Rewrite your memories on the page and within your mind in this six week creative writing course. You'll learn self-hypnosis techniques to help you change any memory and use writing to process your experiences.
And your brain also can't really tell the difference between imagination and reality. So why not play with your memories and rewrite them for your own benefit? This course combines integrative change work (coaching the unconscious mind) and creative writing prompts to rewrite your memories.
You'll still remember the real things that happened to you - but you can rewrite the story in your brain that brings up all those bad feelings from the original memory. You can imagine a different outcome. You can use the power of "what if" to rewrite your memory on the page AND in your own brain.
By the end of our six weeks together, campers will...
Some of the best stories are written based on the premise of "What if?"
In this small group, you'll examine a past experience, follow its threads through your lifetime into the past and future, and create a new possibility on the page.
We are going to talk about hard stuff - and even though you're used to laughing it off, this is a safe place to be real and vulnerable.
When things get tough, the somatic grounding techniques you learn in this course will help you soothe and regulate your nervous system. They can stop a panic attack in its tracks!
Using self hypnosis and neuroplasticity techniques, you'll learn to rewire your mind's memories to take the charge out of them, to integrate these newly imagined changes into your unconscious mind.
Let's talk about creative writing as catharsis.
Storytelling is an old magic, an alchemy that comes from the chemical reaction between the intangible realm of spirit and our tangible human world. If you've been drawn to words since you could form them, you know what I'm talking about. That feeling you get when you're writing and the words start to come THROUGH you instead of being created BY you? Yeah. That's the stuff.
Using creative writing to process things that have happened to you is an ancient tradition. Story is how we make sense of the inexplicable.
Writing, fictionalizing, imagining a different outcome... these are the ways that we can process traumas and move forward without the stories of powerlessness and fear that are attached in our unconscious minds.
What are the "what if" questions that you want to explore? Those adventures are possible here. That's what this summer camp is about.
These testimonials are from members of my writing incubator, Working Title.
Caitlin tames all of the self-doubt and self-criticism and all of those nasty little monsters that keep you stuck in not writing.
My biggest transformation is now I think of myself as someone capable of writing a novel.
We have so many different types of writers in this class, and Caitlin offers bespoke advice for each and every one of us. After couple of sessions, they realize what your learning style is or what your biggest hurdles might be and their advice begins to shape around that.
Working Title Member
I've gone from doubting that my writing has value and considering giving up on a project I've worked on for years, to finishing up a draft and getting ready to look for an agent. Caitlin is a great friend and an incredible coach.
Working Title Member
Be sure to check the other FAQ below too! If your question isn't answered here, reach out to hello@lilacpointcreative.com or book a discovery call at www.cal.com/caitlinlizfisher/disco.
There will be a kickoff session on the Saturday that camp begins, July 6.
Weekly lessons will drop on Tuesdays beginning July 9.
Weekly meetings will be held on Thursday evenings from 6-8pm ET for practice of techniques and coaching.
Short answer: No.
We'll spend time workshopping ideas at the start of Camp, so you can come with as little or as much detail as you please!
Spec fic is a large genre category that includes science fiction and fantasy without strictly being either. It's a "what if" type of genre that can borrow magic and science (without having to stick to known scientific data) to imagine a different possibility.
From Wikipedia:
Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality,[1] instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative realms.[2] This catch-all genre includes, but is not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, magical realism,[3] superhero fiction, alternate history, utopia and dystopia, fairy tales, steampunk, cyberpunk, weird fiction, and some apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.
Writers of all experience levels are welcome at Camp. This process is about you using your imagination to process and transform your perception of what you've been through. Not about your writing quality.
First and foremost, this is not a medical treatment program, I am not a licensed mental health professional, and nothing in this course is intended to diagnose or treat your mental illness.
What I AM is a domestic abuse survivor, including emotional and physical neglect, emotional incest, sexual abuse, financial abuse, and mental abuse. So when I speak about trauma, I speak through the lens of my own healing journey (which, surprising no one, has included a LOT of writing and reading).
In this course, you will talk about traumatic things you've been through. You don't have to rehash them line by line for me - a lot of the work in this space will be just for you. As my client and friend Kelli wrote to my email subscribers, "Caitlin won’t make you rewrite your trauma stories if you’d rather write something else."
I'm big on informed consent and I will check in with you if your face moves even a little bit into uncomfortable territory. You can tap out at any time.
Integrative Change Work is the type of unconscious mind coaching I have been trained and certified in, through the Ethical Coaching Collective. I use multiple techniques including breath work, guided self-hypnosis, somatic exercises, and EFT tapping.
This is the coaching side of this course, and I'll be guiding you (if you volunteer) through self-hypnotic trance to allow you to literally change the pathways in your mind and feel the way you desire to feel, instead of stuck in the loop of fear and panic that's been attached to these memories for years.
Curious what it looks like? Check out my private podcast, The Eldest Daughter Rehab Sessions, to listen to examples of me using these techniques.
These testimonials are from clients who participated in my Eldest Daughter Rehab program, where I taught the same neuroplasticity (aka brain changing!) techniques you'll learn inside this course.
One of the things I really discovered working with Caitlin was that I really had a wild streak inside of me that was not being allowed to do what it wanted to do, with the purity, policing, and having to take care of everybody and everything.
I have let some of that go. I am doing stuff that's a little more reckless, because I don't have to police myself. I can do things that are for me, and no one will die.
For people who have spent a lot of time in traumatic situations, especially undiagnosed neurodivergent folks, you get really, really disconnected from your body because everybody tells you that what you are perceiving is not real.
The somatic elements that Caitlin taught really let you get past that adrenal reaction and actually deal with what the situation is. It was delightful to have that really strong, somatic component from the beginning.
The thing that surprised me the most was that all of the tools that Caitlin brings together within their programs are simple, something you can use every day in a discreet way.
It almost feels like a shortcut from what your brain's always done, and very quickly being able to reprogram the way that it's running through these patterns and create new ones that are going to serve you better.
If your question isn't answered here, reach out to hello@lilacpointcreative.com or book a discovery call at www.cal.com/caitlinlizfisher/disco.
I am not a licensed mental health practitioner, and I cannot diagnose or treat mental illness.
That said, I'm a childhood and adult domestic abuse survivor and I've had a lot of therapy and I've read a lot of books.
I have a certification in Integrative Change Work (unconscious mind hypnosis and coaching).
In my Working Title Writing Incubator, most (if not all) participants have some kind of trauma history, and our space is safe and protective.
If you have a trauma history that you worry will impact the class or that I can't help you process, please reach out. We'll talk about and make sure we both feel comfortable tackling the issue before we move forward.
Integrative Change Work is the type of unconscious mind coaching I have been trained and certified in, through the Ethical Coaching Collective. I use multiple techniques including breath work, guided self-hypnosis, somatic exercises, and EFT tapping.
At the core of each technique or method I'll use is the following formula:
1) Think about the Bad Thing you want to change.
2) Shake it off.
3) Think about the Good Thing you'd prefer to think/feel in the scenario.
4) Imagine that Good Thing multiple times until it feels as automatic as the Bad Thing used to be.
Easier said than done, but once you get the hang of it, you can rewrite just about anything that's bothering you.
My own trauma healing journey has been informed by several books, and if you've read any of these you'll have a leg up on the trauma concepts we'll discuss in the course.
These aren't required! Just a list of reference material that can help you go deeper into the concepts within our work together.
"Getting Past Your Past" by Francine Shapiro
"What Happened to You?" by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah
"The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel Van der Kolk
"The Grief Recovery Handbook" by John W. James and Russell Friedman
Summer Camp isn't Summer Camp without games, friendship, food, and fun.
Participating in various Summer Camp activities will earn you badges for your camp camaraderie as well as your storytelling prowess.
Bug-free, mud-free activities and games will be a part of our weekly curriculum. We'll be telling ghost stories, playing Story Uno, going on a scavenger hunt, and other fun and light-hearted activities to break up the trauma-fest of our writing projects.
Not feeling up to a social activity? Enter the Yurt of Solitude and turn your camera off, leave early if you need to, or just take a breather.
I had trauma related to my writing from being teased by teachers and other students. And I had put that away for so many years, and it created a lot of my depression.
Caitlin's spaces have been safe and comfortable for me to participate in and share my work. And by finding the ability to use my creative outlet, I was able to find joy again. I was able to start participating in my life.
My concerns were about showing up and sharing something that's incredibly personal, and how that was going to land with other people. Is it going to be okay that I'm writing this? Is everybody going to think I'm weird?
What I've learned is that sharing rough drafts is incredibly personal, we're all participating in the same sharing of vulnerable things, so it's much safer. I had a lot of trust that the type of people that Caitlin was going to attract were going to be safe people. Give me the weirdos!
I've always felt like I had to justify why my creative endeavors were worth my time - nobody in my life has ever just believed in me and my creativity. Caitlin has created a safe space of the most incredible humans you'll ever meet. They genuinely care about you and want to see you succeed. You are never too much, you are never a burden. Having Caitlin by my side has slowly mended not just my heart but my overall outlook on life with their gentle yet firm support and belief.