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And when you do, you’ll receive our free article: Ten Ways to Use Focusing in Daily Life.

"I bought both manuals at the conference and am blown away by them. You haven’t left a stone unturned! And the way you’re conceptualizing is wonderful. Truly a gift to the Focusing community!”
– Elizabeth Lehmann, therapist and Focusing teacher, New York, NY

“Ann Weiser Cornell is an empathic warm caring person. She is an excellent teacher who has developed a a method of teaching Focuisng/Listening that is unique and effective. Ann’s manuals and materials are used by many teachers of the Focusing Institute.”
– Mary McGuire, former Director, Focusing Institute"

The Focusing process was developed by award-winning psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin out of research into successful psychotherapy and his philosophy of the implicit. His best-selling book, Focusing, was first published in 1978. Since then, Focusing has spread all around the world as a process used for many purposes: problem-solving in all sorts of situations, enhancing psychotherapy and doing inner work without psychotherapy, decision-making, creativity (writing, painting, etc.), developing new ideas and theories in every conceivable field, psychotherapy, working with children and babies, environmental management… the list is endless.

The primary resource for Focusers all over the world is the Focusing Institute, the nonprofit organization founded by Eugene Gendlin. It is presently based in New York and the director is Mary Hendricks Gendlin. (When it was founded the Institute was based in Chicago and was directed first by Doralee Grindler, then Mary McGuire, then Janet Klein.) The Institute operates a website with a bookstore, archives of articles and research about Focusing (as well as generating continued research), a Focusing training program, and certification of Focusing Trainers and Coordinators (see below). The Focusing Institute can be reached at 34 East Lane, Spring Valley NY 10977, 845-362-5222, www.focusing.org.

Gendlin’s original book described a way of teaching Focusing with six steps. You may hear people refer to “the six steps” or “six-step Focusing.” Since then, other teachers have developed other ways of teaching Focusing. All ways of teaching are welcomed by the Focusing Institute. Two that are the most wide-spread are: Bio-Spiritual Focusing, developed by Peter Campbell and Edwin McMahon, and Inner Relationship Focusing, developed by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin.

There have also been applications of Focusing to specific areas, often involving combining Focusing with other methods to enhance both. Some of the most well-known are: WholeBody Focusing developed by Kevin McEvenue and Paul Huschilt, Interactive Focusing developed by Janet Klein with the help of Mary McGuire, and Treasure Maps to the Soul developed by Barbara McGavin and Ann Weiser Cornell.

The Focusing Institute supports a diverse and decentralized network of Focusing practitioners. In order to ensure a wide variety of Focusing opportunities, the Focusing Institute has authorized certain Focusing teachers with proven experience to be Certifying Coordinators. These people offer training which leads to the Institute’s certification as Focusing Trainer. It is also possible to become a Focusing Trainer directly through the Institute. The Coordinators meet in person once a year, the day before the annual conference.

The International Focusing Conference is put on every year, usually in May, by local groups of Focusing people. To find out when and where the next Focusing Conferences are, see www.focusing.org.

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