The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) lost a respected leader and teacher and a much beloved colleague, Thomas Wall, Ph.D., who died on November 18, 2016 in Edmonds, Washington. Tom is survived by his wife, Valerie Wall, Ph.D., and children Jessica Wall, M.D., and Thomas Wall, Ph.D. Tom worked diligently for several years with his medical team to overcome his cancer and when he learned this was not possible, he set to work to prepare himself, his family, and his many friends for what was next. Tom navigated these waters with the same classic grace that had characterized his life. Tom’s evening routine grew to include a nightly sit-down with the love of his life, his wife Valerie, exploring hopes and concerns while planning his many good-byes. Visits by Jessica and Tom, Jr. now included a careful blending of laughter, family stories, and shared farewells. These final months reflected Tom’s strength of character and his loving commitment to family and friends.
Tom was born on August 21, 1943 in Seattle, Washington as the younger of two sons of Jean Severyns Wall and Thomas P. Wall, DDS. Tom’s father was a founding member of ASCH and a frequent teaching collaborator with Milton Erickson, M.D. Tom’s early exposure to matters of the mind and hypnosis fueled a keen intellectual curiosity that would lead to a career characterized by clinical and academic competence. His remarkably committed service to the personal and professional communities in which he lived and worked, including psychology and hypnosis, naturally flowed from Tom’s generosity of spirit. A profound experience as a teenage volunteer hypnosis subject for David Cheek, M.D., during an ASCH workshop proved to be formative. Tom’s only explicit memory of this experience was of a ‘kind and helpful voice’ during a session that began alone with Dr. Cheek in an empty auditorium during a lunch break. Tom re-alerted to this auditorium full of workshop attendees. Thereafter, Tom witnessed a seemingly effortless melting of his troubling test-related anxiety. Tom also felt gratitude for his first academic opportunity to teach hypnosis at the invitation of Herb Ripley, M.D., Founding Chair University of Washington’s Department of Psychiatry. This stoked a passion for teaching, which Tom pursued in the University of Washington’s School of Psychology, as lecturer and Clinical Associate Professor beginning in 1975. Here Tom also met a graduate student, Valerie, who was to become the love of his life. Tom joined the faculty at Seattle Pacific University in the Graduate Psychology Department in 2002 and served as an associate professor from 2006–2014.
Tom’s dedication to his psychology profession led to service in many important capacities, reflecting his broad interests and deep commitments. Tom’s reputation for excellence in service grew rapidly, marked by his steady work and leadership within his professional communities. He served in many ASCH positions of leadership, including vice president (a rare two terms), treasurer, president-elect, and president (1990–1991). Tom is the only ASCH past president whose spouse also is an ASCH past president (Valerie Wall, Ph.D., ASCH President, 1999). Tom’s vital service as chair of ASCH’s Education and Research Foundation and as education chair and regional workshop coordinator in 1986–1987 revitalized workshops by refining and standardizing workshop format and content. Tom served a rare second term as regional workshops chair from 1996–2002, during which he coordinated more than 35 workshops. These decades of service were also filled with his consistent encouragement and mentoring of junior members, which helped to create the next generation of ASCH leaders and faculty. Tom’s life-long love for our ASCH fueled his consistent advocacy for education, academic rigor, and ethical clinical practice. Tom’s personal style allowed him to respectfully advocate for issues while never attacking or demeaning those with conflicting views. Tom’s “grace under pressure” has been an inspiration to many others, adding a classic patina to an exceptional career. Tom was honored as an elected fellow in ASCH and fellow of American Psychological Association (2010). His service was honored over the years through the ASCH award of merit (1982), presidential award (1991), ERF award (1992), Irving Sector award (1996 and 2001), Thomas P. Wall, DMD, award (2000), special presidential award for teaching and education (2008), presidential award for teaching ethics (2014), and by his most prized lifetime achievement award in 2016.
Tom was a renowned lecturer, presenting at more than 30 national professional meetings and more than 70 ASCH regional workshops. Tom served as visiting professor at Scott and White Medical Center in Texas (1986) and at the University of Hong Kong (1988). His more than 40 lectures at regional and national professional and university settings, from 1975–2014, from San Francisco to Melbourne and Dallas to Singapore demonstrated his breadth of thought and professional influence. Tom’s presentations represent his intense intellectual curiosity and broad interests—neuroscience, psychoanalytic theory and practice, clinical ethics, professional resilience and burnout, and basic hypnotic practice and principles. Tom also authored nine peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and the oft-cited 1991 AJCH article “Ethics—The Royal Road to Legitimacy.”
Tom will be missed and remembered for his many professional contributions. This remarkable man will also be remembered as a man whose life was profoundly guided by the simple philosophy: “Do the right thing.” Tom strove for clinical competence and achieved professional excellence, strove to be a capable life-long learner and became a thought-leader in several fields; strove for personal balance and became a loving beacon for his family and a nurturing mentor to a generation of learners. Tom will be greatly missed.