We thought you might want to get to know a little about the work we are doing as the Children & Focusing Advisory Group, and a little about what is happening in the world of Children & Focusing, including our upcoming “Less is More” Children & Focusing conference.
Sometime in the early spring of 2018, after some efforts to get all of the Children & Focusing community together on Zoom, The International Focusing Institute felt that what was needed was a small group who could meet regularly to move things forward. Our founding volunteer members are Joke van Hoeck from Belgium, René Veugelers from the Netherlands and Laura Bavalics from Hungary, and we were joined a few years later by Harriet Teeuw from the Netherlands. We are all active longtime members of the Children & Focusing community, working in our own practices and also on international projects.
Children & Focusing Advisory Group | International Focusing Institute
The purpose of the Children & Focusing Advisory Group is to explore goals and directions in Children & Focusing (CF), facilitate conversations and communication which will support CF and the community of teachers and practitioners. As a committee of The International Focusing Institute (TIFI), the Group's goal is also to enhance communication between the wider CF community and the Institute and to assist TIFI in its work related to CF.
Since it was formed, the Advisory Group has
- Revitalized the Children & Focusing page on TIFI's website. Children & Focusing | International Focusing Institute
- Organized a number of online discussions for the CF community
- Established the recurrent Children & Focusing Roundtable series and
- Organized two Children & Focusing Online Conferences (It Takes a Village in 2022., Moments of Wonder in 2023.).
All of these online events contributed to enrich the learning and communication between members of the Institute, and helped to introduce the practice and philosophy to those who are curious about CF.
UPCOMING CONFERENCE
We are happy to also let you know that we are now organizing our third Children & Focusing Online Conference with TIFI on November 15 -16 -17, 2024.
"Less is More" - Children & Focusing Online Conference 2024 | International Focusing Institute
The Less is More conference represents the philosophy that sometimes the most special moments are the simplest. We believe that children approach Focusing instinctively, the most important thing we can provide is simply our empathetic, listening presence. It can be challenging to stand back and let the child’s process unfold on its own.
We are looking forward to sharing moments and practices that show that oftentimes less is more.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Organizing a new conference is also a time to look back and celebrate the history of Children & Focusing.
It all began during the 1996 International Focusing Conference in Gloucester (near Boston in the US), when there was a workshop offered called “Clearing a space in a group of children through drawing.” Having a workshop about Focusing and Children was a first, and during lunchtime those who were interested in incorporating Focusing into their work with children (or who had already begun to do so) came together around a table in the corner of the room. The "Children Focusing Corner" had been born!
From 1996 till October 2006 Marta Stapert was the coordinator for the Children Focusing Corner. Together with her husband Ynse Stapert she developed methods and a Children & Focusing training program and they taught Focusing around the globe.
In 2003 (together with Erik Verliefde) Marta wrote a book about Children & Focusing - De kunst van het luisteren: Communiceren met kinderen op school en thuis. Many translations have followed, including in English in 2008: Focusing with Children: The art of communicating with children at school and at home . The Dutch book was revised and republished by René Veugelers and Harriët Teeuw in 2023, with directions Marta had given them. The book is also available in English, soon to be revised. You can find both at store.focusing.org.
After she retired in 2006. Marta and Ynse mentored René and Harriet to carry on the “Dutch Model” of the international Children & Focusing Training, while also a number of other training models developed in the Focusing community over the years. In November of 2010, Mary Hendricks-Gendlin and Melinda Darer, who were then running TIFI, met with Heidrun Essler, René Veugelers and Simon Kilner, who were together acting to carry on Marta’s legacy. At that meeting, they agreed on the requirements for the Children Focusing Companion certificate.
This has been just a glimpse of the history and development of our work to in Children & Focusing. You can learn more on focusing.org, where are selected papers and articles about Children & Focusing: Articles on Children & Focusing | International Focusing Institute. Better yet, we hope many of you will join us in November at the Less is More Online Conference. We will take time there to honor some of the wonderful professionals who were pioneers in developing Children & Focusing: Marta Stapert, Lucy Bowers, Zack Boukydis, Marianne Thompson, Kazuko Amaha, Janet Klein, Mary McGuire. We are grateful to them for having created the foundation on which all of us can grow.