Jane Parsons-Fein, LCSW, BCD, DAHB passed away peacefully in her apartment in San Fransisco on January 4th, 2026, with her beloved youngest son Nicholas at her bedside. She was 99 years old.
Jane was born Jane Shepherd Askin on May 28, 1926 in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA, where she was raised with her brother Bill by parents William and Sarah Askin. She attended local primary and secondary schools, and attended Smith College, graduating in 1946 with a BA in English, and a passion for Jazz singing.
She travelled to Europe after World War 2, doing clerical assistance for the US Government's Marshall Plan. During her time in Paris she met her future first husband, William Todd Parsons.
Jane and Todd were married in April of 1951, and lived in New York City. They had three sons, Brooks (b 1954), Tucker (b. 1957), and Nicholas (b. 1960). Jane and Todd Parsons were divorced in 1973.
Starting in the 1960s Jane Parsons developed a deep interest in psychology and psychotherapy, and began training to be a Clinical Social Worker. She attended the Columbia School of Social Work, and received her LCSW in 1969. She began her clinical career at Roosevelt Hospital, then moved to a full-time position as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she worked for 12 years. During this, she began a private practice, seeing clients in her home office, eventually leaving Mt. Sinai to devote herself to private clients full time.
As a New Yorker with an active social life, she became inspired by the Human Potential movement of the 70s and partook in many of its signature experiments. She visited Esalen, took EST, got Rolfed, and Firewalked with Tony Robbins. Always searching for greater impact on her therapy clients, she discovered the work of therapeutic hypnosis innovator Dr. Milton Erickson in 1978, studying with him directly in 1980.
Jane married her second husband, Arnold L. Fein, a judge in New York State Supreme Court (Appellate Division) at his courthouse on 1983.
During the 1980s Jane Parsons-Fein became a leading teacher and advocate of Ericksonian hypnosis. She co-founded The New York Society for Ericksonian Hypnosis and Psychotherapy (NYSEPH), edited its newsletter for its first 10 years, and served as Director of its training program from 1991-1997, while maintaining a busy private practice. She was a Diplomate of the American Hypnosis Board for Clinical Social Work and later served as its President.
She wrote and published the book *Loving in the Here and Now*, and filmed, produced, and published *In the Room with Milton H. Erickson, MD*, documenting one of Erickson's final teaching seminars. She regularly presented at conferences internationally and ran a training program in Stockholm for over a decade. She also studied directly with, and became friends with, Moshe Feldenkrais and Virginia Satir, integrating their insights into her therapeutic work.
Jane Parsons Fein enjoyed the Philharmonic, jazz clubs, the Broadway theater, fine dining, and maintaining an active social calendar at her apartment on Central Park West, where her guests included the likes of Mayor Koch, Virginia Satir, and Moshe Feldenkrais, as well as other judges and New York luminaries. She loved dogs, German Shepherds especially, and her many clients, staff, and visitors were invariably greeted by a large, loud animal.
Jane Parsons-Fein became a widow in 1989, a grandmother in 1990, and a great-grandmother in 2023.
She maintained her private practice and social life well into her 90s, but age disabilities finally caused her to leave her beloved Central Park West apartment and move to San Fransisco for care and family support. In her final years she maintained her devotion to her therapy work, her family, and her jazz singing. She will be remembered as a lifelong learner committed to her own and others psychological growth, a die-hard New Yorker, a beloved mother and grandmother, and the life of the party.
She is survived by her sons, Brooks Parsons (Virginia), Tucker Parsons (Deborah), and Nick Parsons; her grandchildren, Abigail Parsons (Jake Epstein), George Parsons, Casey Parsons, and Elena Parsons; and her great-grandson, Oliver Sherman Epstein.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests you send donations to The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (https://www.macular.org).
Jane was born Jane Shepherd Askin on May 28, 1926 in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA, where she was raised with her brother Bill by parents William and Sarah Askin. She attended local primary and secondary schools, and attended Smith College, graduating in 1946 with a BA in English, and a passion for Jazz singing.
She travelled to Europe after World War 2, doing clerical assistance for the US Government's Marshall Plan. During her time in Paris she met her future first husband, William Todd Parsons.
Jane and Todd were married in April of 1951, and lived in New York City. They had three sons, Brooks (b 1954), Tucker (b. 1957), and Nicholas (b. 1960). Jane and Todd Parsons were divorced in 1973.
Starting in the 1960s Jane Parsons developed a deep interest in psychology and psychotherapy, and began training to be a Clinical Social Worker. She attended the Columbia School of Social Work, and received her LCSW in 1969. She began her clinical career at Roosevelt Hospital, then moved to a full-time position as a Psychiatric Social Worker at Mt. Sinai Hospital, where she worked for 12 years. During this, she began a private practice, seeing clients in her home office, eventually leaving Mt. Sinai to devote herself to private clients full time.
As a New Yorker with an active social life, she became inspired by the Human Potential movement of the 70s and partook in many of its signature experiments. She visited Esalen, took EST, got Rolfed, and Firewalked with Tony Robbins. Always searching for greater impact on her therapy clients, she discovered the work of therapeutic hypnosis innovator Dr. Milton Erickson in 1978, studying with him directly in 1980.
Jane married her second husband, Arnold L. Fein, a judge in New York State Supreme Court (Appellate Division) at his courthouse on 1983.
During the 1980s Jane Parsons-Fein became a leading teacher and advocate of Ericksonian hypnosis. She co-founded The New York Society for Ericksonian Hypnosis and Psychotherapy (NYSEPH), edited its newsletter for its first 10 years, and served as Director of its training program from 1991-1997, while maintaining a busy private practice. She was a Diplomate of the American Hypnosis Board for Clinical Social Work and later served as its President.
She wrote and published the book *Loving in the Here and Now*, and filmed, produced, and published *In the Room with Milton H. Erickson, MD*, documenting one of Erickson's final teaching seminars. She regularly presented at conferences internationally and ran a training program in Stockholm for over a decade. She also studied directly with, and became friends with, Moshe Feldenkrais and Virginia Satir, integrating their insights into her therapeutic work.
Jane Parsons Fein enjoyed the Philharmonic, jazz clubs, the Broadway theater, fine dining, and maintaining an active social calendar at her apartment on Central Park West, where her guests included the likes of Mayor Koch, Virginia Satir, and Moshe Feldenkrais, as well as other judges and New York luminaries. She loved dogs, German Shepherds especially, and her many clients, staff, and visitors were invariably greeted by a large, loud animal.
Jane Parsons-Fein became a widow in 1989, a grandmother in 1990, and a great-grandmother in 2023.
She maintained her private practice and social life well into her 90s, but age disabilities finally caused her to leave her beloved Central Park West apartment and move to San Fransisco for care and family support. In her final years she maintained her devotion to her therapy work, her family, and her jazz singing. She will be remembered as a lifelong learner committed to her own and others psychological growth, a die-hard New Yorker, a beloved mother and grandmother, and the life of the party.
She is survived by her sons, Brooks Parsons (Virginia), Tucker Parsons (Deborah), and Nick Parsons; her grandchildren, Abigail Parsons (Jake Epstein), George Parsons, Casey Parsons, and Elena Parsons; and her great-grandson, Oliver Sherman Epstein.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests you send donations to The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (https://www.macular.org).
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