Hi John,
I was off line for several days...hope you didn't have to wait a long time for a reply.

Before studying with Erickson I had a great deal of training. My graduate program allowed me to take both the psychoanalytic track ~and~ the behavior mod track. I quess the dept head liked me and made an exception. At the same time I was enrolled (for 4 years total) in a post grad Gestalt Therapy training program and seeking certification as a clinical member in transactional analysis (which takes a min of 3 yr). I had some extensive other training opportunities which I listed on my web site under the personal statement: bioenergetics and other approaches. I met Erickson and also brought Bandler and Grinder out of CA about the same time (mid-70s) and helped in the early development what came to be called NLP by 1978.
I'd say ti took me 3 years of visits before I "got it" sufficiently to be saying that I could begin predicting his direction. I visited like clock work for 7-9 days every 3 mo.
Keep in mind that he was a real kaleidoscope of mystery. Students can 'get it' more quickly nowadays I think since so many of his students have labeled and systematized what we learned.