Category Archives: Journaling & Healing

Sugarplum Visions and Coping During the Holidays

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Stress Meter w credit w creditThursday, June 21, 2007
By: Eve Reddin Lennon, CPCC

This is the time of the year when we find ourselves surrounded, if not bombarded, by a multitude of media messages suggesting what we should be doing for the holidays and how we should be doing it. These messages are designed to conjure up sugarplum visions of beautiful, festive, picture perfect, storybook holidays with smiling families and all the trimmings that will surely bring us all peace and joy and incredible holiday happiness. Like a Norman Rockwell painting, or a Hollywood movie, or even our own romanticized memories of tradition-soaked holidays past, these images are seductively appealing—but the problem is that they aren’t real. They are fictionalized, idealized versions of the holidays.

Consider for a moment the expectations we have placed on ourselves to make our own holidays fit these perfect, but imaginary and unattainable images in our heads. Way beyond our genuine and heartfelt desires for the Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmases, and Happy Hanukahs, we enter the season believing we are somehow obligated to follow a set of unwritten rules prescribing just what and how much we should be cramming into a few short weeks: “Deck the Halls!” (Inside and outside, upstairs and down until everything glows, sparkles, or twinkles, and smells like pinecones and spice.) Or, “It’s the season to open your hearts and be generous” (meaning shop till you drop, wrap it all up, and defer payment until January when you open the bills and go into stress overload).  It is also the season to “Gather your family” (whether you want to be with them or not,)to be the perfect hostess, to set a beautiful table and serve up at least one feast (dust off those cookbooks, shine up the silver, polish the crystal), and of course, to dress up, put a smile on your face, and attend all the parties, functions and festivities within a 250 mile radius.

Somewhere deep in our own heads is a list longer than Santa’s—of all the things we believe we need to or should do to make the season merry and bright. But the fact is that in order to do so we would each have to be a Martha Stewart clone with a staff of forty and the stamina of the Energizer bunny.

Wow. It is a recipe for exhaustion for nearly anyone, but for those of us with chronic illnesses like FM, it can be a recipe for a holiday disaster that results in unrelenting pain, brain fogs, and that deeply rooted, energy leeching fatigue that leaves us incapable of functioning; feeling isolated and depressed. Continue reading…

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Using a Pain Journal to Improve Chronic Pain Management

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by Dr. Grinstead

httpv://youtu.be/G_3rG9S6EcM

Today I met with a friend and we were talking about living with our chronic pain. I told him one of my most valuable tools when having prolonged pain flare up periods was to get back to pain journaling. I need to use this tool periodically and I teach it to many of my chronic pain patients. I usually give them the directions you’ll see below my video. Please watch the video and then read the remainder of this post.

Effectively Using a Pain Journal

Below you will have an opportunity to gain more insights about your personal pain relationship. The main purpose is for you to gather daily written feedback regarding your internal perception (insights) of your pain condition and how you manage your pain. You will be looking for triggers (both physical and psychological/emotional or stress related) and patterns for your pain. This is your starting point for have an improved relationship with your pain.

Pain journaling is a common tool in chronic pain management and many of you have probably already been exposed to this concept. In the exercise below I’m showing you one of the pain journaling assignments I used effectively with many of my chronic pain patients. Remember, this is just one way of pain journaling—not the only way.

Follow the six steps…

I’ve just recently undertaken journal writing, starting with Morning Pages as described by Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way). Dr. Grinstead lays out some strategies to journaling to help manage our chronic pain. Worthwhile trying.

Blessings,
Jacqui, Damselfly
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Intensive Journal® Workshop – FAQs Part 2

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Question Mark green w creditYour Questions Answered cont…

Who leads the workshops?

Intensive Journal® workshops are conducted by trained and certified leaders (also called Journal Consultants) under the auspices of Dialogue House. The function of the leader is to guide you step-by-step through the process using the workshop guidelines provided by Dialogue House. They stay in the background, serving as a supportive and non-judgmental guide. Their role is to help you connect with your inner process, free from distractions in the workshop room. Therefore, our leaders do not use their personality to dominate or influence your process; they serve in a behind-the-scenes role to help you enter your process.

Our leaders come from a variety of backgrounds. They are teachers, artists, counselors, and ministers, to name a few of their occupations. While they may share some of their background and experiences with participants, they are not introducing their own philosophy. They are representing the philosophy of Dr. Progoff, as incorporated into the Intensive Journal® program.

Training and quality control are important components of our program. To become a certified instructor, our leaders must complete training in Dr. Progoff’s philosophy of psychological growth as well as attend many workshops. Their work is reviewed on an ongoing basis.

If you are interested in becoming a leader, Click here for more information.

Why does the price of a workshop vary by location?

Prices vary depending upon the cost of hosting the workshop at a certain location, the length of the program and whether meals are included. We try to offer reasonably priced programs and to be responsive to the needs of participants.

What happens at a workshop?

At your first workshop you receive your Intensive Journal® workbook. Not all of the sections will be used in the Life Context and Depth Contact workshops. These will be used in later modules of the Intensive Journal® series.

The workshop leader will guide participants through a series of journal sections based upon the structure developed by Dr. Ira Progoff in At a Journal Workshop. This structure is set up so that the sections complement each other and a continuous flow among them is achieved. The leader will explain each section and then allow time for participants to write in their workbooks.

Throughout the workshop the leader will allow time for questions about either the method or about the direction of a participant’s writing. This may be done one-on-one in order to protect the person’s privacy. The leader will also allow time for participants to read their work aloud. This is not meant to foster discussion about a person’s writing, but is for the purpose of connecting the reader to and evoking his or her emotions.

Try a Sample Intensive Journal® Exercise

Now you can begin to experience how the Intensive Journal® method works through a sample exercise. It is important to do the exercise in a setting of complete silence, with pen and paper (not computer), when you can relax and take your mind off your daily life. Record what comes to you; do not edit or censor. Write the date at the top of the page and the name of the exercise, “Period Log.” You should allow about 45 minutes to complete the exercise.

How can the Intensive Journal® method help deal with a specific issue?

Some people attend our program because they are facing important issues in a particular area of their lives. They hope to deal with or solve these issues during the workshop.

The role of the workshop is much broader – to help you connect with the multitude of experiences and emotions that comprise your unique life. Through this process, you can gain awareness and perspectives about the direction and continuity of your life, as well as realize strengths, interests and capacities. Then, after developing a foundation on your life, you may work through specific issues over time within the context of your entire life. We urge you not to place forced deadlines or pressures upon yourself. Sometimes, awareness occurs indirectly and at unpredictable times. We do not want to establish artificial expectations that would hinder the natural unfolding of awareness.

How do you proceed in the Intensive Journal® method after a workshop?

After you attend a workshop, it is recommended that you periodically work in your Intensive Journal® workbook. This use will help you become skilled in using the method as well as develop the material that you have begun in the workshop.

There are no set rules with regard to how often the method should be used. Some people find that it is helpful to set up a regular time to use the method. There may be times when you use the method frequently, and other times when you use it less. Your life will tell you how best to proceed.

You may also choose to attend another workshop of the same module or the next module in the series to further your knowledge of the Intensive Journal® method. The workshop provides the group atmosphere and discipline for using the method.

Using the method is a cumulative process with the benefits coming over time. Dr. Progoff states:

Since the principle underlying Journal Feedback™ is that of cumulative movement,  maintaining the Journal work has a multiplying effect if it is allowed to continue over significant units of time.. The key to working with the Intensive Journal process productively lies in the quality and quantity of the method that we feed into it….the Journal can feed back to us in self-transforming ways the material that we have recorded in it.

 At a Journal Workshop (rev. ed), p. 368

Shared from the Dialogue House Intensive Journal® website.

Intensive Journal® Workshop – FAQs Part 1

Intensive Journal® Workshop – FAQs Part 1

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Question Mark green w creditYour Questions Answered

If you have already attended other writing or self-growth programs, why should you attend the Intensive Journal® workshops? 

Some people attend our program because they are facing important issues in a particular area of their lives. They hope to deal with or solve these issues during the workshop.

Some individuals may feel that having attended other writing, journal writing, or personal growth programs, attending the Intensive Journal® program would not be warranted. However, the Intensive Journal® program is not like other programs; it is a very unique method for psychological growth, because of its workshop atmosphere, the structure of the Intensive Journal® workbook and the detailed steps in the individual exercises.

Individuals who are open to our approach should give our method a full chance to work to see its unique power and benefits. Our procedures will naturally feel different but being exposed to a different approach can be a positive learning experience.

How do you prepare for a workshop?

No preparation is required for our introductory (Life Context) workshop. You do not need to read or write anything. We ask that you relax and follow along with the instructions provided by our leader.

In the second module, Depth Contact, you may wish to record some dreams and imagery that you recall so that you have material to work with in completing those exercises. However, do not worry if you cannot remember any symbolic material.

For the third module, Life Integration/Journal Feedback™ process, you should have fresh material in each of the Intensive Journal® sections for the Journal Feedback™ process to have the intended effect. Otherwise, you may wish to attend the Life Context and Depth Contact workshops again or work on your own prior to attending the Life Integration module.

Can I bring a laptop computer to the workshop?

No. We believe that there is a therapeutic benefit from the physical process of recording your feelings and experiences.

The atmosphere in which you work in the Intensive Journal® method is critical. Using a computer tends to have the effect of taking you out of the deepening atmosphere and your inner process. You tend to be in a more analytical mode, which is counter to a key principle for using the Intensive Journal® method.

You may feel that you could write a good deal more on a computer. We are interested in the quality of your experience and not the quantity of material that is written.

Some people say that they could use a computer to conduct searches for relevant terms that they may have written. However, the Journal Feedback™ process of reading back and recording would be significantly affected and distorted by using a computer in this manner.

Using a computer in a workshop can distract other participants and disrupt the quiet atmosphere. The noise of even a quiet keyboard can break the sensitive atmosphere that has developed in the workshop.

The only exception to the rule of not allowing computers in the workshop is in cases where a person is physically challenged and would otherwise be unable to participate. In these instances, we recommend that the participant contact the hosting organization in advance so that suitable arrangements can be made.

Who attends Intensive Journal workshops?

Practically anyone can attend and benefit from an Intensive Journal® workshop. People of different backgrounds, interests, religious faiths and ages attend our programs.

Participants don’t have to have an “issue” or “problem;” the common factor is that they have a commitment to learn the Intensive Journal® method and apply it to their lives.

You do not have to like to write or to be a good writer. You are writing what comes to you from within. In a sense, you are a reporter on your life

The workshops are paced with breaks so that you will have enough energy to participate effectively in the program. You are not writing during the entire program. At other times, the leader provides background information on each Intensive Journal® exercise and answers questions.

Where are Intensive Journal® workshops offered?

We offer Intensive Journal® workshops throughout the United States as well as Canada, Australia and Europe. In the United States, we attempt to offer our program in most major metropolitan areas at least once a year so that the program can be affordable and accessible.

Workshops are offered at personal and spiritual growth centers, conference centers, counseling centers, and universities. We look to hold our workshops at locations that are conducive to reflection and introspection.

Shared from the Dialogue House Intensive Journal® website.

Intensive Journal® Workshop – FAQs Part 2 

 

 

Program for Teachers

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Progoff Intensive Journal For Teachers

Created by Dr. Ira Progoff, a depth psychologist, the Intensive Journal® program is an integrated system using writing exercises that can help teaching professionals become more effective educators.

Learn how to work with your experiences and emotions to awareness and insights to give your life greater direction, clarity and purpose.

Intensive Journal® exercises help you overcome preconceived ways of thinking to achieve breakthroughs that were previously not possible.

At our workshops, certified leaders guide you step-by-step through the exercises with the protections of otal privacy. Our program has a 45 year history of helping over 175,000 people.

The Intensive Journal® method provides unique ways for teachers to

  • be more effective in the classroom;
  • develop themselves as teaching professionals;
  • communicate with and relate to parents, colleagues, and the community.
Practical Ways for Teacher Enrichment

The Intensive Journal® method provides teachers with a practical tool to use throughout their career to become more effective in carrying out the many facets of their profession. These benefits include:

Reflect on Your Teaching Practices

  • Apply practical methods to reflect on the quality of your teaching practices.
  • Examine your performance in a private non-judgmental environment.
  • Reflect on work related issues from various viewpoints.

Reconnect with Your Passion for Teaching

  • Reconnect with the underlying reasons that you entered the teaching profession.
  • Obtain renewed energy, vitality and sense of purpose. Discover new interests and ways to view your profession.

Foster Relationships in the Teaching Environment

  • Improve communication and interpersonal skills; become better able to listen to and relate to students, parents and administration.
  • Learn techniques to deepen understanding as a way to build bridges to colleagues, parents and community.

Stimulate Your Productivity

  • Stimulate creative and intuitive capacities — a rich source of knowledge for developing new insights.
  • Work through personal issues to allow for greater focus and enhanced relationships with students and faculty.

Develop Your Career Path

  • Gain perspectives influencing the direction and continuity of your career while developing new goals and opportunities.
  • Identify skills and interests for becoming more productive.

Reduce Stress and Prevent Burnout

  • By working through teaching related issues and personal conflicts, the professional environment becomes less stressful.
  • Resolving issues and reconnecting with your passion for teaching helps prevent burnout.

 Printable PDF

 

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