How do you get results so easily and quickly? How can the results be achieved in 2-½ days?
Frequently Asked Questions and Common Concerns
You may be feeling skeptical about the rapid results of SAW. You may be saying that there are no easy or fast solutions, and since your problems have been around for a long time, it needs to take a long time to solve them. You may have been told that getting results needs to be difficult and expensive.
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"The Self Awareness Weekend cleared decades of stuck emotions that were holding me back from living my life to the fullest. I had nearly ruined a nine-year relationship because of my poor self-esteem and inability to shake abandonment fears. After the weekend, my relationship is healed, and I am "all in" my relationship, and my life. As one who has been working the 12 Steps for 21 years, I thought I had worked through all my resentments and fears. The SAW not only showed me I was wrong, it lifted all the residual pain from my shoulders. I doubted that one weekend could make such a difference in my life, but I am a believer now." ~ P. Milton, San Leandro, CA
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Often with individual, couples, or group therapy, a person will just get started on an issue when it’s time for the session to end. Can you imagine a surgeon going into surgery and when the hour was up saying, “Let’s make an appointment for next week” even though the surgery wasn’t finished?! At SAW, there are 25 hours for the facilitators and participants to get to the heart of the problem and remove it.
The program uses experiential processes so each person is actively participating and involved. A person can’t think their way out of what they felt their way into. This is one of the reasons “talk therapy” can fall short. Do you want to “pull the weeds out by the roots” and move on, or continue to mow them down and watch them grow back?
The most crucial transformation anyone can experience is emotional healing. SAW goes beyond just identifying and quieting the pain. The facilitators use Guided Visualizations, which provide a rapid pinpointing of the underlying root causes of the pain, followed by processes to release the pain of anger, sadness, fear, and guilt/shame in a very safe environment. In order to be fully released and healed permanently, emotional pain must be expressed fully on an emotional level in a safe, protective environment. For some people volcanoes of anger have gone off, rivers of tears have been cried, and fear that could have shaken the building has been released. No one has ever been hurt, hurt anyone or anything else, or gone “crazy” at SAW. These emotional releases are done under the guidance of the professional facilitators who are skilled in handling these processes, and who make sure the participants are safe.
The facilitators do not work with symptoms; they get to the root cause and remove it. Remember, buried emotional pain will not just go away on its own or by thinking it through or intellectually understanding it. Without being released from the body, mind, and spirit, the pain will continue to create harm.
Let me give you an example of how experiential release can be powerfully effective. Let’s say you go to the doctor’s office and the doctor tells you that you have the beginning stages of a cancer.
Option 1 (traditional, cognitive-based approach): You and the doctor talk about it, how and when it may have started, what might have caused it, and the rate at which it’s growing. And then he sends you home with more understanding, but no plan for action.
Option 2 (experiential approach): the doctor may cover all of the above and also guide you in implementing healthy alternatives to what you’re doing now. S/he may then prescribe medications or therapies to check the growth, and teach you to manage the symptoms so you feel better. Or, if indicated, the doctor may immediately schedule you for surgery to remove the cancer. Finally, s/he will teach you healthy lifestyle tools following the removal of the cancer.
You may still feel skeptical, and that is OK. All it takes for the Weekend to work for you is your willingness to change what is not working for you. Truly, what do you have to lose?
The program uses experiential processes so each person is actively participating and involved. A person can’t think their way out of what they felt their way into. This is one of the reasons “talk therapy” can fall short. Do you want to “pull the weeds out by the roots” and move on, or continue to mow them down and watch them grow back?
The most crucial transformation anyone can experience is emotional healing. SAW goes beyond just identifying and quieting the pain. The facilitators use Guided Visualizations, which provide a rapid pinpointing of the underlying root causes of the pain, followed by processes to release the pain of anger, sadness, fear, and guilt/shame in a very safe environment. In order to be fully released and healed permanently, emotional pain must be expressed fully on an emotional level in a safe, protective environment. For some people volcanoes of anger have gone off, rivers of tears have been cried, and fear that could have shaken the building has been released. No one has ever been hurt, hurt anyone or anything else, or gone “crazy” at SAW. These emotional releases are done under the guidance of the professional facilitators who are skilled in handling these processes, and who make sure the participants are safe.
The facilitators do not work with symptoms; they get to the root cause and remove it. Remember, buried emotional pain will not just go away on its own or by thinking it through or intellectually understanding it. Without being released from the body, mind, and spirit, the pain will continue to create harm.
Let me give you an example of how experiential release can be powerfully effective. Let’s say you go to the doctor’s office and the doctor tells you that you have the beginning stages of a cancer.
Option 1 (traditional, cognitive-based approach): You and the doctor talk about it, how and when it may have started, what might have caused it, and the rate at which it’s growing. And then he sends you home with more understanding, but no plan for action.
Option 2 (experiential approach): the doctor may cover all of the above and also guide you in implementing healthy alternatives to what you’re doing now. S/he may then prescribe medications or therapies to check the growth, and teach you to manage the symptoms so you feel better. Or, if indicated, the doctor may immediately schedule you for surgery to remove the cancer. Finally, s/he will teach you healthy lifestyle tools following the removal of the cancer.
You may still feel skeptical, and that is OK. All it takes for the Weekend to work for you is your willingness to change what is not working for you. Truly, what do you have to lose?
How safe is the Self-Awareness Weekend? I am scared to attend, it sounds scary and intense.
In over 30 years of holding a Self-Awareness Weekend once a month, the professional leaders have been committed to creating a safe, protective, nurturing, loving environment. No one has ever reported feeling a lack of safety at SAW.
If you are scared to attend, it may be that you are afraid of the unknown. And, yes it may mean getting out of your comfort zone which is keeping you unhappy and possibly in misery. It may be time to storm against your comfort zone and step into the life of your dreams.
If you are scared to attend, it may be that you are afraid of the unknown. And, yes it may mean getting out of your comfort zone which is keeping you unhappy and possibly in misery. It may be time to storm against your comfort zone and step into the life of your dreams.
Will the professional facilitators give me the time I need? I’m afraid there won’t be enough time for me. I don’t want to spend the whole weekend listening to other people's stories and problems. Since the SAW program happens in a group, I do not understand how you help each individual. Please explain.
Everyone gets individualized time and attention. Our intention is that everyone gets the time they need to get to a breakthrough. Sharing of problems and stories are kept brief and to the point. The leaders focus more on solutions than on problems and symptoms. Often the solutions can be beneficial to everyone in the room for their own person growth and resolution to an issue.
I’m a strong introvert. Will SAW’s program work for me?
SAW works well for an introvert who is willing to face their emotional pain and do emotional healing. Some people learn from expressing themselves and others learn from observing. What we know is that introverts predominately learn from their observations. What matters the most is your willingness to participate. Participating is an individual process. It may mean at times speak in up in a safe place. And no it isn’t about standing in front of the group and “giving a speech”.
SAW is a group setting. I don’t feel comfortable revealing or exposing myself in front of strangers. I am a private person.
The value of being in a group with like-minded and growth-conscious people cannot be overstated.
You may be concerned about revealing yourself and risking in front of a group. We so much agree with this that much of Friday evening is spent creating a nurturing and accepting environment in which to feel safe with us and with each other.
Friday evening’s primary purpose is to meet and bond with the leaders and other participants in order to develop a feeling of trust, protection, and support. The truth is everyone is in the same boat and everyone has issues that will be revealed. It would be different if you went to a “dinner party” and were asked to reveal your issues to those strangers. That would be absurd. There would be no professional guidance to support you.
In the SAW group, a feeling of isolation is replaced with a sense of community. When one person shares his or her painful experiences, others can identify with those thoughts and feelings, even if the details of their own experiences may be different. SAW participants are able to feel a sense of connection and compassion they may not have experienced anywhere else.
The truth is you wouldn’t get the same results if you didn’t do SAW in a group. It is similar to attending a class. If the teacher only taught the class to you, it wouldn’t be the same. When another student asks a question, or talks about the assignments or reading material, or asks the teacher to explain more about the up-coming test, you learn about these yourself. At SAW the same is true. Someone may share about an issue that is very similar to yours, and while the leaders are processing that person, you apply the information to yourself. SAW participants often state at the end that they learned something from almost every person who attended, so they get 10 times more information and breakthroughs than they would have by themselves.
You may be concerned about revealing yourself and risking in front of a group. We so much agree with this that much of Friday evening is spent creating a nurturing and accepting environment in which to feel safe with us and with each other.
Friday evening’s primary purpose is to meet and bond with the leaders and other participants in order to develop a feeling of trust, protection, and support. The truth is everyone is in the same boat and everyone has issues that will be revealed. It would be different if you went to a “dinner party” and were asked to reveal your issues to those strangers. That would be absurd. There would be no professional guidance to support you.
In the SAW group, a feeling of isolation is replaced with a sense of community. When one person shares his or her painful experiences, others can identify with those thoughts and feelings, even if the details of their own experiences may be different. SAW participants are able to feel a sense of connection and compassion they may not have experienced anywhere else.
The truth is you wouldn’t get the same results if you didn’t do SAW in a group. It is similar to attending a class. If the teacher only taught the class to you, it wouldn’t be the same. When another student asks a question, or talks about the assignments or reading material, or asks the teacher to explain more about the up-coming test, you learn about these yourself. At SAW the same is true. Someone may share about an issue that is very similar to yours, and while the leaders are processing that person, you apply the information to yourself. SAW participants often state at the end that they learned something from almost every person who attended, so they get 10 times more information and breakthroughs than they would have by themselves.
How much does the Self-Awareness Weekend cost?
Your investment in yourself and the Self-Awareness Weekend program is $1,550.
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Want to See If SAW Is a Good Fit for You? Schedule an Introductory Consultation!
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Want to See If SAW Is a Good Fit for You? Schedule an Introductory Consultation!