The World Channel in Individual Work

At this crucial point in its evolution, psychotherapy is questioning its role and responsibility toward the world at large. A raging debate has emerged between psychotherapists about the contribution or lack of contribution of individual psychotherapy to our overall world situation. Questions concerning therapy3 s outlook, its responsibility, view of and influence on the world and subsequent validity have been raised.

This article shows how Process Work contributes significantly to this theme through its identification of a "world channel" in individual work. This channel provides a bridge between individually oriented work and Worldwork. It shows how the individual's relationship to the world arises spontaneously as she or he works on her or himself through "world channel" experiences. The therapist's job is to notice these experiences and to help them unfold by emphasizing the individual's interactions with the world.

Therefore, Process Work does not place its emphasis on the question "should individual psychotherapy address world issues," but instead discovers each client's unique relationship to the world as it emerges in her or his work. By caring for and unfolding our individual experiences directly in the world

channel as they appear spontaneously we learn more about each per son's role in and contribution to global history.

Group and World Work

Group work and Worldwork have been the focus of much recent process work study as indicated by the growing number of seminars and courses on these themes, Arnold Mindell's newest books (in the rest of the article I will refer to Amy Mindell as "Amy"), Worldwork intensives, and a greater focus in general in the Process Work community on organizational development, conflict resolution, racism and social activism. These developments focus on understanding group life, outlining theory and practice of group process situations and the study of world change.

Individual Work in Worldwork

In the context of small and large group process, individual work is seen as one channel in which to understand group life. Worldwork studies have shown that that which the individual experiences influences the group atmosphere and, reciprocally, the group atmosphere influences individual experi-

The third annual Worldwork intensive will take place in the summer of 1993. Worldwork seminars have consisted of approximately 250 people from up to 30 different countries and approach various elements of group work and conflict resolution in a 2 week intensive seminar. Amy has recently given courses in abuse, privilege, social activism and revolution and many Process Work teachers give seminars and courses in group process theory and practice. See Arnold Mindell's The Year One, (New York and London: Viking-Penguin Arkana, 1989), The Leader as Martial Artist (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), and his upcoming book, Freedom from History: Revolution, Revenge and Consciousness. Also Jan Dworkin's dissertation: "Group Process Work: A Stage for Personal and Global Development" (diss. Union Institute, 1989).

ence. The theoretical basis for this reciprocal interaction is "field theory" which describes a field-like atmosphere permeating and influencing all levels of group life. Therefore, individual work is a channel for the expression of group process, and individual work may become, at times, the focus of group process.

This interaction between individual and group life as seen in group process has been an important contribution to the understanding of the interconnected nature of individual and group life.

What does Individual Therapy Contribute to the World?

While the relationship between group life and the experiences of its individuals has been focused upon, I wondered what individual therapy contributes to world and group events. Does individual therapy provide a clear mechanism for outer world work? Is there something inside each of us that draws us toward more collective action? How do we discover this in individual therapeutic work? Is individual psychotherapy suited for such endeavors?

Hillman and Ventura address this dilemma and question the validity of psychotherapy which does not speak to outer world events. Is individual psychotherapy socially responsible? But, let me backtrack for a moment and approach this question a bit later.

Background

My interest in this area was rekindled as I went through numerous notes from Arny's supervision seminars over the past ten years. The "world" channel came up frequently in individual work and was briefly discussed. I had, however, put my notes away and forgotten what this channel was, how to notice it in my work with myself and my individual clients and how to help it unfold. Yet, I remembered how knowledge of this channel made individual work turn towards outer events and helped the individual find her momentary place and contribution to the larger world.

In the next pages I discuss the world channel as it arises in individual work. I begin by discussing the roots of this channel in channel theory and as a natural outgrowth of the discovery of the relationship channel and describe briefly methods for recognizing and working with the world channel. I investigate the importance of the world channel in psychotherapy, "world channel awareness," and pose future research questions which emerge from this theme.

I hope this article will inspire each of us to explore even more about each individual's unique connection and contribution to the world and global awareness.

Channel Theory and the Relationship Channel

In order to understand the significance of the world channel for individual work, it is helpful to backtrack and begin with the relationship channel.

The use of the relationship channel is based, as all Process Work is, on awareness and perception. We

See Mindell, The Leader as Martial Artist, 15-20 for a more in depth description of field theory.

See Mindell The Leader as Martial Artist, and Claire Nance "The Individual as a Channel for Group Process: Case

Studies in Group Process Work," (Antioch University, Seattle, 1991).

James Hillman and Michael Ventura, We've had a hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World's Getting Worse

(San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992).

notice when our process focuses momentarily on the relationship between the client and the therapist and value this perception as a channel through which we learn about ourselves. As we enter this channel it is no longer possible to know what belongs to you and what belongs to me. By consciously stepping into the relationship situation, the therapist respects the pathway of the momentary process and, retaining an overview, helps it unfold. Unlike the other channels (visual, auditory, proprioceptive, kinesthetic) the relationship channel is a composite channel as it comprises all of the other channels while remaining an entity unto itself.

In many ways, the concept of a relationship channel is a revolution in therapeutic thinking. Previous discussion and debate about the validity or non-validity of the therapist bringing her own feelings into the therapeutic situation are shifted toward the focus on awareness, perception, and field concepts. Focusing on perception values what is happening inside of us without questioning or debating the validity of our experience. Therefore, when our process flows momentarily in the relationship channel, it is most compassionate to notice, amplify and unfold experiences just in this relationship realm.

The concept of a "world" channel as applied to individual work is another revolutionary stage in this channel theory. It takes seriously people's statements about the world, dreams about groups and worldly imagery, the occurrence of synchronicities, and the effect that an individual work has on a group (if she or he is working individually in the middle of a group as in an open seat situation^. It says that experiences which are perceived as occurring in the "world" need to be nurtured as well in the world channel.

Just as visual information, in order to be fully understood, needs to be amplified visually, so the world channel must be understood by amplifying contents directly in that channel. It is not enough in these instances to reduce "world channel" experiences to purely intra-psychic inner work, i.e., to

individual psychology and inner figures. These must be viewed in terms of the individual's relationship to the world around her or him. Thus, process woik provides a theoretical basis for the interaction between individual work and the world.

Similarly, the world channel, like the relationship channel, is a composite channel comprised of the various other channels. It is not satisfying to reduce a world channel experience down to say its visual or auditory components, if in doing so, the overall experience loses its significance. Arjiy describes this as an "irreducible" experience which, if reduced down any further to its individual parts loses the beauty and meaningfulness of the experience.

Let me give an example: Before I began to write this article, I had an onslaught of dreams about revolutions in different countries. I worked on myself, trying to find out who was the oppressed inside of myself and who the oppressor and what sort of revolution needed to happen. I came to many inner solutions. But I was not satisfied. I knew that something was missing. It was only when I began to write this article for others, when I began to focus my attention on doing something for others in the world, that I felt fulfilled in my work. I then realized that my process was happening in that moment in the world channel. It was not enough to work on my inner parts and figures. My process asked of me to do something outwardly. My dreams contained world events which needed to be amplified and cared for in the world channel.

Recognizing and Working with the World Channel

We recognize the emergence of the world channel when someone talks about the natural environment and animals, the world or world issues, the weather, other countries and politics, wars, political leaders, anything that is larger than an individual, a couple or group. Sentences such as "the world is strange" or "so much is happening in the world, it makes me cry" indicate the world channel. A long look outside at the environment or a quick glance out the window can

Arnold Mindell, River's Way: The Process Science of the Dreamboay (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985)

Open Seat means that a group is together and someone spins the pen to decide which individual can work in the

middle on her personal psychology.

Amy Mindell and Arnold Mindell, Riding the Horse Backwards (London and New York: Viking-Penguin, 1991) 68.

also indicate the world channel. When a person stands up in a group and looks toward all the people or the group becomes very agitated or excited, this may also indicate the world channel. All of this depends, of course, on the person's individual experience of what is happening.

The world channel is present and tries to get our attention when we speak of things happening in the world that we are not doing, or when events actually do happen in the world which surprise us. Syn-chronicities such as lights suddenly going out, sudden bangs and crashes, or birds suddenly squawking at what seems to be a meaningful moment indicate the presence of the world channel.

Some dreams are obviously world channel dreams such as those about political figures, world and historic events, or social issues. Dreams about the environment, various forms of government, and about street scenes are most likely world channel dreams. Of course determining if these are world channel experiences will depend upon the individual's experience and associations to these dream events and figures.

In order to amplify experiences in the world channel it is helpful to simply ask the person to turn and notice the world and find out what happens to her or him while doing that. Going on a vision quest is a way of entering the world channel by going into nature, asking a question and waiting for nature to give an answer. Playing worldly figures in dreams and then finding out how to bring them into worldly life, writing something about or for the world, doing something socially active, or simply sensing the atmosphere around you (see exercise below) is a way of accessing the world channel.

In noticing the world channel we are, as Amy calls it, deeply democratic. We respect and open up to all aspects of experience. To ignore the world channel level of experience means that we do not really value that which the individual experiences. We support only certain sides of people and ignore others. We create theories which negate the awareness of world channel experiences, narrowly defining what individual work entails.

Example

A man felt a bit depressed. As he followed his process he realized that he was feeling put down by inner negative criticism. As he began to fight with the negative tyrant he did so with a very quiet voice, Suddenly he heard a great cracking of branches and a loud boom in the distance. He was shocked. Picking up this loud crashing sound, he began to crack and scream and became shocking and fought in this way for his freedom from this criticism. Yet this was not altogether satisfying. Since the cracking of branches and the loud boom happened in the environment, synchronistically, he assumed that this was the world channel and he wondered how he could use that shocking energy in the world. He realized that he wanted to stand more for the freedom of other oppressed people. He began to organize a group which would help oppressed people in his community. He understood this experience as the world beckoning him to use this kind of energy for the outer world as well.

Native Traditions and the World Channel

Perhaps our greatest teachers in this area are native peoples who teach the interconnected thread between the individual and her tribe and environment. Shamanic cultures throughout history have focused on the connection between healing an individual and her or his relationship to members of the tribe who may be present during the healing ceremony. You may also remember the story of Black Elk and his immense dreams and visions about his tribe. According to Native American tradition, these visions belong to the tribe and must be taken seriously as messages for the people.10 It would not be right for Black Elk to understand his visions solely as part of his personal psychology. We would say that he is having world channel experiences and to appreciate them, these dreams must be unfolded in relationship to his entire tribe.

Similarly, when we notice the world channel emerging in personal work, it is our responsibility to help this experience to unfold in the world channel. If I dream about the group that I belong to, no matter

Mindell, Supervision Seminar, 1987. Mindell, The Leader as Martial Artist, 5-6.

Black Elk Nebraska Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Neidhardt. (Lincoln and London: Univ. of Nebraska P

\y Man of the Oglala Sioux as told through John G. ;, 1992).

how much I work internally on myself, it is my role in that moment to bring this vision or feeling to the group and to work with what happens as a result of my interaction.

World Channel and Integration

Until now, the world channel has been understood, predominately, as a channel through which other information can be integrated. That is, if I leam about an explosiveness in my stomach, then I might ask myself how I can use that explosiveness in my relationships and in the world.

In fact, Amy11 has said that he was led to the discovery of the relationship channel when he saw that the kinds of problems people had, even if they seemed resolved on the individual level, came back when the person encountered relationship difficulties. Therefore, he stressed that it is not enough to work solely on the individual level.

I feel this conclusion has not been taken seriously enough. Think for example of early childhood problems which deal with abusive teachers or outer authorities. Working on these issues by ourselves is extremely important. However, since the experiences occurred originally in the world channel, it may be at some time crucial and meaningful to address them in the world channel as well. Amy mentions outstanding examples of the limitations of the individually-oriented paradigm when considering extreme states, work with children, and synchronistic phenomena which must be addressed in respect to the larger field from which these emerge.

Feelings of guilt towards the world

There are moments when some of us feel that we are not doing enough for the world. Of course this may just be true, but where else may these guilt feelings come from? These feelings may arise in those moments when we are not noticing the world channel arising inside of ourselves. We ignore this aspect of our personal processes and therefore do not follow and unfold experiences in the world channel. In that moment, it is our responsibility, if not to the world at large, then to ourselves and the compassion for our perceptions, to pick up phenomena happening

in the world channel and help them unfold just there where we experience them.

Again, we discover each individual's unique contribution to the world. There are no programs for what someone should be doing, i.e., that we should be more socially conscious, but instead, we discover each person's unique understanding and manifestation of her or his world channel experience. For some, working in the world may mean sitting in our homes and meditating on the world while for others it may mean outer political work. This is purely individual.

World Channel Awareness

By focusing on the world channel as it arises inside of us and heightening our awareness of the world channel in general we begin to develop what Amy calls a "world channel awareness." World channel awareness is a special sensitivity to the atmosphere around us. Just as we develop an increased awareness of proprioception or kinesthesis in general, world channel awareness means the development of a special sensitivity to the outer environment, sensing its moods, and giving expression to the field in which we are living, any time, any place.

World channel awareness says that nature asks for human intervention, for human beings to channel nature's feelings, moods, hopes and dreams. Our increased sensitivity to the environment makes it possible for the environment to come alive through our human interactions.

Here, once again, we stumble upon the world of the shamans and native peoples who were astutely aware of and influenced by the natural surroundings. For these people, the natural environment is understood as a living and influential being which asks for human representation. Until now, this kind of awareness has been left to the shamans and perhaps those performers and artists who sense and work with the surrounding environment. By focusing on the world channel as it arises inside of us we become modern shamans and artists who bring nature's feelings and moods to life.

Mindell, TheDreambody in Relationships (London and New York: Arkana, 1988).

Mindell, TheDreambody in Relationships, 13.

Common Boundary Conference, Washington D.C., Nov. 1992.

World Channel Awareness Exercise

This exercise is a potent and useful blank access method for the world channel which I developed. It helps us connect to the momentary field or atmosphere around us, find out what our role in this field is and determine what we should be doing about that role, what direction our world work is taking. Our process will instruct us as to what to do.

Here is the exercise:

What do you sense in the atmosphere here? What is the ambiance like? What does it feel like? (You can do this anywhere, even in your office with your client.)

What does the atmosphere want of you? What role do you have to play in that atmosphere?

3. How can you apply your role now? Whatdirection does it want you to take in the next fewdays?

For example, a woman teacher sensed the atmosphere. She said that the ambiance felt as if it was swirling and dizzy. She asked what that atmosphere wanted particularly of her. She discovered that her role was to give up her identity and become a Taoist by following this swirling of nature. How could she apply this in the world now? She said that she wanted to bring this into her teaching by helping people learn how to follow the Tao in their personal lives and in their relationships. One way to do this, she said, was to be a living model of someone who follows the

unusual currents of the Tao while teaching! She would become an unpredictable and lively teacher!

Significance of the World Channel in Psychotherapy

The ability to differentiate and work with world channel experiences as they arise in the individual will become a necessity in the years to come. As mentioned earlier, many have begun to question the legitimacy of psychotherapy that does not address world issues. Group process and Worldwork are certain contributions to this dilemma as they help us learn to get along with and process group life, which, for better or worse, is unavoidable today. In this case, inner work may seem limiting or not completely satisfying to the client.

Some may ask "Is individual therapy obsolete?" I do not think so. There will always be people who seek help and guidance about their individual lives. Yet, individual therapy can make an enormous contribution to the interaction between individuals and the world, if it has an awareness of world channel work and can help the client follow her process in that channel and contribute in some way to the world.

Without the awareness of the world channel, individual psychotherapy propagates, perhaps inadvertently, the attitude that the individual is separate from his or her outer social reality. While it will often be important to shut out the world and focus only internally, too much focus in this direction neglects those moments when the individual's process naturally turns toward world channel experiences and asks to be understood in this realm.

Therefore, I feel that psychotherapy is not obsolete but must expand its parameters by noticing and working with world channel experiences. When we work with individuals, instead of deciding if people should be inward or outward, we can now notice what they are doing, what do they perceive? When does the person refer to world channel experiences? How can we help these to unfold? What then does this individual contribute to our world?

Furthermore, it would be presumptuous to assume that people who come to individual therapy are only interested in their inner lives. Many people come to therapy hoping to understand their inner problems, parts and dreams, while others, because of interest or out of necessity, are turned toward problems in their outer social lives. In this moment psychotherapy can broaden its tools, by noticing, nurturing and assisting our experiences in the world channel.

As a general rule, psychotherapy has been more oriented towards white European individuals who have the luxury and privilege to study and think about themselves. Perhaps this is why psychotherapy has for the most part not been sought after by people of other colors and cultures. A therapy which recognizes and works with world channel experiences may be more open to all types of people, especially those whose social lives are more pressing and immediate than inner work. This orientation may contribute to narrowing the gap between individual psychotherapy as we know it today, meditation practices, social work and politics.

Is There a Difference Between Inner and Outer?

Political and social movements have shown that work on yourself as an individual cannot be separated from the moment in history, the political climate and social structures which we are living in. When a woman works on her personal psychology, feminist theory has shown us that it is not possible to separate her inner work from the outer models and rules which have sculpted the view and treatment of women throughout the ages. She is involved not only in her personal process but is influenced by the world around her. Therefore, all inner work is outer work and vice versa. When I work on myself, my ability to integrate new aspects of my femininity depends in great part upon the environment and society that I am living in.

Therefore, from this viewpoint there is no inner or outer. From the viewpoint of perception, there is simply process. Some things of course appear as outer oriented events. From a relativistic viewpoint, however, there is no difference. We simply notice what we notice and follow that to conclusion.

In a sense, everything that I do is Worldwork since field theory tells me that all of my experiences are connected to the outer world. I can no longer separate myself from the world I live in. Therefore, inner work is always a part of outer work, as everything that you are part of is also a product of the overall world field that you are living in.

Therefore, world channel work is the aspect of our personal work which asks us to directly step into our

relationship with the world rather than focus on ourselves and in that way to affect the world.

Symptoms in the World

There is much more research to be done about the world channel. I would like to mention a few research areas that come to mind.

In a recent Lava Rock Clinic, Amy and Max Schuepbach focused on environmental illness (EI). Amy defined EI as a world channel disease since the symptoms of environmental illness are described as coming from and utterly tied to environmental influences. He identified those suffering from EI as world changers who are reacting to the environmental field or atmosphere.

For example, one woman worked on her allergy to dust. She experienced dust as being quite invasive. When she began to pick up this invasive quality, she started to invade others. This was quite unusual and risky for her to do because she was otherwise a bit shy in relationships. But her work went further. She said that she was unhappy with some local community action that was occurring and that if she were really invasive she would enter into politics and strongly stand for her opinions in the community. This was the beginning of her world channel work.

Performers as Social Activists

As a dancer and singer I am very interested in the interaction between the world channel and performance. Performers intentionally enter into the world channel. Yet they frequently worry about what they are doing, feel shy or insufficient. Why is this?

Amy has said that this worry may be because the performer, speaker, actor, dancer or singer is not relating enough to the outer world. Her intent is to enter the world channel but this may fall short of noticing the field and letting the field instruct, effect, or play a role in the expression of her music, dance or artwork.

In our seminars on the teachings of Don Juan, Amy and I have experimented with the ability of the group members to dance the group field in much the way that shamans all over the world have done. In these seminars, we all stood around in a circle and one person after another tried to "sense" the group

Personal discussion with Amy, Nov., 1992. Supervision seminar, Tschierv, Switzerland, 1987.

atmosphere and then let that atmosphere propel the person into dance. It was easy to tell which people actually touched the group field because the audience would go absolutely mad with excitement and passion as that particular dancer swirled and swayed with the group atmosphere.

I think that the best performers are those who not only perform but in so doing connect to the group field and stay closely attuned to the changes in the atmosphere. The most powerful comedians, for example, are those who notice the group energy and adjust and change their performance as they notice the evolving group field. A great performer might change course mid-way when something unexpected happens like the crashing of dishes in the kitchen, or sneezes in the audience or a change of mood as a result of part of her work.

I remember a seminar where a woman began to dance very gracefully and beautifully, yet she had this gnawing feeling of shyness and embarrassment. She occasionally looked out to the group. When the therapist encouraged her to really notice the group she suddenly had the urge to get everyone to sing a silly children's song. As she began to sing others joined in and suddenly the group, which was a bit tired at the end of the day, was loud and joyous and playful. In the moment that she turned to die group, she was able to sense the momentary field of the seminar and helped it to express itself.

Many performance artists and socially conscious improvisational, street theater and singing groups specifically relate to the field of the group, are affected by it and involve the audience in the performance. In a sense, this kind of performer is a social activist who tries to give form and feeling to the momentary field of the group or the world. She brings to life in visual, auditory, or kinesthetic form the various feelings that we all have and expresses them vividly as we watch and also take part in the experience.

The African American community has contributed significantly to the use of art as a medium for social activism. For example in her forward to Rei-

Mark O'Brien and Craig Little, eds. Reimaging America:

1990). 17Ibid., 3. 18Ibid. 19Ibid.

maging America: The Arts of Social Change, Bernice Johnson Reagon16 describes the interaction between artist and the field.

My central training was as a singer. I learned very early that I had to affect the space I sang in. The air that people breathed carried the sound of my voice as song leader joined by their own. I am now describing a feast of song, where that which is consumed is also created by the consumers, and what you take in is more than you give out because when you put it out, it is enlarged by the sounds of others who commit themselves to participate in the creation. w

She continues to describe the artist as social activist She says that she became a "singing fighter" during the Civil Rights Movement and was able in that way to express her deepest feelings as an African American in the United States. Her training began with "learning about the role of music in African American culture and the role of the artist in the leadership of the community." She says that leaders not only lead but are also "cultural artists of great power."18

Exchanges between leaders and their constituents had to be transforming experiences where a bonding was created by all gathered, a community was formed in the process of giving and receiving through talk and song.

Therefore, the performer, who connects to and involves the group field, is a social activist who can help all of us to process our collective situations. This is just a beginning exploration in the connection between the world channel and performance.

Future Questions: Social and Political Implications

There are many exciting questions and implications which arise in considering the world channel in individual therapy. I do not have answers but merely questions which hopefully will inspire others to do research in this area. What are the social and political implications of noticing the world channel in the individual? How would the world look if each of us

The Arts of Social Change (Philadelphia: New Society,

were more conscious of the world channel inside of ourselves? How would politics change?

Conclusion

The world channel is a very important aspect of the future of psychotherapy. It contributes to a growing need for all of us to define and explore our individual relationships and responsibilities to the world at large. Knowledge of the world channel brings to individual work an openness to and respect for those aspects of our experience which turn towards our interaction with and contribution to the world. As we watch individual experiences spontaneously turn toward world and group events we discover our personal relationship to global life and history.

Amy Mindell, Ph.D., is a Certified Process Worker. She is a dancer, musician and singer who is interested in all aspects of the creative process as it applies to art, life and psychology. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Process Oriented Psychology and travels throughout the world teaching process work. She is currently researching what it takes to learn Worldwork.

Bibliography

1. References
2. Common Boundary Conference, "Community and Diversity," Washington D.C., Nov. 1992.
3. Hillman, James and Michael Ventura. We' ve had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy and the World's Getting Worse. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992.
4. Mindell, Amy and Arnold Mindell. Riding the Horse Back-wards. London & New York: Viking-Penguin, 1992.
5. Mindell, Arnold. River's Way: Process Science of the Dreambody. London: Roudedge and Kegan Paul, 1985.
6. . The Dreambody in Relationships. London & New
7. York: Arkana, 1987.
8. . The Year One: Global Process Work with Planetary
9. Myths and Structures. New York and London: Viking-Penuin-Arkana, 1989.
10. . The Leader as Martial Artist. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992.
11. Mindell, Supervision Seminar, Tschierv, 1987.
12. Nance, Claire. "The Individual as a Channel for Group Process: Case Studies in Group Process Work." Master's Thesis, Antioch, 1991.
13. -Niedhardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told through John G. Niedhardt. Lincoln, Nebraska and London: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1992.
14. Reagon, Bernice Johnson, introduction in O'Brien, Mark, and Craig Little, eds. Reimaging America: The Arts of Social Change. Philadelphia: New Society Pub., 1990.