The Hero’s Journey and The Generative Self: The Realization of an Extraordinary Life
Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D.

The mythologist Joseph Campbell spoke of a great myth found in every culture across time: The person who is called on a “hero’s journey” to transform their life and bring a gift into the community. This myth has three stages: the innocence of the garden, the exile and trials of the desert, and the call to return into the community with a new self. We will use this myth as a model for developing a Generative Self that is capable of deep inner happiness and significant external accomplishment.

A major focus will be on developing the capacity to use extraordinary experiences, both positive and negative, to generate extraordinary outcomes. In the tradition of the great hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, you will discover how to recognize problems and symptoms as “thresholds” into new identities, and how to sense and utilize resources to further the hero’s journey. You will learn how to develop extraordinary states of consciousness that have many applications: transforming identity; envisioning and realizing future states; changing negative beliefs and habits; healing emotional wounds and physical symptoms; deepening success in intimacy; and improving self-image and self-love.

Major topics include:

--How to develop the Triunal Mind of the Generative Self: Somatic, Cognitive, and Field Consciousness
--The four goals of the Generative Self: happiness, health, helpfulness, and healing;
--How to develop extraordinary states of consciousness in self and others;
--The ground for Generative Self: dissolving fixed identity, experiencing deep trance, and generative hypnosis;
--Ericksonian hypnosis, Self-relations, and other tools for the hero’s journey’
--How to re-organize a life path within the hero’s journey;
--Aikido and other generative strategies for effectively transforming attacks, negative energy, and traumatic invasions.

Being in this program, you can expect both to develop many experiential shifts, and to acquire models of how such transformational change can be developed in other areas. Come prepared to enter a training community that is both safe and passionate. The training includes experiential demonstrations, training exercises, intense personal work, group trance work, and lecture/discussion. The interplay of cognitive and experiential learning is emphasized throughout.

About the workshop presenter.
Stephen Gilligan, Ph.D., is a Psychologist practicing in Encinitas, CA. Stephen was one of the original NLP students in Santa Cruz from 1974-1977, during which time he also started extensive studying with his mentors Milton Erickson and Gregory Bateson. After receiving his doctorate in Psychology from Stanford, Stephen became known as one of the premier teachers and practitioners of Ericksonian hypnotherapy. His books include Therapeutic trances: The cooperation principle in Ericksonian psychotherapy, a classic in the field; The legacy of Erickson; The courage to love: Principles and practices of self-relations psychotherapy, and Walking in two worlds: The relational self in theory, practice, and community His work is especially known for its emphasis on reconnecting mindbody processes, emphasizing embodied relationality, and encouraging and supporting radical change.