Focusing is a mind / body approach to healing. Sometimes we can be stuck in our heads trying to describe our pain, our story and solve our problems. Focusing connects us to our ‘felt sense’. Those ‘somethings’ within us that call for attention; Those inner stirrings we are dimly aware of; those parts of ourselves we tend to ignore, diminish or distort because they feel uncomfortable, irrational, non-sensical or just plain in the way. By creating a welcoming space we discover that the things in ourselves we tend to push away or avoid are the places we could turn to as sources of wisdom and learning.
By sitting with these communications we can begin to express ourselves in a new and fresh way. The approach gets us out of our tired heads and allows us to focus on our internal conflicts which I believe are the roots of our difficulties. Ultimately, focusing allows us to have better relationships with ourselves which in turn improves our relationships with others.
The origins of Focusing Orientated Therapy begin with the work of Carl Rogers and colleagues and was then later developed by Gene Gendlin, a philosopher and psychotherapist with a particular interest in phenomenology – loosely described as the psychological study of subjective experiencing.
It was this paragraph in the book by the engaging and accessible writer, psychotherapist and philosopher Campbell Purton that ignited my passion for the approach:
“One way of expressing what it is that the more successful clients do would be to say that they make more direct reference to their felt EXPERIENCING. The client who is simply EXTERNALISING talks about the events of their week in an ‘external’ way gives most of his attention to the narrative of the story and does not give much attention to how they are feeling as they tell the story. Similarly, the client who analyses their situation may speak about their feelings but does not speak from their feelings. The client who simply emotes is different, but they are typically reliving old emotions without connecting to how it feels right now, freshly, today. In all three cases what seems to be missing is an ability to be in touch with one’s immediate felt EXPERIENCING as a whole. Some people may not know that such a thing is possible – to simply notice ‘how things are for me right now’, ‘how I am in relation to this problem’. And even those of us who do know that it is possible do not always retain this kind of awareness when involved in a difficult situation. “
‘The Focusing Orientated Counselling Primer’ – Campbell Purton PCCS Books
