> About Julie

Julie Diamond, Ph.D., a long-time colleague and student of Arnold Mindell, is one of the original founders of the Research Society for Process-oriented Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland, and the Process Work Center in Portland, Oregon. She is a principal co-author of the international training program in Process Work, and designed both Master of Arts degree programs at the Process Work Institute Graduate School: the MA in Process Work, and the more recent MA in Conflict Facilitation and Organizational Change.

Julie has been a central figure in developing learning centers for Process-oriented Psychology in Switzerland, North America, Australia and New Zealand.  She has a private practice in Portland, Oregon where she works as a counselor, coach and consultant with individuals on personal and professional development. She also works as a facilitator and trainer with organizations and communities around the world, and is an international trainer in Process Work and its applications.

Julie’s work as a group facilitator encompasses a diverse range of topics and applications. She has worked with communities, organizations, and non-profit groups on leadership, team development, and creating sustainable structures of internal government. Recent projects include working with trade unions in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on enterprise development and transitioning to democratic structures, training government agencies in conflict facilitation in New Zealand, and community building and conflict resolution for non-profit groups and communities in the United States.
 
Julie has authored several important articles, books and papers on Process Work and related topics. She is the author, with Lee Spark Jones, of A Path Made by Walking: Process Work in Theory and Practice (2005), a comprehensive and widely-used text on Process Work theory and methods.  Julie’s background in communication theory and systems thinking is reflected in her writing on verbal and non-verbal communication, group dynamics, power and democracy. Her first book, Status and Power in Verbal Interaction focused on power dynamics in group interaction using a network analysis of community. She has also applied her interest in power, rank and role theory to the issue of dual relationships in the helping professions. A recent article, “Where Roles, Rank and Relationship Meet,” explores the theoretical background of dual and multiple role relationships from a Process Work perspective.

Julie's interest in the dynamics of groups and organizations finds her thinking about the intersection of psychology and politics. She has written several articles on the psychology of democracy.  Her article, A Democracy Dialogue: Getting to the Essence of Freedom, explores how psychology’s subtlest reaches expand democracy beyond freedom from constraint to the freedom of self-actualization. Julie is currently working on a new book, A User’s Guide to Power.