When I first met Stephen Gilligan at a small workshop in Carlisle more than 10 years ago now I though he was stoned or out of it completely. At one of the breaks he comes up to me and tells me the story of the Grandfather Drum:
“Most people are like the young braves in the tribe, they want to play a fast beat, that’s exciting and full of the vigour of life. There are others in the tribe, the children who’s beat is irregular and out sync because they are learning how they fit in. And the adults, the parents have a mostly steady beat, they have found their rhythm and know where they fit in. And then there’s the grandfather drum who plays the heart-beat rhythm. Most people don’t notice the grandfather drum there’s nothing seemingly exciting or interesting on the surface but then most people can’t see below the surface. But the heart-beat rhythm of the grandfather drum keeps people in sync with their true authentic life. Michael you are the grandfather drum.”
I then of course realised I’d been eaten by the great white hypnosis shark because he had got me completely and summarised my life and story in a few short sentences. It took me a little while to actualise what this actually meant and thanks to Dr. Joseph Riggio be able to step into the leadership role this required of me.
What I can do for you:
I can help you to get the result you want. This is not about technical skills and qualifications on my part, though I have more of those than most, that’s not what matters, it is about who I am. I am what many spiritual traditions call ‘awake’. Often this is related to being enlightened but I would argue that ‘enlightenment’ is a meaningless term because it is mistakenly though that it is a goal to achieve and that once you have it you’re done, rather than a continual process of evolution. I am of no spiritual lineage or tradition but respect all lineages and traditions. I live what I call a 4th Way path or way of being (in acknowledgment of Gurdjieff’s idea of the Fourth Way). About being in the world and learning from that essential experience of truly being yourself without compromise. Not transcending and leaving the world (and your problems) behind. Not going to live with the support of a community of sangha. But having the awareness to go beyond the surface trappings of success to find the true authentic satisfaction in living in the world as part of the world. Because really if you want to have both success AND enjoy that success you have no choice but to follow this path. The first clients I attracted to work with me were all very successful people, they had enough money that they didn’t have to worry about that, they had achieved what most people would describe as SUCCESS but that hadn’t made them happy. They were at the top of their profession but as Joseph Campbell says: “They had climbed the ladder of success only to realise they had placed it against the wrong wall.”
For over six years (until she got married and retired) I used to help Peta Heskell author of the best-selling book Flirt Coach with running her packed sell-out seminars. We shared the same mentor in Dr. Joseph Riggio so Peta’s primary influence, more so than NLP, or the Law of Attraction or indeed anything else was Joseph’s MythoSelf® process, a psycho-spiritual or transpersonal form of psychology known for it’s unique idea of “Going where the problem isn’t™”.
MythoSelf is ontological, which means it’s about “being” essentially who you are in the ground of your being which most people think they can’t change. This is in contrast with other forms of personal development or coaching or therapy like NLP which is epistemological, or in other words if you change the way you think about something you’ll experience it differently.
Because of the ontological nature of Mythoself it can be felt as spiritual. Many clients have said to me: “This is kind of spiritual isn’t it?” Just because it can be experienced as spiritual doesn’t mean it has any religious connection. In fact many people who’ve experienced the MythoSelf work have found that it has deepened their existing religious and spiritual practice.
And yet for others it’s all about “Going where the problem isn’t™” which is profoundly practical, profoundly necessary in building a life that works for you.
I’ve apprenticed myself to Joseph for over ten years and continue to learn from him. Because I understand that if you want to develop any real skills or ability or even aspire to mastery you need a mentor – someone who can show you all the things that are counter-intuitive to you, things that you would never see by yourself.
This is what I fundamentally do for the clients I have, I teach them to go where their problem isn’t. How to build for themselves a life that works.
This is what Joseph says about me:
“Michael Roach is one of the few individuals who has studied the MythoSelf Process work with me who brings as much to the work as he takes from it. In the years that he’s studied with me I’ve seen Michael develop an extraordinary competence and mastery of applying this work with others, fully integrating the learning he brings to it elegantly. In your decision to work with someone to facilitate your own personal evolution I recommend personally and without hesitation that you attend one of Michael’s programs or work with him personally as your facilitator and advisor.”
- Joseph Riggio, Designer of the MythoSelf® Process, 24 Jan 2005
I’m trained as an Ericksonian Hynotherapist with extensive additional training/mentoring with Stephen Gilligan, Bill O’Hanlon, Ernest Rossi, and David Grove.
I’ve done lots of NLP training initially with Richard Bandler and then with the other co-founder of NLP John Grinder. After doing one trainers training with Richard I did a second with Rex Stephen Sikes in the US. Personal Coaching with Michael Breen helped me to decide to train as a therapist. And lots of NLP training with Jonanthan Altfeld including helping him out assisting at his trainings made the critical difference in building my NLP skills. Jonathan is as much fun out of the training room as in, he’s a fantastic example of someone who’s using NLP to create the life he loves.
I’ve also trained with John La Vale, Eric Robbie, Ross Jeffries, Tom Vizzini & Kim McFarland, Michael Hall, John La Tourette, James Lawley and Penny Tompkins.
I also regard Charlie Badenhop, the creator of Seishindo who I first met on a Stephen Gilligan 3 week long summer intensive as a profound mentor. Charlie actually teaches Ki Aikido in Japan, something very rare for a westerner. Charlie is one of those rare people who’ve studied so much bodywork and healing and somatic technology that their touch has become magical.
If you are interested in building a future that works I can help you do that. You have to start with yourself. In many ways you are the foundation for everything that you get out of life. Real success comes from having that strong foundation that you can build from. This relationship to and with yourself enables your successful relationship with others. Rather than looking to others for love, support, nurturing and fulfilment, when you are whole and complete in yourself, this strength allows you to go beyond success to true satisfaction in living a life you love.
You can read about working with me by clicking here.