The Mythic Journey Process

Building upon the work of of Joseph Campbell, Sam Keen, and Carl Jung’s active imagination process, Dr. Mayer’s mythic journey process (Mayer, 1982, 1993, 2007, 2009) added a somatic dimension to psycho-mythological inner work. The MJP is a symbolic process tool that has a person transpose a life problem into a story set in ancient time in order to work through that issue. To ground the mythic dimension, the MJP uses Gendlin’s Focusing so that the storyteller continually refers back to the felt sense of the body. It has been used by therapists, by lay people as a self-growth tool, and it is a central component of Bodymind Healing Psychotherapy. In this updated version of the process (which comes from Chapter 20 of the book Bodymind Healing Psychotherapy), at the end of the process you'll be introduced to how to ground the new life stance you have discovered by the use of a spontaneously arising gesture, Qigong/Tai Chi posture, or animal movement...further activating the transformative somatic dimension of the Mythic Journey Process. Dr. Mayer uses it as a method in his workshops for relationship issues (Mayer, 1993), and to help people in his private practice and workshops with psychological and somatic issues. The Mythic Journey Process is included in many of Dr. Mayer’s written works (Mayer, 1982, 1993, 2007, 2009).