Is this you?
Are anxiety or other overwhelming emotions causing you distress?- Are you facing life challenges that feel like more than you can handle?
- Do you need help coping with sadness, grief, or loss?
- Are you undergoing a major life transition and worry that you can’t handle it or feel unsure how to proceed?
- Are you always beating yourself up for being not good enough?
- Do you yearn to move forward in your life, but something is holding you back?
- Do old fears and patterns get in the way of your having satisfying relationships or the life you truly want?
What is Focusing?
Focusing is a body-oriented process for personal insight, healing and growth. It is a process for “unlocking the wisdom of your body.” You can learn more about Focusing here.
What are Guided Focusing Sessions?
The quickest way to experience the benefits of Focusing is to schedule a Guided Focusing Session. You don’t need to know the Focusing process. Guided Focusing is like exploring in a two-person kayak. As your Guide, I know the river and how to steer, but you select the destination. You can select any life issue you wish to work on.
How is Focusing different from psychotherapy or coaching?
Guided Focusing sessions are not therapy or coaching, although you may certainly find they have therapeutic value and will help you to work through troubling issues and find your next steps forward. In therapy the interpersonal relationship between client and therapist is considered key to the healing process. In guided Focusing, the emphasis is on your inner relationship with yourself. Your Guide is there to help you to have a satisfying and productive exploration of your own inner terrain. The Guide’s role is to help you with your process rather than delving into the content of your issues. Your Guide will not analyze or diagnose you and will not ask you to disclose your history or the details of your issue, unless you choose to share. While therapy generally calls for a planned course of intervention, in guided Focusing sessions you are completely free to work on any issue you choose and may work on different issues from session to session.
Guided Focusing is also different from coaching. You will not be asked questions, set long term goals, or be held accountable for taking specific action steps. You will not be assigned homework to do between sessions. You will be free to explore and follow the leas of your own unique inner process wherever it takes you.
You can trust that by spending Focusing time with an issue, you are already making change in yourself. Often you can feel the change in an embodied way we call a “Felt Shift” during your session. And after the session you may well find that positive change begins to happen gently and naturally without your conscious effort.
What happens in a Guided Focusing Session?
At the beginning of the session I will ask you if you have selected a life issue to work on or if you would simply like to explore how you are right now or let your body find an issue that is most needing your attention at present. Unlike psychotherapy, I will not need to delve into the details of your situation since my role is to help you to navigate and explore your inner process. We generally will start with a brief grounding and centering exercise to create a relaxed inner environment. Then I will invite you to begin to notice what sensations arise in your body as you hold your life issue in mind. I will offer gentle suggestions for how to proceed on your inner voyage. I will listen carefully and may say back some of the words or symbols that are arising in you so that you can check that they truly resonate with what you are sensing inside. This process of resonation helps your process to deepen and carry forward. At the end of your session, I will help you to emerge gradually and safely from your inner space.
What can you work on in Guided Focusing?
You can work on virtually any issue on which you would like to experience greater self-understanding, broader perspective and positive change. Focusing does not have to be about problems. It can be about anything in which you are seeking greater discernment, fresh perspectives, or a broader more open set of possibilities. It is excellent for developing creative projects. Just a few examples of issues people raise in Focusing are:
- Relationship issues
- Stuck creative process
- Procrastination
- Difficult decisions
- Finding your next best steps
- Feeling blocked
- Difficult emotions
- Stress
Literally anything that is on your mind, especially something about which you feel unclear or uncertain, is a valid subject for Focusing. It is often surprising where your inner exploration may lead and what it will reveal. You may start by Focusing on a relatively trivial matter in your life, but as you deepen your inner awareness you may learn it is connected with an intricate web of core issues in your life. For that reason, often working on a very small issue can lead to very big change.
What results can you anticipate?
At the end of a session, clients generally feel good in a bodily way even when they have Focused on a troubling situation or difficult emotion. More specifically Focusers frequently report feeling some of the following at the end of a session:
- Relief and release
- More spaciousness and lightness inside
Greater clarity about the issue- Easing of painful emotions
- Helpful shift in perspective
- Sense of rightness about next steps
- Creative breakthroughs
- Fresh energy to move forward
- More grounded, centered, whole
- Increased self-compassion
While there are no guarantees and every client and situation is unique, there is a high likelihood that you will feel some kind of positive difference after just one session, and many people experience a significant shift.
How can my personal experience benefit you?
Research studies have shown that clients achieve higher levels of experiencing, that is, deeper Focusing, when they work with a trained Focused trainer or therapist. I became a certified Focusing Professional in 2000 and a Certifying Coordinator for The International Focusing Institute in 2009. Over the years I have taught numerous Focusing classes and workshops and helped many, many people to reap the benefits of Focusing in guided sessions.
Focusing also has been a regular and treasured part of my own personal practice for nearly twenty years. I can personally attest to the power of Focusing to enable major life changes as well as to discern the right next steps forward on the many small and large challenges that come along in life. I also have used it in my academic writing and in my visual arts creative work.
It would be my privilege and joy to share the benefits of Focusing with you.
What can you expect from our time together?
Here is what some of my clients have said:
“Day-to-day, there is so much that distracts us from our true selves, even while our true selves are just below the surface. However, it’s no small task to get in touch with these inner longings and instincts. It takes expert guidance and a very brave person to help. I have definitely learned the value and importance of periodically seeking out that help. Talking to loved ones and friends about our dreams and fears, while helpful, is fraught with baggage and doesn’t always lead to authentic conclusions. I think that I will seek out coaching and focusing periodically throughout my life, going forward, now that I have experienced its power.”–Nicole C.
“I wanted to write to thank you again for your time and expertise yesterday. For whatever reason I came with parts that were resistant and guarded…..and discovered how this method I have really been practicing is really useful and helpful and freeing, or can be. You are so talented! I appreciated your authenticity and willingness to share your resources and knowledge.”—Janice G.
“THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I feel embodied and clear in a way I haven’t for a long time.” Kate K.
Must we meet in person?
Not at all. Based on my experience, sessions are equally effective whether conducted in person, by telephone, or in an online audio-visual platform. In fact, the telephonic or online experience can provide a very focused, intimate and safe environment for confidential communications and allows you to save the cost and time of travel as well as enjoy a session in the privacy of your own environment. There is nothing “remote” about so-called remote sessions. One of my clients had this to say about telephonic sessions:
“I was concerned at first that conducting the sessions over the phone wouldn’t provide the intimacy needed to be honest, but it was surprisingly comfortable, perhaps even more so since I was in my own home for each of the sessions.”– Nicole C.
How can you schedule an appointment?
If you feel ready to proceed, you can schedule a 60 minute Guided Focusing Session on my Scheduling Page. If you prefer, you may email me at [email protected] or call me at 617-967-0798 for an appointment.
Want to Know More Before You Decide?
If you would like to get to know me, see if we are a good match, or ask questions about how I work and whether Focusing or another process is best for you, you are welcome to schedule a free 30-minute consultation here. I look forward to speaking with you and supporting you on your journey of exploration, insight and growth.
