Creating BE, the Breakthrough Experience

I was teaching psychology and sociology at a university attended primarily by adults with five or more years of work experience. In 1982, following one psychology course with a particularly exciting group (many of us are still in regular contact), several students and I began meeting every Friday evening to "continue" the class discussions. After several months we decided to go away for a weekend of undisturbed discussion. They even took the initiative to pay me at my daily consulting fee.

I felt that we needed some form of structure, so I decided to create a process that led to an individual result, without knowing what that would be. With that vision, my background in human behavior, and my recent experiences in hypnotherapy in the newly formed Psychotherapy Associates, I sat down to write. The process flowed from mind to pen to paper with astonishing speed and it made sense. Even the original name, "Breakthrough Weekend," popped into my mind as I began to record the process.

The weekend experience was amazing! The participants wanted to share it with their friends, so we held another Breakthrough Weekend in the same cabin in the mountains near San Diego. At the third Breakthrough I was clear that experience was going to continue. As of April, 2003, 94 Breakthroughs have been conducted in California, 31 in Central Ohio, and the name has changed from Breakthrough Weekend to Breakthrough Experience (BE). What has not changed, in context and most of the content, is the process. The changes have been made to simplify the experience in order to promote clarity, while retaining the power of the experience. My skill at presenting the Experience has improved and the most significant improvement is my increasing ability to trust my intuition.

In 1985, a five month study was conducted by Dr. Jo Ann Dewey (Utilizing a Short Term Therapeutic Model to Ameliorate a Lowered Self-Concept, a dissertation submitted to The Professional School of Psychological Studies, San Diego, California, 1986) on the self-concept results of the Breakthrough Experience. The experimental groups showed significant positive changes in total positive self-concept during the Breakthrough Experiences, contrasted to a slightly lowered self-concept during the control period. Further research might be done on the long-term effects of the Experience. I have a complete file of participant testimonials and personal knowledge of a large number of long-term successes.

My theory has evolved and been tested during the more than 125 Breakthrough Experiences conducted since 1982 in California and Ohio. I credit myself with the perseverance to continue to study human nature and human behavior over the years. I credit my direct work with BE participants to an unconscious aspect of my being or to a supreme being or to a supreme consciousness which guides the use of my resources.