A Process Model Reading Group (Chapters I-IV) with Rob Parker 22 Weekly meetings on Wednesdays (no meeting November 22) Rob Parker studied philosophy with Gene Gendlin for several hours a week from 2003 until Gene's passing in 2017. Rob has been leading A Process Model (APM) reading groups for many years and we are delighted that Rob has now teamed up with the Institute to offer them.
Presented by The International Focusing Institute
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Online via Zoom Three-tier pricing:
Sessions 1-11*: Lowest price $150 Sessions 12-22*:
Regular price $450 Regular price $450
Modified price $300 Modified price $300
Lowest price $150 Lowest price $150
Registration info: Contact The International Focusing Institute with any questions:
Phone: (845) 480-5111
Email: elizabeth@focusing.org
July 12 to December 13, 2023 Rob Parker studied philosophy with Gene Gendlin for several hours a week from 2003 until Gene's passing in 2017. Rob has been leading A Process Model (APM) reading groups for many years and we are delighted that Rob has now teamed up with the Institute to offer them.
We will read and discuss A Process Model chapters I through IV. This covers roughly a quarter of the book and most of the “basic” concepts from which the rest of A Process Model is derived. We will learn many new concepts such as body-environment interaction, en#1, #2, #3, and #0, implying and occurring, recognizing, carrying forward, feedback, eveving, sbs, metaphor, crossing, and a new concept of time. These concepts will give us a deeper understanding of Gendlin's philosophy, and the beginning of an understanding of Focusing (although we'll have to wait for Chapter VIII to understand Focusing in depth).
More importantly, Chapters I – IV will bring us to the threshold of a new world, a new and gradually deepening understanding, not just of Focusing, but of life and of ourselves. If we stay on this path, we will gradually gain the ability to think in new ways as we gradually free ourselves from a plethora of assumptions inherent in our culture. We'll discover that Process Model concepts are not like the concepts we’re used to; they are like handles in Focusing, each concept pointing to a new felt sense of life, and all the concepts together forming a path toward something even larger, over and over… Like the path up a mountain, every step gives you a better view, and the further you go, the better it gets.
Rob Parker grew up in a scientific family, with a deep appreciation for the power and elegance of modern science. Rob was also interested in spirituality from an early age, and has practiced yoga and zazen for many years. And all along, he has sensed that science and spirituality must be related, because reality doesn’t come in separate packages. These interests led to a career in psychology, an area where science and spirit seem to overlap, and to an interest in the philosophical assumptions that underlie modern science. Rob specialized in psychological trauma; he designed and directed several treatment programs for trauma survivors and trauma perpetrators, published and lectured for professional audiences and appeared on national media.
His experience as a psychologist made Rob acutely aware of the problems inherent in our current approach to science. In 2000, the search for a new scientific paradigm led him to visit philosopher Eugene Gendlin. Rob recognized in Gendlin’s work a revolutionary new way of exploring and understanding science, spirituality, meaning and the related issues of our time. Recognizing a once in a lifetime opportunity, Rob began meeting regularly with Gendlin until his death in 2017. This class is part of Rob’s ongoing commitment to understand and experience Gendlin’s philosophy ever more deeply (learning by teaching), and to share that understanding and experience with others.
