Most traditional methods of working on oneself are mostly pain centered. People get to repeat over and over their painful emotions without knowing how to use the body's own inherently positive direction and force.                                                                                                  Gene Gendlin

BFA Focusing Skills Programme

​The BFA Focusing Skills Programme consists of 5 workshops each of 2 days duration.
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The workshops need to be taken in order as each workshop builds on the previous one.

However the timing is flexible it is not necessary to sign up to all 5 workshops at once.

You can take as many or as few levels as you wish

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What You will learn

​​As you to learn to Focus you will start to notice inner feelings and experiences without becoming overwhelmed by them.

You will learn how to listen to your inner self with compassion, acceptance and interested curiosity. You will develop the skills to guide yourself in sensing your inner body knowing and to trust this wisdom.

You will learn how to support someone else in the Focusing process and explore how to come to being Self in Presence.

The workshops will introduce you to the work of Eugene Gendlin and the approach of Inner Relationship Focusing of Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin.

When do the Workshops Run

Workshops usually run at Weekends at approximately 2 months intervals.  Generally the programme runs between September and June.  The workshops are not residential, however there are hotels nearby if you do not wish to travel each day.

How You will Learn

​​The workshops provide the opportunity to work in a small group (usually no more than 6 people). The approach is to learn to Focus in a step by step way. 

​There will be short information sessions followed by the opportunity to try out and experience that step of Focusing, one to one with another group member. 

The pace is gentle and there is plenty of time for discussion about what you are discovering and experiencing.

My aim is always to create a safe learning space and each participant is free to decide what feels right for them at each stage of the workshop.

For each Workshop you will receive a course booklet which summarises all the information covered in that level.​

Location for the Workshops

I usually run my workshops from a Therapy Centre in Kenilworth in Warwickshire.  It is an old house with a lovely garden which provides a peaceful setting to work in.  
​The centre is accessible by public transport

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Workshop One

Introduction to Focusing - Listening to Yourself

In Workshop 1 you will start to discover the origins of Focusing, what Focusing is and how it differs from other approaches.  In particular that Focusing is a gentle yet powerful way of coming into contact with our inner places.

You will begin to learn to Focus, to sense internally for what wants your attention at this moment and how to start to connect with that.  You will learn to identify the stages of a Focusing session and to listen and companion someone in a Focusing way. 
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You will be introduced to the work of Eugene Gendlin and the concept of Inner Relationship Focusing and the work of Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin.

There are opportunities for group discussions and one to one Focusing practice where you can experience and explore what you have been introduced to.

Workshop Three

Becoming a Caring Companion-
Building Trust with Our Inner Places

In Workshop 3 you will explore how we build trust with our inner places and what they show us and experience what those places may be willing to share with us, if we all them to be there just as they are without judgement. We will also consider what gets in the way of of us being able to accept all parts of ourselves without judgement.

There is the opportunity to explore how to nurture and bring a friendly caring presence to our inner places even when the seem harsh, angry or critical. We will consider how we find the right words to reflect our inner experiences to they experience feeling fully welcomed and understood.

We will explore how we may start to make contact with our exiled parts and start the process of helping them reconnect with our whole being.

We explore how to trust Focusing as a way of being, not just a series of techniques to be learned and followed.

Workshop Four

Deepening Focusing and Listening -
 Guiding Statements and Suggestions

In Workshop 4 you will explore how to further develop and deepen your Focusing and Companioning skills.
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We consider how the Focuser can increase their confidence in self guiding in a Focusing session, using the support of their Listener to help them remain in Presence with their Inner Places.

We will experience the  ways in which the Listener can provide further support to the Focuser by offering invitations to use guiding statements and suggestions.

We will examine how best to phrase and offer these invitations and when it is appropriate to do so. The Listener will explore how their own Felt Sense can inform this process.

The concept of "Not Wanting" and "Wanting" will be introduced along with the need to be alert to the possibility of "Implied" parts being present. We will explore these can we worked with.

This Workshop will bring the opportunity to experience longer Focusing sessions and to more fully bring together the experience and learning from the previous levels.

Workshop Two

Next Steps in Focusing - The Power of Presence

In Workshop 2 you will consolidate the skills you were introduced to at Level 1 and progress to deepening your Focusing, listening and companioning skills.

You will have the opportunity to explore the concept of Self in Presence and the benefits of using of Presence language to help you come into a deeper relationship with what you encounter as you sense inside.

You will also explore the Felt Sense discovering how our inner places will communicate with us by symbolising what is present through, bodily sensations, images, words, gestures or sounds.
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You will have the opportunity to try out different ways of starting a Focusing sessions and consider how you make take Focusing forward either in a Focusing Partnership or by Focusing alone.

I always feel welcomed, comfortable and safe on the weekends. I have learned a lot and these weekends always inspire me to look a little deeper
                                                                                                               NS

​I really appreciate how clearly everything is explained.  The course notes are well set out and very clear.  It is good to have something to take away and reflect on after the weekend.  It was lovely to be in such an open and accepting group.
​                                                                                                                             SF

Workshop Five

Developing Focusing Fluency -
The Inner Critic and Working with Edges

In Workshop 5 you will have the opportunity to reflect on and bring together your learning and experience of Focusing.

You will be encouraged to trust your Felt Sense to show you what is the right for you and to become increasingly comfortably in working with what is your approach to Focusing.

We will explore the idea that every part we encounter as we focus has a positive intent for us. No matter how harsh the voices may be, we take the view that they are acting in that way as they are trying to keep us safe and prevent us from coming to harm.

We consider how to be with and work with all the parts of ourselves to allow parts which have been isolated and split off reintegrate with the whole of being.

There will be time to reflect on your journey with Focusing since starting the workshops in the previous September and to review any areas covered in previous workshops that participants wish to revisit.

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