Leonard Saxon

Leonard Saxon (Born October 30, 1929) is an American psychologist born in St. Louis, Missouri, he is the founder of Static Phase therapy which is intended to return patients to a static or neutral mental state.

Saxon's work was influential in therapeutic circles and adopted by many of his disciples throughout the Midwest in the 1960s and 70s. He emphasized minimizing patient complaints by using praise and reinforcing a positive sense of self. In his privately circulated monograph:

• STATIC PHASE: Getting To Zero, Saxon proposed that patients were invariably seeking a peaceful place from which to resolve internal conflict. Achieving positive self image is viewed as the key to achieving this "static state". Growth proceeds rapidly once this state is achieved.

Saxon also achieved renowned as a hypnotherapist. His experiments in changing people's political affiliations without their knowledge engendered a wide ranging debate. He currently lives in the San Francisco area where he is part of a group of self described "Old Growth" psychotherapists who meet regularly to experiment on each other.