A FOCUSING THEORETICAL SYMPOSIUM

Do you enjoy thinking with other people?

Do you want support and encouragement to write and teach? 

Do you find the Focusing principles of thinking with the felt sense useful and inspiring?

If yes, this invitation is for you!

What is a Focusing Theoretical Symposium?

Those of us who love embodied thinking will meet once a month for felt-sense reflection and lively dialogue about critical theoretical issues for FOT in these turbulent times. Inspired by the principles of Gendlin’s Thinking at the Edge (TAE) we will delve into the questions on the edges of our FOT theory. These meetings will encourage us to take the felt sense with us in articulating, unfolding and creating concepts that can ground our community and carry us forward. Our presence, individually and together, can help concepts to grow, shift and find new form in embodied dialogue.

Each month we will grapple with a different theoretical question. In our first meeting I, Lynn Preston, will enlist your help in furthering our thinking on the integration of Focusing ideas and skills with what we know of group process. The specific question is: How do we develop group cohesion without slipping into a culture of “group think?”

We will watch Carl Rogers’ encounter group video “Journey into Self” to seed our conversation. Carl Rogers’ work with groups laid a foundation for Focusing-oriented relating. What would we want to take from his approach and what would we want to leave behind?

If you are interested but cannot attend at this time, please let us know. We are trying to find a time that works for everyone.

Each session will include:

• An introduction to a conceptual issue or question to be discussed that day. (Participants will be sent videos or a paper before the meeting.)
• An attunement to help us enter the territory of the question or issue.
• A brief period of individual writing (about 10 minutes).
• Dialogue for exploration.
• Concluding comments and summary.