Director Alexander Vesely on Wizard of the Desert, His Milton H. Erikson Documentary _ Phoenix New Times

Alexander Vesely, in conjunction with the Milton H. Erikson Foundation in Phoenix, decided to make a documentary about the doctor and his impact on how therapy is approached today. Vesely explains the importance of Erikson, his inspirational story, and how he made a documentary about a man who passed away nearly 34 years ago.

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Alexander Vesely first heard of Erikson's work when his grandfather Viktor Frankl, who was also in the field, was invited to speak at the Erikson's namesake foundation. At the time, Vesely was working on his documentary,Viktor & I, which later won a Diamond Award in the California Film Awards. After being given a book on Erikson's life and work, Vesley wanted to learn more about "the personality behind the theory." That curiosity and seven years of research and interviews eventually resulted in his new film Wizard of the Desert.

"I was blown away not just by the content and theories of Milton Erikson but also with his personal life story," Vesely explains.

Milton Erikson's personal trials through polio and paralysis at 17 and his later confinement to a wheelchair are just some of the difficulties he faced in his life. Professionally, his groundbreaking work in psychotherapy was misunderstood at the time, and he struggled to be taken seriously, though his patients included famous intellectuals like Aldous Huxley andMargaret Mead. His pursuit of developing these methods and humility, rather than self-promotion, led to his work being largely attributed to those who built off of his ideas, according to Vesely.

"[Erikson] was all about substance," he says. "He was not interested in selling something or making a name for himself."

Vesely went through his own challenges making the documentary. The process of gathering interviews and information for his documentary was lengthy. The documentary relies heavily on these interviews with colleagues, students, patients, and others close to him for insight into Erikson's personality and story. Vesely says reluctance from subjects to be interviewed at all and then getting subjects to open up about who Erikson was turned out to be some of the biggest challenges in making the film.