Note - we have moved the History and Heritage of Focusing to this page
| FOCUSING ORGANIZATIONS |
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The Membership Committee of The International Focusing Institute compiled this list in spring 2020 of some of the many international organizations and businesses which are dedicated to Focusing. Organizations listed here are those which have a number of Certified Focusing Professionals in leadership (not businesses led by individuals, which can instead be found on those individuals' professional profile pages).
ARGENTINA
ACAF - Asociación Civil Argentina de focusing www.acafocusing.org.ar
BELGIUM
Focusing Vlaanderen (Dutch language) focusingvlaanderen.be/
BRAZIL
Focalização Brasil www.focalizacao.org
Instituto Brasileiro de Focalização www.ibfocusing.com.br
CANADA (QUEBEC)
Diffusion-Focusing Québec www.diffusion-focusing.org/wp/
CHILE
Continental Focusing School www.facebook.com/ecfe.cl
EL SALVADOR
Focusing El Salvador www.focusingelsalvador.org
EUROPE (multi-national)
European Focusing Association (EFA) www.efa-focusing.eu
Focusing Netzwerk (Switzerland, Germany, Austria) www.focusing-netzwerk.de
FRANCE
Institut de Focusing d'Europe Francophone www.ifef.org
GERMANY
Deutsche Focusing Gesellschaft-Stiftung (DFG) www.dfg-focusing.de
Focusing-Netzwerk www.focusing-netzwerk.de
Focusing Zentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) www.focusing.de
GREECE
Hellenic Focusing Center focusinghellas.weebly.com
HONG KONG
Hong Kong Focusing Institute www.focusing.hk/en/
HUNGARY
The Hungarian Institute for Focusing and Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy
INTERNATIONAL
International Association of Focusing Oriented Therapists www.focusingtherapy.org
IRELAND
Irish Focusing network www.focusing.ie
ITALY
Focusing Italia www.focusingitalia.it
Scuola Italiana di Focusing (Italy) www.sidf.it
JAPAN
Focusing Professionals’ Forum
Japan Focusing Association focusing.jp
MEXICO
Focusing Mexico www.focusingmexico.mx
NETHERLANDS
Stichting Focusing Nederland www.stichtingfocusing.nl
POLAND
INTRA Centre for Psychological Help and Education - Focusing School
SPAIN
Focusing Montserrat (Catalan language) focusingmontserrat.org
FocusingTHUS focusingthus.com
Focusing España: Spanish Focusing Institute www.focusing.es
SWITZERLAND
Focusing-Netzwerk www.focusing-netzwerk.de
Focusing-Institut Winterthur www.focusing-institut.ch
Swiss School Of Focusing Eveline Moor www.focusingausbildung.ch
UNITED KINGDOM
British Focusing Association www.focusing.org.uk
London Focusing www.londonfocusing.com
USA
Focusing Resources www.focusingresources.com
Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute www.focusingarts.com
Focusing Initiatives www.focusinginternational.org
New York Metro Focusing has been suspended but its libraries of resources and substantive notes from past Focusing events have been archived and are accessible here
https://web.archive.org/web/20230310201333/http://www.nymetrofocusing.org/
New Jersey Focusers njfocusers.wixsite.com/njfocusers
Northwest Focusers www.northwestfocusers.org
Seattle Focusing Institute www.seattlefocusing.org
The BioSpiritual Institute www.biospiritual.org
Whole Body Focusing www.wholebodyfocusing.com
INTEREST BASED (organized around style or type of Focusing)
International Association of Focusing Oriented Therapists www.focusingtherapy.org
Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute www.focusingarts.com
The Bio-Spiritual Institute (USA) www.biospiritual.org
Whole Body Focusing (USA) www.wholebodyfocusing.com
PODCASTS
Details on all the Focusing related podcasts listed below is here on our podcasts page
Dr Greg Madison The Living Process (English)
Siggasophy (Sigguspeki) íslenskur (Icelandic and English)
Irish Focusing Network Focusing Pathways (English)
Christiane Henkel The Space Within Me Deutsch (German)
Jiahui Psychological Counseling and Educational Foundation
Alexander S. Hildebrandt The Focusing Podcast: Conversations from Deep Within Deutsch (German)
Tony Hofmann VENTURE WILD PATHS: The Freespace Podcast Deutsch (German)
Jan Winhall Embodied Dialogues (English)
| STYLES AND APPLICATIONS OF FOCUSING |
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Over the years, many styles of Focusing have developed. We have compiled a miscellany of styles and applications below.
This essay by Marcella Calabi, written in 2020, covers in detail the many styles and applications of Focusing and their development: (PDF)
Bebe Simon Archives
Bebe Simon is a “pillar" in the world of Focusing. She studied directly with Gene Gendlin in Chicago, from his earliest days of teaching Focusing. Until 2018, she had attended every international conference, and has been a beloved presence in our community. Check out her website here.
Work of Eugene Gendlin:
See also:
Eugene Gendlin biography page on this website
Eugene Gendlin memorial site
Gene Quotes For Politically Responsible Focusing, assembled by Dave Young & Gisela Uhl (PDF)
Deck of cards with quotations from Gene Gendlin
Classic 6 Steps Focusing as articulated by Eugene Gendlin in his first book, Focusing
Classic Fourteen Steps of TAE - Thinking at the Edge (TAE) as initially developed by Eugene Gendlin, with colleagues especially (and not necessarily in this order) Mary Hendricks, Kye Nelson, Theresa Dawson and Nada Lou
Building Forward with Thinking At the Edge (TAE)
Think Different - TAE in 14 Steps Experiential Method
Applied TAE
Experiential Critical Thinking (ECT)
TAE and Qualitative Research
Building Forward with Focusing…..
Inner Relationship Focusing
Domain Focusing, Macroshifting
Wholebody Focusing
Bio-Spiritual Focusing
The Pause
| Focusing & |
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There are many applications of Focusing, such as:
Therapy (FOT = Focusing-Oriented Therapy)
Trauma
Addiction
Bodywork
Coaching
(Also coaching using TAE)
Interaction
Community
Creativity and Arts
(also Creativity using TAE)
Business
Some other types of Focusing and its applications are listed here with examples of individuals who have worked in these areas:
Changes Groups
Community Wellness Focusing
Community Empowerment Focusing
Focusing and Empathic Communication
Relational Wholebody Focusing
Interactive Focusing
Relational Psychotherapy
Experiential-Existential Therapy
Cross-lingual Partnership
Empathic Opportunity Coupling
Person-Centered Therapy with Focusing
Indigenous (formerly Aboriginal) FOT
Recovery Focusing
Art Therapy
Focusing and Expressive Arts Therapy
Dreamwork
Background Feeling Work
Children Focusing
Positive Psychology
Mindful Focusing
Active Pause
Police training
Highly Sensitive People (Sensory Processing Sensitivity)
Marketing
Business Development
Sexuality
Nature
Landscape Architecture
Voice
Geography
The Felt Sense Polyvagal Model
| CONVERSATIONS SERIES (audio interviews) |
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Focusing keeps getting “carried forward” in rich and vibrant ways, to new endeavors, new fields, new areas. One of the goals of this website is to convey the many ways this is happening… as an invitation to be open to new uses of Focusing for further personal or professional development.
| INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES |
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International Focusing Conferences are most often organized by the Focusing community of a country or region. This is the list of all of the International Focusing Conferences so far. We were not able to find the records for the 1998 conference; if you know where it was held, please contact us to add it. If you have other information about any of the conferences which you feel might be useful for us to include (such as the program), please let us know.
- Chicago USA 1989
- Chicago USA 1990
- Chicago USA 1991
- Chicago USA 1992
- Chicago USA 1993
- Germany USA 1994
- Lake Geneva, Wisconsin USA 1995
- Boston USA 1996
- Germany 1997 - at the Pforzheim Conference Center, organized by Dieter Muller and Hejo Feuerstein
- Lake Geneva, Wisconsin USA 1998
- Toronto, Canada 1999 - organized by Mary Armstrong and her Centre for Focusing - held in Kempenfelt Bay, Ontario
- Germany 2000
- Ireland 2001
- Asilomar USA 2002
- Germany 2003
- Costa Rica 2004
- Toronto, Canada 2005 - organized by Bala Jaison - held in Kempenfelt Bay, Ontario
- Netherlands 2006
- Israel 2007
- Montreal, Canada 2008
- Japan 2009
- Hohenwart, Germany 2010, organized by Dieter Muller and Hejo Feuerstein
- Asilomar USA 2011
- Argentina 2012
- Lucerne, Switzerland May 29 - June 2, 2013. Theme was “Coming Home.” There was also a post-conference event on TAE.
2014 - [Coordinators met in conjunction with FOT meeting in Stony Point (NY); this is the only time an in-person Coordinators’ meeting was not done in conjunction with an international] - Seattle, USA 2015. There was a Coordinators' meeting prior.
- Cambridge, UK 2016. There was a Coordinators' meeting prior.
- Mérida, Mexico 2019
- Vogüé, France 2022, organized by L’Institut de Focusing d’Europe Francophone (IFEF). There was a Coordinators' meeting prior.
- Upcoming Vienna, Austria June 2026