What is Focusing?
FOCUSING IS NOT...
-
concentrating harder.
-
thinking your way out of a problem, or trying to get rid of feelings.
-
self improvement pressure.
FOCUSING IS...
-
letting clarity emerge—like a camera lens shifting from blurry to in focus.
-
listening for what you know in your body—so feelings can shift and next steps become clear.
-
a kinder relationship with your inner experience—so change happens naturally.
WHY YOU NEED FOCUSING
When you’re stuck, overwhelmed, repeating a pattern, or facing a decision that won’t resolve in your head, thinking harder usually doesn’t help. You need a different doorway.
Focusing is a therapeutic process that helps you listen inward 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.”
Focusing helps when you:
-
keep going in circles mentally, but nothing truly shifts
-
sense “something’s off,” but can’t name it
-
want a decision you can trust—not just talk yourself into
​
In Focusing, you meet your experience with curiosity and compassion from your Larger Self—the steadier, wiser inner place that can hold the whole picture—until something inside eases and shows you what’s next.
HOW FOCUSING CHANGED MY LIFE​
In the 1990s, I was in private practice as a 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 and stunning:
-
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 steadier, wiser 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 DEEP THERAPEUTIC ROOTS OF FOCUSING
Focusing was developed in the 1960s at the University of Chicago by philosopher and psychotherapist, Eugene Gendlin. Working alongside psychologist Carl Rogers—one of the founders of humanistic psychology—Gendlin’s research asked a practical question: What do people do internally that helps psychotherapy actually work?
Gendlin later made this work accessible to the general public when he published his concise introductory book, “Focusing” (1978), outlining a practical, step-by-step process people could use outside the therapy office.
IN A NUTSHELL:
-
Focusing grew out of research and clinical practice—not a belief system.
-
It offers a practical way to access what Gendlin called the felt sense: the body’s subtle, meaningful knowing beneath thoughts and emotions.
-
When the felt sense comes into focus, people often experience relief, fresh insight, and a clear next step.
​
THE LINEAGE (AND WHERE LUCINDA FITS):
-
Eugene Gendlin (PhD, Philosophy, University of Chicago) originated Focusing through his work and research at the University of Chicago.
-
Ann Weiser Cornell (PhD, Linguistics, University of Chicago) learned Focusing as Gendlin’s student at the University of Chicago, then went on to bring Focusing to a wider audience and develop Inner Relationship Focusing. Her linguistics background contributed to a distinctive style of facilitative “presence language”—words and prompts that help a person stay close to their inner experiencing until it shifts.
-
Lucinda Hayden (MA, in Teaching, San Francisco State University) trained in this lineage and later became a Senior Teacher with Ann Weiser Cornell at Focusing Resources, teaching and mentoring people in how to apply Focusing as a lived, reliable process.
Ready to experience the benefits of Focusing
in only 3 minutes?
What People Say About Focusing with Lucinda
"I’m always amazed at how much can shift for students in just a few minutes, thanks both to the power of Focusing itself as well as Lucinda’s skill in delivering it. I’ve had the pleasure of watching her guide people into a much more authentic connection with themselves and then from that into deeper connection with others. I recommend Lucinda highly as someone who can really deliver results in personal transformation."
​
Tom Lewis
Architect | Tango Instructor