Starting in the 1970’s Arnold Mindell began researching illness as an expression of the unconscious mind. He discovered that the unconscious manifests not only in nighttime dreams but also in physical symptoms, relationship difficulties, addictions, and social tensions. Drawing from his background as a physicist, as well as other scientific and spiritual disciplines, Mindell formulated the idea of the ‘dreaming process,’ a coherent and meaningful flow of experiences that underlie all life events. “Nature,” as manifested in our planned experiences but also in the unintended and even disturbing events of our lives is what Process Work often addresses. By working at the intersection of intended and unintended, we can often find solutions to our most challenging problems.
Process Work is a multi-disciplinary approach to individual and collective change. It brings together psychology, group dynamics, spirituality and physics in a single paradigm. By inquiring into the basic ideas and directions of these disparate disciplines, Process Work moves towards a unitive theory of change.
Deep Democracy is the underlying principle of Process Work. It suggests that all people, perspectives, and levels of reality are needed for sustainable change and community. At the relationship level, this simply means that it’s me and you; both of our perspectives are important if we are to experience success and well-being.
Process Work supports the “primary process” with which we identify and intend. “I’m going to school now.” It also inquires into the “secondary process” which may arise unintentionally. “I was going to school but found myself unable to get off the couch. I’m exhausted.” Here, “going to school” is the primary process and intent. Inability to get off the couch and exhaustion are the secondary processes that interrupt the primary intention. Process Work looks at how primary and secondary inform one another to see how we might proceed. Whether at the level of the individual, relationship, team, organization, or community, the interaction of primary and secondary processes is often a creative one, though it may first disturb us! This level of work helps individuals become more congruent in their decisions, actions and behavior. People in relationships of all kinds benefit from not only supporting their main intent but also exploring how they may be starting to change unintentionally. Organizations strengthen their mission delivery when their stated goals are integrated with unplanned movements.
I use Process Work to explore a wide array of individual, relationship and group issues. For over twenty-five years I have worked with individuals, couples and groups to address:
