The Focusing Connection

Vol. XXIX, No. 2

Editorial
by Ann Weiser Cornell

an we trust our experience?

asks Locana in the lead article
this issue. Its a key question
for Focusers, what can be trusted.
Locana quotes Gene Gendlin as saying,
Definitely. It is always trustworthy. But
what is trustworthy? Not emotions,
surely, and not the reactive states we
get into when we are identified with
our emotions. Gene is saying that the
process is trustworthy, of getting felt
senses and checking with them, being
with what is emerging there.
I love Locanas writings on the links
between Focusing and Buddhism. This
is the second in a series (the first was
How Focusing Can Help Buddhist
Practice" in September 2011). Its
fascinating to discover the concept of
the wisdom of becoming in Buddhism,
where we know we are interconnected
with, and part of, the whole universe,
mysteriously neither separate from it,
nor merged and identified with it. Yes,
that sounds like a Focusing-compatible
perspective indeed!
Ive known Judy Archer for a long
time, and weve seen her in these pages
before; you may remember her article,
Inner Partnership: Using Drawing
and Writing in the Focusing Process,
January 2006. When Judy says that
something mixes well with Focusing, I
pay attention. I had never heard of TRE
(Tension/Trauma Releasing Exercises)
so Ive grateful for her interweaving of
TRE with Focusing, found in this issue.
And then there is Roger Cunningham.
Roger is quietly transforming lives in
an inner-city college by introducing
Focusing and listening partnerships.
Focusing is revolutionary and not only
because once we know Focusing, we
can never again categorize people by
what they wear or how they look. We
are interested and curious in how the
intricacy of life shows up uniquely in this
person. Its so great to know this kind of
thing is going on. cd

March 2012

Focusing & Buddhism

Explorations in Focusing and Buddhism: Can we trust our experience?
by Locana (Elizabeth English)

Once we have discovered the depths

and delights of Focusing, it can be
difficult to answer the seemingly simple
question, What is Focusing? How can
we sum up the subtlety and range that
Focusing brings to our experience?
How to easily express what it involves?
Quite possibly, wed need to explain a
whole new, revolutionary relationship
with ourselves. There may also be
dramatic changes in the way we interact
and engage with the world out there.
Outlining how Focusing does all that can
be challenging. After all, the felt sense is
by definition vague, fuzzy and hard to
describe. Thats the whole point. Were
talking about something which does
not yet have words, and which doesnt
even exist in the fullyformed way we
normally relate to things.
0Funnily enough, as a Focuser who is
a Buddhist, I have the same problem
twice over. Buddhism, like Focusing,
also highlights the importance of our
inner world, and offers practices (such
as meditation) which leads us on a
journey to discover the heart of who
we are, or who we can be. Perhaps
the same is true for anyone describing
their chosen path; its difficult to do
justice to something whose riches and
significance affect our lives deeply.
Yet Focusing and Buddhism share
particular problems. Neither has an
easily explicable doctrine (although
both have a complex underpinning
philosophy that defy your average cup
of latenight cocoa); and above all,
both are primarily about a process, or
practice. This alone makes them hard
to define. The chief content is our own,

raw experience, the whole mysterious

range of it; where we encounter and
learn to embrace the highs and lows
of being all-too-human in this morethan-human world.
0The issue is even embedded in the
very word, Buddhism. The Buddhist
term for Buddhism is Dharma, which
points again to the primacy process,
as it means Path. At the same time,
Dharma means Truth, as in the truths
contained in that path, or the truths we
discover as we traverse it. Once again,
this begs the question: what is that
path, and what is that truth?
Trusting our own experience
0In one well-known Buddhist episode
dating back almost 2500 years, the
Buddha was asked just this question
by a group known as the Kalamas.
Then, as now, there were many
teachers around, each offering different
approaches. The Kalamas told the
Buddha that they were confused about
what to believe or which method to
follow. Going by his title alone, they
were asking the right person. Buddha
is an adjectival title, meaning, someone
who has woken up. It describes a
person who has awakened, or become
fully aware (by implication, anyone can
become a buddha). Here, as we will
see, is an overlap with Focusing. Both
are practices based on increasing our
awareness, or attention, with the result
that different parts of ourselves wake
up, or come alive, as we practice.
0In answer, the Buddha tells the
Kalamas that they should test everything
(continued on page 2)

The Focusing Connection 2560 Ninth Street, Ste 315-A Berkeley, CA 94710 phone: 510-225-0690 fax: 510-225-0990 website: www.focusingresources.com

Focusing & Buddhism from Page 1

The Focusing
Connection
is published six times a year by Focusing
Resources. It is written by and for people
using Focusing in their lives. Letters and
articles are invited on any subject of
interest to focusers.

Editor: Ann Weiser Cornell

Design & Production: Shannon Crossman

Editorial Board:
John Amodeo, Graton, CA
Mary Armstrong, Toronto, ON, Canada
Reva Bernstein, Oceanside, CA
Rev. Peter A. Campbell, Sonora, CA
Francesca Castaldi, Oakland, CA
Barbara Dickinson, Denville, NJ
Glenn Fleisch, Mill Valley, CA
Rob Foxcroft, Glasgow, Scotland
Dana Ganihar, Upper Galilee, Israel
Eugene Gendlin, New York, NY
Mary Hendricks Gendlin, Wesley Hills, NY
Bala Jaison, Toronto, ON, Canada
Mary Jennings, Dublin, Ireland
Elmar Kruithoff, Copenhagen, Denmark
Larry Letich, New Market, MD
Barbara McGavin, Bath, England
Rev. Edwin M. McMahon, Sonora, CA
Suzanne Nol, San Jose, Costa Rica
Patricia Omidian, Karachi, Pakistan
Bebe Simon, Oak Park, IL
Wilja Westerhof, Ruinerwold, Netherlands

Electronic and Print subscriptions are

available. For pricing or to order, please
visit: http://www.focusingresources.com/
materials/tfc.html. Back issues are $3.00
each ($3.50 overseas airmail). A back issue
index and quantity discounts are available at:
http://www.focusingresources.com/materials/tfcbackissues.html
Authors of published letters receive a six
month subscription; authors of published
articles receive ten free copies of the issue
in which the article appears, and a one year
subscription.

against their own experience. When

you know for yourselves that a
practice or approach leads to harm and
suffering, then dont do it. When you
know for yourselves that something is
wholesome, and leads to welfare and
happiness, then do it. According to
this, the Buddhas definition is wide and
inclusive. Similarly, on another occasion
he explains: Whatever conduces to
positivity, to freedom, ... to simplicity, to
contentment, to individuality, to energy,
to delight in the good that is my
teaching.
Is there a real basis for trust?
0While I love these descriptions, Im
aware they come with a slight problem.
To the Kalamas, the Buddha also added
that one way of determining what to
do, or which path to follow, is to notice
whether wise people blame or praise
those approaches. So we still need to
find some basis for trusting experience
either our own, or that of someone we
find wise. And if we look for positivity,
happiness, freedom (and so on) as the
basis for following a particular method,
it again raises the question of to what
extent we can trust ourselves to know
that is where the practice will lead.
0For example, if I were a susceptible
teenager, I might be persuaded by
cooldude peers that taking drugs
is about freedom, individuality and
energy. And that may be true on one
level; its just that the implications of
drugtaking are disastrously more
than that. Similarly, we might decide
to trust our bodies to know what to
eat, or to get enough sleep only to
find were munching chocolate over
late night movies. So how do we know
when to believe our experience? How
can I know for certain that something
leads towards delight in the good;
towards greater life, love and wisdom?
These questions often emerge when
we are learning Focusing. How can
we be sure we are in touch with a felt
sense? How do we know that a felt shift
is leading us towards more wholeness
and happiness? Wouldnt a bomber feel
a felt shift of happiness when he or she
has successfully released a bomb? So
what, if anything, can I rely on?
Finding a touchstone
0Both Focusing and Buddhism offer
answers. Each suggests that we look
within at our experience, and find a
touchstone there that we can learn to
trust. In Buddhism, this touchstone

is described as a type of wisdom that

may come first through hearing about
something, then reflecting on it, and
finally, from becoming. This third
wisdom of becoming means the
way we develop as people. Its not
so much about what we do on the
surface, but about becoming different
underneath, in ourselves. In Buddhism,
this becoming refers to the root
experience of being human, where we
know we are interconnected with, and
part of, the whole universe, mysteriously
neither separate from it, nor merged
and identified with it.
0One reason we come to trust this
wisdom of becoming is because
we begin to notice changes, perhaps
subtle at first, in how we are affected
by people and things. This gradually
affects everything about us our
thoughts, feelings, behaviors, attitudes,
responses, impulses and so on. Then
our trust in our practice grows. This
trust brings with it a sense of meaning,
purpose and direction. Its firm ground
to stand on. We know, increasingly
and instinctively, where we fit within the
universe; we feel our intrinsic belonging
in a world which is not really other
than us. Its a kind of coming home to
ourselves.
0A key Focusing tenet is that because
we instinctively feel whats wrong,
painful or not-wanted, we therefore
also know the direction towards what is
good, right and life-giving. This direction
is implicit, held in our wider being or
body as a sort of knowing. If we are
able to listen out for it and to follow
it, we naturally move towards growth
and expansion. Focusing practice
involves finding this sense of rightness
over and over again. We look for a fit,
a resonance, a freshness we listen
to that wide, though infinitely accurate,
bodily held response to a situation to
discover whats needed, to know what
our next step may be.
In Focusing, trust in our experience
grows as we discover how the felt
sense not only applies to our inner
world, but implicitly knows and takes
account of our wider situation and
those around us. A felt sense is our
felt response to the fact that we are
utterly relational and interconnected.
In this way, a felt sense is never purely
personal. It moves us naturally from a
self referential perspective into a
transpersonal realm. As I see it, if a felt
sense is right for me; its right for the
world; that distinction itself dissolves.
Through regular Focusing, we learn
(continued on page 4)

March 2012 The Focusing Connection

Focusing & TRE-Tension/Trauma Releasing Exercises

The Interweaving of Focusing and TRE-Tension/Trauma Releasing Exercises
by Judy Archer
When I learned Focusing in the
seventies I began a different relationship
with my internal life. I began to notice the
feelings underneath the story that either
I or another person was sharing. I began
to tune into the feeling layers and how
feelings affect the whole body. When I
learned TRE in 2010, it reminded me of
the energy and aliveness that comes
with the stretching in Bioenergetic
exercises from the seventies. There is a
kind of bodily sinking into, remembering,
almost re-accessing the felt experience
of skills I had previously left behind. At
some point I realized that these two
practices relate beautifully with each
other, and in this article Id like to show
how.
TRE
TRE is a set of seven exercises drawn
from Yoga, Tai Chi and Bioenergetics. In
the exercises we stretch the muscles of
feet, ankles, legs and iliopsoas muscles,
which evokes the naturally occurring
tremoring response. The tremoring
allows a grounding experience, which in
turn allows a release of tension.
We do these gentle exercises
standing except the last one, which is
done lying on the floor. For example, we
start with our feet shoulder width apart
and knees soft, and our feet roll over on
the outside of one foot and the inside
of the other foot and breath. Then we
roll our feet over in the other direction
again remembering to breath and back
and forth about five or six times. As
we work our way up the legs with the
exercises we gradually allow a softening
and a blood flow. The goal is to tire out
the muscles in the feet, leg and psoas
muscles to a level of efforting of 7 out
of 10. With practice and over time we
can allow an experience of allowing
movement- vibration, tremoring, or
shaking.
The operative word here is allowing.
What is fascinating about tremoring is
that we cannot make it happen. With
practice, at some level the body begins
to learn what it feels like to evoke a
tremoring response by letting go. Once
this experiential allowing is practiced
repeatedly it begins to be a positive habit
on a cellular level. The more I practice
and teach this work the more easily I
notice when I am not grounded and
return to being grounded. This means I

The Focusing Connection March 2012

learn to practice grounding the everyday

tensions, rather than carry them around
as baggage. What a huge relief!
It seems as though when I am
practicing TRE regularly I am deepening
my felt sense of my bodys innate
wisdom without necessarily having
any emotional content connected to it.
Something in me loosens up, softens
and reconnects to the rest of me. I
experience myself as lighter and fuller at
the same time and more relaxed.

Somehow the process of being more

grounded seems to tap into a cellular
memory of creativity, and resources
I once learned and am reintegrating
into my life. I feel like I am sinking into
more of me physically, spiritually
and emotionally. How surprising and
delicious.
Focusing
This feels similar to focusing when
I sense into my core about an issue.
When I experience a sensation, I sense
into it, describe it until I get a felt sense
that feels right. As I am being with it just
as it is, it softens. I experience a physical
and energetic melding into all of me and
a sense of release or relief. This is another
way I would describe how I experience
the process of integration in focusing.
There is also an energetic feel of being
more inclusive or more accepting of all
my experiencing as I release something
and sense it as energy flowing through
me as I do it in TRE and other energy
work. It seems as though what I have
released is the story, or judgment that I
have made up in order to make sense
of what happened at the time.

Then something about the Focusing

process helps me drop down further in,
to trying on, exploring more of what this
all means or feels like on the inside. It is
kind of like tingliness all over my skin that
permeates right into the centre of me.
There is a very subtle something that is
percolating, moving thriving right at the
center of my core.
TRE deepens my practice of grounding
which is a foundation for all my other
work. And Focusing helps me deepen
into more a subtle felt sense of all that
work. The two intertwine and amplify
the value of each other. In some ways
using language to differentiate the two
practices is an artificial division of what
I experience as one process.
In both TRE and Focusing we learn
to embody a curiosity in how we work
with people to support and follow the
body knowing. The modeling of this
in TRE is in sync with Focusing in two
very distinct ways: First the curiosity
that we bring to the body, and secondly
following the body. No matter what our
skills are these are two fundamental
bases for the work.
Curiosity and presence
First, implicit in embodying the
curiosity is to be in presence in the
present moment. Presence is the
skill we keep deepening into practice
and through every Inner Relationship
Focusing learning/teaching experience
including Treasure Maps to the Soul. In
parallel with both practices the more we
embody presence with our clients the
more safety we create both for our own
inner experience and that of our clients.
Implicit in both TRE and Focusing
is a deep respect and trusting that
every area/emotion/situation that is
initially experienced as difficult holds
the seeds of its own recovery into
something integrated and whole within
each of us. We are evoking, releasing,
or tapping into something more of who
we are as we embody either practice.
In my practice of both I am sensing
a deeply felt experience of freedom,
possibility and expansion that is difficult
to put into words. And that includes
the willingness to be with my own
expansion/ contraction continuum as
well as those of my clients.
(continued on page 4)

Focusing & Buddhism from Page 2

to trust that sense of life direction and
forward movement. Its like discovering
our own inner compass.
Awareness and presence
0Whether meditating or Focusing,
the key to these insights lies in our
awareness or presence. When I am
simply aware of what I contain and
experience when I am present with
it I begin to feel the extraordinary
responsiveness of a living being (me) to
my whole environment. Both practices
throw into relief the way in which
everything is constantly shifting; how
the minute I interact with something, it
changes and I change. Just by being
present with what is here, we stumble
upon the truth, so well described in
both Focusing and Buddhism, that
everything follows a process; everything
is in process.
0In Buddhism this is known as
conditionality (or dependent arising
pratityasamutpada). It means one
thing follows another; events flow from
each other, a result always follows
from (is contained in) a cause. With
awareness, we discover the freedom to
create different causes, and experience
different outcomes. In Focusing,
Gendlin describes something similar in
his Philosophy of the Implicit. He shows
how one single moment contains the
past, present and future, in that are all
implied and known in that moment in a
unique implicit intricacy.
Change happens anyway
0The idea here is that change happens
anyway. Our inner path or journey is
simply what follows when we choose to
influence the direction of change. Exactly
how that change happens is a major
question within both Buddhism and
Focusing. Buddhism has developed a
complex array of answers, varying from
ethical precepts, to study, to mantra
and prayer, to many different types of
meditation, based sometimes on quite
different inner premises. In Focusing,
as in some Buddhist approaches, we
see change as something that happens
when we can be present with (aware
of) what is happening, without asking
it to change. Presence itself is enough;
just as in the presence of sunshine,
moisture and oxygen, a plant grows
naturally healthy.
0In an interview last year (for Tricycle
magazine), Gendlin was asked whether
we can always trust this. Is this

process always moving toward the

good? His reply: Definitely. It is always
trustworthy. But this comes with a
caution. Since this is a living process,
its not something we can determine in
advance. He adds: What trustworthy
means, though, depends here: it is your
living forward, that it moves toward. It
moves toward being able to breathe
if you cant breathe. It moves toward
relaxing when youre tense. It moves
toward more life. And yet what that
means varies.
0It varies, this movement towards life,
because we are never the same person
in the same situation (as Heraclitus said:
you can never step into the same river
twice). And perhaps heres the key to
how or why we can trust our experience.
Trust grows with practice; with the
safety to get it wrong, to experiment,
to find what works for us. Gradually, we
learn to feel, follow and trust our inner
compass in every new landscape.
As a Buddhist-Focuser, my practice is
to understand the natural order of things
more fully. I may think (as a Buddhist) in
terms of a dependently arising flow of
reality, or (as a Focuser) of living forward
and there are no doubt other equally
relevant frameworks and approaches,
which are meaningful to people in
different traditions. However we frame
it, the point for me is to experience it
more completely to gradually align
myself with it. To be alive in the very
moment to whatever is implied in that
moment. Then, following that living
forward energy becomes a natural,
joyful and spontaneous response to
living. Perhaps one day, the whole of life
will feel like that. In the meantime, Im
happy to experience just tiny moments;
those small, precious steps which
Focusing, meditation and just being
alive so gracefully grants me. cd
Dr. Elizabeth English is also known
in the Focusing community by her
Buddhist name, Locana. She is an
ordained member of the Triratna
Buddhist Community, and author of a
book on Tantric Buddhism, 'Vajrayogini'
( 2002, Wisdom Publications). Shes a
certified trainer in both Focusing and
Nonviolent Communication and a
teacher of Mindfulness. She has a
Focusing blog for Focusing articles:
http://lifeatworkfocusing.blogspot.
com/). And a Communication Tips
blog too: http://lifeatworknow.blogspot.
com. You can also sign up for her
monthly Communication Tips on: www.
lifeatwork.co.uk

Focusing & TRE from Page 3

Following the Body
Secondly when we are teaching TRE
we are following the body and honing
our observation skills. We are noticing,
and sensing before we intervene to
support the clients recognition of what
they are experiencing. We may sense
into what is needed to facilitate the client
discovering their movement. We might
simply be inviting the client to tell us
where they are noticing movement and
how they might describe it.
In Focusing this means we are willing to
be with an unwanted or wanted feeling,
image or sensation with curiosity, and
presence. We are reflecting the clients
words in a language that allows for
forward movement. There is something
about the interweaving of these skills that
allows more potential of transformation
for the practitioner as well as the client.
Interweaving
What I am noticing is a greater
experience of feeling more grounded
a more consistent experience of being
in my legs and my core almost like a
foundation, a connection to the ground.
Since I am doing the TRE grounding
exercises regularly it is easier to access
this as a more consistent positive habit.
My Focusing practice helps me be in
touch or aware of the felt sense of my
body as a more ongoing process. And
being more grounded and in presence
is an invitation or an opening to sink
down further in my body, an experience
of filling myself up from the inside, from
the ground up and be more curious
about the world around me including
my clients process. A trained observer
might also notice that clients feel safe
doing TRE when the TRE practitioner is
more grounded and in presence
Both Eugene Gendlin PhD, founder
of Focusing, and David Berceli PhD,
founder of TRE, encourage their
methods to be combined with other
modalities. Inner Relationship Focusing,
developed by Ann Weiser Cornell PhD
and Barbara McGavin, also encourages
applying Focusing in our daily living.
The effect for me of the interaction
between the two is experiencing a
deeper integration within me of all the
work I have done previously. In fact I
experience a sense of coming full circle
with my work. There is something about
the knitting or weaving together of these
two practices that opens me up, creates
a more porous receptivity, a bringing
(continued on page 5)

March 2012 The Focusing Connection

Focusing & TRE from Page 4

forward to embody and integrate more
of past learning/teaching experiences.
In Focusing as in TRE practice is
the key. My sense is that even as a
beginner with 16 months of regular TRE
practice that the two practices are so in
sync that there is a natural, progressive
amplification and inter-twining of one
and another. cd
Judy Archer, MASc is an Inner
Relationship Focusing Trainer, TRE
Practitioner and Certified BodyTalk
Practitioner who practices in Orillia,
ON, Canada. She can be reached at
judyarcher@rogers.com Her website is
<http://www.judy-archer.com>

Conference
24th International Focusing Conference
24th Congreso Internacional de Focusing
June 6 - 10 Junio 6-10 2012
Argentina

Awakening Consciousness
Despertando Consciencia
Coordinator's Meeting: 5 June
Encuentro de Coordinadores: 5 de Junio

The Focusing Connection March 2012

Hoodies & Focusing

by Roger Cunningham
Hoodies are in the news here a lot
lately. Rather interesting, I think. I have
been wearing a hooded sweatshirt since
I was a kid in the fifties. Have a great
picture of my brother, probably about
5:00 in the morning, sitting in my parents
living room, feeding a new-born pig with
a baby bottle, wearing a hoodie!
Then, in the 70s, for certain residents
of Greenwich Village, it seemed their
uniform included a green hoodie. And, for
most of America the most hated hoodie in
America is a middle-aged, middle-class,
Caucasian male, Bill Belichik, the hoodie
coach of the New England Patriots.
So, one might wonder why does Jerry
Rivers (aka Geraldo Rivera) think wearing
a hoodie is asking to be killed?
Well, social scientists will have to figure
all of that out. This is a paper about
Focusing.
I have taught Focusing as part of my
classes in Introduction to Psychology
since I began teaching in 1995. I do not
know how one can teach Psychology
out of a book; the text is ones own
body, ones own unconscious, not some
textbook. So, Focusing is my most
important tool.
A few years ago this tall, 64 black
male came into class, looking rather
ominous. I could only tell he was black by
seeing his hands. His face was covered
with his hoodie! He had on dark rimmed
glasses, and he had pulled the strings
on his hood until only his glasses were
exposed, no mouth, no nose, no nothing
but glasses. He sat apart from the class,
arms crossed, demonstrating by his
posture complete hostility to the world.
I began the class with a close your
eyes, get in touch with your breathing
relaxation exercise, some guided
meditation and then had the class pair
up, face each other and simply take in
who their partner was. No talking, just
observing your partner, taking in whatever
comes up and noticing not only your
partner but your response to your partner
observing you. The student participated
and then isolated himself from the class,
sat cross armed and closed.
The next week, we paired up and one
partner could speak, while their partner
remained silent. After two weeks of
Focusing pairings, I noticed that the
hoodie was opening a bit and a face

was appearing. After a few more weeks,

the hoodie was opened and then in the
following weeks the hoodie was not
covering the head and finally, the student
wore no hoodie at all. He was actually a
very nice looking, very amiable human
being that became more and more active
in the class and brought a lot of insight
into our discussions.
He revealed that he had been raised
in foster care, been neglected and was
really struggling. It was suggested that

after pursuing his degree he should

work in the foster care system to create
reforms so that more children would not
have to suffer the indignities that he had
suffered. He seemed very inspired by that
thought.
As with most college students, I have
never heard from him again, although I
am kind of convinced that he completed
his degree and has moved on in life,
maybe in the foster care system.
And, I am most amazed how Focusing
allowed this student to strip down,
undress, get naked as it were, in front
of this class of strangers and let us learn
who he really was.
The most divine words remain Dr.
Gendlins shut up and be human! Simply
works miracles, hoodie or not. cd
Roger Cunningham is a Focusing trainer
and Focusing-Oriented Therapist in New
York. He also makes found sculptures out
of rocks and wood in nature. His article,
Adventures Offering Focusing to InnerCity College Students appeared in TFC
January 2009. He may be reached at
jeff@access.net.

Connections
CONNECTIONS is a free bulletin board for announcements of Focusing workshops, classes,
and events. Send us advance notice (in English, please) of your workshops and classes including
specific dates. Changes groups are free of charge.

In-Person Classes & Retreats

STONY POINT, NY: Level Two & How to
Teach Level Two, Apr 13-15, Ann Weiser
Cornell. 845-362-5222 or www.focusing.org
HAMBURG, GERMANY: Nearer to the
Hearts Desire: How Focusing Allows What
You Want & What is Real to Come Closer
to Each Other, Apr 21-22, Ann Weiser
Cornell. Contact Elmar Kruithoff for details:
ek@focusing-center.com or www.focusingcenter.de/awc2012
NEW YORK, NY: Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapist Training, May 5-6, Charlotte
Howorth. 845-362-5222 or www.focusing.org
STONY POINT, NY: Thinking at the Edge
(TAE) - Levels One & Two, May 10-13, Nada
Lou. 845-362-5222 or www.focusing.org
BERKELEY, CA: Level Five: Guiding New
People, May 18-20, Ann Weiser Cornell. 510225-0690 or www.focusingresources.com
NEW YORK, NY: Focusing-Oriented
Therapy & Complex Trauma, Jun 2-3, Shaun
Phillips. 845-362-5222 or www.focusing.org
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: 24th
International Focusing Conference:
Awakening Consciousness, Jun 6-10.
http://www.focusing2012ba.com.ar
NEW GERMANY, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA: Embodied Listening: Unbinding the
Body, Finding the Felt Sense, Jul 13-15,
David Rome. www.mindfulfocusing.com
BIG SUR, CA: Getting Unblocked, Jun
15-17, Ann Weiser Cornell. 510-225-0690
or www.focusingresources.com
NIJENHOLTPADE, HOLLAND: Children Focusing Training (in English), Jul 15-21, Ren
Veugelers & Harriet Teeuw. venv@orange.nl
or www.ftcz.nl
GRASMERE, CUMBRIA, UK: Meditative
Listening, Jul 30Aug 6, Rob Foxcroft &
Suzanne Noel. Email rob@robfoxcroft.com
for details.
SANTA ROSA, CA: Focusing-Oriented Arts
Therapy (FOAT) Trainings: Level 1 & Level 2,
Aug 4-8, Laury Rappaport. 845-362-5222
or www.focusing.org
WANTAGE, OXFORDSHIRE, UK: Treasure
Maps to the Soul Retreat, Aug 8-15, Ann
Weiser Cornell & Barbara McGavin. 510-2250690 or www.focusingresources.com
GARRISON, NY: 7th Annual Focusing
Institute Summer School, Aug 18-24, Ann
Weiser Cornell, Joan Klagsbrun, Nada Lou,
Kevin McEvenue & Ren Veugelers. 845362-5222 or www.focusing.org
GARRISON, NY: Level One & Level One
for Healing Professionals, Aug 18-24, Ann
Weiser Cornell. 845-362-5222 or www.
focusing.org
TORONTO, ON, CANADA: 8th Annual Chil-

dren Focusing Conference: Focusing With

Children & The Child Within, Sept 27-Oct 2.
www.focusinginthelearningzone.com
BERKELEY, CA: Level Four, Oct 27-28,
Ann Weiser Cornell. 510-225-0690 or www.
focusingresources.com
Phone & Skype Classes
(Skype is a free to use online software)
Level 1 for Healing Professionals and Level
2 both start in Apr, Lucinda Hayden. 510225-0690 or www.focusingresources.com
Felt Sense In Action starts Apr 30, David
Rome. www.mindfulfocusing.com
Level 3, Level 3 for Healing Professionals,
Level 4 & Focusing Alone all start in May,
Ann Weiser Cornell. 510-225-0690 or www.
focusingresources.com
Working with Special Populations:
Deepening Your Practice as a FocusingOriented Therapist starts May 24,.
Helene Brenner 510-225-0690 or www.
focusingresources.com
How the New Can Come in Philosophy,
and in Practices Like Therapy & Art starts May
8, Gene Gendlin & Ann Weiser Cornell. 510225-0690 or www.focusingresources.com
Levels 1-4, including Level 2 & Level 4
for Healing Professionals, all start in Sept,
from Focusing Resources. 510-225-0690
or www.focusingresources.com
Module 1 of Teaching Focusing, Focusing
Alone & Demonstrations of Facilitating
Focusing all start in Sept, from Focusing
Resources. 510-225-0690 or www.
focusingresources.com
Focusing: The Second Year starts Sept
10, Ann Weiser Cornell. 510-225-0690 or
www.focusingresources.com
Changes Groups & Associations
VIRTUAL CHANGES GROUP: 2nd
Sunday of each month at 7pm EST & 2nd
meeting (day varies) at 11am EST. All dates
& registration at http://askmehouse.com/
offerings/freebies/virtual-changes-group
ARLINGTON, MA: meets one Sunday
afternoon a month. www.arlingtoncenter.
org/events
NEW YORK, NY: Union Square area.
Marsha
Lipshitz,
212-734-9004
or
syoung5@juno.com
NEW YORK, NY: Westside, 1st Sunday
evening each month. Larry Hurst larry.hurst@
focus-in-touch.com or 917-595 6884
NEW YORK, NY: NY Metro Focusing
themed community meetings. http://www.
nymetrofocusing.org
CHICAGO, IL: Meets the 3rd Thursday
evening each month. Chel Ferraro,
chelferraro@comcast.net
OAK PARK, IL: Chicago-area group meets

Tuesday eves. Bebe Simon, 708-524-1114

or http://lgrossman.com/bebe
EVANSTON, IL: Sunday nights 7-9 pm.
Marsha Smith, 847-491-1062
BERKELEY, CA: 1st Friday evening of
each month, 7-8:45pm. Francesca Castaldi,
francesca@focusingpathways.net
SANTA ROSA, CA: 4th Friday evening of
each month, 6-8pm. Laura Dickinson M.A.,
laura@innerlifestream.com or 707-527-7352
EUGENE, OR: 2nd & 4th Wednesdays.
Linda Prier, 541-345-9672
CORVALLIS, OR: 2 Sunday afternoons/
month. Nina Joy Lawrence, 541-745-5377
or 9ajoy@comcast.net.
PORTLAND,
OR:
1st
and
3rd
Tuesday evenings, in Hollywood Dist.
focusinginportland@yahoo.com.
RENTON, WA: 3rd Monday. Gail Beck 425226-9139 or Merry OBrien 425-271-6417
SEATTLE, WA: Meets 2nd Monday
most months, 7:30-9pm. Jane Nelson,
JaneWN@aol.com
VANCOUVER, BC: Every third Thurs
afternoon Katarina Halm, HappyBones@
telus.net or 604-263-9123
MONTREAL, PQ: English Group, 3rd
Tuesday evening each month, 7-9:30pm.
Kit Racette, 514-968-0927 or kit@
amindfulmoment.com
MONTREAL, PQ: Solange Saint-Pierre at
514-384-3233
OTTAWA, ON: Last Thursday of every
month. Shulamit Day Berlevtov shulamit@
inbox.com or 613-868-9642
SASKATOON, SK: Focusing Community
Practice Group meets once a month.
New members should have training and
experience in Focusing. Contact Dr. Esther
Stenberg at stenberg.gpp.asr@shaw.ca or
Sherry McDonald, RN, MAPPC (C) at sherry.
mcdonald@sasktel.net
SIMCOE CO/MUSKOKA, ON: One
Sunday a month. Judy Archer, Orillia, ON.
705-325-2055 judyarcher@rogers.com
LEEDS/HUDDERSFIELD, UK: Regular
meetings, all focusers welcome. Contact
simon@reflect.fslife.co.uk for details
REP. OF IRELAND: The Irish Focusing
Assoc. Quarterly meetings. Phil Kelly 014513207
UNITED KINGDOM: For information about
Focusing in the UK, and for workshop
listings, please go to www.focusing.org.uk
WORLDWIDE: Memberships, Focusing
partnership service, worldwide support for
Focusing. The Focusing Institute, 34 East
Lane, Spring Valley, NY 10977. Phone/Fax
845-362-5222, www.focusing.org
We only list workshops, Changes groups, and
Focusing associations. To find a Focusing teacher
in your area, see www.focusing.org/trsearch or
www.focusingresources.com/irf/directory.htm

March 2012 The Focusing Connection