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What is Focusing?

Focusing is not...

  • concentrating harder

  • thinking your way out of a problem

  • trying to get rid of your feelings

  • putting pressure on yourself to improve

Focusing is...

  • letting clarity emerge, like a camera lens shifting from blurry to clear and in focus

  • listening for what you know in your body so feelings can shift and next steps become clear

  • finding a kinder relationship with your inner experience so change happens naturally

How Focusing Helps

Focusing helps when you're stuck:​

  • feeling overwhelmed

  • repeating a self-defeating pattern

  • going in circles mentally, but nothing shifts

  • sensing “something’s off,” but can’t name it

  • wanting a decision you can trust—not just talk yourself into

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When you're stuck, thinking harder doesn’t help. You need a different doorway.

​

Focusing is a therapeutic process that helps you listen inwardly for the Felt Sense—the vague but meaningful body-knowledge beneath your thoughts.

 

As that inner knowing comes into focus, you get...

  • clarity

  • relief

  • and a trustworthy next step

... without forcing or “fixing yourself.”

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In Focusing, you meet your experience with curiosity and compassion from your Larger Self—the steady, wise inner place that can hold the whole picture—until something inside eases and shows you what’s next.

Ready to experience the benefits of Focusing
in only 3 minutes?

How Focusing Changed My Life

In the 1990s, I was in private practice as a Clinical Hypnotherapist. I was getting good results—and yet I still felt something was missing.

 

In my personal life, I was going through a painful break-up. I tried Focusing to help the heartache and figure out what to do — and the shift was immediate:

 

  • Within minutes, I had a clear inner knowing (not just an intellectual insight) that the relationship wasn’t right for me.

  • In about 30 minutes, I moved from devastated and barely functioning to feeling clear and ready to move forward.

  • Focusing helped me get unmerged from the painful feelings—so I could see the bigger picture and take action from my Larger Self, the steady, wise inner place that can hold the whole of my experience.

 

That experience convinced me that Focusing was essential for my own life—and the greatest gift I could bring to my clients. It led me to immerse myself in Focusing—and eventually become a Senior Teacher with Ann Weiser Cornell at Focusing Resources.

The Discovery of Focusing: What Makes Therapy Work

Eugene Gendlin identified the inner process that underlies effective therapy and made it teachable as Focusing. 

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Eugene Gendlin, PhD

  • 1960s: Focusing was developed at the University of Chicago by philosopher and psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin

  • Gendlin worked alongside psychologist Carl Rogers, a founder of humanistic psychology

  • His research asked a practical question: What do people do internally that helps psychotherapy actually work?

  • From that research, Gendlin identified the core inner process that makes therapy effective—and developed it into the method he called Focusing

  • 1970: First recipient of the Distinguished Professional Award in Psychology and Psychotherapy from the American Psychological Association 

  • 1978: Gendlin published Focusing, outlining a step-by-step process people could use both inside and outside the therapy office​​

  • 2011: Honored by the American Psychological Association for Distinguished Theoretical and Philosophical Contributions to Psychology

  • 2021: Received the Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for Humanistic Psychology 

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Ann Weiser Cornell, PhD

  • 1972: Ann Weiser Cornell learned Focusing directly from Gendlin at the University of Chicago while completing her doctorate in Linguistics

  • Ann assisted Gendlin in teaching and disseminating Focusing

  • 1990: With Gendlin's blessing, Ann began developing her own version called Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF)

  • Her linguistics background shaped a distinctive facilitative style known as Presence Language, which supports natural inner shifts​

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Lucinda Hayden, M.A.

  • 1999: Lucinda Hayden began studying Inner Relationship Focusing with Ann Weiser Cornell

  • Lucinda also trained with Eugene Gendlin during his lifetime

  • 2001: Lucinda earned Certification in Focusing

  • 2006-2021: Lucinda served as Senior Teacher at Focusing Resources, teaching alongside Ann Weiser Cornell

  • With Ann’s blessing, Lucinda continues to teach others in applying Inner Relationship Focusing as a lived, reliable process for clarity, presence, and sustainable change

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