Main Feature
Ira Progoff’s Intensive Journaling Course
Bill Israel, Victoria
Volume 29 Issue 4, 5 & 6 | Posted: June 30, 2015
The Intensive Journal® (I J), developed by Dr. Ira Progoff, is a guided, meditative, journaling process. It is structured to enable participants to decipher the inward meaning of their life, in the context of a seemingly chaotic world and increasingly diverse communities.
In his most influential book, At a Journal Workshop (1992 edition), Dr.Progoff states, “… no one can tell you the meaning of your life, you must experience it.” (p. 34). The IJ process is structured to enable individuals to realize meaning for their lives through an interactive, inward journaling process.
The Intensive Journal® (I J), developed by Dr. Ira Progoff, is a guided, meditative, journaling process. It is structured to enable participants to decipher the inward meaning of their life, in the context of a seemingly chaotic world and increasingly diverse communities.
In his most influential book, At a Journal Workshop (1992 edition), Dr.Progoff states, “… no one can tell you the meaning of your life, you must experience it.” (p. 34). The IJ process is structured to enable individuals to realize meaning for their lives through an interactive, inward journaling process.
The questions we asked as adolescents resurface in our adult lives. Who am I supposed to be in this life? What is my purpose and how do I express (act upon) my ultimate concerns and most cherished beliefs and values – with my family, friends and community fellows.
Conversations about the meaning of spirituality seems a popular topic for those looking for a “larger-than-my-life” sense of the sacred and eternal. This conversation often “resonates” with those who have lost or abandoned belief in traditional, iconic symbols of religious doctrine. It frequently includes those not raised in any particular faith tradition. Even secular humanists claim a spiritual heritage.
For those seeking a pragmatic, as well as transcendent, grasp of the sacred and eternal “realities” of this life, comprehending the nature of “spirituality” in determining one’s beliefs becomes paramount. The term was once exclusively “owned and interpreted” by ecclesiastical authorities of one religious organization or another throughout the western world. The influence of church “dogma” has waned in the new era.
The modern era (post-Copernican revolution) has brought new challenges to those religious authorities. Scientific rationality, consumer economics, environmental degradation and political discord (tribalism) confound traditional thinking and beliefs about how humans must conduct themselves in order to evolve the species and achieve meaning in their lives.
Beyond simple “navel-gazing” the Intensive Journal® method enables one to see her “life-task in community”. This happens by means of an interactive “dialogue and feedback” process focused on one’s own life experience. There are no “givens”. Every human being is the author of her own narrative.
The Intensive Journal® method is a writing process distinct from preparing a diary, journal log, autobiography or memoir. There is no analysis, diagnosis or judgment in the writing process, which is highly personal and private.
HISTORY
Rooted in an open-ended hypothesis of holistic depth psychology, this dynamic IJ process was developed by Dr. Ira Progoff (1921-98). This development took place during his years of research at Drew University, in Madison, New Jersey, and while conducting his practice as a psychotherapist.
The IJ method had its conceptual origins in the studies Dr. Progoff undertook with Dr. Carl Jung in the 1950's in Vienna. Jung and Progoff worked collaboratively on an hypothesis of holistic depth psychology, departing from the psychoanalytic medical model of Sigmund Freud and others.
With professional colleagues that included Alfred Adler and Otto Rank, they viewed the medical, diagnostic method of classifying and treating “disorders” of the psyche as limiting the creative “spiritual” potential of the psyche (soul). Their work eventually focused on how best to describe the natural function of the psyche as an historic, open-ended and creative human attribute. In his book titled Jung’s Psychology and its Social Meaning (1985), Progoff cites discussions with Jung that included their ideas on the “spiritual nature of man”.
Describing himself as an “integrator”, Progoff included a wide array of religious and faith tradition sources, scientific thinkers, philosophers, historians and creative arts practitioners, in formulating his hypothesis on the development of human personality. The works of Lao Tzu, the Buddha, Martin Buber, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Albert Einstein, Henri Bergson, Meister Eckhart and many other creative minds influenced Progoff’s development of the IJ program as a creative, self-balancing, journaling process.
As a psychotherapist practicing in the mid 1960's, Progoff observed significant improvement in his patients who prepared “writing assignments” between therapy sessions. They were getting better and at a faster pace than those who were not doing the writing. Over time, he developed a structured program of writing “tasks” for his patients, noting the positive therapeutic effects of the writing. In the late 1960s Progoff organized a fully formed “Journal Workbook” of guided writing, and meditation exercises that could be effectively used with groups in a workshop setting.
For more information:
Dialogue House website in Beachwood, Ohio:
Bill Israel website:
Bill Israel email address:
billisrael06@gmail.com.
Bill Israel telephone: (250) 744-0590
Bill Israel completed his sabbatical studies at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS) at the University of Victoria in 2013-14. Researching the entire works of Dr. Ira Progoff (1921-98), Bill culminated his studies with a public presentation at the University in June, 2014.
Bill is now providing workshops as a Facilitator and Consultant for the Intensive Journal® process, a unique self-development workshop program from Dialogue House in Beachwood, Ohio.
Bill Israel, Victoria