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What's flirting?Dear Reader, This month's newsletter focuses on 'the calling': how we support ourselves to listen to, focus on, and unfold the signals arising within and around us. But let’s start with a word on why this can be hard. Most of us have stayed with a familiar path at some point, even while quieter signals were suggesting another. In many ways it's deeply human. The known track feels safe, and our communities and larger systems often settle into well-worn tracks too. Sometimes those tracks...Read more...
Nature doesn't do sameness Dear Reader, Spring is nature's own celebration of diversity, a riot of new colours, shapes and forms all emerging together, each different, each essential to the whole. And so too with our upcoming programs that we are delivering in spring and summer! This newsletter is focused on skills to support diversity because diversity lies at the heart of Process Work. It begins with the concept of Deep Democracy, the listening and valuing of all parts, knowing that different energies all have their...Read more...
The Poet's taskDear Reader, This month’s newsletter is inspired by poetry. The poet’stask is simple. He looks for quiet,and speaks to whathe finds there.David Whyte, Excerpt from The Poet So we invite you to become a poet for a moment.What do you hear in the quiet? In your body? In the world? In your relationships? In your dreams? What do you find there? Make a few notes. We begin by slowing down, seeking quiet so we can hear more clearly. We can consider other types of listening too – listening to tiny...Read more...
Exploring the Intersection between you and the world..Dear Reader, There is so much noise everywhere it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Bam. Bam. Bam. Our bodies feel the pressure and pull of competing agendas and meanwhile our time can easily be usurped by devices designed to keep us there. Never before have we had so much access to what’s going on in other places, knowledge and answers, and also so much fluff! In this cacophony, some of us want to curl up under a doona and find quiet, some want to rage against injustice, some want to understand...Read more...
A few questions for youDear Reader, A few honest questions today. Are you on the edge of signing up for something that could change your practice and your life? Are you a lifelong learner who wants to go deep, not just wide? Do you hold a professional qualification and want to supercharge it, with tools and self-knowledge that most training doesn't offer? Are you ready to make a significant shift in how you understand yourself and the people you work with? If any of those landed, the Two-Year Process Work Study...Read more...
All-in. The courage to cross the divide, and the inner work that makes it possibleDear Reader, This week, Australia pauses to mark Reconciliation Week - bookended by two landmark moments: the 1967 Referendum, which recognised Indigenous Australians as citizens deserving the right to vote, and the 1992 Mabo decision, which overturned the fiction of terra nullius and acknowledged Indigenous land rights. Both were won not in a single dramatic moment, but through decades of tireless advocacy by Indigenous leaders, and crucially, through partnerships with unlikely allies who...Read more...
3 different pathways to transformation – and a new free webinar Dear Reader, Sometimes we deny ourselves transformation. It’s such a big, loaded word, it can be easy to think that it is simply beyond us or our groups – somehow only reserved for others, or that it requires a huge investment of time, money or resources that we simply don’t have. Because of the enormity of the impact of transformation, we think that the input looks the same. And sure, like anything, sometimes that can be true. But usually it’s not. Process work teaches that transformation...Read more...
What does dropping your identity allow you to see?Dear Reader, History is full of stories of people who 'saw it coming' when others didn't. Ignaz Semmelweis in the 1840s knew that doctors washing their hands before delivering babies would dramatically reduce maternal deaths, and was ridiculed by the medical establishment for saying so. Marine scientist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg spent the late 1990s warning that rising ocean temperatures would cause mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, and got enormous pushback that her findings would...Read more...
How to hold the reins without grippingDear Reader, Did you know Carl Jung didn't like groups? Apparently, he found them a bit dangerous. “Every mass organization is a latent danger just as much as a heap of dynamite is.” Eeek. He was really feeling it. It makes sense that we fear groups. There's so much that could spin out of control, so much that could go wrong. And so, many of us respond by trying to control them to alleviate that fear. We want to feel grounded and to help those in the group feel safe. In some ways, it works....Read more...
Separate or together? Three pieces of a bigger puzzle Dear Reader, A you a fan of tension? Weird question, but regardless of whether you enjoy it or not, let's just say it happens. You might be facilitating a group, holding a meeting, working with a client, or even sitting at a dinner table, and here it is. Perhaps it’s a particularly difficult group dynamic. A relationship that keeps circling the same issue. Or an inner reaction that surprises you with its intensity. The funny thing is, often we treat or think about these things as separate...Read more...
A time for action – but which type?Dear Reader, As the year begins, we think about kicking off into action. New calendars, new intentions, new momentum. The urge to move, decide, change something. Action is a powerful force.And yet action without direction, focus, or educated discernment can drain us. At best, it wastes time and energy. At worst, it can be harmful - to ourselves, to others, and to the systems we are part of. So as the year opens, we invite you to slow the impulse just enough to ask a deeper question: what kind...Read more...
When things don’t sit right…Dear Reader, Sometimes, it’s hard to write. Sometimes it’s hard to write because we are trying to write something that is going against our experience. We had intended to write this newsletter about Christmas elves and beavering away to produce our 2026 program. We were going to tell you about our recent strategy retreat and our continuing commitment to our guiding principle: Teaching and learning Process Work in a diverse community. We were going to pose the question: How would it be if all...Read more...
The potential of parallel worlds...Dear Reader, What does it take to step into a parallel world? In order to explore new worlds, we need a sacred attitude that values, respects and embraces worlds that live outside our identities. Such a sacred attitude might help us take time to discover what it is like to live from a totally different viewpoint. In doing so we could discover freshness and inspiration that are released as we switch from a familiar world to a new one” So writes Amy Mindell in The Dreaming Source of Creativity....Read more...
Paradox and the creative tension of learningHi Reader, When it comes to learning and development, most of us hold a quiet, persistent hope: to be really good at what we do, to be effective, impactful, and able to support others in the best way possible. And yet, there’s a tension we bump into over and over again.A tension between wanting rigour, professional skill, and clear results… and, at the same time, wanting the freedom of deep knowing, of understanding ourselves in the world, of feeling aligned and following what feels natural....Read more...
Leaving with a bucket full of personal power Hi Reader, “Leaving with a bucket full of personal power.” That’s how one of our recent Melbourne graduates summed up their experience of the Two-Year Process Work Program.And really, how many trainings do you finish with that kind of takeaway? It's a bit tricky to explain to people that this isn’t just another professional training - but feedback like that does capture part of it!This program is all about working deeply so that you are deeply impactful - through learning, exploring and then...Read more...
What if the places that shaped you are trying to tell you something?Walking Memory - One day of process work in Melbourne In some traditions, where an event took place matters more than when. In therapy, we often ask when something happened - to locate it in developmental stages, power dynamics, systemic contexts. But we rarely ask where. Yet places have their own power, their own feel that gets us. Places carry both individual and collective meaning. I started exploring this connection between personal history and place after noticing that when I return to...Read more...
A witch's cauldron of Process Work offerings!Dear Reader, 2026 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Process Work, and we’re thrilled to start sharing our upcoming program with you. We’ve been brewing some potent offerings, and in this newsletter you’ll get a sneak peek into the cauldron before the full reveal. Highlights include new cohorts of our highly successful Two-Year Study Program in two different formats and locations, plus a range of rich learning adventures from our experienced team of Process Work trainers. Check out our...Read more...
Mapping Different Worlds: Final Process Work Play NightDear Reader, Are you someone who makes New Year ‘s resolutions – commitments to ourselves about changes we want to make in our lives, bad habits we want to leave behind or new goals we want to reach? These commitments aren’t for everyone and often they get left behind as business as usual takes hold. But what if you were able to shift and transform aspects of your identity? What if you could experience change as a borderland journey where you learn to navigate between the old and the new?...Read more...
Dreaming new futures togetherDear Reader, We’re slowly coming down from our recent Community Conference – Diverse States of Getting Along. It was a live, rich and relevant event and we thought we’d take some time to share some of the learnings that came from it. Diverse States of Getting Along was ultimately about how we work together across our differences, applying the knowledge of Mark Yettica-Paulson’s Three Leadership Gardens approach in combination with Process work tools. We opened with Mark sharing his recent...Read more...
Beyond what we say - mixed messages and their transformative gifts...Dear Reader, We're in the final stretch! Our upcoming conference Diverse States of Getting Along is happening THIS Friday 22 and Saturday 23 August – and we're buzzing with excitement about the conversations and connections that await. To wrap up our series of research inquiries from our presenters, we're thrilled to introduce you to Process Work diplomate Grzegorz Zielinski, who will be presenting on Saturday. His session is called "Beyond What We Say: The Golden Potential in Mixed Messages"...Read more...
Weaving the personal and systemic threads...Dear Reader, We’ve got a bunch of things to talk about today, so grab a cuppa, put your feet up and soak in this latest newsletter! Checking in with our latest series of research inquiries in the lead up to our upcoming conference Diverse States of Getting Along, meet Bec and Beck – also known as The Bec/ks (they really should form a band) Yep. That’s the band album cover right there. Sorry if it made you spill your tea. They’ll be presenting Session 3 - the interactive Blurred boundaries:...Read more...
What question drives your work?Dear Reader, What question drives your work? Having a research question is one of the things that can focus learning. And as Process Workers we are always learning! So this is the question we have posed to our presenters – and over the next few weeks we’ll share what is driving their latest work – and informing their workshop presentations in Diverse States of Getting Along: 2025 Process Work Community Conference. Recently, we spoke with Mark Yettica-Paulson and Jane Martin about Mark’s...Read more...
What's really behind-the-scenesHi Reader, Last weekend Beck Ronkson and Grzegorz Zielinski taught the Creativity Module (Module 15) in the ANZPOP 2 year program. We had requested that they take a photo of themselves that we could use as part of a ‘behind-the-scenes’ series about our presenters in the lead up to the Diverse States of Getting Along Conference. In trying to comply with this request, they noticed a disturbance. Basically, they didn’t want to do it. And given that they were in the midst of teaching about...Read more...
The discipline of making mistakes Dear Reader, Facilitators in general, care about holding space for people.You want to guide meaningful conversations, foster inclusion, navigate complexity - and perhaps even support transformation. But facilitation isn’t just about holding a marker and asking good questions. It’s about developing the discipline to stay present when things go off script - especially when you’re the one who makes the mistake. Many new and seasoned facilitators alike struggle with this moment.You misread the...Read more...
Where Roles Dance: A Journey into Group Process WorkDear Reader, Have you ever noticed how you can feel completely yourself in one group, yet find yourself saying things you'd never normally say in another? Or how you might walk into a meeting feeling confident, only to discover you've somehow become the quiet one in the corner? We caught up with ANZPOP Faculty Trainers Bec Lang and Grzesiek Zielinski recently as they were preparing for their upcoming workshop, Where Roles Dance: A Journey into Group Process Work and their conversation about...Read more...
What if your next big breakthrough isn't a promotion - but deeper presence?Dear Reader,From what we’ve gathered from those who sign up to this newsletter, you’re likely someone who cares about how people relate - to themselves, to each other, and to the world around them. Facilitators are often behind the scenes, quietly guiding conversations, creating space for hard truths, and helping groups find their way through complexity. But in today’s climate, their role is becoming not just helpful but essential. And yet, ‘facilitator’ is rarely a job description that is...Read more...
SorryDear Reader, Today is National Sorry Day here in this country now known as Australia. This day has a mixed history, full of hope in some years, despair in others. On behalf of the leadership team and faculty at ANZPOP we say sorry. We want to express our deep sorrow for what First Nations Australians have had to suffer, for what has been lost and for the continued struggles to recognise harms done and how Aboriginal knowledges and ways of being are continuing to be marginalized. We also...Read more...
Facing our own taboos Dear Reader, Every therapist knows that beneath the surface of every session lies a collection of undiscussables, taboo topics that simmer quietly, sometimes unconsciously. These are the thoughts we sideline, the biases we bury, and the secrets we hold even from ourselves. We keep them hidden, out of reach, in the shadows of our practice. But what if exploring these edges was the very key to deepening our therapeutic work? Taboo topics - those lingering, unspoken judgments, biases, and fears,...Read more...
Discover Your True Style: When Fashion Meets Psychology - Process Work Play Returns May 16thWhat's Hanging in Your Psychological Closet? 🥋 Dear Reader Have you ever stood before your wardrobe, surrounded by clothes, yet felt you had "nothing to wear"? Or purchased something on impulse only to have it gather dust with the tags still attached? These aren't just fashion dilemmas—they're windows into your inner world. This May, Process Work Play returns with "The Fashion Edition," where your clothing choices become a portal to self-discovery. Join Process Work Diplomates Grzegorz...Read more...
Why feelings matter in decision-making - even when it’s uncomfortableDear Reader In moments of political tension or organisational conflict, we're often told to "leave feelings at the door." But what if those feelings were actually part of the solution? In her book Facilitating a More Perfect Union, psychologist and Process Work author Dawn Menken writes: Politicians who show uncertainty, fear, or sensitivity are deemed weak and as a result, are often politically destroyed. This is not just a political issue, but a psychological and social issue, as well....Read more...
attune to the group, not the methodologyDear Reader Facilitating groups is a tough gig, tougher than most people realise. Teachers know this – they know the challenge of finding that delicate balance of tracking and attending to multiple individual needs, relational challenges, and the group atmosphere. Do other folks appreciate it? Sometimes yes, often no. One of the challenges of facilitation is that if you’re doing a great job, people won’t notice because it just flows! When you’re facilitating – it's easy to get overwhelmed –...Read more...
group supervision - why isn't everyone doing it??Dear Reader If you're lucky enough to have worked with Silvia before, you know what a great opportunity small group supervision with her is. In 2025, Silvia is offering two group supervision rounds, the first starting on March 7th, and the second on August 8th. Group supervision is just completely fabulous in four main ways: reduces the isolation many therapists and counsellors feel in their work by learning from others, you learn things you never thought to ask you realise it's not just you...Read more...
come play Melbourne!!Hey Melbourne Process Work thrillseekers! This Friday is our first Process Work Play session and we’d love you to come. Grzegorz and Martin are exploring the intersection of nature, movement and psychology in this first session, getting curious about the paths opened up by what seem like problems, when we engage the moving body in nature. The sessions are at the North Melbourne Library (tram right out front) from 6-8.15 pm and are only $40. All the details and registration links are here. And...Read more...
alive and glitching (possibly)Dear Reader It's ALIVE!! Our 2025 training calendar is finally out in the world! A bit later than usual because we've been making what will eventually be grand improvements to our registration software and processes (so if you've done a course with us in the past, the registration system will look a little different). Which brings us to the glitching part of the announcement... If you've been on this list for a while and studiously read every email, you know that ANZPOP is a charity, run on a...Read more...
An invitation to awareness to start the New YearDear Reader It’s 2025! How did that happen!!! October 2024 seemed like only a few weeks ago! Time travel etc aside, we hope you’ve had a wonderful start to the New Year. The first of January is a particularly special day for fans of Process Work as it’s the birthday of the founder of Process Work, Arnold Mindell. For many years, out of both generosity and interest, Arny would invite people on Facebook to share the dream they had on New Year’s Eve, and he would offer hundreds of...Read more...
Leadership Change in ANZPOPDear Reader We don't often email about our internal organisational matters but this is just a bit too exciting not to share! We've had a change in leadership! Liz Scarfe has served as the Executive Director of ANZPOP for six years and has done an amazing job. She has made so many big and small improvements in the organisation we can't hope to list them all, but broadly, Liz brought many administrative and governance improvements, as well as some incredible new Diplomates into the team, and...Read more...
curious to go deeper with Process Work?Dear Reader Whenever we try to describe Process Work, one of the words that always comes up is DEEP. It's a paradigm that goes deep, it's deeply transformative etc etc. What do we really mean by that? Process Work gets to the heart of the matter - be it community, group, or individual matters, Process Work offers an approach to contact what is most meaningful and central to the matters at hand. Modern narratives in many cultures however, are increasingly prizing and preferencing quick and...Read more...
Going deeper with your Process Work learning - the Two-Year Process Work Study ProgramDear Reader Have you ever yearned for a group of kindred spirits? People who light up at the mention of dreams, who lean in when you talk about that odd body sensation, who get excited about finding deeper meaning in everyday experiences? Well, we’ve got some exciting news that might just be the answer to that yearning! Our Two-Year Process Work Study Program is back for 2025-2026, and this time, we’re creating not one, but TWO vibrant learning communities. That’s right - we’re running the...Read more...
Got a yearning for learning? Our last classes before summer break...Dear Reader We've well and truly turned the corner of winter here in Australia*. The days are getting longer, spring is springing, and the end-of-the-year wind-down is not far away. We've still got gas in the tank for teaching though, so if you're still keen for more learning and want to end the year feeling more fulfilled in your work, here's what's coming up for the rest of September and October... For those with a focus on one-to-one work: Working at the Edge of the Unknown - 28 Sept (next...Read more...
we accidentally assumed everyone knew what we knew - sorryIt's here Reader!! We've finally got the Conference Program up on the website! If you've been hanging out for it - our apologies for the delay. All the videos kind of made us feel, somewhat unconsciously, that 'people know what's going on at the conference' - but of course, that's just not the case. It's one of the traps of being an 'insider' or 'old timer' in something - it's easy to assume everyone knows what you know. Again, our apologies if you've been wondering 'When's that program...Read more...
"Without needing to work at it, you will be holding space differently"Dear Reader This is our last set of videos from the presenters at this year's Process Work Community Conference and goodness, they're incredible! Meredith Elton is a movement facilitator of many kinds, with a deep love for the natural world and collective expression - plus several decades of Process Work learning. As she cooks up her conference session, Moving the Field - Embodied Systems Transformation, Meredith shares, very personally, what movement can tell us about ourselves and our...Read more...
"I’m a very average person that occasionally does something great"Dear Reader Thanks to everyone who's emailed us about last week's videos - we're thrilled you're enjoying them!! We've got more!! This week we're sharing videos from our second conference presenter, Bec Lang, about her facilitation work and her intriguing session, Fruit Fly, Feral Goats and Forestry: finding the Path of Heart! Bec shares how she engages Process Work concepts such as field and role theory, marginalisation, high and low dreams, ghost roles, deep democracy, and embodied...Read more...
Mime therapy? Umm, no.Dear Reader This one's for the therapists and therapists-in-training! While body language and movement can be important in therapy, Silent Mime never really took off as a therapeutic modality. Even those who do very, very somatic work, still use some spoken words. And the words we use can either help the client go deeper in their work or keep them in shallow, unproductive, and frankly boring waters (or worse, make them feel judged or pressured). So how do you know what to say when? Is it...Read more...
"we get so gripped by the crisis, we put our softer parts to one side"Dear Reader We're sooooooooooo lucky here at ANZPOP! We're starting to see the videos of our conference presenters talking about their sessions, the thinking and feeling processes informing the sessions, and WOW, WOW, WOW! First up, Charlie Wood's session: Navigating the Climate Crisis as a Spiritual Journey. If you haven't read Charlie's bio yet, long story short, they are a bit of a big deal in the climate movement, a very deep thinker and feeler, and a passionate Process Work learner....Read more...
There are 5 types of people who will love this conference - are you one of them?Dear Reader This conference isn't everyone's cup of tea. But for some, it's Christmas. No really, someone who's attended all three described it as Process Work Christmas! Now not everyone celebrates Christmas, but thanks to the colonialism of Christianity, we probably all understand the vibe of what they meant. But do you need to be particularly interested in Process Work to love this conference? Nup. We think this conference will be fabulous for five main groups of people (only two of which...Read more...
when facilitating "by the book" just doesn't cut itDear Reader Just reaching out to let you know that the final cohort of the 2024 Facilitation Masterclass Series is now open (but closing soon). The world needs good facilitators – it always has, but it really does feel like in this next phase of humanity, it's becoming an increasingly vital skill. The level of complexity we are juggling feels off the charts. Structured facilitation processes can be amazing and get us part of the way, but the complexities we face together need more than...Read more...
Conference registrations are open!!Dear Reader We meant to share this with you ages ago but there’s been a lot going on… The September Process Work Community Conference registrations are open! This conference is about sharing how lovers of Process Work are applying the model in diverse community applications to grapple with the challenges of our times. This year, we put out an expression of interest to be a presenter and were touched by the range of applications we received – there is so much incredible work being done, aided...Read more...
Celebrations of Arnold Mindell's lifeDear Reader As mentioned in our previous email, we've received details of the online and on-the-ground celebration events from Amy Mindell, and share her invitation here: Aug 22, 2024: ONLINE CELEBRATION OF ARNY’S LIFE AND SPIRIT at 2pm Pacific Time If you’d like to attend, check your time zone and all the event details here: https://process-work-institute.mn.co/events/celebration-of-arnold-mindell-1940-2024-all-welcome-online-60582046 You can RSVP by clicking “going” on that page. The zoom...Read more...
Vale Arnold MindellDear Reader It is with hearts full of gratitude and sadness that we share with you the news that Arnold Mindell, the main developer of the Process Work paradigm, passed away last week. His beloved partner, Amy Mindell, shared the announcement of his passing in a touching note, sharing how “Arny’s greatest drive in life was to be of help to everyone, and to make the world a better place for all. I witnessed how he spent every single day following that calling. It was his deepest passion and...Read more...
Is this our best tip to make facilitating conflict easier?Dear Reader There aren't many facilitators who feel comfortable working with conflict. Some might feel competent, but very few feel comfortable. Which is OK. Working with conflict can be tough, and it’s natural to want to avoid it. It’s also not always necessary to lean into it (check out Beck’s video about when NOT to go there). But it can also be revealing, insightful, and make groups safer. And whether we like it or not, it’s a crucial facilitatory skill essential for systemic...Read more...
May looks like a good month for therapists, and just in timeDear Reader If you’re a facilitator, we don’t have much happening in May for you sorry (unless you’re a facilitator slightly dreaming of becoming a therapist 🙂 – June and July look excellent for facilitators though. First up in May, a brand new course, Working with Inner Criticism – for therapists from all modalities and therapists-in-training. Because almost every client you’ll ever see across your whole career will struggle with inner criticism. But for most clients, it’s not how they'll...Read more...
not all 'talk' transformsDear Reader We've all had experiences of being moved by something someone said. Sometimes that movement is into a hunched-down defensive position teeth bared, sometimes it's a graceful slide into a new way of seeing things, often a clumsy jig between the two. Most of the things we say don't do much at all in terms of movement or transformation and that's OK. We can get away with average communication in many areas of life and many jobs. But not if you're a therapist (no pressure). How we use...Read more...
Too stressed to open this email?Dear Reader How are your stress levels? When was the last time you felt not stressed? What are the biggest stressors in your life? How does stress manifest in your body? Yep, in the lead-up to Deep Bodywork in the Stress Epidemic, we’re all about stress! For many people, heightened levels of chronic stress have become the norm. What feels like ever-increasing pressures to perform and achieve and respond are taking their toll, as are increased instability of the economic, political, and...Read more...
I do not deal with dreams. I deal with dreaming processes. Dear Reader We hope you’ve had an excellent start to the Gregorian Calendar New Year (not everyone's New Year 🙂 - whatever that looks like for you 🙂 As you may have discovered if you tried to email us over the past few weeks, we’ve had a little rest and renewal time but are now back keen for another year of Process Work learning, teaching, exploring and experimenting together!! To kick us off, Martin Hemsley and Penny Watson are offering a free Dreamwork Webinar - Exploring your dreams to...Read more...
Holiday gift - How to get started learning Process WorkDear Reader This will be our last email for 2023! (probably). It's been a big year and next year looks even bigger, so we're taking some time to rest and hope you also have some space to catch your breath as the calendar clicks over. A few last things before we sign off... We get a lot of people asking us how to get started learning Process Work, because, let's face it, it's not so clear. So we made a thing - the How to Get Started Learning Process Work Guide - and you can download it here....Read more...
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