Classes

My particular area of expertise focuses on the male experience. My goal is to provide men with an opportunity to grow their  capacity to live responsibly and authentically with purpose, passion and community.

I have facilitated versions of these classes for more than 13 years.  They are designed to foster graduated and experiential depth work for men who are motivated to take growth to a new level, and who are courageous enough to go there while being supported and  witnessed by like-spirited men.  Men who have little or no former “men’s work” — or men who have attended similar experiences — are more than welcome to attend.

We welcome men who are gay, straight, transgender, and from any/all ethnic backgrounds and spiritual practices.  Classes are limited to 12 men ages 21 and older and are “closed” after the first class to ensure group members develop a strong bond with each other.

Men who attend these classes will experience and/or receive:

• Quality instruction without dogma or fluff, led by a seasoned professional
• Better understandings and applications of their own energy per mind-body-spirit-emotions
• Greater insights toward enhancing relationships
• Improving social intelligence and people skills
• Cooperative, enjoyable group dynamics while relating to other men on important topics and self-improvement

General Class Structure:

Each class is approximately 2.5 hours long with room for both structure and informality. Within the structured activities, we do the following:

• A silent centering exercise
• Personal check-ins
• Quick review of the prior meeting
• Group processing
• Experiencing role modeling and group exercises, such as guided imagery with the archetypes
• Dyad work
• A take-home assignment.

Classes

Five Archetypes of Masculinity

In this class series we  focus on diving into core male archetypes and the significance of cultivating a lasting relationship with them to help better manage one’s inner and outer life.  I draw upon the work on C. Jung, Joseph Campbell, M. Meade, M. Moore and D. Gillette as well as James Hillman.  We extract content from Moore and Gillette’s text King, Warrior, Magician, Lover which looks at male development through the lens of Jungian archetypes.  By applying imagery to connect to one’s inner Archetypes, we have a tool to bring unconscious urges, desires and unmet needs into the light of our conscious mind – where we can learn to take greater responsibility for our thoughts, feelings and actions.

Within the topic of Archetypes, I augment selected content drawn from sources across years in the Robert Bly men’s work (which I started attending in 1988); from my 16 years in a Mythopoetic men’s group; from being part of Shamanic men’s groups for four years; and from 25 years as a holistic psychotherapist working intensively with adult men and adolescent males.

Each week concentrates on a specific archetype:

Week 1: Lover
Week 2: Guru
Week 3: Warrior
Week 4: King
Week 5: Magician

Authentic Manhood Class Series II

In this class series we explore core issues of maleness in the age of #MeToo.  We add two more Archetypes to the teachings and focus on both the added gifts from those two archetypes and on defining / living through authentic manhood.  A particular focus is on developing deeper presence, self-mastery, and grounded passion in order to foster one’s unique contributions to self, to others, and to the world.  This class series is dedicated to supporting each man in living his own authentic version of manhood with accountability and magnificence.  Additionally, the series supports men in being more awake and engaged as they cultivate gifts in standing for something that is significantly valuable and needed at this time in history.

Week 1: Introductions and Working with Archetypes
Week 2: Green Man
Week 3: Sacred Feminine
Week 4: Purpose, Passion, Meaning
Week 5: Synthesis and Presentations by Each Man to the Group

Authentic Loving, Intimacy and Sexual Expression

This class looks deeply into enhancing men’s capacity to love and be loved by discovering romantic, sensual, and sexual bliss.  In the process, we explore the Inner Lover, Words, Intimacy, and Vulnerability, Overcoming Barriers to Authentic Loving and Sexual Expression, and finally, Cultivating The Art of Sexual Loving & Ecstasy. Class is limited to 12 men ages 21 and older.

This class also addresses men’s capacity to love and be loved by discovering romantic, sensual and sexual bliss.

Week 1: Understanding Healthy and Unhealthy Sexuality
Week 2: Your Inner Lover
Week 3: Overcoming Barriers to Authentic Loving and Sexual Expression
Week 4: Words, Intimacy, and Vulnerability
Week 5: Cultivating The Art of Sexual Loving and Ecstasy

Monthly Men’s Group: Actively Awakened and Authentic Manhood

Welcome to uncommonly deep group work for men who are ready to face whatever is obstructing their well-being and their capacity to function optimally in every area of their life. Through such work, men learn to embody a manhood as strongly empowered as it is vulnerable, as emotionally attuned as it’s alive, as passionately present as it is loving; a manhood that cannot help but serve the highest good of one and all with greater courage, care, compassion and consciousness.  We honor rawness, plenty of revelation, deep opening and breakthroughs.

This drop-in group meets on the second Thursday of each month from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in my office.  For more details, please contact me.

Testimonials

Jeffry, It was a treat to be a part of your men’s group, “Authentic Masculinity”!  What a dedicated and diverse group of guys, every week they showed up with immense authenticity and dedication to the group.  You highlighted a common sense perspective that captured life’s true wisdom and truths.  I find myself regularly reflecting on the different archetypes you mentioned and holding myself accountable to the one I need to be aligning with each day. —Jay

I feel I have grown from this group series significantly, my psychological scope is wider and certainly deeper.  —Arturo

While part of this men’s archetypes series, I gained knowledge surrounding the archetypes and my experiences with them.  I have learned to touch and utilize internal strength I hadn’t tapped before.  —Eric

As part of this group, I have recognized shadow patterns inside of me, and I am learning now how to grow apart from them.  I am interested n more groups with Jeffry.  —Kyle