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Scientific Psychology believes that it is the climactic practice of mental health and that preceding healing practices are rooted in superstition and primitive assumptions. In actuality, every culture has included gifted healers who independently discovered the apex practices of change and transformation. These “therapeutic wizards” attributed their successes to their mastery of the “secret knowledge” or gnosis. Aldous Huxley, in his book, The Perennial Philosophy, documented the existence of such healers and explored the secret knowledge that unites all their practices.
A spirituality-infused constructionism is a modern, Western version of this tradition. This workshop begins by reviewing the historical roots of secret knowledge, and then demonstrates how these perennial principles can be integrated into psychotherapeutic practice.
Lineage: Understand how a Gnosis-informed practice differs from standard psychotherapy. Recognize how transforming one’s exoteric practice into an esoteric one is possible and embrace the resulting benefits. Feel as if one is a member of an ancient lineage and how that supports both your case conceptualizations and your interventions.
Experiential: The workshop is based around six experiential exercises, each of which illustrates a significant aspect of secret knowledge and spirituality. Some of these interventions will be extant psychotherapeutic practices; however, the way they are introduced and explored will reveal how they relate and lead to gnosis.
Deconstructionism: Conventional psychotherapeutic practice is based on shared Western assumptions about what is real and what is unreal. Access to secret knowledge requires identifying assumptions that covertly mask the truth and deconstructing them. Berger and Luckmann, noted social constructionists, argue that human suffering is universal and real but that cultures construct unique explanations for the suffering. Understand how these arbitrary constructions limit interventions and lock practitioners into a minimal range of therapeutic possibilities.
Spirituality: The Perennial Philosophy and the Secret Knowledge also have the goal of personal liberation, compassion, and access to the ground of reality. This goal of realization and gnosis is paradoxically related to the freedom and apparent chaos of a fully deconstructed sense of social reality. Paul Tillich, noted existential theologian, worked to update the Perennial Philosophy for modern, Western culture and developed an approach to spirituality that is available to all individuals—from the overtly spiritual to atheists to the undefined. The workshop reviews Tillich’s work and shows how to integrate it into a modern practice of psychotherapy.
Participants: This workshop is designed for all psychotherapists and related healers (coaches, case managers, counselors and facilitators). These ancient principles are designed to fit numerous types of structured and unstructured situations and can be easily adapted to different environments.
Interventions: While specific interventions will be taught and experienced, the emphasis will always be on understanding the fluid nature of therapeutic reality and how to design rituals that maximize client fit, expectations and beliefs. Faith in the inherent power of psychotherapeutic techniques is a misconstrual and one of the chief targets for deconstruction. Healers must do something - literally make interventions, but embracers of gnosis understand that almost anything can be therapeutic if it is framed correctly.
Altered States: Constructionists are expert at understanding how cultures and individuals create realities and the assumptions at the root of such creations. As a corollary, they are equally expert in altered state - levels of consciousness that occur when the therapist helps the client move from secular space into sacred space. The appropriate utilization of altered states is a central strategy in a constructionist-informed psychotherapy.
Lasting Change: According to the Perennial Philosophy, lasting change is always based on the manifestation of a life path that addresses an authentic Ultimate Concern. Each client is on or off their own path and at different stages on their path. Effective healers recognize the nature of their own path, accept the variability in client paths, and cultivate discernment about unproductive paths. Dancing with the Abyss is a metaphor for the dynamic tension between healthy practices and the knowledge that real wisdom and inner peace lie beyond practices. Using a common gnostic metaphor, one must “kill the Buddha to become Buddha.”
The course is structured in two distinct parts:
Part 1: The first half of the workshop covers The Perennial Philosophy, the lineage of gnosis (secret knowledge), and the problematic assumptions and misconstruals that arise from scientific Psychology’s approach to mental health and healing. Understanding the implications of constructionism for creativity and client fit are covered; finally, there is an emphasis on cultivating a consciousness of the fluidity of the past and present.
Part 2: The second half of the workshop focuses on reprogramming the map of what Kahneman calls the “fast thinking” aspect of the unconscious mind. The central relevance of altered states to change is examined and an exploration of Tillich’s path of Ultimate Concern completes the workshop.
Stephen has a background that bridges spirituality, psychology, and psychotherapy. He has worked as a psychologist in private practice for over 30 years, served as the Vice President for Program Development for Outward Bound USA. He has a Religious Studies degree, and lived in a yoga ashram for almost 6 years.
His current focus has been on exploring how psychotherapy works, the nature of social constructionism, and the connections between spirituality and therapy. He regularly conduct workshops, in the US and internationally, on these topics and have published numerous articles and a recent book, Practicing Psychotherapy in Constructed Reality: Ritual, Charisma, and Enhanced Client Outcomes.
“Despite being on the scene for nearly 150 years, psychotherapy has never has mass appeal. The majority of people who could benefit actively choose not to go. What is more, significant numbers end contact before achieving a reliable improvement in their well-being -25% of more after a single visit. Bacon’s thought provoking book not only explains why but offers a practical and effective alternative for engaging people in therapy and improving outcomes.”
- Scott D. Miller, director of the International Centre for Clinical Excellence
“This provocative book advocates the idea that the therapist is at the core of what makes psychotherapy and effective treatment. Bacon challenges prevailing wisdom by encouraging therapists to develop greater charisma if they want to maximize their impact on client mental health.”
- Michael J. Lambert, Brigham Young University
“I got 20 pages into Practicing Psychotherapy in Constructed Reality: Ritual, Charisma, and Enhanced Client Outcomes and just knew I had to contact Stephen and ask him to share this material. I am glad I did, as Stephen’s work has profound implications for people involved in, or interested in, the whole field of change work”.
- Pete Dalton – Aether and Alchemy
