Context: Much of our modern communication is competitive: we state a point of view and then defend it. Not much emphasis on listening deeply to each other, or to subtler wisdoms that may be trying to emerge through the conversation. We marginalise minority positions and treat interruptions as opponents or failures. This can work for short-term decision making, less so for the evolution of sustainable and resilient ways of being.
ProcessWork
Process Work is a cross-disciplinary approach to individual and collective change. It offers ways of working with areas of life that are experienced as problematic or painful. Personal challenges, physical symptoms, relationships problems, group conflict, social tensions - all these experiences, when approached with curiosity and respect, can lead to new information that is vital for our personal and collective growth. Process Work believes that the solution to a problem is contained within the disturbance itself, and provides a practical framework through which individuals, couples, families and groups can connect with greater awareness and creativity.
• I could describe my personal growth as the process of expanding my conscious image of who I am. When things happen that conflict with this image – in my mind, my body, my relationships, my work or my surrounds – I tend to split off from those parts of my experience. I become a victim of those parts. I give them the power, and it seems to me that I don’t have access to that power.
• ProcessWork says if I have given some of my power to (become a victim of) a physical symptom, or maybe some behaviour in my partner, then that very power came from me. To reclaim this power I can explore becoming the symptom-maker, or taking the role of my partner, to get in touch with the essence of what is creating the symptom or the behaviour. This essence contains gifts for me in my life process.
• In my ordinary (consensus-reality) consciousness I’m not much aware of the places I disempower myself. Fortunately I have a dream-world which continually feeds me subtle messages about these leakages, through my symptoms, relationships, sleeping-dreams, the events of my life . . . In my quest to become more whole it’s useful to learn to access these dream messages.
• Messages from my dream-world tend to come in a channel other than the one I’m occupying with my consensus reality. Possible channels include visual, auditory, proprioceptive, movement, relationships and “world”. A skill in ProcessWork is to stay flexible between these channels, not getting stuck in any one of them. It helps to amplify the message in the channel where I find it to allow it to unfold. If it seems to get stuck there, I can try another channel to work through.
• The same learning principles apply in ProcessWork whether I’m working on a symptom, a relationship or in a small or large group:
o Become more aware of the “me” that seems to be caught as victim of this symptom/position/point of view – the position occupied by my consensus reality. Get clear how it feels/moves/sounds. Speak up for that position.
o Become aware of the polarity position(s) which I am not currently occupying (eg the symptom-maker where I have a bodily symptom, or the persecutor in a relationship where I think I’m the victim), and go occupy that position - it helps to physically move there. Get clear how it feels/moves/sounds. Speak up for that position.
o Look for the essence that unites these two positions – these two parts of me. Could be I need to take on some of the traits of the symptom-maker/ persecutor; could be I need to notice that there’s something that we deeply share that our conflict is asking us to acknowledge; or that my consensus reality has forgotten an important part of what I’m here to do that my dream-world is reminding me through a symptom.
o Return to my original position and bring back in (reclaim) any insight or resource that could empower me or make my position more whole.
The common purpose in all of ProcessWork is to raise awareness of what’s going on, and what’s being marginalized, at all levels, in all channels. It’s more to do with facilitating the process and promoting deep demo¬cracy by giving a voice to all the parts than with searching for resolution. Resolutions happen, and they can feel good, and they provide a resting place, a base for decisions about what to do next, but they are nearly always temporary. The only constant is change.
In a group situation, particularly larger groups, this is often called WorldWork. As we do the hard and courageous work of listening deeply to both our own and other positions in a conflict, energies shift in the room and movement becomes more possible. And as they shift in the room, they shift in the world around us.
WorldWork
The purpose of WorldWork is to allow participants to experience and practice straight, honest conversation in a creative and non-abusive manner. This conversation can be in any sphere of life that is experienced as problematic or painful – a personal challenge, physical symptoms (conversation with our bodies), relationship issues, group conflict or social tensions. All these experiences, when approached with curiosity and respect, can lead to new information that is vital for our personal and collective growth.
A WorldWork intervention will generally be in two parts:
1. a learning module to explore the principles. We normally focus on personal or 2-party issues – body symptoms, relationship difficulties - and discover how these same principles will apply to larger group communications and possible conflict;
2. a larger group conversation to practise the art of straight talk and creative listening, learning as we go how to include all voices – even the difficult ones – and at the same time to stay true to ourselves so that the unique contribution of each participant is fully represented.
An intervention can run from 6 hours to two or more days, in a group of four to four hundred. Participants will take home the experience of delving the issues raised in new and creative ways; of discovering how they can stand up for their beliefs and opinions while at the same time being less protective of their initial points of view. They will also have powerful new tools for dealing with personal and group relationship issues, and hopefully a certain confidence in confronting difficulties in their life and work situations.
As in other domains, that facilitation is best which facilitates least. We walk a balance between controlling events and outcomes, and giving the process and participants rein enough to develop trust in themselves and their fellows.
Radical Dialogue
In South Africa the WorldWork model is being used to facilitate difficult conversations between commmunities divided by race, ethnicity, class or other polarities that need to be listened to and explored more deeply before reconciliation can begin. We use the term Radical Dialogue to emphasise the truism that at our roots we are all connected, and that an effective route to experience this connection is through dialogue - in a contained, facilitated manner.
