Help for the Helpers

“I would like to start off with a brief talk about the way we think about human experience in Focusing. As we all know, Professor Eugene Gendlin, who we called “Gene”, was a philosopher, a very sharp original thinker who had advanced philosophy. However, one thing that I failed to persuade him to do, is to write his philosophy in a way that therapists would understand. Many people do not know the theory behind Focusing.  After pressing him to write, he finally told me, “you should write it”. It took me nearly a decade until I produced something (Ikemi, 2017, 2019) and I am still working on it. I wish to start off explaining where he got his fundamental concept of “Experiencing”, which lies at the core of Focusing. His view of the human mind is different from what most people think, for instance the (repressed) “unconscious” has no place in the Experiencing Model. So contrary to what some people think, Focusing does not try to “uncover” unconscious contents. Instead the Experiencing Model values the process of how our experience is carried forward through the cycle of experience (felt sense), expression (handle) and understanding and within the relationship.

After the attunement, I will give you instructions for Crossing with Animals. Crossing with Animals is a pair exercise that we developed that highlights the Experiencing Model. It is playful and easy and respectful to whatever metaphors that come.