The World of Focusing

Note - we have moved the History and Heritage of Focusing to this page

The Membership Committee of The International Focusing Institute compiled this list in spring 2020 of some of the many international organizations and businesses which are dedicated to Focusing. Organizations listed here are those which have a number of Certified Focusing Professionals in leadership (not businesses led by individuals, which can instead be found on those individuals' professional profile pages).

ARGENTINA
ACAF - Asociación Civil Argentina de focusing www.acafocusing.org.ar

BELGIUM
Focusing Vlaanderen (Dutch speaking part of Belgium) focusingvlaanderen.be/

BRAZIL
Focalização Brasil www.focalizacao.org
Instituto Brasileiro de Focalização  www.ibfocusing.com.br 

CANADA (QUEBEC)
Diffusion-Focusing Québec (Canada) www.diffusion-focusing.org/wp/

CHILE
Continental Focusing School (Chile) www.facebook.com/ecfe.cl

EL SALVADOR
Focusing El Salvador (Nuevos Rumbos) www.focusingelsalvador.org

EUROPE (multi-national)
European Focusing Association (EFA) www.efa-focusing.eu
Focusing Netzwerk (Switzerland, Germany, Austria) www.focusing-netzwerk.de

FRANCE
Institut de Focusing d'Europe Francophone (France) www.ifef.org

GERMANY
Deutsche Focusing Gesellschaft-Stiftung (DFG - Germany)  www.dfg-focusing.de
Focusing Zentrum Karlsruhe (FZK – Germany) www.focusing.de

GREECE
Hellenic Focusing Center (Greece) www.focusing.gr

HONG KONG
Hong Kong Focusing Institute www.focusing.hk/en/

INTERNATIONAL
International Association of Focusing Oriented Therapists www.focusingtherapy.org

IRELAND
Focusing Ireland [email protected]
Irish Focusing network www.focusing.ie

ITALY
Focusing Italia www.focusingitalia.it
Scuola Italiana di Focusing (Italy) www.sidf.it

JAPAN
Focusing Professionals’ Forum
Japan Focusing Association focusing.jp

MEXICO
Focusing Mexico www.focusingmexico.mx

NETHERLANDS
Stichting Focusing Nederland www.stichtingfocusing.nl

SPAIN
Spanish Focusing Institute (Spain) www.focusing.es

SWITZERLAND
Swiss School Of Focusing Eveline Moor www.focusingausbildung.ch

UNITED KINGDOM
British Focusing Association (BFA – United Kingdom) www.focusing.org.uk
London Focusing www.londonfocusing.com

USA
Focusing Resources (USA) www.focusingresources.com
Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute   www.focusingarts.com
Focusing Initiatives (USA) www.focusinginternational.org
New York Metro Focusing (USA) has been suspended but its libraries of resources and substantive notes from past Focusing events have been archived and are accessible here
https://web.archive.org/web/20230310201333/http://www.nymetrofocusing.org/
New Jersey Focusers (USA) njfocusers.wixsite.com/njfocusers
Northwest Focusers (USA) www.northwestfocusers.org
Seattle Focusing Institute (USA) www.seattlefocusing.org
The BioSpiritual Institute (USA) www.biospiritual.org
Whole Body Focusing (USA) www.wholebodyfocusing.com

INTEREST BASED (organized around style or type of Focusing)
International Association of Focusing Oriented Therapists www.focusingtherapy.org
Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute   www.focusingarts.com
The Bio-Spiritual Institute (USA) www.biospiritual.org
Whole Body Focusing (USA) www.wholebodyfocusing.com

Over the years, many styles of Focusing have developed.  We have compiled a miscellany of styles and applications below. 

This essay by Marcella Calabi covers in detail the many styles and applications of Focusing and their development: (PDF)

Bebe Simon Archives

Bebe Simon is a “pillar" in the world of Focusing.  She studied directly with Gene Gendlin in Chicago, from his earliest days of teaching Focusing.  Until 2018, she had attended every international conference, and has been a beloved presence in our community.  Check out her website here.

Work of Eugene Gendlin:

See also:
Eugene Gendlin biography page on this website
Eugene Gendlin memorial site

Gene Quotes For Politically Responsible Focusing, assembled by Dave Young & Gisela Uhl (PDF)

Deck of cards with quotations from Gene Gendlin

Classic 6 Steps Focusing as articulated by Eugene Gendlin in his first book, Focusing

Classic Fourteen Steps of TAE - Thinking at the Edge (TAE) as initially developed by Eugene Gendlin, with colleagues especially (and not necessarily in this order) Mary Hendricks, Kye Nelson, Theresa Dawson and Nada Lou

Books by Eugene Gendlin

Building Forward with Thinking At the Edge (TAE)

Think Different - TAE in 14 Steps Experiential Method
Applied TAE
Experiential Critical Thinking (ECT)
TAE and Qualitative Research

Building Forward with Focusing…..

Inner Relationship Focusing
Domain Focusing, Macroshifting
Wholebody Focusing
Bio-Spiritual Focusing
The Pause

There are many applications of Focusing, such as:

Therapy = FOT = Focusing-Oriented Therapy
Trauma
Addiction
Bodywork
Coaching
(Also coaching using TAE)
Interaction 
Community
Creativity and Arts 
(also Creativity using TAE)
Business
 

Some other types of Focusing and its applications are listed here with examples of individuals who have worked in these areas:

Changes Groups
Community Wellness Focusing
Community Empowerment Focusing
Focusing and Empathic Communication
Relational Wholebody Focusing
Interactive Focusing
Relational Psychotherapy
Experiential-Existential Therapy
Cross-lingual Partnership
Empathic Opportunity Coupling

Person-Centered Therapy with Focusing
Indigenous (formerly Aboriginal) FOT
Recovery Focusing
Art Therapy
Focusing and Expressive Arts Therapy
Dreamwork
Background Feeling Work
Children Focusing
Positive Psychology
Mindful Focusing
Active Pause
Police training
Highly Sensitive People (Sensory Processing Sensitivity)
Marketing
Business Development
Sexuality
Nature
Landscape Architecture
Voice
The Felt Sense/Polyvagal Model
Geography

Focusing keeps getting “carried forward” in rich and vibrant ways, to new endeavors, new fields, new areas. One of the goals of this website is to convey the many ways this is happening… as an invitation to be open to new uses of Focusing for further personal or professional development.

See conversations

International Focusing Conferences are most often organized by the Focusing community of a country or region.  This is the list of all of the International Focusing Conferences so far.  We were not able to find the records for the 1998 conference; if you know where it was held, please contact us to add it.  If you have other information about any of the conferences which you feel might be useful for us to include (such as the program), please let us know.

1. Chicago USA 1989
2. Chicago USA 1990
3. Chicago USA 1991
4. Chicago USA 1992
5. Chicago USA 1993
6. Germany USA 1994
7. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin USA 1995
8. Boston USA 1996
9. Germany 1997 - at the Pforzheim Conference Center, organized by Dieter Muller and Hejo Feuerstein
10. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin USA 1998
11. Toronto, Canada 1999
12. Germany 2000
13. Ireland 2001
14. Asilomar USA 2002
15. Germany 2003
16. Costa Rica 2004
17. Toronto, Canada 2005
18. Netherlands 2006
19. Israel 2007
20. Montreal, Canada 2008
21. Japan 2009
22. Germany 2010
23. Asilomar USA 2011
24. Argentina 2012
25. Lucerne, Switzerland May 29 - June 2, 2013. Theme was “Coming Home.” There was also a post-conference event on TAE.
2014 - [Coordinators met in conjunction with FOT meeting in Stony Point (NY); this is the only time an in-person Coordinators’ meeting was not done in conjunction with an international]
26. Seattle, USA 2015.  There was a Coordinators' meeting prior.
27. Cambridge, UK 2016. There was a Coordinators' meeting prior.
28. Mérida, Mexico 2019
29. Vogüé, France 2022.  There was a Coordinators' meeting prior.
30. (anticipated) Vienna, Austria 2026