Theory And Practice Of Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy

This comprehensive introduction to Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy lays out the background and fundamentals of the approach covering theory and practice. Gendlin, after many articles on Focusing-oriented psychotherapy, finally published the text Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy in 1996, making these ideas more widely available to the world. With contributions from some of the world's most influential contemporary Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapists and a foreword by Gendlin, this book provides a long overdue survey of this growing field. It explores how Focusing has been integrated with other theoretical orientations such as attachment theory, solution focused therapy, relational psychoanalysis, and existential therapy. Contemporary issues in Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy are also covered, such as its suitability across cultures, and how it relates to the latest findings in the field of neuroscience. The book is essential reading for all practicing therapists and counselors, as well as trainee therapists, particularly those who want to explore the potential of experiential dimensions in their therapy and coaching practice. Jessica Kingsley Publishers also publishes a companion volume, Emerging Practice in Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy: Innovative Theory and Applications, edited by Greg Madison [9781849053716].

Emerging Practice in Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy brings together some of the world's most influential contemporary psychotherapists in the field to look at the future of Focusing-oriented approaches. Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy - a form of therapy that involves listening to the innate wisdom of the body - is a dynamic and growing field that has evolved greatly since Eugene Gendlin first published the text Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy in 1996. This book explores recent innovations such as Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy as a response to trauma, Wholebody Focusing, and how Focusing has been adapted in Japan and South Korea. One section looks at specific contemporary issues and emerging practical applications of Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, such as how Focusing can be used in wellbeing counselling and to help decision making processes in counselling and therapy. By offering new alternatives to working effectively with difficult issues and specific client groups, this volume will appeal to a broad range of therapists, coaches, and other practitioners. Jessica Kingsley Publishers also publishes a companion volume, Theory and Practice of Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy: Beyond the Talking Cure, edited by Greg Madison [9781849053242].

Examining the actual moment-to-moment process of therapy, this volume provides specific ways for therapists to engender effective movement, particularly in those difficult times when nothing seems to be happening. The book concentrates on the ongoing client therapist relationship and ways in which the therapist's responses can stimulate and enable a client's capacity for direct experiencing and "focusing." Throughout, the client therapist relationship is emphasized, both as a constant factor and in terms of how the quality of the relationship is manifested at specific times. The author also shows how certain relational responses can turn some difficulties into moments of relational therapy.

The classic guide to a powerful technique that can increase your mindfulness and lead to personal transformation Based on groundbreaking research conducted at the University of Chicago, the focusing technique has gained widespread popularity and scholarly acclaim. It consists of six easy-to-master steps that identify and change the way thoughts and emotions are held within the body. Focusing can be done virtually anywhere, at any time, and an entire “session” can take no longer than ten minutes, but its effects can be felt immediately–in the relief of bodily tension and psychological stress, as well as in dramatic shifts in understanding and insight. In this highly accessible guide, Dr. Eugene Gendlin, the award-winning psychologist who developed the focusing technique, explains the basic principles behind focusing and offers simple step-by-step instructions on how to utilize this powerful tool for tapping into greater self-awareness and inner wisdom. As you learn to develop your natural ability to “focus,” you’ll find yourself more in sync with both mind and body, filled with greater self-assurance, and better equipped to make the positive changes necessary to improve and enhance every aspect of your life.

Drawing on mindfulness, body psychotherapy and positive psychology, focusing teaches clients how to identify their inner awareness to spur change and therapeutic progress. This guide explains how to use focusing to treat a range of issues.

Since its beginnings in the 1950s, the person-centred approach to therapy has developed in many ways. In this important new text, Campbell Purton introduces the 'focusing' approach of Eugene Gendlin. The book discussed Gendlin's theoretical innovations and their implications for clinical practice. It throws light on the relationship between the various schools of therapy, and on the relationship between therapy and such areas as ethics and spirituality. It will be essential reading for students and practioners of person-centred therapy.

A therapy technique for inner awareness and meaningful change. “Focusing” is a particular process of attention that supports therapeutic change, a process that has been linked in more than 50 research studies with successful outcomes in psychotherapy. First developed by pioneering philosopher and psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin, Focusing quietly inspired much of the somatically oriented, mindfulness-based work being done today. Yet what makes Focusing a truly revolutionary approach to therapeutic change has been little understood—until now. Focusing is based on a radically different understanding of the body as inherently meaningful and implicitly wise. Mere intellectualizing or talking about problems can keep clients stuck in their old patterns of behavior. Focusing introduces the concept of the “felt sense,” a moment in process when there is a potential to experience more than is already known and to break through old, frozen, stuck patterns. Clients who see real change during the course of their therapy work are often those who can contact and stay with a felt sense—but how to help them do so is not obvious. Ann Weiser Cornell, who has been teaching Focusing to clinicians for more than 30 years, shows how to help clients get felt senses and nurture them when they appear, how to work with clients who have difficulty feeling in the body, how to facilitate a “felt shift,” how to support clients who experience dysregulating emotional states, and much more. Beginning with a clear explanation of what makes Focusing so potentially transformative, she goes on to show how to effectively incorporate Focusing with other treatment modalities and use it to treat a range of client issues, notably trauma, addiction, and depression. Designed to be immediately applicable for working clinicians and filled with practical strategies, clinical examples, and vignettes, this book shows step by step how to bring Focusing into any kind of clinical practice. Cornell expertly demonstrates the Focusing process unfolding, moment by moment, in the therapy room, and illuminates its powerful capacity to support a client’s growth and change.

Focusing provides an effective way of listening to the innate wisdom of the body, while art therapy harnesses and activates creative intelligence. Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy: Accessing the Body's Wisdom and Creative Intelligence is a ground-breaking book integrating renowned psychologist Eugene Gendlin's Focusing with art therapy. This new, Focusing-based approach to art therapy helps clients to befriend their inner experience, access healing imagery from the body's felt sense to express in art, and carry forward implicit steps that lead toward change. Written for readers to be able to learn the application of this innovative approach, the book provides in-depth examples and descriptions of how to adapt Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy to a wide variety of clinical populations including individuals and groups with severe psychiatric illness, trauma, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and more, as well as applications to private practice, illness and wellness, spirituality, and self-care. Integrating theory, clinical practice, and numerous guided exercises, this accessible book will enhance clinical sensitivity and skill, while adding resources for bringing creativity into practice. It will be of interest to art therapists, Focusing therapists, psychologists, counselors and social workers, as well as trainers and students.