Who is Processwork UK?

How we began…

It was 1988 when Arny Mindell gave his first seminar in London! Amy Mindell, Jean-Claude and Arlene Audergon assisted. We still remember the first innerwork … Lots of people in neat rows politely and quietly doing an inner work exercise. Within moments, this erupted into an amazing scene of people getting up from their chairs with wild movement and sound! We liked the UK.

After the seminar, together with the Open Gate Foundation and Roger Housden who had coordinated Arny’s seminar, Arlene and Jean-Claude developed more training in the UK. Arlene and Amy gave a weekend seminar on Innerwork in London. We then set up a year training programme with Jean-Claude and Arlene Audergon, and also with other main teachers – Max Schupbach and Joe Goodbread. 

The programme evolved with more teachers invited from Zurich. Several of the programme participants determined to set up a centre for Processwork in the UK, offering public seminars and training for students. It was called the Research Society for Process Oriented Psychology. Students registered formally at the centre in Zurich – Zentrum fuer prozess-orientierte Psychologie.

Arlene and Jean-Claude developed and coordinated the training at that time from Zurich and later from Los Angeles, coming over a couple times a year. The organisation was run by students wanting to build opportunities to study and research the application of Processwork in the UK. Arlene and Jean-Claude later moved to the UK in 1999.

Lots of wonderful memories…

Important people and milestones

In the early years Timmy Myers coordinated RSPOPUK activities. David Clark then began coordinating the training and Mindell seminars in the UK. He continued coordinating Arny and Amy Mindell’s seminars in London over many years.

While a student, Clare Hill became the first student coordinator and later became the coordinator of training. In those early years, we met annually in a general assembly with the learning community and the RSPOPUK committee was established to guide the organisation. In 2005, we became a registered Charity in the UK. 

Pat Black became coordinator of Training in 2009. We became accredited by UKCP (UK Council of Psychotherapy) in 2009. We had our 5-year reviews by the UKCP in 2014 and 2019.

Arlene and Jean-Claude Audergon of Processwork UK, together with Max Schupbach and others, initiated and coordinated the development of IAPOP, the International Association of Process Oriented Psychology. In 2007, Jean-Claude coordinated IAPOP’s first conference, in London – ‘Deep Democracy: Where Fields Meet’. Arlene served as the first co-president of IAPOP with Pierre Morrin.

The very next year, we held Worldwork 2008 in central London. ‘Doorways to Diversity: Finding a Home in the World’. Jean-Claude and Arlene with Anup Karia and Stanya Studentova coordinated the conference together with the extraordinary Processwork UK team. We had to close the doors at 450 people from 40 countries.

From 2010, Anup Karia and Pat Black held the Steering group of Processwork UK. Then Anup continued leading, together with Iona Fredenburgh, from 2015-2022. 

Since 2022, we’ve designed and implemented a new organisational structure, based on a process and sociocratic approach.

While Jean-Claude Audergon and Arlene Audergon were lead teachers in the UK programme, the UK faculty has been co-leading the training for many years.  And in addition to Arny and Amy Mindell’s regular seminars in the UK, there were also a number of wonderful training seminars offered here over the years by other international Processwork colleagues. Jan Dworkin and also Robert King were particularly engaged in offering training and support to students in the UK.

Our activities

Processwork UK (RSPOPUK) offers seminars, Intensives, worldwork activities and classes throughout the UK, and some of these activities are open to anyone interested in attending for personal and professional development. Processwork UK also offers one-year trainings, as well as a full Diploma programme with two branches — a UKCP accredited training in Psychotherapy, and training for facilitators within organisations and communities. 

While Processwork originally started in Zurich, training programmes have developed internationally. In addition to our Training Programme in the UK, other main centres for training towards the 5 year Diploma in Processwork include the Processwork Institute in Portland, Oregon USA, and schools in Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Australia and New Zealand, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Russia, the Deep Democracy Institute and more. Other excellent training seminars and programmes in Processwork occur throughout the world.