What is Process Work
While being relatively unknown in Portugal, Process Work is a well recognized psychotherapy and facilitation school in many countries all over the world. It came to life in the 1970’s in Switzerland as a branch of Jungian Psychology and slowly became an independent approach on its own. At its very core lies a comprehensive awareness paradigm that seeks to observe, follow, and support the flow of nature as it emerges and unfolds through people, groups, relationships and communities. Process Work practitioner will simply observe what’s happening, rather than assume that she knows what should happen or what should change. It draws its philosophy from the ancient Chinese knowledge of Taoism, indigenous cultures, modern psychology and even quantum physics.
While developing this methodology, its pioneers realized that everything that happens to us is somehow organized by a certain intelligent force, which we simply call process. We look for its signals in our dreams, our body symptoms, in spontaneous movements we do, moods, in relationship conflicts and any troubles that seem to just happen to us. We learn how to unfold the meaning of these signals by bringing awareness to them. If we allow them to express themselves in us and our lives, a healing experience happens without us making an extra effort to press for a change.
What to expect
As practitioners we train to work with individuals, couples as well as in facilitating families, groups and organizations. The elegant model of Process Work allows us to use the same approach in various techniques and circumstances.
Apart from following the client’s or group’s feedback and bringing the awareness of what’s happening in the moment, everything else will vary depending on you, me and the circumstances. By focusing on the client’s awareness, process work therapy becomes very humanistic oriented. It follows the individual needs rather than proposing ready solutions.
Process Work facilitators use a variety of tools drawn from different modern therapeutic approaches. We might implement role play, movement activity, elements of art therapy or mindfulness. In general the focus will be on experiencing what’s happening rather than on the intellectual understanding of it. Which stresses out the connection with our emotions and bodies. We believe that every person’s identity is not a state or something we can frame with words and labels, but it is rather a constantly changing flow of many states. Following this flow is exactly what makes us truly fulfilled and it is also what process workers intend to do during the therapy sessions.
About me
I have had a call to work with people as a psychotherapist since my early adolescence. After graduating high school I continued my dream and studied psychology at the university in Poland for 3 years. However, a deep urge to discover something more in life brought me into traveling. Eventually this journey made me fall in love with permaculture, the countryside life and led me to co-creation of Quinta Kania Farm with my wonderful partner. Being able to join the passion for psychotherapy and permaculture is what really excites me.
At the moment I’m an advanced student of the diploma program at the Process Work school in Barcelona with the license for supervised practice. It means I have regular meetings with my supervisors, who guide me through this process. My age of early 30’s allows me to be in tune with the constant change and challenges faced by the younger generation, but also to understand and identify with those older than me. I’ve always felt like a “bridge” between people’s differences. My life began in a rural Polish village and from then it took me through a roller-coaster of living in several cities and traveling through nearly every country in Europe. I lived a nomadic lifestyle for a couple of years, mainly backpacking and hitchhiking. It taught me a lot about the beauty of cultural diversity and about the magic that happens when we manage to appreciate it. That’s why I feel so much at home in rural Portugal, where I can enjoy life surrounded by amazing nature and the diversity of so many different nationalities.
When we meet during our first session, we will decide together whether the topics you would like to explore match my abilities to be your facilitator. If not, I will recommend you other professionals either from different fields or fellow colleagues who are experienced working with these particular issues.
some topics explored in Process Work
body symptoms and movement, dreams, altered and extreme states of consciousness, relationships, social discrimination, group dynamics and world issues, art and creativity
Prices and details
I offer my services in both versions: online or at the Quinta Kania Farm. The price stays the same.
Language: I feel fully comfortable with sessions in English or Polish.
Price
the 1st session is free and might take less than one hour. This is when we get to know each other and decide how we move forward.
- Individual: 30 euros per 1h session
- Couples: 50 euros per 1h session
- Groups: price on request depending on the group’s type
Note: I’m open to adjust prices to your economic situation if necessary.
How often should we meet?
There are no strict guidelines referring to the frequency of the meetings. However the most common and recommended would be between once a week and once a 2 weeks.
Book your first session
Few resources about Process Work to begin with
There are tons of articles, books and videos about Process Work approach developed by Arnold Mindell to start with and later many other of his colleagues, students etc. I recommend these resources if you hear about Process Work first time, but I’m happy to share much more on request.
http://www.aamindell.net/process-work