There are no enemies inside. Every part of us is trying to save our lives ~ Ann Weiser Cornell

Focusing is a psychotherapeutic process developed by psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin. It can be used in any kind of therapeutic situation, including peer-to-peer sessions. It involves holding a kind of open, non-judging attention to an internal knowing which is directly experienced but is not yet in words. Focusing can, among other things, be used to become clear on what one feels or wants, to obtain new insights about one’s situation, and to stimulate change or healing of the situation. Focusing is set apart from other methods of inner awareness by three qualities: something called the “felt sense”, a quality of engaged accepting attention, and a researched-based technique that facilitates change.

What is Focusing? We invite you to pause…

Focusing shows how to pause the on-going situation and create a space for new possibilities for carrying forward. This practice, developed from the Philosophy of the Implicit*, shows how to apply open attention to something which is directly experienced but is not in words.

Your body knows more about situations than you are explicitly aware of. For example, your body picks up more about another person than you consciously know. With a little training, you can get a bodily feel for the ‘more’ that is happening in any situation. From that bodily feel come small steps that lead toward resolution.

“Focusing” is to enter into a special kind of awareness, different from our every day awareness. It is open, turned inward, centered on the present and on your body’s inner sensations.

A List of the Benefits of Focusing

Once learned, Focusing can become a resource in all moments when you want to be in touch with your felt sense, with your intuition and with the wisdom that your body can give you. Focusing permits you to:

• understand what you are truly feeling and wanting
• surmount obstacles, make decisions and solve problems creatively
• become more attentive and friendly to yourself and others
• integrate body, mind and spirit
• find relief from tension and chronic pain
• be independent from external belief systems
• deepen and make more effective the process of counselling and psychotherapy

Want more information about Focusing? Please visit: www.focusing.org

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I am always open about my thought process and the approaches I use because I consider the work to be collaboration.

Here are some of the issues I work with:

• Emerging from depression
• Becoming less anxious, more relaxed, more confident
• Healing traumatic memories that may be inhibiting or upsetting you in the present
• Improving your relationship with yourself
• Improving your relationship with others
• Taming a harsh inner critic
• Mastering panic attacks
• Overcoming phobias
• Grieving in a healthy way
• And many other issues as well

Regardless of the issues, my overall goal is to provide a place that is welcoming and confidential where you can engage with a skilled psychotherapist to create positive changes in your life.