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Michael D. Yapko, PhD, 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. He routinely serves as an invited keynote speaker at national and international conferences on the topics of clinical hypnosis and strategic psychotherapies.

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 numerous 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 5th 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. More information about Dr. Yapko’s teaching schedule and publications can be found on his website: .

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.

One of Dr. Yapko’s most valued contributions was outside the psychotherapy field when he was able to adapt his ideas and methods to an elephant breeding program at the world-famous San Diego Zoo Safari Park. He was directly responsible for developing innovations in safer elephant management and the training protocols for trainers and keepers, critically important given elephants’ endangered status.