson Foundation conferences, ASCH ( the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and a member at large 2025), ISH (International Society of Hypnosis), ESH (European Society of Hypnosis), MEISA (MHE Institute of South Africa), SCEH(Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis), and key note speaker at NPHTI (National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute). She is often co-faculty for trainings for Ego State Therapy North America as well as ASCH approved hypnosis trainings; She is a member of NASW and GWSCSW, and a Board Certified Diplomat. Tobi is in private practice in Germantown, Maryland.

Dan Short, PhD, is Director for the Phoenix Erickson Institute, former Editor for the Foundation Newsletter, and former Assistant Director at the Erickson Foundation. He is the author of Hope and Resiliency, co-written with Betty Alice Erickson and Roxanne Erickson-Klein. Dan teaches hypnosis at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, conducts consultation groups for local professionals, as well as serving as visiting faculty at institutes around the world.

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