705499

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JHPXXX10.1177/0022167817705499Journal of Humanistic PsychologyWilliams

Article
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
1­–18
The Hero’s Journey: A © The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0022167817705499
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167817705499
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Clive Williams1

Abstract
This article proposes that the Hero’s Journey provides a comprehensive
mudmap for those either seeking or forced to change. Clients present
to therapy when significant life problems occur. The Hero’s Journey is
a detailed map of change with its three phases which inform the client
of where they are in the change process, what to expect, and what is
required of them to progress their story and resolve their life problem.
The Hero’s Journey is emphatic in that addressing significant problems,
personal change is a necessity. This article details Campbell’s three
phases of the Hero’s Journey and identifies how a client can use this
mudmap to navigate the trials and challenges of the change process. The
Hero’s Journey informs clients that in addressing their significant life
problem, new polar-opposite skills will be required. Such polar-opposite
skills can only be learned through facing a series of increasingly more
difficult trails. The Hero’s Journey also informs client-heroes that with
trials, they will also experience rewards, such as increased connection
and more their authentic self. As Campbell noted, the essential nature of
the Hero’s Journey is the adventure of problem solving but only through
personal transformation.

Keywords
heroism science, Hero’s Journey, mudmap for change

1Independent Practitioner

Corresponding Author:
Clive Williams, 42 Mein Street Hendra, Brisbane, Queensland 4011, Australia.
Email: contact@williamspsychology.com.au
2 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

The problem of the psychiatrist is to disintegrate that dragon, break him up, so
that you may expand to a larger field of relationships. The ultimate dragon is
within you, it is your ego clamping you down.

—The Power of Myth (2001).

Psychology is the business of change, and in the clinical setting, the role
of the therapist is to guide and support personal change. More often than not,
clients present to therapy as a last resort and are reluctant to engage in the
change process. Typically, a change in life circumstances has occurred and
this event prompts their presentation. This change, some of which are inten-
tional (e.g., a new relationship, a marriage, the arrival of a child, a new job),
others unintentional (e.g., trauma, a redundancy, a diagnosis, or injury) is the
impetus to seek help. Regardless of intention, clients find themselves in either
an altered or completely foreign situation where existing coping strategies
are no longer efficacious (Williams, 2016). The therapist’s dilemma in such
situations is not only a possible lack of motivation but the plethora of con-
structs, models, and approaches to the nature and process of change.
Prochaska and Norcross (2009) estimated that in excess of 400 different psy-
chotherapeutic approaches “bombard” therapists, leaving them “staggered by
over-choice” (p. 1). This article proposes that the work of mythologist Joseph
Campbell (1993) provides clinicians with possibly the earliest model of
change known: the story of the Hero’s Journey.
Campbell (1993) claimed from his study of stories, myths, folktales,
and legends across time that the same story was often being told yet in an
infinite variety of ways. This recurring template, the Hero’s Journey, tells
the story of a person encountering a significant life problem and their
“adventure” in resolving it. As shall be presented further, this ubiquitous
story of change, the Hero’s Journey, provides a template for all change,
intentional and unintentional. It provides sometimes reluctant but often
bewildered clients a mudmap of the various stages of change, what may be
encountered at each stage and what is required to progress to the next
(Williams, 2016).1
While it could be argued that adding yet another change model to the
existing multitude on offer may further muddy the waters, this article argues
that the Hero’s Journey offers a comprehensive, client-friendly, story-based
approach to the challenging task of personal change. The application of the
Hero’s Journey allows clients to become client-heroes, assisting them to rec-
ognize where they are in their own process of change, how to navigate their
own treatment journey, and author their own change story (Williams, 2016).
Williams 3

What Is the Hero’s Journey?

In his 1949 book The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Campbell (1993) out-
lined the Hero’s Journey, the recurring story he had recognized in the multi-
tude of myths and legends he had examined from across time (e.g., Arthurian
tales, Greek myths, Eskimo fairytales, etc.). Regardless of the specific sur-
face details (e.g., knights, gods, mysterious arrivals of magical people),
Campbell’s work repeatedly demonstrated the same structural template. A
hero, male or female, young or old, rich or poor, encounters a change in cir-
cumstance leading to a significant life problem. Sometimes the change is
intentional, and the Hero is motivated to attempt and endure the process of
change. Other times, the change is unwanted, leaving the Hero shocked, anx-
ious, and in grief. Regardless of intention, the changed circumstances create
a significant life problem: A situation where the Hero’s existing knowledge
and skills are no longer efficacious. In finding a solution, the Hero is required
to leave their familiar, known world, and venture into the unknown (Campbell,
1993). In this unfamiliar zone, Heroes encounter trials that are completely
foreign to them where new skills are required. Each trial is a step toward solv-
ing their life problem. Heroes are required to do things they do not know how
to do, may be reluctant to do, and are unsure they can do (Williams, 2016).
Willingly or not, Heroes will need to increase their understanding of both the
problem and themselves and engage in personal transformation (Allison &
Goethals, 2017).
The new skills required are typically, polar opposite to the client-hero’s
existing coping strategies (Vogler, 1992). These skills occur in two distinct
arenas: internal, psychological skills and external, real-world skills. Both
skill sets can only be learned by enduring the trials, which as the story pro-
gresses, become increasingly more difficult. Such trials require the Hero to
confront unfamiliar scenarios and engage in previously avoided behaviors,
while managing high levels of anxiety. Inevitably, some trials are either liter-
ally or subjectively experienced as life threatening. These life and death
moments (and there are at least two in a classical Hero’s Journey; Vogler,
1992) indicate particular moments of the Hero’s Journey where Heroes are
required to attempt the impossible. In doing so, Heroes unknowingly dis-
prove previously limiting beliefs about themselves. Their actions, in the face
of great fear, are heroic. Campbell (1993) proposed these life-threatening
stages, signal a death, and resurrection of the Hero: the death of an old aspect
of self and the birth of a new, more capable sense of self (Williams, 2016).
Importantly, Campbell (2002) argued that Heroic myths provide the indi-
vidual with “inspiration for aspiration.” Campbell believed that myths have
the ability to link the everyday to the eternal, to give meaning to the mundane.
4 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

In this sense, the application of the Hero’s Journey to a client facing a signifi-
cant life problem, facilitates the development of meaning and purpose in an
environment that is often unwanted and chaotic. Examples of this will be
described further.

Clinical Examples of the Hero’s Journey and

Change
Before articulating the phases of the Hero’s Journey, it seems prudent to pro-
vide examples of both therapists and individuals using the Hero’s Journey as
a cognitive framework to assist clients addressing significant life issues.
Duffy (2010) applied the Hero’s Journey as one technique in the wider appli-
cation of bibliotherapy with clients with adjustment disorder. Clients were
introduced to the Hero’s Journey as a means of reconceptualizing their disor-
der as a hero quest, rather than an external problem as a result of external
stressors, with external solutions provided by an external clinician. Duffy
(2010) reported this reframe shifted the client from passive to active, support-
ing clients to become the “author of their own lives” (p. 7). A similar example
is proposed by Bray (in press) with the application of the Hero’s Journey to
clients with trauma. Again the Hero’s Journey is offered as map to understand
and navigate the change process from trauma to recovery.
Other examples of the application in the clinical sphere refer to psychosis.
Hartley (2010) reflecting on her own psychotic experiences, reports the
application of the Hero’s Journey provided a framework with which to under-
stand and assist the onset, duration, and recovery from her experience. Rather
than viewing her psychosis as a solely negative episode of “madness”
(Hartley, 2010, p. 227), Hartley reports that the application of the Hero’s
Journey allowed her to accept and learn from this most challenging experi-
ence. Similarly, Rebillot (1993) reflecting on his own psychotic episode, used
the Hero’s Journey as a framework through which to view the onset, duration,
and recovery phases of his illness.
Gordon (2009) uses the Hero’s Journey in working with a variety of psy-
chological disorders and physical conditions such as anxiety, depression,
trauma, and cancer. As a young Harvard medical student, Gordon experi-
enced a major depressive episode following the demise of a relationship.
With the application of the Hero’s Journey, as well as a growing awareness of
the mind–body connection in relation to psychological and physical health,
Gordon reframed his depression as much more than a collection of clinical
symptoms. Completing studies in psychiatry, Gordon (2009) has continued to
use his seven-stage version of the Hero’s Journey with thousands of clients
across diverse clinical presentations.
Williams 5

In the area of addiction, White (2002a, 2002b) proposed the application of

the Hero’s Journey to understand the recovery of those with addiction. White
noted the similarity of recovery stories with the various phases and stages of
the Hero’s Journey, giving particular emphasis to the third phase, the Return.
This aspect is further discussed below.
In my own clinical work over the past two decades, I have applied the
Hero’s Journey as a mudmap for clients facing a diverse range of issues, from
adolescents changing schools to returned veterans dealing with posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction, from newlyweds dealing with the
arrival of the first child to the chronically depressed and/or anxious (Williams,
2016). Over the past 5 years, I have also applied the Hero’s Journey to rela-
tionship therapy, mapping the stages of the relationship and the polar-oppo-
site skills required to shift partners from self-protective behaviors to those
focused on protecting both the self and the relationship.
Further examples of the application of the Hero’s Journey as a mudmap
for recovery make reference to the therapist as companion or mentor for the
client-hero. Again from my clinical work, the role of the therapist-mentor
(Williams, 2016) not only provides guidance and support during the client’s
often chaotic Hero’s Journey, but importantly challenges the client’s existing
self-beliefs. This shift in thinking from “I can’t” to “I could” to “I did!”
increases the client’s sense of self-efficacy, possibly the fundamental build-
ing block of any change process (Bandura, 1977, 1982, 2001). Halstead
(2000) describes the therapist’s role as companion, following an unwanted
“call to learning” (p. 101). Halstead described the inevitable trials any hero
must negotiate to address their significant life problem (in this case, assault
and subsequent PTSD). Halstead’s description of the application of the
Hero’s Journey as a map for the client’s trauma and recovery, includes pro-
cessing the inevitable psychological distress following such an event, as well
as dealing with the real-world problems posed to the client’s studies and
working life. Lawson (2005), a therapist, similarly applies the Hero’s Journey
in counselling, viewing it as a developmental metaphor for clients.
Acknowledging the power of metaphor to reframe a client’s ability to make
sense of their world, Lawson (2005) noted that the Hero’s Journey lends itself
to clients “surrendering the old way of meaning making,” and “the birth of a
new manner of seeing the world” (p. 138). This idea of the death of old limit-
ing cognitions of the self and the birth of new, more capable self-beliefs is a
hallmark of a Hero’s Journey (Williams, 2016).
The application of the Hero’s Journey as a map through the process of
change has also found its way into organizational psychology (Allison &
Goethals, 2014; Quinn, 1996), social work (Dybicz, 2012), extreme fitness
(Beggan, 2016), nursing (Smith, 2002), and personal development (Catford
6 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

& Ray, 2004). These applications similarly propose the Hero’s Journey as a
framework for both understanding and transgressing the content and process
of change.

The Three Phases of the Hero’s Journey:

Separation, Initiation, and the Return
Campbell (1993) identified that a Hero’s Journey occurs in three sequential
phases: Separation, Initiation, and the Return. Within these, further “keys”
(Campbell, 1993, p. 245) identifies the various substages of the journey
(Vogler, 2007). As a full discussion of these stages is beyond the scope of this
study (and is provided in Williams, 2016), this article will examine these
three phases.

Separation
The Separation phase of the Hero’s Journey involves three substages, how-
ever, prior to Separation is the Hero’s, or in this case, the client-hero’s
Ordinary World (Vogler, 2007) or as Campbell (1993) termed it, the Hero’s
“commonday” (p. 245). The Ordinary World refers to the familiar life of a
client. It is the daily routine, the stresses and joys of work, family, social, and
community connections (Williams, 2016). Clients are engaged in life as they
know it, with little awareness of any impending significant problem. Clients
have often spent years creating this life.
A common characteristic of this stage, however, is a growing awareness
that something is not quite right; life is somehow lacking. The cons of the
client’s life are beginning to, or have for some time, outweighed the pros.
Sometimes clients have some inkling of a problem, but little awareness of its
significance or motivation to examine it further. Prochaska, Norcross, and
DiClemente (2013) identify this “underawareness” in the Precontemplation
phase in the transtheoretical stage of change model. In their terms, clients
show no “readiness for change” (DiClemente & Velasquez, 2002) and simi-
larly, this is often the case for client-heroes. For example, an employee may
be aware that the enjoyment of a job has been diminishing for some time, but
the demands of their day-to-day or concerns about finding alternative employ-
ment lead them to tolerate an increasingly stressful situation. They cling to
their Ordinary World.
Separation commences with a separating event or series of events, referred
to as a Call to Adventure (Campbell, 1993; Vogler, 2007). Infinite varieties of
Calls exist, and in the clinical setting, both intentional and unintentional Calls
present themselves. Unintentional Calls may include the discovery of an
Williams 7

infidelity, the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of an illness, or the unwanted
ending of a relationship. Intentional Calls to Adventure may include starting
a new school, seeking a new career, moving cities, or the arrival of a first
child. Intentional Calls similarly pose new significant life problems. Client-
heroes though intentionally separating from aspects of their previous life,
incur unexpected challenges. Lonely, tired, and overjoyed new fathers are a
common presentation in my clinic. Whether intentional or unintentional, the
Call to Adventure separates the person from all or aspect of their previous life
and this Separation is characterized by grief and anxiety.
Following the Call, client-heroes inevitably segue into Substage 3, the
Refusal of the Call. Client-heroes report that the problem is beyond their
capabilities or they are too overwhelmed to attempt change. For example, “I
can’t go to a completely new university where I don’t know anyone and it’s
on the other side of the country” or “I can’t be honest with my partner about
the infidelity.” With Unintentional Calls where the significant life problem is
the result of someone or something else, Heroes may rightly claim that this
other person or factor is responsible: “I shouldn’t have to change!” The
spouse with the cheating partner is very clear about whose fault it is and who
needs to change: not him or her. Similarly, a person having experienced a
trauma is also clear about who is responsible for their changed circumstances
and who must make amends: not them. Despite the truth in their perspectives,
neither has yet realized that personal change will be required to address the
significant problem.
The Hero’s Journey at this point signals to such client-heroes two key
things. Firstly, Refusal of the Call is denial in action and denial can be a
healthy psychological response as long as it is time-limited (Kubler-Ross,
1969). Secondly, remaining in the Refusal stage will lead to a deterioration
in the life of the client-hero. Despite the accuracy of their claim, which
pinpoints responsibility for the significant life problem as external to
themselves, clients will need to engage in change. For example, trauma-
tized clients can often attribute blame to another person, or organization.
Their adoption however of avoidant behaviors (withdrawal, numbing, con-
trol) will overtime lead to increasing isolation, difficulty managing a range
of emotions they would rather deny, and increasing tensions in significant
relationships.
Clients often struggle with the unfairness of this situation, balancing the
pros and cons of personal change. This tussle is again, similarly identified in
the transtheoretical stage of change model’s Contemplation stage where
ambivalence in relation to change is dominant (Davidson, Roe, Andres-
Hyman, & Ridgway, 2010; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992;
Prochaska et al., 2013).
8 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

Clients may also present to therapy during this Refusal of the Call. Their
deteriorating situation and/or relationships due to the significant life problem
is forcing their hand to do something, albeit, reluctantly. In such situations,
client-heroes whose Call to Adventure was intentional, often possess high
levels of motivation to adopt change. Those whose Call was unintentional,
however, typically have little or no motivation (Williams, 2016). The
Separation phase, however, is highlighting the ineffectiveness of their exist-
ing coping strategies. As stated above, client-heroes find now themselves in
unfamiliar situations, psychologically stressed. Though now fully aware of a
significant life problem, they have little idea as to how to address it.
At this point, with little idea of how to progress and in the face of their
existing coping strategies continuing to fail, heroes go looking for someone
who might have the answer. Enter the assistance of the Mentor. Vogler (1992)
identifies this as Substage 4. A mentor is defined as a “wise old man/woman”
or as guide and protector in the process of change (Vogler, 1992). It is the
mentor’s role is to assist the client-hero progress to the realization that per-
sonal change is a necessity for resolution of their problem and that existing,
even lifelong coping strategies may have come to their use-by date. A spon-
sor in a 12-Step program is a good example of a mentor. Sponsors have faced
a similar problem to the client and have traversed a similar recovery path.
They are well placed to assist and guide someone with an addiction in the
shift from avoidance to action.
In the clinical setting, the therapist-mentor is similarly positioned to uti-
lize a range of evidence-based strategies, to assist reluctant client-heroes to
achieve the psychological shift required. Motivational interviewing tech-
niques allow reluctant client-heroes to identify and consider potential conse-
quences if they continue to refuse to change (DiClemente & Velasquez,
2002). Cognitive behavior therapy can assist a reluctant client-hero to recon-
sider current beliefs, particularly those related to self-efficacy, the client’s
conviction “that one can successfully execute the behavior required”
(Bandura, 1977, p. 193). Essentially, the therapist-mentor’s responsibility in
the Separation phase is to focus on the internal psychological skills that will
assist the client-hero’s cognitive gear change from refusal to action. This is
not, however, solely a cognitive challenge as unwanted emotions such as the
anxiety and loss that follow a Call must be addressed. The therapist-mentor
is ideally placed to both teach and provide emotional regulation skills, to
assist the client-hero’s shift.
In my experience, for many client-heroes, the acquisition of attachment
and emotional regulation skills will be essential as they have learned to avoid
vulnerability at all costs. This issue will be discussed in the subsequent sec-
tion. The achievement of this cognitive gear change from inaction to action,
Williams 9

from denial to acceptance (even if still reluctant), accompanied by the com-

mencement of processing fear and loss signals the end of Separation and the
commencement of Initiation. As stated previously, the ability of the Hero’s
Journey to provide a mudmap of what is to occur and what is required can be
a safe stepping-stone for distressed and fearful clients to initiate the process
of moving forward.

Initiation
The Initiation phase has five substages: Crossing the First Threshold; Tests,
Allies Enemies; Approach to the Inmost Cave; the Supreme Ordeal; and the
Reward (Vogler, 1992). Essentially, the Initiation phase is that part of the cli-
ent’s change story where client-heroes begin to directly address their prob-
lem. They commit (even if still reluctant) to change and cross the threshold
into the unfamiliar. Their Initiation will only be achieved by facing increas-
ingly more difficult trials. Progressing through each trial is a stepwise
approach to addressing their significant life problem (Campbell, 1993;
Vogler, 1992; Williams, 2016). For some, this first trial may be attending
therapy. For others, it will be the first day at the new school, the new job, the
first day of sobriety. Trials are the means by which client-heroes will learn
new internal, psychological skills and external, real-world skills required to
address the significant life problem. The Hero’s Journey also informs client-
heroes that an essential component of Initiation will be to confront their
“dragon” (The Power of Myth, 2001); their worst fear, event, person, situa-
tion, or memory long avoided. For example, clients with PTSD who have
gone to great lengths to avoid any thought or reference to their trauma, will
need to revisit it. For others, their worst fear will be revealing a secret, a vul-
nerability, or confronting a colleague or boss, or experiencing rejection.
Initiation is a daunting period for clients.
Essentially, any trial for a client-hero involves dealing with unfamiliar and
unwanted situations related to addressing the significant life problem. Client-
heroes will be unsure as what to do, how to do it, and indeed, doubt if they
can do it (Williams, 2016). As trials become more difficult, the Hero’s
Journey informs client-heroes that something else, however, equally impor-
tant, is also happening. Clients are practicing and refining new skills. As with
any skill acquisition, trial and error, success and failure will be required.
Furthermore, as the trials increase in complexity, the demands placed on the
client-hero lead to higher levels of anxiety. As if this is not enough, the Hero’s
Journey further informs client-heroes that their first confrontation with their
dragon is likely to fail (Williams, 2016). Recently, a 17-year-old client pre-
sented with his parents following a suicide attempt. During the course of
10 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

sessions, this client was able to identify his dragon: rejection. In a quiet
moment, he was able to see that his quiet, withdrawn demeanor had meant
that he was always on the periphery of conversations at school and at home.
He had never allowed himself to be completely vulnerable with anyone.
Following the recent deaths of two family members, fearing he would “bur-
den” his parents, he had tried at first to dismiss. and then juggle strong grief
reactions. At his first attempt to be vulnerable, he had received a resounding
rebuttal where a parent had scoffed at his “weakness.”
One may well expect client-heroes to give up or leave therapy at this stage,
however, the Hero’s Journey also offers a number of incentives for over-
whelmed clients: Allies and Rewards. Allies are friendly forces who support
change attempts (Vogler, 1992). Ready examples can be provided by a client-
hero from their favorite novel or movie: Harry Potter has Hermione and Ron,
Hamlet has Horatio, Snow White has the Seven Dwarfs. Allies, like a Mentor,
may also have some idea as to what to do in this unfamiliar environment. For
a fearful client-hero, often, the chief role of any Ally is to decrease the hero’s
isolation (Williams, 2016). This role of Ally is not to be underestimated. It is
not uncommon for clients to present to therapy with their problem unknown
to loved ones or friends, or presented to potential support people in mini-
mized and manageable terms. Fear of asking for help, for being seen as less
than capable, or for some, possibly risking rejection if their problem were to
be known, poses real barriers for progress (Edwards, Tinning, Brown,
Boardman, & Weinman, 2007; Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, 2010;
O’Brien, Hunt, & Hart, 2005). Decreasing isolation for the client-hero pro-
vides a strong incentive to maintain their commitment to change. Similarly,
the acquisition of Allies also helps anxious client-heroes with their emotional
regulation of their rising fear levels. In the above example of the 17-year-old
client, while his parent had rejected his grief and his attempt to connect, a
friend had not. Though his grief was still tangible, his relationship with his
parent further fractured, the relief by simply being able to be more of his true
self with this friend provided a new and possibly life-changing experience:
the experience of being vulnerable and this being accepted and valued.
For many client-heroes, such trials will mark the acquisition of another
polar-opposite skill: vulnerability. What previously may have been viewed as
a sign of weakness will now be seen as a key skill in attachment and resil-
iency (Brown, 2015). Allies, by increasing a client’s sense of connection with
others, create the strongest Reward for any client-hero. In my experience,
nearly all clients need such attachment skills. As Bowlby (1980) and Bateman
and Fonagy (2003) have identified, developmentally, the individual may not
have experienced opportunities to safely express feelings and needs and
receive acknowledgement and support in return. This process of secure
Williams 11

attachment simultaneously teaches the infant emotional regulation, and a safe

and responsive other is required in the resolution of processing difficult emo-
tional states. Many client-heroes have learned to either remain silent and dis-
tant in order to protect themselves or allowed the expression of particular
emotions in ways that again self-protect, but do not protect the relationship
with the other. Stereotypically, the silent individual who uses distance and
silence to manage both relationships and emotions, will at times, allow them-
selves anger or rage. Similarly, the “emotional” individual, who allows emo-
tion to surface, for example, distress, again may do so in a way that is
destructive to relationships with others. Attachment skills provide the polar
opposite to the client-hero: a means of both self and relationship protection.
In my experience, many clients will have believed such dual-protection as an
impossibility. As Vogler (2007) states, Heroes on their journey must encoun-
ter and attempt the impossible on a regular basis.

Initiation as Exposure Therapy.  One way to consider Initiation is to view it as

extended exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is an evidence-based technique
used to address a phobia or any high-level anxiety associated with an event,
person, activity, situation, or memory (Foa & Kozak, 1986). It is often the
predominant technique in trauma therapy (Rauch & Foa, 2006). Clients with
anxiety-related disorders or indeed with any anxiety problem, present to ther-
apy with one overarching coping strategy: avoidance. Avoidance can take
many forms such as blame, withdrawal, isolation, self-medication with alco-
hol or drugs, or simply silence. Client-heroes during the Initiation phase are
repeatedly required to face their dragon, the feared object, event, or activity,
either in situ (real) or in vivo (imaginary). Initiation as prolonged exposure
therapy, intentionally and repeatedly places client-heroes in feared situations,
triggering their fight, flight, or freeze response yet allowing habituation to
take effect. Each increasingly more difficult trial in the Initiation phase is the
equivalent of a graduated habituation, disconfirming previously held beliefs
that such action, such an impossibility is actually possible. The resultant
increase in self-efficacy is a powerful Reward in the client-hero’s journey.

Setbacks and Failure as Essential Components of the Hero’s Journey.  The Hero’s
Journey also informs client-heroes that at the final stage of Initiation, referred
to as a Supreme Ordeal (Campbell, 1993; Vogler, 2007), clients are likely to
experience a major setback. Clients are reminded that while this will defi-
nitely be a crisis, it is not the end of their change story. This trial will expose
client-heroes to their most challenging test yet: for example, the day in court,
the meeting with the performance review panel, receiving the results of the
latest chemotherapy. Campbell (1993) and Vogler (1992) describe this stage
12 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

as the moment when all looks lost for the hero. It appears that the “bad guys”
have won. Voldemort has outsmarted Harry Potter. The Empire has beaten the
Resistance (Star Wars). Heroes are down but not out.
Initiation then is concluded when the client-hero attempts to address their
most feared test yet using their new polar-opposite skills, and still things do
not go to plan. The Supreme Ordeal is the lowest point to date for the client-
hero. Thoughts of giving up are to be expected. A temporary return to the
thinking and behavior of the Refusal stage may occur. As previously noted
however, once clients are informed of such a stage as an inevitable part of
addressing their significant life problem, they can anticipate and identify the
event and consider that this setback is not the endpoint. In my clinic, a woman
who separated from a silent and withdrawn partner, was able to identify a
possible Supreme Ordeal in advance of any such event. Her proscribed
Ordeal was that she “would be devastated” if she discovered that he had com-
menced dating other women while she was struggling to sleep, eat, and attend
work. During one session, she arrived distressed recounting the information
discovered from a friend. Her fear had come true and her ex-partner had been
seen on a dating website. In the midst of her distress (this new evidence prov-
ing she was unlovable), she named this discovery as a “Supreme Ordeal.”
“It’s supposed to feel like the end, isn’t it but it isn’t, yeah?” Despite feeling
that “all was lost” and in the midst of grief, knowledge of the Hero’s Journey
provided some explanatory framework, hope that her story was not yet over.
Client-heroes need time to process the cognitions and emotions subse-
quent to a Supreme Ordeal. Many may subjectively feel like they are “back
at square one”; however, there is considerable evidence to contradict this
perception. Fortunately, Allies have witnessed this major setback and are
present to assist the client-hero to process both cognitions (challenging inac-
curate thoughts) and overwhelming emotions (through attachment and emo-
tional regulation). Similarly, client-heroes now know that personal change is
a necessity in addressing their significant life problem, even if external peo-
ple or events are to blame. Furthermore, they have prior evidence that avoid-
ance in any form is an insufficient response to their problem. Even in this
major setback, disappointed client-heroes are cognizant that continued avoid-
ance will most likely lead to a further deterioration of their problem. Such
evidence assists tired and disappointed client-heroes to take stock that while
a major failure has been experienced, they are fundamentally different,
changed to the client who first started the Journey.
Given time and now accepting proactive support, client-heroes will find
themselves following a Supreme Ordeal at the end of their Initiation with the
growing realization that what was once believed to be impossible is now pos-
sible: “I can’t” becomes “I did.” As with any exposure work, the repeated
Williams 13

confronting of fearful events disconfirms the client-hero’s previously limit-

ing self-beliefs. Such disconfirmations are the beginning of a new sense of
self (Williams, 2016) and can “produce a transformational restructuring of
efficacy beliefs” (Bandura, 2006, p. 308). This is an invaluable Reward to
tired and disappointed client-heroes. The “dragon” they thought would surely
kill them, has not. With this embryonic sense of a new self that might be able
to do the impossible, and with the knowledge that personal action is still
required to resolve their problem, client-heroes recommit to addressing their
significant life problem.

The Return
The Return signals the final phase of the Hero’s Journey and includes three
substages: the Road Back, the Resurrection, and the Return with the Elixir.
The Road Back is characterized by the client-hero’s realization that their sig-
nificant life problem, which may have further deteriorated at the Supreme
Ordeal, is still to be addressed. With their new awareness that the impossible
might now be possible, client-heroes harness their energy and allies for a
final showdown with their dragon. Client-heroes have gained a psychological
“second wind” and almost come full circle with their cognitions concerning
the problem, from “this is not a problem” to “this is my problem to resolve.”
This awareness, coupled with their new sense of self-efficacy (“I can’t” to “I
might just do this!”) makes for a more determined and motivated client-hero.
The Road Back signals the client-hero’s final resolution to address the sig-
nificant life problem. The fearful and avoidant person present at the begin-
ning of their Hero’s Journey is no longer.
Once this state of mind has been achieved, client-heroes prepare for the
final confrontation with their dragon; addressing their most feared event,
situation, or activity: the Resurrection stage. As with the Supreme Ordeal,
this is again a highly anxiety-provoking event; however, with this second
attempt, clients are informed by their first-round failure (what worked, what
could be improved). At this final meeting, client-heroes will be required to
demonstrate mastery of their new polar-opposite, internal, and external skill
set, for example, “I can handle this level of anxiety and I can find my voice
with this person.” As with any real-life event, again things do not go com-
pletely to plan; however, the significant life problem is resolved. Whatever
the outcome, new skills have been mastered. The no longer useful aspects of
the old self will be shed.
In the case of the aforementioned example, the same client had identi-
fied that she “could not survive” seeing her ex-partner with a new woman.
This occurred over the course of our sessions. In the midst of her grief and
14 Journal of Humanistic Psychology 0(0)

fear that she would remain alone forever, she was able to identify that
although she was “doing all the right things” (practicing mindfulness, using
cognitive behavior therapy, and accessing her support network), her “worst
fear” had come true. She had in fact run into her ex-partner with a new
woman in a local shopping center. Informed, however, by the Hero’s
Journey, through tears she was also able to recognize that this episode rep-
resented a death of her old previous life and love. Though unsure of how
she might “resurrect” herself, this recognition assisted her in progressing
through this event and looking forward to what might become of her new
life chapter.
This casting off of no longer needed aspects of the self, signals a second
psychological death (first at the Supreme Ordeal, now at the Resurrection)
for a weary client-hero. New polar-opposite skills have been mastered.
Impossibilities have been made possible. An increased and resilient sense
of self-efficacy has been achieved. Common clinical Resurrections are
marked by the client-hero’s transformation from dependence to responsi-
bility, from silence to finding their voice. Whatever the transformation,
client-heroes will have shifted from avoidance to action. Such real-world
skills now allow them alternative coping strategies to any life situation.
Client-heroes have also learned how to regulate a variety of strong emo-
tions that invariably arise when taking action: fear and/or sadness. Such
internal and external skill sets are powerful Rewards for any client-hero
and it is these skills that the now transformed client-hero may offer as an
Elixir to others.
Vogler (1992) describes the “Return with the Elixir” as something for the
Hero to “share with others, or something with the power to heal.” The spon-
sor in a 12-Step program has this Elixir, the skills and experience of their own
recovery journey. White (2002a, 2002b) refers to this as a responsibility of
the transformed hero to give back through acts of reconciliation as the “debts
and obligations” of recovery (White, 2002a, p. 2). Other common clinical
examples of Elixirs include client-heroes who can now protect both self and
relationship with spouses, other family members, and friends. No longer lim-
ited to silence and withdrawal or anger and criticism, transformed client-
heroes are able to voice their feelings and needs but not at the expense of
making others “wrong.” Client-heroes, now have an awareness that life may
well be a series of repeated Hero’s Journeys.

Over and over again, you are called to the realm of adventure, you are called to
new horizons. Each time, there is the same problem, do I dare? And then if you
do dare, the dangers are there, and the help also, and the fulfillment or the
fiasco. (Campbell, 2004, p. 133)
Williams 15

This awareness to see life as a mudmap with specific phases and various
substages, allows the chaos and challenges of life to have both some sequence
and purpose. Unwanted events can be viewed as Calls to the next Adventure.
Clients inform me that they have just had “an unwanted Call to Adventure”
and need a session. Clients report that they can now see the link between
heated arguments over the tidiness of the house with previous coping strate-
gies that made demands on partners or used control to manage anxiety. The
Hero’s Journey allows them to now view such minutiae as mundane evidence
of old and destructive coping strategies and their new polar-opposite skills as
part of living a life as their more authentic self. Similarly, relationships and
events that do not go to plan can now be perceived as trials, knowing that a
trial is designed to teach a new polar-opposite skill to enrich and extend a life,
not limit or withdraw from it. “You have been thinking one, you now have to
think a different way” (The Power of Myth, 2001).
As Campbell says the Hero’s Journey is “The quest to find the inward
thing that you basically are” (The Power of Myth, 2001). In killing our drag-
ons, the fears and limitations we place on ourselves, which is an invariable
aspect of the Hero’s Journey, not only do we save ourselves but “the world.”

The influence of a vital person vitalizes. There is no doubt about it . . . people

have the notion of saving the world by shifting things around, changing the
rules and who’s on top, and so forth. No, no! Any world is a valid world if it’s
alive. The thing to do is to bring it to life, and the only way to do that is to find
in your own case where the life is and become alive yourself. (The Power of
Myth, 2001)

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publi-
cation of this article.

Note
1. Mudmap is “a map drawn on the ground with a stick or any other roughly drawn
map” (Collins Dictionary, 2016).

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Author Biography
Clive Williams, PhD, is a psychologist with 35 years’ expe-
rience with a particular focus on how individual change
occurs. For the past 25 years, Clive has been focused on the
application of the Hero’s Journey as a template for change
and applying this template with clients dealing with anxiety
and mood disorders, addictions, relationship therapy, family
problems, and workplace stresses. He has yet to find one
situation where the Hero’s Journey could not be used to as a
daily guide to assisting change. Clive’s private practice is in
Brisbane though he works with clients around the globe.