Generative Trance

Stephen gilligan’s generative trance offers a framework for developing a more creative consciousness and lays out the step-by-step processes by which this can be done. william james used to say that `the unconscious mind is the horse and conscious mind is the rider: it’s the relationship between the two that is most important.’ in generative trance renowned trainer stephen gilligan shows you how to harness this relationship for a much more powerful and effective therapeutic intervention, and reveals how life can be lived as a great journey of consciousness. emphasizing that reality and identity are constructed by ourselves, gilligan explains how generative trance is crucial in creating new realities and possibilities for clients. it is a view that differs markedly from the traditional hypnosis ideas of a client losing control, as well as from ericksonian approaches that feature a benevolent hypnotist who bypasses the conscious mind to work with a client’s unconscious mind. instead, generative trance stresses a `disciplined flow’ process in which a person’s conscious and unconscious minds cooperate to weave a higher consciousness capable of transformational change. suitable for individuals who want to live life as a creative journey, as well as for professionals working with clients in such ventures. review agenerative trance; the experience of creative flowa stephen gilligan's newest book is not only exciting to read, it gives new ways of looking at already-known information and adds whole new dimensions of different perspectives. firmly built on his mentoring by milton erickson, gilligan did what erickson urged all his students to doatook ideas from him and made them applicable to new and different circumstances. beginning with understandable definitions, gilligan lays out his own framework. the reader is captured with new ideas for hypnosisaand aup-datinga so to speak of what hypnosis is. generative trance is the areala communication. it is not a place where the therapist provides answers and techniques for change, but where the client can have experiential learning, a reconfiguration of his own unconscious or forgotten resources. this, as evidenced by erickson's work, is how lasting and sometimes remarkable and quick changes are achieved. under this umbrella of generative trance, he breaks his ideas into separate pieces. he discusses the familiar situation of a client afrozena and seemingly unable to act explaining how this is part of what he refers to as the neuromuscular lock and literally takes apart what is happening. then he provides clear methods of using generative trance, how client resources can be accessed and different more productive responses can be learned and practiced. his approach is convincing, intriguing and eminently do-able. his idea of centering is inclusive of what most people understand this term to mean. but typical of all of his writing, he uses words so precisely and carefully, that the reader stops to absorb his more expansive definition fully. some of his phrases he are immediately transferable to any therapeutic sessionsaa you (can) feel both a part of and apart from an experienceabe with something without becoming ita a he points out that when people learn to be centered, they can be vulnerable. then with generative trance states, they can provide new and safe places within themselves and then new learning and the transformation of dysfunctions can more easily occur. gilligan believes, as erickson did, that people's realities and fixed meanings have to be broadened. a change in perspective allows people to respond differentlyaeach person can create a different sense of selfa a different aidentitya as all of us have done since childhood. generative trance allows this easily and naturally. he goes into detail with some of the ideasaas an example acreative acceptancea which redefines acceptance not as passivity but as an active curiosity about what something