“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”    Marcel Proust

Once we decide to try Focusing, our first step is often a Guided Focusing Session from a Certified Focusing Professional.  For many of you, that will be with me.  For those who feel any kind of conflict toward trusting me, I can refer you to another Professional.  You can also search yourself on the The International Focusing Institute's website for Certified Focusing Professionals.  

SAFETY in this process, in general, is an important topic you may be aware is holding you back.  Possibly some of these points will help.  I can also send you more information and would be glad to have a more in-depth conversation in person or on the phone around this as well.  First, in Focusing, we are primarily working with an inner experiential process and if it feels best, each of us can keep ‘what’ the experience is about, to ourselves.  All content that might come up in a Focusing Session is always 100% confidential.  I have not signed any oath to report certain anythings.  Next, Focusing is relationship building and we will be encouraged to honor what feels right to the inner relationship.  One shares what is wanting to be acknowledged and accepted out loud.  Anything which feels tender or needing to be protected would be acknowledged as that or silently to yourself.  This sense of safety and trust in the Focusing partnership process builds gradually over time.

Guided Focusing Sessions are precious self-care time.  Both you and I are doing nothing else but hanging out with, listening and inviting whatever inside of you is wanting your awareness right now.  You are holding what we call the Focusing Attitude of friendly, open curiosity toward whatever would like your attention. When something comes freshly (‘a felt sense’ experience), I will help you acknowledge it and sense into how it might want you to be with it.  You will get a feel for all the ways your body might choose to communicate with you – physical sensations, emotions, images or thoughts.  Every inner landscape is different and every Focusing session is different, yet, the core desire to connect and be understood weaves in, among, around and through it all.  And the experience of appreciation is often there, especially at the end, like one would feel for any authentic time with a good friend.  If something hangs around awhile, this is often an opportunity to get to know it better, possibly come to fully understand it. Sometimes there is not much communication, sometimes it is ‘hang out and do nothing together‘ that some part of us most needs right now.   This is not wasted time.  We are building a groundwork of acceptance and trust from which we will grow.  This same understanding that we are developing from inside may be just what we need next in our outer relationships as well.  Our body holds all of the complexity of where we have been, who we are now as well as a sense of where we are going next.  A Guided Focusing Session is an opportunity to tap into that rich fabric that is our life.

Guided Sessions are very helpful for moving through past or current issues that seem to be stuck or to re-invigorate your own sense of self. The prerequisite of having a Guided Session with someone who is certified to teach Focusing ensures that we are all on the same page in terms of understanding what type of experience we are practicing and exploring when we enroll in a Part 1 or similar course to expand our Focusing skill set.