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The base of the PUPA Focusing Certification Program consisting of eight courses, designed to not only learn and teach Focusing, but to also get to know and transform yourself, while creating change in the world. The initial courses cover learning Focusing (the six steps, and five kinds of listening), learning about who you are (how you avoid feeling, and your parts), learning who you want to be and what you want to bring into the world using Thinking At the Edge (TAE, Gendlin’s second practice), transforming a large block using the 8Cs of self-leadership, and finally a course on taking action with embodied leadership (see below for links to course descriptions).
While the core of the courses is Focusing practice, the training also combines other frameworks and ideas, such as empathic listening, Jan Winhall’s Felt Sense Polyvagal Model™ (which builds on Stephen Porges polyvagal theory about the autonomic nervous system), the 8Cs of Self-leadership and Internal Family Systems by Richard Schwartz, psychological safety, embodied leadership, creativity, as well as Gendlin’s practice of Thinking At the Edge.
PUPA Focusing places a large emphasis on asking the body for action steps, as the body knows different ways forward. The PUPA Focusing program also uses the PUPA process as a framework for the two years of course work, and it is also used as the structure of three courses (process skipping, 8Cs and embodied leadership). This is a way of crossing Focusing with the change framework Theory U (by Otto Scharmer from MIT and the Presencing Institute), so as to process bigger and more complex issues that take multiple Focusing sessions, as well as to catalyze change and action.
The courses of the two-year certification are organized in two PUPA journeys
Year 1: PUPA journey to use Focusing professionally
- Pause:Focusing basics, learning to be in the body
- Understand: Learning to listen with empathy to understand, both the process and the content
- Permutation: Being with something you “process skip” to invite some transformation
- Action: with the support of the Focusing Process Group, you begin to hold space for private clients
Year 2: PUP2A journey to learn advanced guiding and teach Focusing
- Pause: Revisit the Focusing for Beginners course, to deepen your learning
- Understand: Who are you, your parts and how you'll tell your story
- Permutation: Your felt sense shifts, showing you who you want to be, what you want to create in the world (TAE)
- Preparation: Unpacking a major block, to transform into who you want to be (with 8Cs of Self-Leadership)
- Action: Stepping into embodied leadership: co-regulating your creative project with psychological safety.
Felt Sense Body Cards
We learn to use the felt sense body cards as a way to record our experiences. Overtime, these can illustrate our growth and serve as resources, as we capture the sensations of grounded and centered parts. They can also be used to map our story.
Trainer Requirements
In addition to taking the eight core courses, the PUPA Focusing Certification Program includes the following additional requirements:
- having an ongoing Focusing partnership(s)
- attending one of the two monthly Focusing trainee meetings
- re-taking the 8-week beginner course (or the 4-week intensive version) to learn how beginners learn
- seeing clients one-to-one (for a total of 30 hours of sessions):
- final teaching projects (see website for more details)
When you enrol in this program you must also become a Trainee member of The International Focusing Institute (TIFI), which includes an annual membership fee. And then when all requirements are met, including paying a certification fee to TIFI, you become a Focusing Trainer (also known as a Certified Focusing Professional) with the Institute. Optional in this process is to attend the Advanced and Certification Weeklong.
View additional details and Frequently Asked Questions on Annette's website.
On April 28th, an Open House was hosted to share more about the program and answer your questions. You can view the recording and more details about the program here:
https://pupa.ca/pupa-focusing-certification-trainer
Not interested in being a Focusing Trainer, but interested in the coursework?
Anyone can take some or all of these courses. The only pre-requisite is the beginner 8-week course, 4-week course for advanced listeners, or some equivalent beginner training you already have. While the courses follow a progression and are great when taken in the PUPA order, they stand on their own. So you can mix the order, or only take the course or courses that resonate with your journey.