Individuals emerge within every culture who heal the sick and foretell the future. They are the Shamans: the intermediaries or messengers between humanity and other realities. For 50,000 years, humans have communicated in this way with the energies of the Earth and the heavens. In all parts of the world, Shamans utilize altered states created by rhythmic drumming, trance dancing, psychotropic substances or sensory deprivation—to access the realms, energies and forces that transcend ordinary reality. The transpersonal knowledge thus gained is accepted as guidance by the culture. Shamans are the quintessential healers using non-ordinary states for physical, emotional and spiritual healing.

“Among the most perilous voyages to the underworld are those of the shamans of the peoples of the farthest north (the Lapps, Siberians, Eskimo, and certain American Indian tribes), when they go to seek out and recover the lost or abducted souls of the sick.”
—Joseph Campbell (The Hero With a Thousand Faces, p. 98)

The requisite skills of the shaman are “to travel freely and at will in the spirit world, to negotiate with its inhabitants, and to return to earth equipped to heal the sick, influence the weather, control the movements of animals, and find out the truth of hidden things. . .  Very frequently, such supernatural helpers first make their presence felt when the shaman is still a child — particularly during episodes of stress related to his unusual abilities and personality, or during a severe illness or emotional crisis. I'm reminded of John Mack's patient Joe, whose alien abductors told him: ‘We are close. We are with you. We're here to help you. We're here to guide you, to make it through your difficult times.’”
—Graham Hancock (Supernaturals, p. 141)

Creative illness can occur among modern-day shamans, mystics, philosophers and creative artists. A creative illness often succeeds a period of intense stress, preoccupation or search for a certain truth. It can take the form of physical illness or depression. Its termination is often rapid and marked by exhilaration. The person emerges from the ordeal with his or her personality tranformed, and the conviction that a great truth or a new world has been discovered. Fundamentally, the metamorphoses undergone by indigenous Shamans still occur today through the process of physical illness.

For example, Sigmund Freud underwent a creative illness between 1894 and 1900; he emerged with the foundations of psychoanalysis. Carl Jung experienced a creative illness during the period from 1913 to 1919. During these periods, both Freud and Jung restricted their ties with universities and professional / scientific organizations. Both suffered physical and/or emotional symptoms: Freud wrote about his “neurasthenia” or “hysteria”; Jung spent long periods brooding by the lake, building little stone castles. Each used his own method of psychological exploration: Freud utilized free association; Jung used active imagination and dream interpretation. Both emerged transformed.

“A terrifying symptom is usually your greatest dream trying to come true.”
—Arnold Mindell (Working with the Dreaming Body)

Creative illness is one of the processes by which the individual and collective human consciousness evolves. Joseph Campbell, in The Hero With a Thousand Faces, describes this universal process:

“The adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades.” (p. 82)

“The original departure into the land of trials represented only the beginning of the long and really perilous path of initiatory conquests and moments of illumination. Dragons have now to be slain and surprising barriers passed — again, again, and again. Meanwhile there will be a multitude of preliminary victories, unretainable ecstasies, and momentary glimpses of the wonderful land.” (p. 109)

“Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials. This is a favorite phase of the myth-adventure. It has produced a world literature of miraculous tests and ordeals. The hero is covertly aided by the advice, amulets, and secret agents of the supernatural helper whom he met before his entrance into this region. Or it may be that he here discovers for the first time that there is a benign power everywhere supporting him in his superhuman passage.” (p. 97)

“But here, instead of passing outward, beyond the confines of the visible world, the hero goes inward, to be born again. . . Once inside he may be said to have died to time and returned to the World Womb, the World Navel, the Earthly Paradise. . . No creature. . . can attain a higher grade of nature without ceasing to exist.” (p. 91-2)

“The emerging symptoms reflect the effort of the organism to free itself from old stresses and traumatic imprints and simplify its functioning. This development is, at the same time, a process of discovery of one's true identity and of the dimensions of one's being that connect the individual with the entire cosmos and are commensurate with all of existence. Under favorable conditions and with good support, this process can result in radical problem solving, psychosomatic healing, and consciousness evolution. It should therefore be seen as a potentially beneficial, spontaneous healing activity of the organism that should be supported rather than suppressed. . .
     The main objective of the techniques of experiential psychotherapy is to activate the unconscious, to unblock the energy bound in emotional and psychosomatic symptoms, and to convert the stationary balance of this energy into a stream of experience. Holotropic therapy favors activation of the unconscious, which is so powerful that it results in a nonordinary state of consciousness. This principle is relatively new in Western psychotherapy, but has been used for centuries or millenia in the context of shamanic procedures, aboriginal healing ceremonies, rites of passage, meetings of various ecstatic sects, and the ancient mysteries of death and rebirth.”
—Stanislav Grof (The Adventure of Self-Discovery, pp. 165-6)

“. . . emotional and psychosomatic symptoms indicate a blockage of the flow of energy and ultimately represent potential experiences in a condensed form that are trying to emerge. Their content can consist of specific childhood memories, difficult emotions accumulated in a lifetime, birth sequences, karmic constellations, archetypal patterns, . . or many other phenomena. Effective therapeutic mechanisms in the broadest sense, then, involve release of the blocked energy and facilitation of its experiential and behavioral expression.”
—Stanislav Grof (Beyond the Brain, p. 355)

What do our symptoms communicate?

What process is trying to emerge, and complete itself?

How can we support that process?

Drs. Colli and Beck view illness as a potentially life-renewing, creative process. They utilize imagery, hypnosis and EMDR as communication mechanisms to help bring about change. Dr. Colli excells in dreamwork, and the facilitation of active imagination.

Dr. Janet Colli specializes in life-challenging processes. She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of thirty. Seeing her cancer as a creative challenge, instead of merely a threat, was the beginning of a new life. Her course of treatment included swimming with dolphins, and facilitating encounters with Beluga whales.

Dr. Thomas Beck has considerable experience in helping people deal with the realities of living with HIV. His doctoral research included counseling the residents and staff of a leading AIDS facility in Seattle. He views HIV and AIDS as the ultimate opportunity to discover the purpose of one's life, and to share that purpose with others.

For counseling or consultation, Drs. Beck and Colli can be contacted in Seattle.