Advanced AMP...A Review

Hey Dicknotist,

I was looking for some info on the AMP program and came across your site. I was looking for some insight
as to how the Advance AMP course went. You approved of their first course, but how do you feel about their
second course?

Thanks,
C

Wow. I've been so preoccupied with Authentic Boston that I actually forgot to write a review of Advanced AMP. In hindsight, I'm glad I waited a few months since I've taken the course have allowed me the opportunity to reflect and see the experience from a more balanced perspective.

Aside from being a massive Batman fan, there is something about the theme of the new film that especially resonates with me. Escalation. The term implies taking something to a new level. Batman Begins tells the story of the origin of Bruce Wayne and how he had to overcome his insecurities, namely his fear of bats and his incessant obsession with revenge, to become a legend - someone who inspires people with new hope. The sequel addresses an issue Wayne never anticipated: encountering a villain more dangerous, more theatrical, and more deadly than anyone he's encountered before. The bad guys didn't go away; they just got tougher...and crazier. The same analogy holds true for me and my inner game issues. Unquestionably, my game went to new heights during 2007, but it also included new hurts and new challenges, some of which are contained in the archives of this blog.

Inner game issues are especially insidious because they are so well hidden. Let's take a fictional guy named Jamal. Jamal 's problem is he believes women are out to hurt him because of a few bad experiences he had during his youth. Naturally, he's afraid to approach because he thinks girls will cruelly reject and humiliate him. Perhaps after reading some material and giving himself enough of a pep talk, he starts approaching girls and getting digits, but they don't return his calls because, in his mind, they just want to mess with him and make him feel like crap. Eventually, he'll start getting dates, but the girl may say something that makes him suspicious, like "so, what do you do [for work?]" Certainly, he thinks, she must be appraising him of his money to take advantage of him financially. You can imagine how poorly such dates go. After a long while and with a few more routines under his belt, he starts getting laid, but the women don't stick around. Damn! Yep, they must have set out to lead him on just to leave and swipe at his heart. Even if he gets a gf or two, he drives himself nuts with jealousy because when they're out in public, guys hit on her and when he does not hear from her for a few days, thoughts of her fucking other guys swirl in his head.

So, what's the moral of the story here? To Jamal, he sees each stage of difficulty in his journey as a new "sticking point." With more techniques, he'll be able to approach, get solid numbers, make a date end in sex, and overcome his jealous behavior. What he is blind to see is that the same core insecurity is manifesting itself over and over and over again in novel ways. As he conquers each stage, he thinks he's over his issues. In truth, the insecurity escalates along with his success. He learns how he should respond to get what he wants in a particular situation, but the insecurity will rear its head in a different one, sort of like that arcade game where you bop the head of the alligator only to find that it just pops out of another hole. Until his inner game issues are resolved, he will never be at peace. I chose to do Advanced AMP to deal with this escalation. Regular AMP unearths and exposes these issues, which is overwhelming in of itself; Advanced AMP helps you process and resolve them.

Those of you who are familiar with AMP know the usual format. The event takes place over three days, where on the first two, you work with the men of the course and on the third day, they bring in the ultra-perceptive women. As the name suggests, this program goes much deeper than regular AMP where the intense circling exercises are twice as long and go much deeper. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the AMP lexicon, "circling" is a practice where you break down into small groups and the AMP facilitator(s) and fellow participants work with you to expose and work through those unresolved issues that are holding you back in achieving real, true self-confidence. In regular AMP, these exercises usually run 20-45 min. each. In Advanced AMP, the time jumps from a minimum of 45 min. to a peak of 90 min. on the last day when you work with one of the AMP women.

As you can see, there is no running or hiding because the amount of personal attention you receive is intense! That's also why when I say "this work isn't for everyone," I'm not kidding. A tremendous amount of emotional upheaval is revealed in these circling exercises. In addition, for those of you who have issues you truly do not want to deal with or aren't ready to encounter head-on, you may find yourself taking on too much, too soon. With that said, here are just a few of the highlights.

One particularly fun day was the first night when the facilitators revealed to us that we were "going out" on the subway. The revelation was a sweet, early twist as regular AMP does not involve any daytime work. The exercise was simple: we hop on one of the trains and just laugh uncontrollably. They teach that at the heart of approach anxiety is some level of shame we have about ourselves that we are afraid to reveal. If we had no shame, there would be no anxiety. We'd be totally disinhibited, like the little kid who will scream and holler uncontrollably in a store when his parents don't buy him the toy he wants. Do you think he feels any shame in throwing a tantrum in public?! No! By the same token, you shouldn't feel any shame in approaching and engaging women.

The exercise is meant to have you act disinhibited and witness where you shut down in the face of the disapproval of others. Actually, most people didn't seem to care much and I got a lil bored after 10 minutes of it, until some woman bellowed, "Excuse me! You're going to disturb my baby!!" Oh, I felt the social pressure and I felt like running under the covers! Decker just motioned for us to go out to the other end of the train car because, of course, we didn't want to disturb a sleeping baby. She actually flipped out again and my anxiety was so high at that point that it wasn't until after the exercise that I noticed the obvious: "You know, it's a amazing that baby was able to sleep with her screaming her head off right over his head!"

Then it was time for some public circling, except we remain in a big group. As we each got in the middle of the circle, we had to yell, "Ahhhhh" to the group and display our masculine power. Out of context, this may seem strange. The point is that there's a great deal you reveal about yourself when placed in anxiety-provoking situations. i.e. The same guy who seems well put together at the office falls apart when he's in a bar, talking to a hot woman. By the time I was in the middle, there was a curious, excited crowd of about 40 people wondering what the heck we were doing. People walked by, stopped, and watched as if they were rubber necking a traffic accident.

The facilitators and co-participants called out what they noticed about me during the previous exercise. "You seem smaller!" "Where's your power?!" "You hide behind your humor!" Bingo! Funny, I remember opening a lawyer in a bar about two years ago who said the same exact thing. At the time, her comments flew over my head because I was more concerned with dropping the next entertaining phrase than just enjoying myself. Well, there's no holding back now. I got present, dug down deep, and let 'em have it to cheers and applause. Then, Decker upped the ante. "Now, turn around and do it to the crowd behind you." I turned and I was able to hold my presence for a lil bit, but then lost it, going back to my funny, nice guy persona. Damn! He didn't give up though. He asked the crowd if they wanted to see me unleash my power which then prompted enthusiastic cheering, yelling, and encouragement. So, with an audience of 50-60 strangers at this point and my AMP brothers behind me giving their support, I took a few deep breaths and gave them my worst! The adrenaline was off the charts. I literally could feel the blood running across from veins from my eyes all the way down my thighs to my tippy toes. What a rush! Cocaine ain't got shit on AMP! I did it...and I lived! Not only did I live, but they loved me for it! Reveal your true, honest self and people are moved to support you...to help you...to love you. How's that for a paradigm shift?

On another memorable night, we dine at a swanky, upscale restaurant called "The Supper Club," which gives me all the evidence in the world that San Francisco is the strangest city on the planet. They say Boston is the most liberal city in the Union while Amsterdam may be the most libertine on the planet. Having grown up in the former and visiting and absolutely loving the latter, I can say uneqivicoally that if Boston fucked Amsterdam, San Francisco would be their slutty daughter addicted to weed and coke. We enter the Supper Club and I'm greeted by this hideous blonde who wants to take my coat. As I sternly refuse, I do a double take and realize that she's actually a man dressed in drag. We are taken upstairs where I soon realize that the restaurant is two floors and the top floor has no tables or chairs...just beds. If it wasn't for the $100-a-head price tag, I would make this place my default Day2 location. Screw bouncing to somewhere else...all you need is a sheet or two. Intermittently, we are treated to a strange play featuring opera singers acting out stabbing a doll and people dressed as clowns dry humping members of the audience. To top it off, the show ends with the original blonde in drag stripping down buck naked and walking off to the applause of the crowd. The experience was unique and unforgettable, but not as surreal as what else happened that night. One of the facilitators, who is married, invites me to talk to a chick he picked up at some coffee shop...and yes, she is ripe! As I am talking to her, I am in disbelief, not over her, but over his relationship situation. To witness the working of an open marriage where each person is 100% open and honest about who the other person is seeing and what they're doing with them takes things to a new level. I have read all types of mystical promises online of mLTRs and juggling a bazillion girlfriends at once, but to actually meet the real deal in real life blows open what I think is possible.

Enter Day 3, an entire day of pure circling and pure vulnerability. What better way to work on your insecurities with women, than to work with women?! I worked with the lovely Liyana Silver who sensed that I hid a great deal of my anger and power behind my smile, a recurrent theme of the week-end. Of course, she was right as there have been some past experiences that still evoke a thirst for vengeance. In a surprising move, she placed her hands on my chest and encouraged me to let out my fury. I, on the other hand, had other ideas and was not comfortable exposing it. I'm not sure what I'd do if I did... Plan B. They made me stand up and each of the facilitators held back my arms as she exhibited some of her own anger and encouraged me to let it out. After a few feeble complaints, everything gushed out like a broken water main. "I'm sick of all the silly games you guys play!" "Why can't you just be honest?!" "Why can't you just love me?!" On and on the statements came and up spiked the adrenaline. Boy did I feel so damn amazing to express it freely and safely. The point is not to vent, which hardly helps, but to become comfortable with my anger and integrate it in a healthy way. I'm not even sure how much time passed, but I did notice something more important at the end. I told her, "I trust you more now." I trusted all of them more because I felt comfortable being myself. Tossing out your social mask and just being totally honest and authentic is incredibly freeing. The response of one of the facilitators was equally compelling: "You know what? I trust you a lot more too."

At the end of the program, I addressed everyone from the facilitators to the other Advanced AMP participants: "I am so deeply privileged to be in this room with all of you. When people ask what love is, this is love...right here, in this room with all of you. Thank you. Thank you so much!" It was at that moment that I realized that such a support is not available anywhere close to the East Coast. Self-confidence is challenging when we often receive messages all around us that encourage people to be someone they're not in the vain hope of getting something. When they don't get that "thing" they're after, feelings of anger, frustration, and much worse settle in. I've been there and I am very fortunate to have discovered AMP. That's why I am moved and inspired to bring AMP to Boston...to give...to give what few people can offer: a choice to develop a life of authenticity...to be empowered to be yourself and to claim your desires without apology...to take your relating with women to new depths.

So, that's my experience. I sure it is different and unique for everyone who is brave enough to go on that journey. Advanced AMP for me was more than a week-end. It was a potentially life-altering experience. As you can imagine, I'd give this program 4 out of 4 stars. There is nothing else out there that is even close to building inner game as this program. If you can afford it, just do it. If you're in or near Boston, shoot me an email. ;)

-The Dicknotist