A Process Model Reading Group (Chapters V - VI) with Rob Parker

A Process Model Reading Group - Chapters V-VI
with Rob Parker

Welcoming new registrants

25 weekly meetings on Wednesdays
Audio recordings available after each live meeting

January 10 to June 26, 2024
7:00pm - 9:00pm New York time
convert to your time zone here

Notes: This offering is in English only.
            Class will meet on June 19 (Juneteenth, the US holiday that celebrates freedom from oppression).
            Registration for the 25 sessions will be split into two payments.
           
In meeting format on Zoom, Rob will offer a main meeting which will include reading and time for questions and discussion. In general Rob will try to keep to 90 minutes each week, but plan for 2 hours. (After the reading time, Rob will often continue an informal discussion - "the parking lot", which allows more unstructured time for questions. Information covered in "the parking lot" will be recorded but is not meant to be part of the official content and if you are listening to recordings only, "the parking lot" will be clearly delineated.)

This offering will include downloadable audio (not video) recordings of Rob’s weekly meetings for all registrants. Recording Note: Audio recordings will be made available as soon as possible after each session for download prior to the next session (except in the case of unexpected technical difficulty).

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.

Having developed most of the basic Process Model concepts in chapters I – IV, Gendlin proceeds in chapters V and VI to develop basic concepts about life, including behavior, perception, and consciousness.  As always, the concepts are both first-person and third-person (you can feel them in your own experience, and you can see them functioning in other people and in animals). Each concept is a direct referent, that is, it doesn’t define reality, rather it points to an experience that you can find in yourself, just as a handle points to a felt sense.  If you learn the concepts well enough to find their experiential meaning, you will discover a new and vivid sense of your own life process, your body-environment interaction. 

We’ll explore many concept-handles, for example stopped process, leafing, thrashing, stop-ons, and the open cycle. We will also understand and experience old concepts in new ways, for example evolution, imagination, space, and time.

The process model understanding of consciousness alone is worth the price of admission in Rob's opinion.  

How much time will it take? 
We have designed this course to be flexible, so that it can fit your schedule. 
You’ll need at least 90 minutes per week to listen to each class, which will give you the reading plus basic discussion. You can, of course, download the recordings and listen whenever you want. This minimum time will give you a clear sense of what the Process Model is about and why it is so important; and with the aid of the recordings you will be able to read it again on your own whenever you want. 

If you have more time, more possibilities open up:

1. You can reread the material we covered in class (usually around three pages). 
2. You can think about one concept every week, during idle moments such as waiting in line or doing dishes. This is perhaps the most important, most rewarding, and the most fun thing about learning philosophy, and it needn't take any scheduled time.
3. You can attend one of the weekly discussion groups that several of Rob’s advanced process model students are offering as part of this course. You can pick a time that suits you, attend as often or as little as you like, and enjoy a more open-ended discussion than we would have time for in the main class.

Is it worth the time?  Here is what Ann Weiser Cornell said after finishing one of Rob’s reading groups:

"...it IS worth it.  It is no exaggeration to say that my sense of who and what I am, and what the universe is, has radically changed in a beautiful and exciting way. 
That includes my sense of what Focusing is. I feel like I finally know why Focusing works, after teaching it for 24 years!"
        -Ann Weiser Cornell

FORMAT
This offering will include downloadable audio recordings (not video) of Rob’s weekly meetings (available within 3-12 hours, except in the case of unexpected technical difficulty).

You will need to have a computer/mobile device. Calling in by phone is also possible but not preferred. Breakout rooms (if utilized) are not recorded.
 

PREREQUISITES
Focusing experience is recommended but not required.
If you don't already have a copy, A Process Model can be purchased at https://store.focusing.org/products/a-process-model
 

ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR
Rob Parker grew up in a scientific family, with a deep appreciation for the power and beauty 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 and to an interest in the philosophical assumptions that underlie psychology and modern science.  Rob specialized in psychological trauma; he designed and directed several treatment programs for both trauma survivors and 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 Gene Gendlin, who had just retired from the University of Chicago and was living near Rob. 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 weekly meetings with Gendlin from 2003 until his passing 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.
 

Registration Policies - Chapters V-VI

Sessions 1-13*: Regular price $470  Modified price $315  Lowest price $155
Sessions 14-25*: Regular price $470  Modified price $315  Lowest price $155

*Payment for this group is split into two payments. To continue with Sessions 14-25, the second payment will be due by April 8, 2024. Registration for Sessions 1-13 is required to register for Sessions 14-25.

Note: if the lowest price is not affordable for you please write to [email protected] to inquire about a scholarship.

DEI Scholarship. There are DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Scholarship funds available for anyone in a group under-represented in TIFI's programs, including people aged 30 or younger, those in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community and others.  For more about our DEI scholarship, please see focusing.org/board. To apply, email [email protected].

Three tier pricing. We welcome you to select the level right for you, while reminding you that if you have a reliable means of support and live in a country with a strong economy, we ask that you pay the regular price. By choosing the highest amount you are capable of paying you help make the sliding scale possible. Thank you! 

Refunds A full refund minus a $15 administrative fee for cancellations 14 days before the start date. Cancellations less than 14 days before the start date are nonrefundable. The International Focusing Institute reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule for insufficient enrollment or for other unanticipated reasons. In such cases you will be given a choice of applying your tuition to future programs, or having the full enrollment fee returned to you.

TIFI reserves the right to cancel, change and alter the program if necessary. Participants authorize TIFI to use their name, statements and likeness without charge, for promotional purposes in publications, advertising, video, web, new media, or other formats.

By registering for this course with the Institute, and in consideration of the right and opportunity to participate in and contribute to the Institute’s classes, for the purposes of its control of all video and/or audio recordings thereof pertaining to uses serving our purposes and goals, in enrolling in this session you acknowledge and agree to the Institute’s ownership of all rights in such classes, including all rights under copyright therein.  In no circumstance shall any portion or clip posted or displayed exceed 3 minutes in duration.  If you plan to use, post or display any portion or clips of these recordings, including posting these to a website or to a social media platform or portal, you agree that you will seek and obtain the prior approval of the Institute.

For more information:

Contact Elizabeth at [email protected] or (845) 480-5111.