Focusing is a psychotherapeutic process that was developed/discovered by Eugene Gendlin in the 1950s. He was a philosopher and psychotherapist who worked alongside Carl Rogers in researching what made psychotherapy effective.
From the research he concluded that those who benefited most from therapy were those clients who had the ability to be in touch with their bodies; they were able to have a ‘sense’ of uninformed feelings “ Felt Sense”and they were able to connect to it.
What is Felt Sense:
Felt sense meditation:
What happens in a Focusing session?
Focusing can involve a few moments of quiet; sometimes clients feel comfortable closing their eyes so they can ‘clear a space’ and get in touch with everything that comes up. If a number of experiences or issues come up we can imagine them as boxes; once they are recognised and labelled the boxes move to the sides and allow any other issues to be recognised. Once it all feels clear and the boxes have been perceived the client is left to decide which issue they would like to explore in further detail, or perhaps all are connected in some way and this then becomes apparent. Often colours may start forming or images that help the client to connect more deeply and personally with the concer.