Process psychology

Process Psychology is a branch of psychotherapeutic psychology which was derived from Process Philosophy as developed by Alfred North Whitehead. It bears a similar name to Process Oriented Psychology as developed by Arnold and Amy Mindell but is different in theoretical foundations and methods of treatment. Process Psychology got its start at a conference sponsored by the Center for Process Studies in 1998 (1).

David Ray Griffin, a noted Process Theologian, has also been instrumental in encouraging the development of Process Psychology. Process Psychology is closely aligned with Process Theology and its practitioners frequently refer to spiritual concerns. John Buchanan described Process Psychology as a transpersonal psychology providing an empirical basis for what has been called mystical experience (2).

Yet other theorists reference Systems Thinking and the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy whose concept of a "system" is compared to Whitehead's idea of the "organism" (3).

Finally, the influence of Carl G. Jung is also referenced and he is considered to be among the discipline's founding fathers (4).

Notes

(1) Association for Process Psychology http://www.processpsychology.org/ (2) Openness: Spirituality in a Process Psychology, A Paper by John Buchanan for the Wuhan Conference on Science and Spirituality (October 2005) http://www.ctr4process.org/publications/SeminarPapers/29_3%20Buchanan1.pdf (3) Franz Riffert, Towards a Process Psychology, http://www.sbg.ac.at/erz/salzburger_beitraege/fruehling99/fr_1999_1.pdf (4) Kim, Chae-Young. “A Comparison of Alfred North Whitehead’s and Carl Gustav Jung’s Idea of Religion.” Journal of Dharma 27, no. 3 (2002): 417-428.