Category: Podcast
Podcast: Episode 09: Shamanism and Dogma
Shamanism is an age-old science/art that has existed in the vast majority of the cultures that have ever been on the planet. What we now call indigenous cultures have had the shaman as the center of the spiritual life, the social life in terms of problem solving, and the healing life of the community. Different shamans have different areas of expertise. The shamanism that Depth Hypnosis draws from is called “core shamanism,” a term coined by Michael Harner. Core Shamanism refers to principles of shamanism that are found in many or most cultures. In this excerpt from a 2006 Applied Shamanism workshop, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses shamanism and dogmas that are found within some shamanic practices.
Podcast: Episode 08: Shamanism in Contemporary Culture
Shamanism in contemporary culture in North America reflects the context: people’s personal evolutionary needs are different than they might be in an indigenous culture. Most indigenous cultures have well-defined role structures, where people are born into a particular lineage and perform particular duties as part of that lineage. Some cultures have had more tolerance for people deviating from their assigned role than others. Today in the modern Western world, historical patterns and social roles are not necessarily respected. This situation is a two edged sword, but it does allow people to evolve in terms of their own internal callings, rather than necessarily having to evolve according to the roles prescribed by the external culture.
Podcast: Episode 07: The Path of the Bodhisattva
The path of the bodhisattva is, among other things, designed to break down the illusion of separation between self and other. When we talk about the Two Truths in Buddhism, ultimate reality and relative reality, in relative reality there is a separation. Ultimately, there is no separation. By serving others you wind up serving yourself. In this excerpt from a 2008 Applied Buddhist Psychology course, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses what one has to attend to within oneself in order to liberate oneself and be of service to others on the path of the bodhisattva.
Podcast: Episode 06: Regression Therapy
Regression therapy is designed to help people access parts of themselves that are normally inaccessible to the conscious mind. In this excerpt from a 2009 lecture on alternative healing modalities given at UC Berkeley, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses regression therapy in the context of Depth Hypnosis, the therapeutic modality she created.
Podcast: Episode 05: Depth Hypnosis
Depth Hypnosis is a counseling model created by Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. which combines shamanism, Buddhism, transpersonal psychology, and hypnotherapy. In Depth Hypnosis words and suggestions are used to help alter a person’s state of consciousness so that they can begin to look inward to understand their inner experience and how their inner experience is affecting their external experience. In this excerpt from a 2009 lecture on alternative healing modalities given at UC Berkeley, Isa discusses how Depth Hypnosis works therapeutically.
Podcast: Episode 04: Understanding Dreams
Dreams serve many different functions in an individual’s psychic life, and many theories have been put forward as to what those functions are. Carl Jung points to their function as a field of transformation of the self. Dreams are at the heart of the processes in the Depth Hypnosis model. When a person comes into counseling in Depth Hypnosis, one of the first things that might be asked of them is that they keep track of their dreams. The dreams will generally give the practitioner information about where the person needs to go or how the person is approaching the work. In this excerpt from a 2009 lecture on dreams, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses dream interpretation, with a brief overview of the history of how ancient cultures viewed and worked with dreams.
Podcast: Episode 03: Manifestation Pathways of Disease
Energy medicine is a description of the anatomy of non-physical structures that underlie manifestation; in this case, we’re studying the human body. It is also the description of processes of energy flow through those structures. Because we are largely unaware of the dynamics of these structures and processes we allow ourselves to create realities which are unhealthy and which allow energy to run through the structures that is negative and counter to health. As we become more aware of what’s happening at this level we take more and more responsibility for the way in which we are generating our reality. In this excerpt from a 2005 Integrated Energy Medicine workshop, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses integrated energy medicine and the manifestation pathways of disease.
Podcast: Episode 02: Rituals: Understanding and Application
Rituals provide pathways between one world and another, often through transitions, access, or a change in the environment. Regular practices that many of us do after waking up–for instance, putting on glasses, drinking water, or putting on a robe–are rituals that help us transfer our consciousness from sleeping to waking. There are many kinds of rituals, and ways to use them. In this excerpt from a 2009 talk, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. gives an overview of the nature of rituals, their significance in contemporary Western culture and how to work with them in your own life.
Podcast: Episode 01: The Nature of Relationships
It is through our relationships that we come to know who we are. One of the principles of Depth Hypnosis is that we are all teachers to one another; all of our interactions with others reflect our relationship to our deeper self. Most of us come into this life with misconceptions about the nature of who we are and disruptions in the relationship with our deeper self and with the universal flow. By engaging in relationship with others we come to see where these disruptions are. In this excerpt from a Relationship and Power workshop, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., offers examples of hidden aspects of relationship that lie beneath more obvious relationship dynamics. She also discusses co-dependence.