Mission
Our Vision
Our vision is of a sustainable, flourishing, deeply democratic world that values all viewpoints and all levels of experience, and facilitates their interaction in order to reveal the potential meaning and growth that lies at the heart of even the most disturbing human experiences.
We dream of a world where everyone has the skills, understanding and ability to facilitate the process of relating (to oneself, to others, to the world) because we have seen how this can bring unexpected solutions and relief to many areas of human striving, including personal and social development; post-war recovery; conflicts in organizational, social and domestic settings; interpersonal issues; and individual distress and life challenges.
About Us
The Process Work Institute is a non-profit educational institute devoted to education, research and training in Process-oriented Psychology, also known as Processwork. The Institute is a non-profit corporation, 501 (C) (3), incorporated under Oregon law in 1989.
As a modality that draws on indigenous knowledge, we offer our respect to the elders, past and present, who have stewarded the land and indigenous knowledge and practices for generations. We acknowledge the land where we are privileged to be based, now called Portland, Oregon in Multnomah County, as the traditional lands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, bands of Chinook, and other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River.
The Process Work Institute welcomes all students. It does not discriminate based on age, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, disability, marital status, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation. This policy of non-discrimination applies to all aspects of admission, education, employment, student activities, and other school-administered programs.
Processwork was originally developed by Jungian author and analyst Arnold Mindell as a therapeutic modality. Over the last thirty years of application and research, Processwork is now more commonly described as an “awareness practice,” as its methods are applied in a wide range of situations, as a form of inner work and leadership development, as a facilitation method for organizational and group work, conflict situations, and large public forums, as a therapy method for individuals, couples, and families, and as a method for working with comatose and remote states of consciousness.
The Process Work Institute continues the tradition of Processwork training and research begun in 1982 with the founding of the Research Society for Process-oriented Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland by Arnold Mindell and his associates.
In 1989, the Process Work Center of Portland, later renamed the Process Work Institute, was incorporated in Oregon as a center for training and research in Process Work. It received authorization from the State of Oregon to offer a Master of Arts degree in Process Work, in January, 1992. A second Master of Arts degree program in Conflict Facilitation and Organizational Change began in 2004.
In 2014, we launched the Master of Arts in Process-Oriented Facilitation and Conflict Studies (MAPOF), and were granted national accreditation in 2016 from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). The Institute delivered Master of Arts degree training from 1992 – 2023, and is proud to have graduated over 200 MA students in the field of Processwork. Our graduate testimonials evidence the impact our graduates are having around the world.
The Institute serves as a center for personal and professional growth, offering professional continuing education, personal development and community well-being programs and courses in a wide variety of Processwork applications, online and in person.
It is one of many centers worldwide, linked by the International Association of Process Oriented Psychology, dedicated to furthering our understanding of the fundamental problems facing individuals and groups today, using the methods and spirit of inquiry found in Processwork.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide high quality education and training in Processwork facilitation methods and applications across individual, relationship, group and organizational contexts and to serve as a center for the teaching, research and development of techniques for working with process.
We prepare students with the skills needed for making a difference in roles such as management, mediation, facilitation, individual coaching, leadership, human resource and community services management, international development, organizational consultancy and training.
Process is the potentially meaningful flow of inner and outer signals that can be observed in individuals and groups. Processwork facilitation techniques work with behaviors, feelings, interactions, expression and inner experiences to elicit unexpected solutions and meaning from the most difficult problems.
Our mission serves a diverse local and international community of learners seeking quality education and training delivered through a rigorous combination of practical, experiential learning, personal development and social awareness.
Our Values
Our values include awareness, diversity, learning, relationship, collaboration and a continued commitment to personal growth.
We are committed to a learning environment that:
- Views the individual and his or her unique personal style as an integral part of the learning process
- Fosters an atmosphere of collaboration, experimentation, and mutual discovery in learner-teacher interaction
- Provides intensive and experiential instruction using onsite, distance and online learning modes of delivery that strengthens student learning
- Connects the student’s skill development to his or her own personal process and unique style
- Emphasizes the role of community and relationship in the learning process
- Promotes dialogue, inclusion, and intercultural competence.
We value being locally connected and internationally collaborative.