Emergent Dialogue & Focusing

Coming Home to Oneself Sovereignty Mutual Inquiry Collaboration

WHAT IS FOCUSING?

Focusing

Focusing is a body-oriented process for self-awareness and problem-solving developed by Eugene Gendlin in the 1960's and 70's, and published in 1982. Like an iceberg, we descend from the surface of our thinking and deep into the felt meaning of the body's sensing. By exploring the murkiness of the felt sense, insights and needs are realized, and the Focuser discovers next steps for living well.

Focusing is the core of Emergent Dialogue, a way to dialogue with your Felt Sense and let the whole of you 'carry forward' in your living. Usually the Focuser selects an issue, but sometimes just starts with a background feeling. A partnership divides the time equally and typically allocates 20-30 minutes for each turn. The Companion keeps time and listens to the Focuser's report without questioning or analyzing what's reported. Occassionally, the Companion reflects a portion of the report and the Focuser checks to see if that fits their felt sense of the issue. The Focuser is always in charge of how much reflection they want.

Focusing Service Demo
DEMO - Ruth Hirsh guiding Catherine Torpey