Works by
Amy Mindell
(Writer)

Coma: A Healing Journey -- A Guide for Family, Friends and Helpers (1989)
Introduced in this groundbreaking work are new ethics, and new skills and metaskills in working with and supporting people in comas. Step-by-step exercises teach how to get in contact with comatose people in a non-intrusive way, and how to establish a way of yes-no communication. An in-depth training in coma work for health care professionals is provided, and methods and support for family members wishing to be close to and communicate with their loved ones thought lost to coma is discussed.

Riding the Horse Backwards: Process Work in Theory and Practice (1992) by Arnold Mindell and Amy Mindell
This transcript of a process-oriented psychology seminar provides a theoretical overview, and then continues on with demonstrations of how to work with individuals and groups. The interactions between Drs. Mindell and the seminar participants show that in order to get to the process, it may be necessary to employ trickster-like ways, based on the fabled, wise trickster of a Native American tribe, who did everything differently. His horse went forwards, for instance, but he rode it facing backwards, thereby taking a new approach.

Metaskills: The Spiritual Art of Therapy (1995)
Why is some therapy effective and some disappointing? Amy Mindell says it has to do with the subtle atmosphere created by therapists' unconscious feelings and attitudes. By tapping into their deepest beliefs about spirit, nature, and human development (metaskills), they can become more effective healers and spiritual teachers.

Through years of researching Arnold Mindell's work with individuals, couples, and groups, Amy Mindell has identified a number of feeling attitudes which she amplifies here through analogies to Eastern traditions, the teachings of Don Juan, and/or modern physics. She approaches the question of learning metaskills: Is it possible? How is it done? (She postulates that the therapist, not unlike the client, is on a path of spiritual development.) And she explains how the concept could revolutionize the vast field of psychotherapy. The book has numerous verbatim transcripts, as well as detailed theoretical and poetic explanations.

In addition to offering helping professionals an inspiring new approach to working with people, this book will also valuable to anyone interested in discovering the unconscious attitudes that can lead to a deeper self-knowledge and satisfaction in relationships.

Alternative to Therapy (A Few Basic Process Work Principles) (2002)
The magical figures in this book make learning how to work with yourself and others an enjoyable experience. From 18 years of studying the situations arising in the practice of therapy and in the supervision of client/therapist interactions, a core group of imaginary figures (from Amy's dreams) reveal central issues and principles in therapy. Amy Mindell is also the author of "Metaskills, The Spiritual Art of Therapy", and "Coma, A Healing Journey", as well as many articles. She works as a seminar leader in many countries, and as a process-oriented therapist in Portland, Oregon. She just loves to dance, make music, and puppets.

The Dreaming Source of Creativity: 30 Creative and Magical Ways to Work on Yourself (2005)
Written for professional therapists as well as the interested layperson, this book reveals where hidden sources of creativity and inspiration can be found in everyday life, such as in the body, the environment, material objects, or even daily activities. Numerous stories, exercises, and pictures illustrate this take on creativity from a process work perspective by tapping into art, music, puppets, movement, and more. This inspirational guide to bringing artistic elements into one's life examines dreams, body experiences, and overall life situations.

Alternative to Therapy (2006)
The innovative concepts and practical methods of Process-Oriented Psychology (process work)—many of which have never been published—are explored in this highly unusual textbook. The goals of process work lay not in traditional psychotherapeutic theory, but rather in the unique wisdom and path of process, or nature, itself. Each of the 32 chapters represents a "class" in which one of the principles is highlighted and investigated from many angles, allowing the author to present the highly structured content in a playful way that is both attractive and useful to helpers and therapists from many different backgrounds.