Dear Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in the Advanced Studies Program, our professional training program on Dr. Progoff’s methodology for psychological growth, including the Intensive Journal method.

Our training program is designed to meet our anticipated programmatic needs in the next five to ten years. During this period, the mix of audiences and sponsoring organizations will continue to change rapidly, becoming far more diverse, to include governmental entities and specialized populations in such areas as mental health, prisoner rehabilitation and continuing education of therapists. Our workshops are no longer limited to the general public in a retreat or commuter setting.

This important development creates opportunities and challenges. Our future leaders must be trained to conduct our experiential workshops and to be able to articulate the concepts behind Dr. Progoff’s methods in a presentation format. Dr. Progoff’s programs, including the Intensive Journal method, are a powerful and respected tool for psychological growth, much more than a “journaling” program. Our future leaders must be able to convey this information to key personnel who are the decision-makers in selecting programs for their institution.

Our training program consists of independent study where you answer questions about each topic area and submit monthly reports to our director of training. You use an integrated study guide that covers both Dr. Progoff’s theories of psychological growth and how they were implemented through the Intensive Journal method. Through this process, you have a methodical way of deepening your knowledge and understanding of both areas, helping you to see connections as well as the impact of key figures such as Carl Jung upon Dr. Progoff. The second study guide, which is much shorter, prepares you to conduct Intensive Journal workshops and to be an effective member of our organization. Topics include learning how to handle certain situations that occur in a workshop, responding to readings, assessing your communication skills and reporting about the workshop.

To complement your studies, we expect you to continue to attend Intensive Journal workshops, preferably with a diversity of leaders. This experience is critical for becoming comfortable with the unique attributes of our method.

I urge you to review carefully the section that is entitled "Background Information" which explains the detailed requirements for admission into our training program. It addresses many of the questions and concerns for those who have inquired and gives you a sense of the flavor and dynamic quality of our training process.

The method is unique and requires a special set of skills and personal qualities for a person to be an effective leader. Ultimately, you must be honest with yourself and determine whether conducting Intensive Journal workshops will be appropriate for you.

We regard our leaders as some of our most precious assets and key components of our quality workshops. Although their backgrounds and interests vary greatly, they share a commitment and dedication to the program and a deep appreciation of Dr. Progoff’s contribution to the field of human development.

The training program is designed to help you become proficient in a variety of areas. In the workshop setting, it will give you the background to answer questions more effectively. You will be better equipped to make a presentation to a target audience or to conduct a more in-depth seminar regarding Dr. Progoff’s theories of psychological growth.

The amount of work that is required to complete the training program is approximately equivalent to one college level course. It requires serious study but is manageable and covers areas of great interest. However, given your other commitments, you will need to set deadlines to proceed through the study guides. I cannot emphasize enough that this discipline is critical. There is a maximum period of three years to complete the training program.

Your involvement in our program can be very rewarding in terms of the contribution that you can make to helping people better their lives. Given our outreach to diverse audiences, your background and interests can be important contributions to developing these areas.

I consider the training of our current and future leaders and our quality control measures to be a critical aspect of the program. The policies, procedures and study guides are uniquely tailored for the requirements of this program. They are designed to produce solid leaders with whom we can work for many years to come.

Please contact me if you have any questions about the program. Thank you for your interest.