Bill Plotkin, Ph.D.
Bill Plotkin, Ph.D., is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and agent of cultural evolution. As founder of western Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute in 1981, he has guided thousands of women and men through nature-based initiatory passages, including a contemporary, Western adaptation of the pan-cultural vision fast. Previously, he has been a research psychologist (studying non-ordinary states of consciousness), professor of psychology, psychotherapist, rock musician, and whitewater river guide. In 1979, on a solo winter ascent of an Adirondack peak, Bill experienced a call to adventure, leading him to abandon academia in search of his true calling. Bill is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (an experiential guidebook), Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (a nature-based stage model of human development through the entire lifespan), Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche (an ecocentric map of the psyche — for healing, growing whole, and cultural transformation), and The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries (an experiential guidebook for the descent to soul). He has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Events with Bill Plotkin, Ph.D.
Deep Imagination, Soulcraft, and the Reanimation of the World – November 2024, New ZealandNovember 20 - 24, 2024
A shifting, leafy canopy casts green shadows on the forest floor. A creature appears: tall and upright, hair braided, body draped in earth fibers and verdant silks, human-like but not tame. She turns your way and perhaps you shudder, recognizing that she may know you better than you do. The trees lean in, listening. The exuberant, inter-species conversations that animate our planet are nearby – very near – as is the mysterious terrain of soul, where we might encounter strange, alluring, cryptic, unbidden images, creatures, or impressions. Deep imagination is a portal to the terra mysterium of soul and to…
Nature & the Human Soul: An Experiential Training in the Soulcentric Developmental Wheel Online - January, 2025January 9 - February 21, 2025
Applications are currently being reviewed as they are received. This program will be closed to new applications on December 4, 2025. Important note: This is a training program designed for people in our Soulcraft Apprenticeship and Initiation Program (SAIP) but is also open to those with both a professional and personal interest in the Soulcentric Developmental Wheel. This program is not a good choice for people primarily seeking an experiential introduction to the work of Animas. For those who are seeking an experiential introduction to the Soulcentric Developmental Wheel and for those called to support full-spectrum human development in the…
Shadow Training – May, 2025May 7 - 11, 2025
The Shadow is the hidden side of our psyches, with both its “positive” and “negative” aspects. The Shadow is not what we know about ourselves and don’t like (and perhaps keep hidden) but, rather, what is true about us but know absolutely nothing about … and would deny if “accused.” During this training, we’ll develop our skills, as nature-based soul guides, in being with and working with: • The Shadow: strategies for spotting, unmasking, and assimilating the dark shapes of Shadow • Projections and transferences • Loyal soldiers: the subpersonalities that have been keeping us “safe” since early childhood by…
The SAIP Residential – May, 2025May 13 - 18, 2025
This SAIP Residential is for SAIP trainees only. Once a year, during a six-day gathering, SAIP participants have the opportunity for advanced training and personal soulwork with the SAIP mentors. This gathering is for participants in the Soulcraft Apprenticeship & Initiation Program only. For more information about our SAIPien Program, CLICK HERE. ROFO RANCH, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO RoFo Ranch is located on 40 acres of land under the shadow of the Sleeping Ute Mountain, several miles down McElmo Canyon near Cortez, Colorado. …