Archetypes for Life Coaching Teleclass Life coaches are trained to help clients discover what's most important in their life. They then help clients design a plan to achieve those things. Coaches work with them to eliminate any obstacles or blocks that stand in their way. Clearly, the more you can help clients understand the deeply ingrained patterns in their psyche-those that help them succeed or hold them back-the easier your job will be. One very effective and highly nuanced way of helping people understand the underlying patterns in their psyches is through the use of Archetypes. Once we learn to understand the nature of archetypal patterns, we can begin to recognize them in ourselves and others. What are Archetypes? There has been plenty of buzz about them, but not much solid, useful material that can be applied to coaching. The notion of universal archetypal patterns was introduced into Western consciousness by Plato through his concept of universal forms. To some extent, Egyptian, Greek and Roman gods and goddesses represented archetypes of behavior as well, although they often seemed somewhat removed from the human realm. The great Swiss psychologist Carl Jung developed a more detailed and practical understanding of the archetypes, based on what he called the collective unconscious. Sigmund Freud had posited the idea of a personal unconscious, composed of psychological patterns created from birth and early childhood of which the individual is largely unaware. Jung believed that a vast storehouse of universal human traits and characteristics, accumulated over many millennia, also resides within the unconscious mind. The difference between the personal and the collective unconscious is that, while each individual's subconscious is unique, we all share in the collective. Jung spoke of universal archetypes such as the Mother, Child, Hero, Divine Couple, Death and Rebirth. No one has developed Jung's concept of archetypes in greater detail and with more depth of understanding than Caroline Myss. In her best-selling books Anatomy of the Spirit, Why People Don't Heal, and especially Sacred Contracts, Myss explored the nature of archetypes with ever-increasing nuance and sophistication. Myss teaches that while we all share to some extent in the vast array of archetypal patterns in the collective unconscious, our lives are influenced by a small number of archetypes that are especially prominent in each individual. I had the privilege of working with Caroline on two of her books, developing the manuscript of Sacred Contracts and learning firsthand the intricacies and depths of her perceptions. After the publication of Sacred Contracts, I collaborated with her on a deck of Archetype Cards, and a boxed set including the archetype cards with an erasable board for casting personal charts (called Sacred Contracts: The Journey), all published by Hay House. During this process, Caroline's understanding of the Archetypal Wheel, composed of 12 houses based on the houses of the astrological chart, expanded from a single wheel to a set of three concentric wheels, labeled Chronos, Kairos, and Cosmic-material that is not contained in her book Sacred Contracts. Since the foundation of Myss's CMED Institute in Chicago in 2003, I have been on the permanent faculty and have participated in teaching every CMED workshop related to Sacred Contracts and Archetypes. I also notated the workshops and created condensed study materials for students of the work. In the past few years I have been working individually with clients to teach them the basics of archetypal work, including how to determine their personal wheel of 12 archetypes; how to cast charts for guidance; and how to interpret these charts to create a course of action to help resolve life issues concerning career choices, business activities, personal and professional relationships, health, and other crucial subjects. Teaching the entire process has become second nature to me, and I have been able to telescope the time required to elucidate this system, which is normally taught in a series of six three-day workshops over two years. I begin with the basics, including background on archetypes and how they function within each of us; the mechanics of determining one's own set of personal archetypes; the methodology for casting and interpreting charts, including one's Chart of Origin-somewhat comparable to a natal chart in astrology-and a wide range of working charts designed to provide guidance in the areas just mentioned. Although archetype work involves levels of intuitive choice similar in some ways to the I Ching or Tarot, it also engages the client in the selection and application of their personal archetypes. In this sense it combines so-called left-brain and right-brain activity for a deeply involving experience. When people call me for an archetypal reading, I don't simply pick their 12 archetypes for them, cast their chart and then interpret it. I show them how to select their archetypes, then walk them through the process. I help them cast a chart, and then interpret the results while subtly teaching them how to interpret their own charts in future. It can develop into an ongoing process and an entirely new way of seeing themselves and the world in symbolic terms. The Program I will be setting up a series teleclasses in 2008, with the option to follow up through individual phone sessions with me. Introduction/Overview via 2 teleclass sessions, 60 minutes each: $125 Detailed "How To" sessions via 2 teleclass sessions, 60 minutes each: $125 Individual sessions are available for assistance determining your archetypes, casting and interpreting your chart: $125/hour DATES & TIMES TBA. If you are interested, please e-mail me: peter@joyofsects.com