Develop the disturbing quality the way it emerged
Develop the most disturbing quality through movement, proprioception, sound or imagination, then give it a form: the study's fifth step.
Why it works
These steps are the eight-step session protocol that Sedláková et al. (2020) designed, inspired by Weyermann (2006) and consulted with a practitioner. Mindell's own books could not be read for this page. Sedláková et al. (2020) describe unfolding a marginalized signal with sensory-grounded awareness, which makes a quality the client did not have access to before more tangible (citing Mindell, 1998). The session then developed that quality the way it emerged, through movement, proprioception, sound or imagination, and at the end gave it "a form of a mythological or historical entity", a "dream figure" (citing Mindell, 1990). This practice uses Step 5 of the eight-step session; the paper does not test that step on its own.
How to do it
- Take the most disturbing quality you identified, and develop it the way it emerged: through movement, proprioception, sound or imagination.
- At the end, give the quality a form: the study gave it "a form of a mythological or historical entity", a "dream figure" that represents the quality naturally.
Evidence
Sedláková et al. (2020) describe this as Step 5 of their session, citing Mindell (1998) for unfolding a signal and Mindell (1990) for the dream-figure concept. Practitioner framework; no study isolates this step. (anecdotal)
See a doctor about any physical symptom before exploring it. Developing a signal can make it stronger quickly. The study tested one therapist-led session, not self-practice. If you feel flooded, lose track of where you are, or images or sensations will not settle, stop and continue this work with a trained therapist rather than alone.
Sources
Common mistake
Acting the signal out to find its meaning. Step 5 lists movement, proprioception, sound or imagination as the ways the quality is developed.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Process Work: Eight Steps Designed by Sedláková et al. (2020)
- Notice the signal you did not intend
Describe who you have been and who you are today, then describe a chosen symptom and your attitude to it: the first two steps of the study's session.
- Describe the disturbing quality in sensory words
Describe the chosen symptom and its manifestations in sensory words, such as warmth, tingling or pressure, then identify its most disturbing quality: the study's fourth step.
- Return to the figure during the week
Return to the quality or figure you discovered, and experiment with it during the following week, as the study's eighth step encouraged.
Related concepts
- Shadow Work
Meeting the parts of yourself you have been ignoring
- Gestalt Therapy: Awareness, Ownership and Contact in the Here and Now
Noticing what you are doing right now, owning it in your own words, and finishing what keeps pulling at you
- Focusing and the Felt Sense, Made Practical
Listening to the body’s pre-verbal knowledge — the six steps and their mechanisms
- Jungian and Research-Tested Dream Work: Hearing the Parts of You That Speak at Night
Working a dream image by image, so the disowned and unnoticed parts of you get a hearing
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