home > overview > All About Focusing

IAFOTs All About Focusing

Focusing was developed by Eugene Gendlin a psychologist and philosopher at the University of Chicago, where he taught for over 30 years. Gendlin was also the founder and editor of the Clinical Division Journal, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.

His extensive research in the 1960's, demonstrated that the most important factor for predicting success in psychotherapy was not the therapist's technique or the model s/he was using, but rather something the client was naturally doing.  Successful clients were speaking not from concepts or ideas, but rather communicating about personal issues from a direct, bodily-felt experience, in the moment.  As a result of his pioneering research, Gendlin received the first "Distinguished Professional Psychologist of the Year" award by the Clinical Division of the American Psychological Association in 1970.

Gendlin and other researchers were intrigued by why psychotherapy was successful for some clients and not for others. They were surprised to discover that those who were benefiting from therapy were instinctively doing something that others weren't doing.  This "something" eventually became known as Focusing.  These naturally gifted clients were searching inwardly in a gentle, allowing way.  They were staying true to their own inner sense of what "felt right" for them in relation to life issues and concerns. Gendlin realized that by teaching the skills of Focusing to both clients and students, they would feel more empowered to understand themselves and make positive life changes. His book, Focusing (Bantam, 1981) was the outcome of this research, which has now been published in 15 languages.

In Gendlin's book, Focusing was originally taught as 6 specific steps. As with any creative process, the original seed has sprouted in many different directions. Some therapists continue to use these or similar steps. Others do not use them in a systematic way. Whether the steps are fully used, partially used, or integrated as pieces of a therapy session, there are certain components that are typically present in a session that is Focusing oriented.

The Focusing Attitude...

The foundation for the practice of Focusing is what  Gendlin refers to as the "Focusing Attitude" - a way of being with ourselves (and others) that embraces an "attitude" of respect, gentleness, and compassion.  As each issue or concern emerges, we are asked to welcome it with a non-judgmental and caring presence. The Focusing Oriented Therapist helps by modeling this attitude and by encouraging clients to develop this attitude towards their own experience during sessions.

Experiencing in the moment...

Experiencing is how we are, and how we feel in any given moment. If someone asks you, "How are you?", you can automatically reply, "Oh fine, and you?" or you can actually stop, check inside, and ask yourself, "Ummm, how AM I right now?" What emerges is often more profound and truthful, than what you'd ever have imagined when you initially said, "fine".

Paying attention inside...

'Paying attention'  is an invitation to shift awareness from habitual thoughts and distractions to what is happening in the body right now. This redirection of attention often helps the client experience a quiet internal space, separate from his/her usual thoughts and opinions. We often suggest to clients at the very beginning of a session to just take a moment to check and see,  "What feels important  or meaningful today..." - or - "See if there's anything there that wants attention today...."

The formation of a Felt Sense...  

When a client is sitting quietly, looking inward, feelings begin to emerge that are connected with particular pieces or memories of a persons experience. These vague, and at first unclear feelings are called the Felt Sense. The Felt Sense is often at first unknown - like noticing "butterflies in your stomach" connected to 'something', but definitely experienced physically or viscerally, and related to feelings and memories that interact with our current life situations. A felt sense is wider than an emotion - it contains the "whole" of the story - and leads into new insights and positive steps toward resolving problematic issues.

Example:

You were planning to meet someone for dinner. The person phones to say that s/he can't make it. You feel 'something' about that...but you don't know what.  Maybe the feeling is 'something like'... anger...or disappointment...or maybe hurt...or jealously...  As you sit with this intricate mix of feelings, you sense a particular tightness in your stomach. This whole sense of tightness is the Felt Sense of..."All about the missed evening...."

Helping the Felt Sense to form...

The therapist assists the client in helping the felt sense form by asking open-ended questions:

Therapist:  Can you check and see..."What is the feel of this whole thing...?" (issue, situation, problem). or  

 "What is it about all this (issue or concern) that makes it feel so....? "    

The client quietly waits...listens....allowing the subtle bodily feel of the issue or situation  to form.  Words or images begin to emerge that gradually capture the exact feel of the whole issue: "It feels edgy..." or  "like a knot in my stomach..." or "it's like I'm sinking into a hole..."

Facilitating Questions...

Here are some further questions that a Focusing Oriented Therapist might gently pose to a client. 

• "Would it be okay to take a moment...maybe sitting quietly...to sense what your body has to say about 

        all this..."

• "Maybe notice...where that is in your body right now..." 

• "See if you can sense...what are you feeling about all that..."

• "Would it feel right to take a moment and... just sense into that anger...'"

Finding a 'fit' or a 'match'...

As the client continues to "sit with" the emerging images, and words (sometimes these are called Handle words and images), there is an ongoing checking to notice if there is a fit or match between the feeling (the felt sense) and the words or felt-pictures. The client is asking/sensing inwardly: "Is this right? Is it 'edgy'?...or  "Is it more like..."  The client is experimenting, waiting for the right felt-word that describes the inner sense of knowing: "Yes, that's it! It IS edgy."

Experiencing a Felt Shift...

This "ah ha" moment, when the client experiences a sense of felt-knowing: "Yes, that's exactly what it feels like!" is called a Felt Shift, and is experienced as a physically-felt release of tension and easing in the body. There is an absolute feeling that something has changed, or shifted - not necessarily of the problem or issue, but in how the problem is "carried" in the body. In addition to a feeling of relief or "fresh air", a Felt Shift is often experienced as new-knowing, like a complicated puzzle suddenly falling into place, or a new stream of words and images that prompt a movement toward new possibilities for change. 

Receiving...

At times during a session or as a session is coming to completion, we may invite the client to notice "where he or she is" right now.  Whether a shift in feeling tone, an unexpected insight, or a fresh understanding, the client is encouraged to pause and appreciate whatever forward movement or new opening may have come, even if a small one.  The therapist might also guide the client to notice how this "new knowing" 'fits' into the client's life (related to the presenting issue), perhaps "trying on" new possibilities to see how these inner shifts might help the client move toward possible action steps and change.

Research Evidence...

Research in the Client-Centered/Experiential tradition began more than forty years ago. Carl Rogers suggested that clients who self-actualize are "able to live more fully...in the process of experiencing." Gendlin, who was an associate of Rogers, developed the Experiencing Scale, which measured the range of a  client's verbalizations, from generalized and detached reporting to speaking from immediate, felt experience.

Using objective criteria, researchers listened to hundreds of hours of  therapy sessions and rated them according to how closely clients were speaking from their experiencing. Successful therapy outcomes were correlated to high experiencing measures. Twenty-seven subsequent studies have suggested that Higher Experiencing correlates with more successful outcome in therapy. [link to Focusing Website] 

Experiential Listening...

Experiential Listening is more than simply repeating back what the client has said. A Focusing Oriented Therapist listens not just to the words, but also to the feelings and meanings that have not yet been articulated, but which are implicitly there. The therapist, before responding, gets a sense of the client's meaning from using his/her own felt sense as a barometer. Then from a place of "deeply feeling into" what the therapist senses to be the clients meaning, a reflection back is made.  The client is then invited to check for felt-accuracy.  The therapist may reflect back the exact words of the client or find words that point to an underlying "feltness" that have not yet been verbalized.

Therapists frequently "check in" with the client to see if they "got it right". If the therapist's words capture the client's meaning, there may be a resonant moment in which the client experiences a change or shift in how s/he "holds" the issue. If the therapist's reflection doesn't resonate, the client makes the correction to clarify what was actually meant. This respectful, supportive back and forth process provides a very rich interchange in which the client feels meaningfully heard and seen.

The Client Therapist Relationship...

Focusing Oriented Therapists view therapy as a collaborative venture. Emphasis is placed upon eliciting what is true, real, and resonant for each client. A Focusing Oriented Therapist might at times offer viewpoints or interpretations to a receptive client. However, the client is always invited to check whether these ring true or not - or perhaps they are a step toward mutual discovery of a new felt-insight or self-understanding.

While always respecting boundaries and the client's own sense of what feels right, Focusing Oriented Therapists may at times gently invite the client to pay attention to the interactions and relationship between the therapist and client during a session. Sometimes sensing deeply into what happens between ourselves and others can open a very helpful avenue of change.

Focusing Oriented Therapy with Couples...

Focusing Oriented Therapy can be readily tailored for work with couples. The essential piece of using this model with couples is to help each partner connect with their own authentic felt-experience in a setting that creates safety and openness to express feelings, wants, and viewpoints. Through the use of Experiential Listening, the therapist ensures that each person not only gets 'heard' (by the therapist), but models new and safe ways for the partners to hear, and 'take in' what each is attempting to communicate to the other.

By learning to speak directly from a genuine inner place, using language that is non-blaming and non-judgmental, the couple becomes less defensive and reactive, and more open to each other.  They develop greater empathy for how the other 'carries' various issues, leading to more mutual understanding and deepened intimacy.

Communication is only effective to the degree that clients are able to contact what is real and genuine within themselves. Focusing Oriented Therapy provides a model for couples to do just that.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this page and that your interest in the various approaches to Focusing Oriented Therapy will be enriching, both professionally and personally.

We welcome your inquiries and look forward to hearing from you with questions or comments about this approach to therapy. You will find further information about training events and Focusing resources on the Training page. Listings of professionals offering Focusing sessions and Focusing Oriented Therapy in your area can be found on the Focusing Website.