A Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapist (FOT) is a psychotherapist, counselor or psychologist, licensed in their jurisdiction, who, in addition to their therapy training, has completed a certification program specializing in integrating Focusing into therapy. In FOT, the client is invited to notice how their body makes feelings about their life issues, and they are helped to gently access what the body says about what they are experiencing.
If you're looking for a Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapist, please click here.
Check out the Focusing Oriented Therapists Association's website here. Please note that the FOTA is an independent organization.
We run a regular Focusing-Oriented Therapy Conference.
We held one online November 2-5, 2023. See above for more information on that one. The FOT conferences have generally taken place every 2 years. Check out the 2023 Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy Conference at this link.
Carl Rogers, Person Centered, Existential and Humanistic Psychology
Eugene Gendlin and Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy has a deep connection to the work of Carl Rogers and the Person Centered (or Client Centered) tradition as well as to Existential Psychology and Humanistic Psychology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: The World Association for Person Centered & Experiential Psychotherapy & Counseling has a bibliography at https://pce-literature.org/en which contains information about a wide range of resources, including where to find articles by and about Focusing, Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy and Eugene Gendlin. Just put “Gendlin” or “Focusing” into the search box.
VIDEO: Nada Lou has a video on her YouTube channel of Gene Gendlin discussing Carl Rogers. You can find that at this link.
Jeffrey will share his thoughts while inviting participants to sense into what comes for them as the presentation unfolds. Using Gendlin quotes and years of practicing both, he will offer an engaging exploration of the complexity of the question itself.
This presentation is open to anyone interested in learning more about Focusing and Focusing-Oriented Therapy.
Online (Class will also be recorded)
Topic: Beginners-Intermediate, Intermediate/Advanced, FOT, Other, The Focusing Institute (TIFI) Events
This Program is designed specifically for therapists and counselors who want to enrich and take their work with clients a step further with Focusing and get their FOT Certification from TIFI. Other people who work with clients in different ways and want to enhance their work are also welcome to attend. (Even though they would not apply for FOT Certification)
It is an ongoing course of 1 1/2 hours every other week, on Wednesdays, that can be taken independently or as part of the whole Certification Program.
This is a series of Saturday workshops, running once a month, with virtually open intake. Only the Introduction, "The Art of Focusing" (or equivalent) must be taken as a pre-req, the remaining modules are totally flexible. Students who complete 16 specific modules, along with additional practice and supervision criteria, may become certified as a Focusing Oriented Therapist or as a Certified Focusing Professional. Program completion takes about 17 -20 months.
Participants will explore how the felt sense and autonomic nervous system work together in the process of therapeutic change. Through experiential exercises, case examples, and video demonstrations, participants will learn Polyvagal-Informed Focusing, a structured process that helps clients safely access the felt sense while expanding nervous system regulation.
Online (Class will also be recorded)
Topic: Beginners-Intermediate, Intermediate/Advanced, FOT, Other, The Focusing Institute (TIFI) Events
Nikos and Judy will introduce the work of their collaborator, Parvy Palmou, a Focuser and Gestalt therapist who is an international figure in the world of LBGTQI+ affirmative psychotherapy. The Highlight is introductory and suitable for all Focusers.
Online (Class will also be recorded)
Topic: Beginners-Intermediate, Intermediate/Advanced, FOT, Other, The Focusing Institute (TIFI) Events
As a Focuser, you know how transformative Focusing is. But as a therapist, you’ve likely struggled to integrate it into your practice. Many seeking therapy aren’t ready for deep Focusing; some may never be. And you know there’s much more to good therapy than facilitating Focusing sessions.
We’re the authors of "When You Let the Body Lead: Embodied Healing and Change with Contemporary Focusing-Oriented Therapy." In this program, limited to twenty participant‑therapists, we present FOT as a powerful, embodied therapy modality you can use to help clients achieve transformative change, including trauma healing. Over nine monthly two‑hour sessions, you’ll learn a unified set of techniques and micro‑skills that bring the essence and gift of Focusing to all your clients.
The way we work with our clients reflects the relational and embodied nature of our mind process.
In this course, you study how the bodily felt sense emerges in the context of interaction and explore the physicality of our relational patterns.
You do this experientially as you practice creatively using embodied experience to harness the transformative power of Focusing at the edge of experience.
This workshop outlines the essence and main elements of Focusing-Oriented Therapy (FOT) and its distinct approach to clients’ change process. FOT is a form of client-centred, process-oriented, experiential therapy with a humanistic spirit and a relational heart. It works with immediate experience by using the felt sensing method—directly felt bodily experience of one’s lived reality.
You will learn about:
- FOT view of personality, philosophy of change, psychotherapy process and interventions
- Assessment process from the FOT perspective
- Balancing the internal (deep inner work), relational (relational dynamic between the client and the therapist), and external (present-day life’s problem-focused) focus and work, with the awareness of the
Canterbury Community Precinct 2 Kendall Street Canterbury, VIC Australia
