Matthew Harwood

Focusing

‘Psyche and matter (ie the body) are two different aspects of one & the same thing.’  (Jung)

‘Focusing’ is the name given to a style of therapy pioneered by Eugene Gendlin. He made the important discovery that psychotherapy doesn’t really work unless there is something happening physically within the body at the cellular level.

In ‘Focusing’ the aim is to help the client to connect with the ‘felt sense’ that is underneath the problem or issue that they are wanting to explore.

Explanations of the ‘Felt Sense’ by Gendlin

♦ ‘Focusing occurs exactly at the interface of body and mind.’

♦ ‘It is more than being in touch with your feelings, greater than just thinking about a problem, and different from body sensations.’

♦ ‘It is an internal bodily awareness of a situation, problem or aspect of one’s life.’

♦ ‘Like a hologram, (the ‘felt sense’) encapsulates everything you feel and know about a given issue or situation at a given point in time.’

♦’Research has shown that clients in psychotherapy who know how to connect with the ‘felt sense’ of a problem have a greater chance of success than those who don’t. And the good news is that most of those who don’t know how to do it naturally can be taught.’

Connection With Mindfulness

There is an important connection with ‘Mindfulness’ here. In order to do ‘Focusing’ correctly the part of you which is ‘you’ has to be ‘mindfully present’ with the ‘felt sense’. For:-

♦ ‘A felt sense will shift if you approach it in the right way. it will change even as you are making contact with it.’

♦ ‘When you felt sense of a situation changes, you change – and, therefore, so does your life.’

SEE ALSO:

• Active Imagination,
• Internal Family Systems (IFS).