Originally trained as a psychotherapist, Bill became known for his collaborative respectful approach, irreverent humor, storytelling, clear and accessible presentation style and his infectious enthusiasm for whatever he is doing. He teaches seminars, leads trainings, writes books, coaches people and offers websites, podcasts, blogs, web-based courses, teleclasses and audio and video programs. Bill is often invited as a keynote speaker, conference speaker, motivational keynote presenter and business speaker.
Photograph
© Steffanie O'Hanlon
Bill
began his professional career in 1975 as a hippie
transpersonal counselor at the A.R.E. (Edgar Cayce) Clinic
in Phoenix, Arizona. Earlier he ran growth groups and
taught seminars at the Phoenix growth center Sentheon.
Deciding he really ought to know something more about what
he was doing, he studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming
(before they even had a name for it) and ultimately went
back to school and became a marriage and family therapist.
During graduate school he studied with the eccentric and
creative psychiatrist Milton Erickson and became Erickson's
gardener (he was Dr. Erickson's only work/study student).
He was so confused and impressed by Dr. Erickson's work, he
felt compelled to spend the next several years of his
career writing and teaching in an effort to make Erickson's
approach more understandable and accessible. Bill then
moved on to develop his own method, the Solution-Oriented
Approach, a brief approach to change focused on identifying
and using strengths to reach goals and overcome challenges.
It has been applied with individuals, couples, families and
organizations.
Bill has now authored or co-authored 30 books. He is
frequently heard to say, "Stop me before I write again!"
and occasionally awakens in the middle of the night,
exclaiming in frustration, "I'm having another book!" His
books have been translated into 16 different languages. He
has written over 50 articles or book chapters.
He hurls his body through space in a large metal tube two
to three times a month to give talks around the world,
despite the fact he hates to travel and be away from his
paramour Helen, guitar, piano, favorite foods, and last but
not least Rudy the cat (although some combination of those
travel with him on occasion).
Always looking for a challenge, Bill now brings his ideas
to a wider audience. In 1999, he appeared on Oprah with his
book, Do
One Thing Different: Ten Simple Ways to Change Your
Life. He has
also appeared on The
Today Show,
Canada
AM,
and Body
By Jake. His
work has been featured in O
Oprah's
magazine, Ladies
Home Journal, New Woman, Newsweek, Bottom Line, Self,
Women's Health and
The
Psychotherapy Networker.
Bill has a bunch of professional qualifications, which
matters to some people, so he'll list a few here. He:
- is a Diplomate, Board Member, Fellow and Master Therapist in the American Psychotherapy Association (http://www.americanpsychotherapy.com/)
- is a Lifetime Fellow of the Association for NLP (http://www.anlp.org/)
- is certified by the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists (http://www.natboard.com/)
- is a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (http://www.aamft.org/)
- is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
- is a Certified Professional Counselor
- is a Licensed Mental Health Professional
- was awarded the "Outstanding Mental Health Educator of the Year" in 2001 by the New England Educational Institute
- was the top-rated presenter (out of over 200 presenters) at the AAMFT national conference several years in a row
Having been successful at getting his own message out, he is passionate about helping others get their message out. He now coaches and teaches book writing, publishing, public speaking skills and Internet marketing. His latest book is Quick Steps to Resolving Trauma, published in Fall 2010 by W.W. Norton. He has signed a contract to write his 31st book, on positive psychology, which should be out in 2011.
You can contact Bill through
Possibilities/O'Hanlon and O'Hanlon,Inc. He prefers
email.
Write Bill an email at
Bill@billohanlon.com.
Bill is also on
several social networking sites. Here's his FaceBook
link.