"The principles given in this book are excellent. This is a very good approach, especially all he says about the negative and diagnostic type of analysis which just binds people more firmly to their obsessions. His idea of a positive therapy which loosens up the flow of psychic and living dynamism is fine...the book is very worthwhile."

"A continuous writing experience, which aids...in investigating and evaluating life experiences, spiritual progress and goals,...provides a vehicle for remembering the past...encourages reflection on the interior life, can be seen as a healthy experience and a helpful contribution to self-understanding and personal growth....the 'Intensive Journal' [method] of Ira Progoff is one complete, detailed and easily learned system enjoying a deserved popularity."

"Dr. Progoff has been most effective in helping people bring their lives into focus with deep respect for the faith tradition in which so many are rooted. I can only hope and pray that this resource will continue to be available for another generation as it has helped us."

"I personally took this workshop several years ago. It is an effective means for achieving greater personal integration as well as a superb process to complement many of our educational programs. I would appreciate your bringing this excellent resource to the attention of your colleagues in the educational ministry, particularly those at the parish level."

"...there is little doubt that his Intensive Journal workshops have been highly successful in helping so many come to a deeper awareness of their inner journey."

"While theologians talk a good game about the primacy of experience over dogmatism, perhaps few in the United States have done quite as much as Progoff to evolve a proxis for the principle. His [book] At a Journal Workshop...was designed to facilitate the capacity to listen to, and interpret, the symbolic language of the soul; this one pushes these methods further, into meditation and the realm of spirit. The genius of the method lies in its ability to organize the life..."

"Ira Progoff is best known as the founder of the Intensive Journal method of personal development. Intensive Journal Workshops use contemplative writing exercises to deepen awareness of one's life and its connection to what Progoff calls the 'larger-than-personal.'"

"With these words, Dr. Ira Progoff leads us through the Intensive Journal [method] to deal with inner workings of self-knowledge. This inner working requires personal reflection that begins with the Self, flows through others, touches God and returns full circle."

(Regarding a Progoff workshop at the Abbey of Gestsemani:) "Dr. Progoff's method is understandably, then, nonanalytic and non-diagnostic in its approach, as well as integrative and so therapeutic in its purpose....In the light of Dr. Progoff's remarks...on the use of Eastern techniques in the West,...Thomas Merton seems to have voiced somewhat similar views shortly before his death...he had come to realize that the East held nothing for him that he could not have found or did not already have, essentially, in his own tradition and vocation..."

"...Ira Progoff's Intensive Journal Method is just such a link between inner renewal and the outer life and ministry of the priest. In the group setting the [Intensive Journal] workshop is a kind of silent retreat. In practice afterward, it appears to me as a form of prayer, a way for God to address us through the medium of our own experience. It is an introduction to a spirituality of experience."

"The Intensive Journal program is an instrument which lends itself to the discovery of the real presence of God in one's own personal life story. The content of the program is the content of the life of the Journal-writer; hence it is through the life of the Journal-writer that Christian faith may enter into the individual's use of the Intensive Journal exercises."

Review for Religious
July/August, 1991, p. 500-508

"He [Dr. Progoff] has succeeded...in developing a tool of immense usefulness to others eager to pursue the same inner quest....The carefully designed techniques worked out by Progoff through the years help the writer seek out that deep center of self and release the creative energy that breaks old patterns, reveals new perspectives, changes lives."

Today's Parish
November/December, 1982

"For thirteen years, the Progoff Intensive Journal Workshop has been an integral part of Oblate School of Theology's sabbatical program, Ministry to Ministers....an invaluable instrument for navigating the murky waters of self-discovery....It draws participants into deeper introspection and allows them to see the
connections between the very core of their persons and the various aspects of their lives. The workshop experience leads participants to a new sense of integration and grounding. "

"The Intensive Journal method has been very popular with these students. From my own participation in the workshops, I can enthusiastically affirm the value of the method in theological education. It invites the seeker to communion with oneself, others and God in new and insightful ways. Journaling can serve as an important formational component in conjunction with theological studies and the ongoing practice of ministry."

"Most of my students say: 'The Journal helps me get in touch with my inner self.'"

"The ability to articulate and reflect upon the inner journey is a key factor in formation of ministry. The Progoff Intensive Journal Program develops and deepens these skills, enriching both the minister and his/her ministry."

"...the Intensive Journal method... as a course in spirituality has been the most useful resource I have encountered for integrating the complex dimensions both of my personal spiritual journey, and my professional development as a pastoral counselor. Now I cannot imagine having completed my three-year Master of Divinity program without this course..."

"...a pivotal experience....the Intensive Journal program asked of me that I look at my own self, and it challenged me to do this in a truly academic and scholarly manner. As an educative process, this is indeed a precious and powerful instrument of discovery and transformation, and I wholeheartedly commend it for its serious academic approach."