Core Ideas of Process Work
Process Work was founded by Arnold Mindell, an MIT-trained physicist and Jungian analyst, in the late 1970s. It emerged from Mindell’s vision to unify the fields and languages of physics and psychology, transcending the division between mind and matter. He felt dissatisfied with limiting the exploration of the unconscious to interpreting nighttime dreams, recognizing that the unconscious also manifested in his clients’ daytime behaviors and experiences. Mindell observed that nighttime dreams often reflected his clients’ physical experiences and body symptoms. He expanded the term “dreaming” to encompass any marginalized aspects of our experiences, particularly those we do not identify with or that occur to us.
He broadened causal and mechanistic approaches to physical and behavioral health sciences to include Processus, emphasizing the concepts of flow and ongoing natural change. Mindell highlighted that various facets of our personal lives find expression in our dreams, body symptoms, illnesses, altered states of consciousness, relationship conflicts, and lived social experiences. Rather than delegating this work to specialists such as family therapists, social workers, and medical doctors, he advocated for exploring these different aspects of the process through various experiential or sensory channels. His focus was on identifying process patterns as they flow through these channels and facilitating their transformation by raising awareness and providing clients with more choices.
Process is an empirical reality. Modern physics considers process, relationships, and consciousness to be more fundamental than matter and mechanistic events. Arnold Mindell utilized his knowledge of physics to approach events phenomenologically; rather than explaining causes and origins, he focused on what was happening—the flow of signals and the meanings they carried. He defined consciousness as one’s subjective experiences and awareness of them, while unconsciousness encompasses all types of signals and experiences that one is not aware of, including unintentional verbal and non-verbal signals, as well as perceptions, beliefs, and ideas that one does not identify with.
Process Work aligns with Taoism, following the unfolding course of action. Process as Tao is not a fixed blueprint; it is generative, contextual, and contingent. Everything co-arises, shaped by relationships and conditions. Additionally, there seems to be a teleological force in the universe—a pull towards purpose that counteracts the pervasive forces of entropy. Philosopher Philip Goff concludes that there must be something “godish” at work in the universe. Process Work embraces the Zen concept of Mushin (empty mind or creative mind), an effortless state of mind, as well as the Taoist concept of Wu Wei, or effortless action. It trusts the intelligence of the process or moment rather than the conscious plans we make for ourselves. For this background intelligence, Mindell coined the term L'esprit de processus. He defines it as the palpable, intelligent, organizing psychophysical “force field” behind our processes, similar to the deep quantum patterns underlying the processes of the universe. This organizing factor exists both within us and in connection to everything we notice outside of us; it is non-local.
After studying physics and Jungian psychology and developing process-oriented psychology while traveling worldwide to teach Process Work in the early 1980s, Arnold Mindell encountered experiences that challenged his and his colleagues’ understanding, particularly regarding large group events and community conflicts. His new client became the world, prompting him to apply Process Work’s conceptual framework to these challenging situations, such as deep-seated regional and local conflicts and large group dynamics. He coined the term “Worldwork” to describe this new application of Process Work. The central element behind all Process Work applications is that what is happening both in individuals, groups, and the world is exactly what we need to engage with, and that the flow of process, including its painful aspects like illness or conflict, can become useful if we follow them with compassion and awareness.
To facilitate growth and deepen awareness, Mindell and his colleagues developed methods, skills, and strategies for working in both individual and larger community contexts. Examples include identifying and unfolding:
- the process structure and signals (primary/secondary)
- the sensory modes or channels through which primary and secondary experiences manifest
- the beliefs and fears (edges) that hinder natural flow or create polarization
- the deep democracy layers in which experiences manifest
- the internal or external roles in conflict
- the unspoken forces and fields influencing the process
- the rank and power dynamics present
- the momentary phase in which the process resides
Arnold Mindell, along with his wife Amy, also developed the concept of a second training for facilitators, one that transcends practical skills and emphasizes the facilitator’s personal development and unique styles or talents.
Most of our experiences occur below the level of conscious awareness. Our attention and conscious identity are shaped by personal, family, and cultural memories, norms, and values. These elements form who we are and what we marginalize from our conscious identities. What we actively and consciously support in ourselves is termed our primary process, emphasizing its prominence in our awareness. Experiences that happen to us or from which we distance ourselves are classified as secondary processes.
Process Structure:
Most of our experiences occur below the level of conscious awareness. Our attention and conscious identity are shaped by personal, family, and cultural memories, norms, and values. These elements form who we are and what we marginalize from our conscious identities. What we actively and consciously support in ourselves is termed our primary process, emphasizing its prominence in our awareness. Experiences that happen to us or from which we distance ourselves are classified as secondary processes.
Channels:
We experience our process through various sensory channels (hearing, seeing, feeling, moving) as well as through additional modes of experience such as relationships and world events. In any given context, our conscious experience (primary process) occurs through select channels, while marginalized aspects of our experience (secondary process) linger in what Process Work calls unoccupied channels.
Edges:
Between primary and secondary processes are boundaries and belief systems that protect and control how we navigate our identities, what we embrace as growth opportunities, and what we reject or consider “other.” These edges are necessary for maintaining personal coherence but can also be rigid and hinder our personal development. Process Work helps us unfold the stories and meanings on both sides of the boundary to bring greater awareness and fluidity to our journeys.
Process Work seeks to identify the client’s primary and secondary processes, as well as the edges separating them. The practitioner facilitates the enrichment of the client’s identity by amplifying and unfolding secondary process experiences until they make sense—both cognitively and somatically—and become part of the client’s experiential world.
Deep Democracy:
Deep Democracy is the Process Work framework that describes three layers of experience: Consensus Reality, Dreaming, and Essence. Deep Democracy emphasizes that all levels of reality and awareness are essential for understanding and honoring the entire process of a system or situation.
Consensus Reality represents the level of experience where we spend most of our attention and time. It is the layer of experience that we culturally and communally agree upon, where we function and manage our lives.
Dreaming encompasses all experiences that disrupt our normal functioning and primary processes. These experiences manifest as problems that threaten our perceived integrity and include thoughts, fantasies, night dreams, altered states, physical and emotional symptoms, inner and outer conflicts, and social and world events that interfere with conscious intentions.
Essence-level experiences are often difficult to articulate; they arise from deep-seated imaginations, yearnings, and visions that transcend internal and external polarizations, divisions, time, and space. They are the source of creativity, spirituality, and unity.
Fields and Timespirits:
The environments in which we live are governed by timespirits, patterns, moods, and roles that create a field. At times, the field “creates” the roles, and at other times, the roles and polarizations shape the field, often making it unclear what comes first. Fields and timespirits linger in the background; they pull us into specific positions and roles or lead us to avoid certain topics. They function like magnetic forces, influencing the dynamics and processes of all participants.
Roles and Ghost Roles:
Fields organize us by pulling us into specific roles depending on the context. As individuals, we either identify with or feel affinity for certain roles, but these roles also exist independently and can be taken on by multiple participants. Additionally, we are more than the roles we embody in a given context.
Ghost roles are those that participants are reluctant to identify with; they are often discussed in the third person. Groups and individuals can benefit from raising awareness of these unrepresented roles and seeking assistance in integrating them to some degree.
Rank and Power:
Multiple rank hierarchies (individual and social) structure our communities and significantly impact people’s lived experiences. These hierarchies need to be framed and unfolded in terms of how they influence our processes. They dictate our access to resources and benefits, even determining our lifespan and quality of life. Our perception of rank impacts our self-esteem and our capacity for compassion towards ourselves and others.
In a social context, influence and rank operate on multiple levels. At an individual level, personal dispositional power—an individual’s capacity to influence their own actions or those of others—stems from social categories such as gender, class, age, race, education, and income. Alternatively, it can be rooted in psychological faculties developed through personal growth and awareness, or in spiritual/transpersonal power, such as a connection to a higher power, nature, or something larger than oneself. Rank is also contextual, deriving from momentary roles in a given situation, such as a teacher, healthcare provider, parent, or bank teller. Finally, systemic power and rank arise from the complex, powerful forces that shape situations and environments.
Process Work embraces rank, power, and leadership. People often misuse power, employing it to target others rather than for the collective good. By acknowledging and understanding rank, we can learn to wield it more effectively. Rank-related issues are among the primary drivers of conflict.
Process Work facilitators bring awareness to and frame the various dimensions of rank that may be present in a specific situation or conversation.
Phases:
Personal and group evolution occurs in phases. At times, we need to pause and care for ourselves, respond to problems, address issues and conflicts, take on the other side, integrate secondary processes, or identify with the wholeness of the cycle and all the roles and perspectives within the process.
