From the author: Author Evgeny VlasovText taken from the site Popular psychologyProcedural psychotherapyThe direction unites many psychotherapeutic schools, taking the most valuable from each, and, in addition, turns to the Eastern view of the world (Buddhism, Taoism ). Processual psychotherapy proceeds from the fact that in any process that happens to us there is a meaning that is initially inherent in it. The ability to recognize, understand this meaning and follow various processes during psychotherapy essentially brings this direction closer to the philosophy of Taoism and Zen Buddhism. In processual psychotherapy, two forms of the process are distinguished: primary, which is closer to consciousness, and secondary, which we are not aware of and including various physical symptoms, involuntary movements, dreams. The psychotherapist in this case needs to focus on the secondary process, which contains a lot of creative energy and resources that are not used by a person in his daily life. By paying attention to barely noticeable movements, glances, and nuances of relationships, the procedural psychotherapist helps unfold the process that previously seemed completely alien to the person who came to him, but which contains a lot of energy. To access this energy, you need to follow this process. Helping people understand what the secondary process is and supporting them in following it is the primary task of the process therapist. Processes in Psychotherapy and in Life We live in a world of primary processes. Primary - associated with everyday life, with work, with formal and traditional relationships. - How are you? - Normal, passed the exam. - How did you pass? - Excellent. In the process of dialogue, all types of communication of the first level, the influence of society, parents - education, the ability to habitually navigate frequently encountered circumstances. So, the role of first-order processes is clear: this is life support, similar to processes at the level of physiological needs in Maslow. The main difference between Mindell’s approach is to see, first of all, not a series of states, but rather a river of process. Secondary processes are of particular interest to him, as a psychotherapist, researcher and humanist. Because it is in these processes that we can be happy, unhappy, experience and feel-like-people. The first attention, in which a person lives in everyday life, often does not allow us to open those secondary processes, for this purpose the category of second attention is introduced. In general, something strongly reminds me of Carlos Castaneda. I think his literature had a significant influence on the formation of Mindell’s ideas. In the second attention, we can see events in nature, the behavior of others, and finally our own bodily manifestations - and act, listening to this information. Mindell came to psychology from physics, from a strict , a cause-and-effect world that he says is incredibly dry and boring. Why is it boring? Because the World of people, emotions, experiences, suffering is much richer. So it seemed to him. It was a serious turn - to decide not to study physics, but to study Jungian psychology and gradually create their own school in psychotherapy. The school of Arnie Mindell and Amy Mindell The basis of Mindell's theory is a weighty dictionary of terms. The ideology became the Eastern philosophy of Taoism or Buddhism, generally Eastern. The point is that every event has its own meaning. Everything is teleologically justified, you can look for this meaning, but the main thing is the postulate that there is meaning. This postulate instantly alleviates the condition of a person who is in search of meaning. - What happened? - Life has lost all meaning. - Did you get kicked out of work, or what? - Not only did you get kicked out, but your wife also left. - So that’s the whole point. What are you looking for? Terms of the procedural school of psychotherapy The main thing in Mindell’s teaching is the concept of the dreaming body Dreambody. This can be explained this way: everything you say is expressed verbally, and whatcommunicate non-verbally - these are body movements. The body reflects dreams. Those dreams that you see are expressed in the nature of your movements, in the intonation of speech and even in slips of the tongue. The body dreams and is the second communicator after speech. If you are insincere, then you are sending what is called a double signal. The first, verbal part does not correspond to the physical part - and in response to the message you receive a completely different response than you expected. Yes, in general terms. If you can pick up weak signals (both your own and others), on the edge, borderline to the everyday, you can communicate in complete mutual understanding. This is rare, and it is usually not welcomed in the formal world. Mindell's dictionary contains the terms boundaries, channels, and a description of the functioning of the channels of mental perception. There is also a special category - metaskills. The feeling with which you do something. They are of particular importance for communication, for any communication, for any action. Let me quote one of the most time-appropriate dictionary entries in its entirety, translated by V. Maykov. Deep democracy - Deep democracy1. Understanding that everything is needed to adequately represent reality. Awareness that the world can only be partially understood.2. The feeling that the world exists to help us become our whole selves, and that we exist to help the world shine as a whole.3. IN PERSONAL LIFE, this means openness to all our inner voices, feelings, and movements - not only those that we know and support, but also those that we are not too familiar with and cause fear.4. IN RELATIONSHIPS, deep democracy means having a current awareness of our highest ideals and worst moods.5. IN GROUP LIFE it means a willingness to listen and experiment with whatever part comes to the fore.6. IN GLOBAL OPERATION, deep democracy values ​​politics, ethnicity, separatism, and the spirit of nature.7. Deep democracy means that everyone should be encouraged to notice and express whatever they feel.8. In working with large groups, deep democracy describes the facilitator's openness, respect, and understanding to all parts of the group. This means allowing all the different sides of the group to emerge and interact with each other; the authorities, the rebels, all the fearful and silent parts are given a forum for free expression.9. An open and accepting attitude towards all the different parts within and without us.10. Deep democracy is a new procedure of awareness that respects all persons, parts and states of consciousness.11. It requires you to be able, in contact with the outside world, to notice all your inner experiences, to maintain awareness in the moment of feelings, dreams and social power. Saving Organizations: Facilitation in Conflicts and Crises Mindell has participated in the “saving” of organizations many times. The fact is that the concept of dreambody may well be extended to a group - a kind of collective dreaming body. If the second attention is suppressed by various negativity - envy, vindictiveness, fear, bad premonitions - then things in the group go wrong. It is usually not customary to express your emotions if things are going badly: if the business is covered with a copper or other basin, all the emotions are inside. If Mindell had been invited, he would, firstly, sit everyone down, for example, on the floor, then let them speak, acting as a facilitator, guiding the participants so that they spoke from the heart, sincerely. Usually, as a result of such communication, the group overcomes crisis stress - and people become closer to each other. This is the first stage, after passing it you can look for ways of action: what needs to be done, what to do, where to run. Notice, after establishing communication in the second attention. So, without a sincere expression of feelings (even if it is anger, aggression towards the boss, or something else unacceptable), it is impossible to find a way to overcome a group crisis, and the group (enterprise) falls apart, complicated by business etiquette. A crisis -there is no time for Europeanness and etiquette here! How to say goodbye to the world An extremely interesting experience of Mindell’s communication with people on their deathbeds. I remember one example. Hospital. A hopeless old black man, he will die soon. Mindell took him by the hand and asked him to speak. “I’ve never been on vacation... I’ve always worked and never rested...” “What would you like most?” “On vacation, I want to relax.” “Well, go ahead, do what you want.” if you want, no one can interfere with you! - Yes, you can? - Well, of course you can! The patient’s eyes are closed, he reports that he sees a relaxing environment, the beach, palm trees and all that. A few minutes later he dies. Think about who is next to the dying? Deeply grieved relatives are the best option. Many people have to say goodbye to the world when a policeman is nearby, or, God forbid, our policeman. The worst of deaths. Mindell believes that it is possible and necessary to communicate verbally, mentally, physically - with those in a coma. He believes that this communication is of great value, of great importance for someone in a coma, and usually, a body in a coma is no longer considered a person. Stroke - coma - support - and disconnection of supporting devices. Doctors talk about medicines and something of their own... Also a vile death. In the Orthodox tradition, a priest is invited to the dying person - he helps him leave. Waking dreams One of Mindell’s techniques is waking dreaming. A special technique that requires peace and meditation. It allows us to see those secondary subtle signals of the soul that we do not hear in the noise of everyday life. Dreaming is also a process of preconscious, sensory awareness of the world or oneself. A dream is what allows us to dream, to dream, to imagine. A special degree of mastery is lucid dreaming, when a person is awake during a dream. This is all according to Castaneda. A person’s desire to control his dreams arises because he is irresistibly drawn to freedom. What never happens in reality happens in a controlled dream. For a psychotherapist, this is a way to change a client, a way to teach him to embody desires, complete gestalts and help a person realize his true motives and needs. In the wrong hands, the ability to control dreams is a kind of luxurious entertainment, or even worse, a complete escape from attempts to come to terms with reality. Likewise, any psychotechnics (like any thing in general) can be used for good, can be useless, or can harm. Mindell now pays special personal interest to the dissemination of his teachings - procedural psychology and psychotherapy, there are its representatives in Moscow, they are easy to find at www. Another interest is working with the world (worldwork). By this term he defines working with a group, and the joint work of several groups. The goals of such work are to overcome tension and try to prevent physical violence. He had experience of working with a group consisting of confrontational Belfastians, Catholics and Protestants. The group met secretly, and in the process of studying, he believes, successes were achieved leading to peace and an end to confrontation. The path to peace can always be found - everything is in the power of people. Russian experience and the ideal world In 1993, Mindell facilitated communication in a group consisting of representatives of the peoples of the Caucasus and Russians at a conference on the prevention of tension. This work is described in the book “Sitting on Fire.” It’s interesting that from the statements of representatives of law enforcement agencies, he calls them KGB - in the old fashioned way, he felt cold shivers down his back - it’s like the song says: “A chill runs through the gate.” I don’t know about you, reader, but sometimes I feel this chill, this is such a property of our country. Not only is it just cold most of the year, but there are also people who add a chill out of the gate. There was group work at the conference, and there were some successes. We know what came out of all this as a result. But it was only one conference, what could be achieved, but he tried anyway. Mindell's ideal world is a world where people and groups (minorities and majorities).