Appointment

Focusing

Focusing is a form of experiential psychotherapy that emphasizes not only what we feel, but how we relate to what we feel.

Focusing involves an attitude of presence, respect and relationship with bodily and emotional experience, especially with those aspects that are usually avoided, judged or rejected.

At the heart of Focusing lies the felt sense (felt sensation): a bodily experience, which contains an implicit meaning not yet formulated in words.

From this perspective:

  • The body is a living process that knows important things about us that we may not yet be aware of.
  • The inner experience needs to be received, listened to, and accompanied.
    We seek to create a secure internal relationship with what is appearing within us.

How do I relate to what happens to me?

In Focusing, a clear distinction is made between:

  • The experience (physical sensations, emotions, thoughts)
  • And the "Self" that is with that experience

This “Self”:

  • It does not merge with the content
  • It is not placed above
  • Does not try to control

It is a kind, curious, and respectful presence, allowing the experience to unfold at its own pace.

One of the fundamental principles of focusing is that: Nothing that appears is a mistake. Even the most difficult experiences:

  • Fear
  • Shame
  • Blockade
  • Confusion
  • Endurance

They are understood as attempts at protection or adaptation.

The process of change occurs when the inner experience feels accompanied

When a bodily experience/sensation/feeling is received with: presence, genuine interest, non-judgment, patience, a spontaneous internal change usually occurs, known as felt shift:

  • Relief
  • Internal movement
  • Greater clarity
  • Sense of space
  • New, felt understanding

This change is not forced; it emerges when the internal relationship is sufficiently secure.

Through focusing, people learn a different way of relating to themselves: kinder, more conscious, and more integrated.

Focusing seeks to change the way you relate to what you feel. And from there, change happens naturally.

Focusing is not just a therapeutic tool, but a way of being with the human experience, based on the deep trust that the organism knows how to move forward when it feels accompanied.