Arnold Mindell
Encyclopedia
Arnold Mindell is an American psychotherapist, writer and the founder of Process Oriented Psychology
, living in Portland, Oregon. He has written 19 books that have been published in 20 languages.
,and pursued further graduate study at the at the ETH
in Switzerland. After he developed a friendship with Franz Ricklin, the head of the Jung Institute there, which evolved into a therapeutic relationship, he discontinued the study of physics and became a Jungian analyst, with a PhD awarded in 1972 in psychology from the Union Institute for his work on synchronicity.
In 1977, he became a Jungian training analyst, and published his first book, Dreambody: The Body’s Role in Revealing the Self in 1982. His findings led Mindell to investigate how the dreaming mind produces unconscious or "double signals" in us while we are in relationship to others. He found that bringing those signals from the background to the foreground made interpersonal communication easier.
Eventually his ideas grew into the technique of process oriented psychology (also known as process work). Process work focuses on following signals and sensory grounded information, seeing them as signposts to discovering meaning in disturbances, body symptoms, and relationship troubles.
Broadly, process work combines elements of gestalt, Jungian, and somatic psychologies, indigenous traditions, physics (for its quantum concepts and ideas of non-locality and entanglement), and the eastern philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. This discovery led to ground breaking work in the development of process oriented psychological interventions in psychiatry.
His interest in relationships evolved into the study of conflict in large groups. He discovered that the dreaming processes he had identified on the individual and dyadic relationship level were also helpful in working out problems in larger groups. In groups, the process was carried not only by individuals, but by ‘roles’ which could be occupied by any individual in the group. ‘Ghost roles’ were roles implied by the group’s behavior, but with which no individual would identify.
Mindell became interested once again in physics and went back to the study of tiny, subtle signals ordinarily ignored in more classical psychological approaches. With his partner and wife Amy Mindell, Mindell began to explore new methods of working with people locked in comatose, vegetative and near death states of consciousness. Recently his interest in quantum physics has propelled him to explore the interconnections of psychology with theoretical physics, and to find new ways of working with subtle states of consciousness
. He developed an extensive body of research and techniques using field, wave and vector concepts to understand preverbal, pre-dream-like states of awareness. He has also developed an extensive array of techniques for integrating field and wave concepts with indigenous philosophy and practice in earth based psychology and the ProcessMind concept.
Process Oriented Psychology
Process oriented psychology refers to a body of theory and practice that encompasses a broad range of psychotherapeutic, personal growth, and group process applications. It is more commonly called "process work" in the United States, the longer name being used in Europe and Asia...
, living in Portland, Oregon. He has written 19 books that have been published in 20 languages.
Career
He graduated with a masters degree from MIT in 1961 in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
,and pursued further graduate study at the at the ETH
Eth
Eth is a letter used in Old English, Icelandic, Faroese , and Elfdalian. It was also used in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, but was subsequently replaced with dh and later d. The capital eth resembles a D with a line through the vertical stroke...
in Switzerland. After he developed a friendship with Franz Ricklin, the head of the Jung Institute there, which evolved into a therapeutic relationship, he discontinued the study of physics and became a Jungian analyst, with a PhD awarded in 1972 in psychology from the Union Institute for his work on synchronicity.
In 1977, he became a Jungian training analyst, and published his first book, Dreambody: The Body’s Role in Revealing the Self in 1982. His findings led Mindell to investigate how the dreaming mind produces unconscious or "double signals" in us while we are in relationship to others. He found that bringing those signals from the background to the foreground made interpersonal communication easier.
Eventually his ideas grew into the technique of process oriented psychology (also known as process work). Process work focuses on following signals and sensory grounded information, seeing them as signposts to discovering meaning in disturbances, body symptoms, and relationship troubles.
Broadly, process work combines elements of gestalt, Jungian, and somatic psychologies, indigenous traditions, physics (for its quantum concepts and ideas of non-locality and entanglement), and the eastern philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. This discovery led to ground breaking work in the development of process oriented psychological interventions in psychiatry.
His interest in relationships evolved into the study of conflict in large groups. He discovered that the dreaming processes he had identified on the individual and dyadic relationship level were also helpful in working out problems in larger groups. In groups, the process was carried not only by individuals, but by ‘roles’ which could be occupied by any individual in the group. ‘Ghost roles’ were roles implied by the group’s behavior, but with which no individual would identify.
Mindell became interested once again in physics and went back to the study of tiny, subtle signals ordinarily ignored in more classical psychological approaches. With his partner and wife Amy Mindell, Mindell began to explore new methods of working with people locked in comatose, vegetative and near death states of consciousness. Recently his interest in quantum physics has propelled him to explore the interconnections of psychology with theoretical physics, and to find new ways of working with subtle states of consciousness
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness , also named altered state of mind, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart: it describes induced...
. He developed an extensive body of research and techniques using field, wave and vector concepts to understand preverbal, pre-dream-like states of awareness. He has also developed an extensive array of techniques for integrating field and wave concepts with indigenous philosophy and practice in earth based psychology and the ProcessMind concept.