November 5, 1944 – March 28, 2015
Mary is one of the important founding leaders of what is now The International Focusing Institute. She was there at the beginning working with Gene and other graduate students at the University of Chicago to bring these precious processes of Focusing and listening to the world.
She was one of the founders of CHANGES, a community model where Focusing and listening were taught to be practiced in a peer-oriented way in community. At the beginning there was this basic attitude of "giving Focusing away because it is a capacity present in everyone."
She trained many people world-wide in Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, many later becoming leaders in the field. She understood the significance of finding our inner experience underneath culture and language and lives of trauma and oppression which impacted the mission of the Focusing Institute.
She was the Director of The Focusing Institute for many years, and nurtured many people, in many parts of the world, who developed creative applications of focusing in diverse fields. She received her client-centered training at the University of Chicago and was in private practice for thirty years. She conducted significant research, and supported others in their research endeavors.
She also initiated and developed Thinking at the Edge, a philosophical process of developing concepts and theories that arise from experiential matrices, rather than ideas that are limited by already-formed concepts that have become abstractions.
She interned at the Post-Graduate Center for Mental Health in New York City, and then worked as a psychologist-trainer in the New York State Hospital system. She was a core faculty member at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology in Chicago for ten years, where she established and taught the Experiential/Client-Centered specialization.
Mary was in many ways the heart and soul of the Institute alongside her husband Gene Gendlin.
Mary's memorial in 2015
There is a memorial page for Mary, where many people offered remembrances of her at the time of her passing.
A memorial committee organized a service which was held on May 30, 2015. The committee included Mary's sister Carole Favero, her daughter Elissa Gendlin, her best friend Doralee Grindler Katonah as well as Susan Rudnick, Robin Kappy, Rob Parker, Joan Klagsbrun, Melinda Darer and Catherine Torpey. It was held at The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockland, New York, which was situated in a beautiful natural setting on a beautiful day. The large windows in the simple sanctuary look out on the natural setting, with beautiful trees swaying in the breeze. Mary loved nature and especially as she became immobile she would meditate on the beauty she saw from her window. The location was chosen so that it would be realistic for her husband, Gene Gendlin, to come. During the service, Mary's life was honored in several ways.
Her sister Carole created a slide show with pictures of her grandparents, parents, her younger years with Gene, the birth of her daughter, pictures of her grandchildren, and finally her death. Scriptures were read and eulogies were given by Doralee Grindler Katonah, Joan Klagsbrun, Elissa Gendlin and Gene tenderly shared his grief. The service ended by those gathered sharing a prayer which Mary had recited every night during the last year of her life.
Those present shared their memories and their love for Mary, punctuated by beautiful music by Susan and Paul Harris, and Rob Parker. Halfway through, greetings were read from the international groups that were pausing during the same time to honor Mary. Nada Lou made a video of Mary speaking, which is posted on YouTube and also Rob Parker and Doralee Grindler Katonah created a booklet of Mary's writings which can be found here.
For the full text of the Memorial Service Program go to this link. It was all put together by a Memorial Committee who worked hard to create this day: Susan Rudnick, Joan Klagsbrun, Rob Parker, Catherine Torpey, Carole Favero, Elissa Gendlin, and Melinda Darer.
A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE - from May 30, 2015
Excerpts from the works of MARY HENDRICKS-GENDLIN, PH.D. (PDF)
Mary's article on Focusing as a Force for Peace:
Focusing as a Force for Peace: The Revolutionary Pause
| MUST READS BY Marion Hendricks-Gendlin, Ph.D. |
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Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (1978) Experiencing level in dreams: An individual difference variable. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15 (3), 292-298. (Co-authored with R.D. Cartwright).
Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (1986) Experiencing level as a therapeutic variable. Person-Centered Review, 1(2), 141-162.
Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (2001) An experiential version of unconditional positive regard. In J. Bozarth & P. Wilkins (Eds.), Unconditional positive regard. pp. 126-144. Ross-on-Wye; PCCS Books.
Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (2002) Focusing-oriented/experiential psychotherapy. In D.J. Cain (Ed.), Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice. pp. 221-251.
Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (2002) Basic principles of experiential client-centered psychotherapy (focusing-oriented). Paper presented at the meeting of the British Association for the Person Centered Approach.
Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (2003) A felt sense is not an emotion. It is a new human development. Unpublished manuscript. The International Focusing Institute.
Hendricks-Gendlin, Mary (2003) Focusing as a Force for Peace: The Revolutionary Pause. Keynote. Address to the Fifteenth Focusing International Conference in Germany.