About the Group
The purpose of the Children & Focusing (CF) Advisory Group is to ensure that The International Focusing Institute (TIFI) is giving its attention to carrying CF forward. We bring together a small group of active practitioners to meet monthly with the Executive Director. Together, the group senses into what the right next action steps might be. The main intention is therefore to find actions for TIFI to take (such as updating information about CF on the website, organizing CF Roundtables and conferences); however, these monthly conversations also often result in wonderful, fruitful conversations which spark fresh thinking.
The original group was formed in August 2017 and consisted of Laura Bavalics (Hungary), René Veugelers (Netherlands) and Joke van Hoeck (Belgium). Joke later left the group and Harriët Teeuw joined in 2023.
Current Members of the Group
René Veugelers
René Veugelers is a FOT, a TIFI Children Focusing Coordinator and art therapist working in healthcare for more than 40 years. He holds a master's degree in creating an unconditionally unfolding space of wonder—both inside and out. With a rare talent for weaving together all the dynamic elements of life, René is fascinated by the edge of not knowing and how nothing can become something, using his interactive body's richness. In this realm, he is a true 'free swimmer.' www.childrenfocusing.org
Harriët Teeuw
Harriët Teeuw is a Focusing Coordinator, Focusing-Oriented Therapist (FOT), and art therapist based in the Netherlands. She works with children, parents, and adults in her private practice. Since discovering Focusing in 2000, she has been inspired to live a more authentic life and has seamlessly integrated this approach into her professional work. Harriet brings a wealth of experience to her teaching, including leading Children & Focusing programs and the Focusing International Online Certification Program for Focusing Practitioners and Trainers. In collaboration with René Veugelers, she co-developed Dynamic Expressive Focusing, a unique approach for being with children, designed for parents and professionals. https://www.childrenfocusing.org/
https://www.deruimte-info.nl/
Laura Bavalics
Laura Bavalics is an Early Childhood Educator, Child Development Practitioner and Early Years Play Educator, Drama teacher. She is a Focusing Coordinator and a Focusing-oriented educator, who has been working with young children, parents, and professionals for over twenty-five years. She is a professional director of the Pendula inclusive Preschool and Kindergarten for children in foster care and with special needs at the Világszép Foundation for Children in State Care in Hungary. She is also teaching at ELTE University, Hungary, in their College of Education. Laura is a member of the Children's Focusing Advisory Group at the International Focusing Institute, New York, and she was a member of the International Leadership Council (2020-25). She has recently co- written a book with master educator Kerekes Valéria and psychologist Böddi Zsófia PhD, called Children’s Paly – and what’s behind it, Móra Kiadó 2024.