# Focusing



## Guest (Jan 27, 2012)

More than 25 years ago psychologist Eugene Gendlin came to a difficult realisation. That he could accurately predict, very early on, which patients were likely to make progress and which were not, almost irregardless of the type of therapy involved. These patients were doing something instinctively that others were not. He studied this to find what it was and what it involved, broke it into steps for convenience, and called it Focusing.

It's all about the "felt sense", a general, overall impression we have of a problem, the culmination of everything about it without going into details. It's like when you see someone you know. You don't analyse everything about them when you see them, but you have a felt sense of who they are straight away. By focusing on an issue we may have, it opens up to us, changes, and, eventually, dissolves.

If you want to take a look at this method, go to www.focusing.org

This is just a suggestion, but if it helps one person then it was worth the post.


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

"_to apply open attention to something which is directly experienced_"


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2012)

I forgot to say, 
There's a paperback manual, easy to read and not expensive.

Focusing
Eugene T. Gendlin

And if you want to go deeper:

Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy
-a manual of the experiential method.
Eugene T. Gendlin


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## ladybugz (Feb 6, 2011)

Visual said:


> "_to apply open attention to something which is directly experienced_"


LOL Visual!!! I LOVE it!


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

looks like mostly mindfulness


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2012)

kate_edwin said:


> looks like mostly mindfulness


It has been likened to Mindfulness, and there are definate similarities, although perhaps it differs somewhat in practice. I would suggest that Focusing is more specific and directed towards the therapeutic resolution of certain issues. But healing is healing, so the kind of internal shifts I have heard people describe using Mindfulness would likely be the same as with Focusing. Focusing is aimed at bringing about these shifts.

I would say that if you have practiced Mindfulness you should find Focusing familliar and take to it quite quickly. I came to it through Somatic Experiencing, which also provided an excellent groundwork, but Focusing is now my bridge between any methods I am using. It is universal and adaptable that way to whichever methods you prefer.

"The Therapist should keep in mind that Focusing is one way to carry implicit bodily experiencing forward, but there are other ways. Focusing works by direct attention to the body sense. Other ways of working, through interaction, imagery, dreams, changes in habit and in action - though they are made more effective by Focusing - can also constitute therapy without it. No one has the right to claim that there is only one way for human beings to grow, in therapy, in personal development, or in anything."

Gendlin, F.O.P.


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## Shapiro (Nov 7, 2011)

Very good resource! While mindfulness offers somatic meditations, it's about relaxing the tension in that body part. Focusing offers a specific step by step process to get a felt sense about what's causing the tension, and get to the root of it. The same as mindfulness, you don't judge or analyze it. But focusing allows you to name it.

I read in the book, it's similar to the nagging feeling you get when you go on a trip and just feel you've forgotten something. When you finally remember what it is, it shifts from a sick, nagging feeling to something you're at terms with.

I haven't gotten all the way through the book yet, so I hope I'm explaining this well. It would seem for people with dp/dr who often have trouble processing feelings and emotions its an excellent tool to have.


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