Focusing for Beginners: Level 1 Inner Relationship Focusing

Do you: 

- Feel stuck in a difficult life situation?

- Suffer, but can't connect to the aching place inside? 

- Or feel your life could be richer in ways you can't yet quite articulate? 

And do you want to find your own way forward, one that comes from you?  Inner Relationship Focusing teaches us how to attend to our inner experience in  ways that feel deeply satisfying and bring change.

What will you learn in IRF Level 1? 

You learn how to Focus and Companion in Partnerships*, and also how to:

• Develop empathy and compassion for yourself, even with troubling emotions.
• Feel safe inside using resourcing. 
• Give company to difficult sensations and emotions. 
•  Sense freshly into an old problem, finding new perspectives.
• Listen deeply to another and allow yourself to be heard by another. 
• Experience and understand what is meant by the ‘felt sense’ and ‘the unclear edge’.

How will you do this? Classes include: 

• A weekly step-by-step process for building your skills and understanding. 
• Explanation and discussion of a weekly theme. 
• Written worksheets that you can follow as you partner and build skills.
• Guided exercises led by Fiona.
• Demos of partners Focusing, demonstrating that weekly exercise. 
• Time for partnering. 

What is Focusing Partnership*?  

People can Focus by themselves, but usually find Partnership to be hugely supportive. The presence of a compassionate other can greatly facilitate us to be more present to ourselves, even if that person is a beginner. 

In order for this to be a safe and helpful experience, we need to learn the skills of deep listening (we call this Companioning), and the etiquette of IRF Partnering relationships. Level 1 teaches the basics of good Partnership. 

What are the benefits of this course?

• It gets easier to be yourself: Being present to yourself alllows more of you to emerge in other life situations.
• You get new perspectives on old problems:  Sensing freshly brings new changes. 
• Facilitates deep shifts: Even if your partner is a beginner, just like you, their presence enables you to be with difficult emotions with greater skill than when on your own.
• Empowering:  Partnership recognises that you are the expert in your life, as both you and your companion are peers. 
• Cost-effective: Partnering is free. It is an exchange that you can arrange with others every week, reducing the need for paid therapy or guided sessions. 
• Compatible with other therapies: Focusing compliments all other therapies very well - meditation, counselling, therapy, yoga etc.  No need to stop what you’re currently finding supportive. 
• Road to professional qualifications: If this is something that interests you, Level 1 is the first necessary step. After Level 4  you can begin professional training. 
• It’s not a huge time commitment:  Classes run for 5 weeks, 2 hours a week. You will need to participate in weekly partnering as well (which will take from 30- 60 minutes a week via Zoom), and enjoy some class readings. Minimum of 3- 4 hour weekly commitment for 5 weeks. 

Why Inner Relationship Focusing? 

Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF) is a refined and expanded form of Focusing developed by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin. It works with ‘parts’ as well as felt senses. Parts can often be in conflict with one another, or hidden from us, and IRF offers an approach of working with these in an educated and compassionate way that can lead to new shifts.

About Fiona:

I was drawn to Focusing due to deep suffering from illness, which put me in a wheelchair for over 15 years.

Focusing taught me how to work with my physical pain and despair, leading to significant bodily shifts.

I love how Focusing can help us to bear what seems currently unbearable.

And it’s very gentle and deeply satisfying. I never tire of seeing people's surprise and pleasure when they first tune inward in this special way.

I am Certified Inner Relationship Focusing Professional and Trainer, as trained by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin. Based in Dublin, I’m also a professional coach. 

https://focusing.ie/fiona-o-meara

fionaomeara.com