by Robert Lott Lee, Ph.D.
© 2026, Robert L. Lee, Ph.D.;
In the last chapter of Gendlin’s philosophical masterpiece, A Process Model, Gendlin has a section called Holding and Letting which describes felt sensing beautifully, where you hold an issue or situation, or theme, or puzzle or dilemma or problem (that you have chosen to work on,) and you “Let” a felt sense form. I find this to be the most elegant of Gendlin’s many descriptions of Felt Sensing.
Experienced focusers eventually learn that you can also go the other way. You can start with a felt sense and you can hold that feeling tone and let the issue or situation come -- which the felt sense is about.
In early focusing there were lots of discussions about the importance of “the focusing attitude”-- being kind to yourself, and to your thoughts and feelings you are exploring, for example. Might this work on “Focusing Attitude” be a third “domain” in addition to Issue-Situation domain and “Felt Sensing” domain? I name that third domain, “Self-Empathy”.
Domain Focusing articulates ways of starting focusing from Issue-Situation (Thinking) domain, or Felt Sensing domain or Self-Empathy domain. For continuing a focusing session, DF (Domain Focusing) emphasizes Holding and Letting between domains by carefully sensing “what next?” Domain Focusing gently builds or asks for an awareness of which domain I am functioning in, and which domain might I go to next in this focusing session.
In DF there are 3 key principles?
1. Do I have sufficient self-empathy for exploring this situation or felt sense? If not is there a careful way forward which would keep things safe? The question about sufficient self-empathy can lead to “the Safety Protocol” which is relevant to very difficult issues -- even trauma, terror, black holing, bi-polaring etc.
2.Do I have sufficient entry to the felt sense, to ask a shift question? Learning how to ask a shift question well is important in DF.
3. Has a felt sense shift forward occurred, and, if so, how do we receive the shift such that the shift fills out, insights can be welcomed, and, sometimes even a state of new possibilities can arrive?
In Domain Focusing, there are 24 avenues into the Felt Sensing (Domain), many of which you will know and usually a few that even experienced focusers are not aware of. There are many ways into the Issue or Situation (Domain) (including a few “Thinking at the Edge” type moves). These Thinking paths are NOT avoidant of felt sensing but rather preparing for felt sensing by specifying further about the key dilemma. There are many ways into the Self-empathy domain. Those are often familiar and comforting. You are learning to love yourself there… even with a them where that may not be so easy. Of course, you will find your own words and ways of entering these domains as you become more familiar with Domain Focusing.
DF builds a bridge between Gendlin’s 6 Steps and his 7th step (Acting into the Situation).
by Eibhlín Nic Eochaidh
Another way of saying focusing in Irish is Teacht le Chéile – Coming Together. And that’s what we did on the 21st May, almost the start of Summer, when Elaine Goggin hosted a focusing evening with and through Irish.
We who learned Irish at school hold memories, good and bad. To those who did not learn it, Irish is a foreign language. When I first heard Elaine express her deep connection with the landscape she lives in, the landscape outside her window, how it embodied her sense of being Irish, making her want to reconnect with the Irish language, it moved me.
To reconnect with the language, Elaine began learning Irish on Duolingo. I’d never heard of anyone teaching themselves Irish like that, but why not! Her commitment translated into a record run of uninterrupted Duolingo sessions. I was excited when I first heard of her plan to bring this into her Focusing life by offering Focusing evenings as Gaeilge.
When I began learning Focusing I was amazed at stories I heard of people at International Training days focusing with partners where neither person shared a common language. I was curious and intrigued. When Elaine offered the evening of Fócasaigh as Gaeilge I hoped I might get a taste of what that might be like.
It did, but not in a way I’d anticipated.
Elaine promised the session would be gentle and childlike. It was. On the evening we were from different parts of Ireland, north and south, and from different continents. English was a shared language but we all entered into the spirit of the evening, those with middling Irish, some Irish – cúpla focal, and none!
Elaine provided us with a Foclóir to help us, a dictionary of useful phrases to support us. It was the simplest phrases that resonated with me: something – rud éigin; like – cosúil; I am sad – Tá uaigneas orm.
Tá uaigneas orm: Sadness is on me, not I am sad; reminder of how a feeling is not who I am or all of me, simply a part. Each language is “a different way of thinking.”
I am not a native speaker of Irish, nor do I speak Irish very often. I surprised myself that evening how Focusing as Gaeilge came so easily. Somehow the simplicity of the words in Irish was freeing. What I also liked was how it removed the weight of my self-expectation to reflect “properly” to my focusing partner.
The whole evening returned me to Gendlin’s insistence that there is not one way we are meant to be when we focus together; what we are asked to do is simply be present, human to human.
In a funny way it made me realise that Language is not everything.
Recently reading through Elaine’s foclóir a typo jumped out at me:
Tiredness of the word in upon me – Tá tuirse an domhain orm – The tiredness of the world is upon me.
I think I prefer the typo!
It is Elaine’s intention to offer these evenings at the turn of the seasons.
Thank you Elaine for your generosity in sharing your journey in re-learning Irish with us. I look forward to the next evening of Focusing as Gaeilge.
Where to begin – there was just so much!
There were 101 workshops during the conference - at any one time there were 8 – 11 workshops going simultaneously. The most number of workshops anyone could attend over the five days was 11 – 11 out of 101! So, it was really important to choose judiciously. Fortunately, we had a thick programme booklet with workshop descriptions and information on the presenters to help with that.
TOM LARKIN
So many experiences; meeting people I had up to then only ever met online, catching up with colleagues, besides being a facilitator for the daily ‘home room’, trying to deal with the fallout from a verbal assault on a colleague and friend by a Focusing coordinator and organising and facilitating an unplanned workshop at the last minute – phew! All the workshops I attended were enlightening and enjoyable and there were two that stood out for me – both were very experiential and mind expanding:
“Connecting Focusing and Tai Chi” – Boaz Shavit
As someone who spent some years practicing one of the Tai Chi forms (and loved it) I had a great curiosity how it would cross with Focusing. We began individually with basic movements, gradually increasing their complexity, but not too much. All the time doing these physical movements we were tuning into what was happening in our bodies as we did them. We then partnered with another participant for a variation of “push hands”. The experience of leading and following necessitated an awareness of and a tuning in to the other – communicating through a light touch (back of the hand to back of the hand).
We then had an opportunity to Focus with our partner: one person Focused, the companion just listened. Then the Focuser paused and the companion resonated with what the Focuser said/gestured and the Focuser responded, a bit similar to Interactive Focusing. We then switched and continued in a flowing way, no timer, exactly as we had done in “push hands”. I found it an amazingly deep and beautiful experience.
“Sensing Forward into System Change – Embodied Awareness and Social Transformation” – Anna-Katherina Lenz
Anna-Katherina introduced us to the Sankofa bird whose body is facing forward and whose head is facing backwards. She guided an exercise for the participants in using this metaphor for identifying and carrying forward what is needed from past experiences (“treasures”) of a system with which we were familiar, one where the structure served the people in it, into the present where it could be applied to a system in which we currently participate.
She guided a second exercise, this time on imagining/envisioning a bright, positive future and identifying the actions and resources that brought us there from now. We then sensed into a crossing of this future vision and the treasures we gleaned from the past, holding each one in either hand. For the first time in a long time, I felt full of wonder and hope, alive with the possibilities of what could change in our fractured society and breaking planet and I wished all world leaders could allow themselves to engage in such exercises as we did in this workshop.
THERESE RYAN
The delights of the International Focusing Conference in Vienna. How far people had come to be there. Months, years even of anticipation realised. Experiencing such a special event with my dear Focusing buddy, our precious IFN group. From all over the world we’re together in the flesh. Adjusting from seeing someone online to standing right here in front of me. We are so much more than a little box on the screen.
The pleasure of being with people who know Focusing, not needing to explain what Focusing is or how it goes. A few times a day I’m invited to turn to the person beside me, whom I’ve never set eyes on before and Focus for a few minutes. The power of those moments. The bewildering variety of workshops, the difficulty in choosing each day which to attend. I want them all, to soak everything in.
One afternoon I arrived at a workshop late and flustered, wondering if I should have picked differently. Before I can think any more, I’m doing qi gong and tai chi movements facing glass doors that open on to blue sky and leafy tree tops. My breath slows, I begin to notice my body and to connect inwardly as if knowing myself anew. From being with myself this way, I then move with a partner slowly, gently, silently, taking turns to lead and follow, then moving together without leading or following - a tender, heart- felt dance. Afterwards we Focus together concluding a profound connection which touched me deeply.
Many memorable moments from Vienna stay with me. Gene’s son, his words and how like Gene he looked. The panel discussion, hearing about Gene from those who were close to him and whose lives and work were so touched by him. Feeling encouraged, inspired and grateful as each of us is invited to carry Focusing forward in our own unique way.
CLARE MYATT
I feel blessed to have had The Vienna Experience and it’s one that’s difficult to describe because it was one of contrasts - highs and lows.
One of my highlights was being so warmly welcomed by IFN members, reconnecting with friends from two Weeklongs at the Dominican Retreat Centre and meeting new people too - thank you! Another was visiting Gendlin’s birthplace with Elaine and Margaret, followed by a classic Viennese delicious coffee/pastry.
The wealth of learning opportunities was a little overwhelming and I attended as many as my introvert bandwidth allowed. The glorious venue allowed for gentle strolls amongst the trees and that helped, especially with the warm weather.
The Gala dinner was a joy, hundreds of people notwithstanding, and I beat an early retreat with Melanie and Elizabeth which was also a pleasure. Meeting people in person, complete with delicious hugs, was such a welcome contrast to Zoom-only gatherings. I intentionally connected with some people one to one, intimately and meaningfully, and have treasured memories of being deeply seen and heard and held by friends old and new.
The rupture (for want of a better word) was disorienting and distressing and I continue to process the experience weeks later. I’m determined it won’t be my primary memory of our Sensing Forward together - I have hope that we are all in process and that something remarkable may unfold, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The focusing community is very precious to me, both locally with BFA, IFN and EFA, and further afield with TIFI’s worldwide presence. May we find peace.
In gratitude,
Clare Myatt
FIONA O'MEARA
The International Focusing Conference in Vienna was one of the highlights of my adult life. A big statement, I know, but it was an unusual gathering: more than 400 experienced Focusers from around the world, including people with whom I had shared some of the most intimate moments of my life — and whom I had never actually met.
Then I met them and discovered something else: they were fun. We discussed, danced and laughed at dinner. I loved it.
With more than eighty workshops on offer, I used the conference to explore approaches beyond my own Inner Relationship Focusing tradition.
Evelyn Fendler-Lee’s workshop introduced me to Crossing, a process rooted in Gendlin’s Philosophy of the Implicit and used in Thinking at the Edge (TAE). By bringing two ideas or experiences into interaction, something new can emerge. Nothing startling emerged for me, but I could see its potential and appreciated Evelyn’s clarity and expertise.
I had also wanted to see Robert Lee’s Domain Focusing in action. Robert works across three domains — Thinking, Felt Sense and Self-Empathy — physically moving between three chairs. I was struck by how actively he cultivated self-empathy while attending to the new growth direction wanting to emerge.
Dan Schachter, an Israeli psychologist and Focusing teacher, spoke about some of his experience of what he described as the genocide in Gaza. He spoke plainly while holding the room with presence and sensitivity. His workshop brought me into contact with a question of my own: how do I speak about political issues without deepening polarisation?
Those conflicts also entered the conference itself. Some Focusing teachers and students disagreed deeply about Israel and Gaza. There was disagreement and rupture, followed by conversations and attempts at repair.
I came home with new friendships, wonderful memories and questions: What remains invisible to us, even as skilled Focusers? Can we stay empathic to others if we think they threaten our survival? And how do we speak up without deepening the divide? I will not forget the Vienna Conference - it was a clear instance of our problems and of our potential.
Fiona O’Meara, Inner Relationship Focusing Professional
Inner Relationship Focusing with Fiona
ELAINE GOGGIN
I said two years ago that if I was every going to go to a Conference this was going to be it. I love volunteering as a Zoom Host for the International Focusing Institute and one of my favourite parts is interacting and meeting Focusers from all over the world. I cannot describe how exceptional it was to see the recognition in people’s eyes when I first met those familiar faces. I have spent countless hours with hard working Focusers online so to be able to give them a hug and spend some time in their presence was magical.
It was rejuvenating and exhausting all at the same time so I was grateful for Joke van Hoeck’s offering of Rest is Resistance as an Interest Group. It is interesting to me how difficult it is for us to make space for rest when there is so much ‘doing’ to be done, but when someone creates an interest group that you attend just to rest, it feels like resting is the doing!
Given the variety of workshops, sometimes you felt like a kid in a candy shop with only permission to chose one! This at times was difficult but you always had the feeling you where exactly here you were suppose to be. One workshop in particular where this was evident to me was Chandra Chang workshop on Focusing and Sound! Chandra invited us to vocalise a sound from our lower abdomen. In a room full of people vocalising I found myself attuning to sounds I liked but then I realised that I was abandoning my own sound. Something I need to pay more attention to!
There is so much more I would like to say but I will finish up by acknowledging the difficulty also in coming together as a large group, with the current state of the world and the environments we live in. What comes to mind is the quote from Gene:
What is True is already so. Owning up to it doesn’t make it worse. Not being open about it doesn’t make it go away.
And because it is true, it is what is there to be interacted with. Anything untrue isn’t there to be lived.
Some things need the right space where people’s own truths are shared sometimes uncomfortably but a coming together like this can lead the new way forward however that may unfold.
At the concluding ceremony we were treated to an amazing company that performed Playback Theatre, it was a tonic to have instances for the conference reflected as stories from those willing to share. I found this powerful and perfect ending to acknowledge and hold all that came for people during the conference.
In final conclusion the impression that I will carry with me from the conference is the people and will always be the people! There is so much more to say in particular about hearing from Gerry Gendlin and visiting Gene’s home and the contrast I felt to visiting Vienna as opposed to what Gene felt in returning to his childhood home that he was force to leave.
IFN members who attended the International Focusing Conference in Vienna
L/R Clare Myatt, Therese Ryan, Marta Fabregat, Margaret Quinn, Tom Larkin, Fiona O'Meara, Mary Jennings, Elaine Goggin and Báirbre Meehan
Group photos from the Gala night in Vienna
Margaret, Elaine and Clare outside Gene's school with a plaque dedicated to him overhead
Ann Weiser Cornell, Mia Leijssen, Robert Lee, Jeffrey Morrison (MC), Elena Frezza and Akira Ikemi
Gerry Gendlin
Carmel Heaney 21st July 1924 - 13th Aug 2026
As we reflect on the life of our dear friend Carmel, it’s hard to know where to start. Carmel came to Focusing late in life as she says herself, when her cousin gave her Eugene Gendlin’s book Focusing. She really loved it and found it so useful in dealing with conflict in relationships and in life in general.
Carmel was a treasured member of the IFN and we looked on her as the wise person as she was so full of wisdom and knowledge.
She really embraced life and ageing even when she became a centenarian plus. Carmel talked about a Force leading her and guiding her and that force shone through in her.
Over the years she attended Focusing Workshops in Emmaus and Coolock in North County Dublin. This was no easy task as she used public transport from Blackrock, taking the train and often two buses. Even when her sight was failing, she took out her little magnifying glass and made sure she read all the notes we used.
She was very philosophical, loved The Enneagram and lives of the Saints and studied dream work
During Covid, when we moved our meetings to Zoom, her willingness to embrace the new technology impressed us all. She took it all in her stride, even when we had to help her position her webcam so that we could see her properly!
She absolutely loved poetry and particularly enjoyed the poetry sessions facilitated by Marie and Elaine.
Reading the condolences on RIP the comments from the people she encountered in her professional life were similar to those of us who knew her in IFN. People have spoken about her kindness, her curiosity about the meaning of life, her love of language and wanting to be precise in her speech with her articulation. Her listening skills were also praised. Another, she was an example of courage, commitment and perseverance.
Her great energy was also mentioned as she enjoyed volley ball, walking and exercise classes.
On reaching one hundred she said it made her daily life simpler, trained her in letting go, which was, she said the foundation for good mental health. As in the Focusing tradition she had learned the capacity to be with whatever was happening and trust that everything comes together in time.
Carmel was a remarkable lady who will be missed by all who knew her.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam uasal.
By Marian Burke
Watch her beautiful video reciting and resonating with the poem 'Like a Holy Face' by Rainer Marie Rilke
Listen to her episode on our Focusing Pathways Podcast:
TIFI Membership Committee
by Tom Larkin
The Membership Committee was established eleven years ago by the board of The International Focusing Institute (TIFI) with the primary purpose of exploring and creating opportunities for members to connect and communicate with each other and to enhance the benefits of being a member of TIFI. The committee meets monthly and currently has eight members; Mariana Pisula (Argentina) Georgeta Nicalescu (Roumania) Susan Lennox (U.S.) Caroline Copestake (Spain), Monika Lindner (Germany), Tom Larkin (Ireland) with Elizabeth Cantor from the office of TIFI and TIFI’s director, Catherine Torpey.
Over that time, the committee has devised a wide range of online events and activities that made connection and interaction among members possible.
- Roundtables: These are online group reflections on and conversations about various Focusing-related topics of interest to members. These gatherings have enabled Focusers from all over the world to share their experiences and to explore a topic of mutual interest in a relaxed peer-to-peer environment. In addition, there have been specific roundtables series for Focusing Oriented Therapists, Oceania Location and Children Focusing practitioners. Roundtables in Italian, German, French and Japanese have been organised. From the beginning, there has been a very wide geographical and cultural diversity among the attendees. To date there have been 125 events, supported by TIFI and put on by volunteer presenters. Topics arise organically and given the availablity of other free events, roundtables are currently hosted at intervals throughout the year.(More about roundtables here: https://focusing.org/more/roundtables)
- Redondas Mesas: These are Spanish language Roundtables. (More about Redondas Mesas and Cafecitos here: https://focusing.org/event/cafecitos-19-como-crear-tu-marca-desde-la-sensacion-sentida-how-create-your-brand-felt-sense).
- Cafecitos: Offered in Spanish, these are as the name suggests, a way of inviting people to "Come have a cup of coffee with us!” and consisting of interviews, talks and conversations around topics of interest to members.
- New Member Meetings: These are meetings where individual members of the committee arrange to meet any TIFI member who has a query or question about some aspect of TIFI.
- Trainer Talks: These were recorded Zoom interviews aimed at providing tips, information and inspiration to support TIFI's professional members. Only three were ever made and alas, the links to them are dead.
- Membership Survey: The committee undertook a survey of members’ knowledge about and experiences of the Focusing Partnership Network. The Network provides an accessible search engine by which participants can find others within the TIFI global community who are interested in Focusing exchanges and partnering.
- Pop-Up Focusing Partnership online sessions: Arising from the survey results, the Committee worked to clarify and enhance the Focusing Partnership Network through organising and hosting a series of online sessions The purpose of these meetings is to give members a chance to meet and briefly get to know other members of the Partnership Network.
- Hello, Hello: The “Hello, Hello” online events are organised to make contact with people in a particular geographical region, who are new to Focusing and also people there who are practicing Focusing alone. These meetings provide information about TIFI and offer an invitation to become more involved in our international community.
- Membership Lounge: This is the most recent initiative of the committee. These online meetings are organised to provide opportunities for connection and communication among specific groups of TIFI members. The first one took place in Spring 2026 for trainee members who are on their journey to accreditation in Focusing.
All these events are open to members of TIFI and are free. They require nothing more than to register and turn up. For information about future events organised by the committee and about other member benefits, keep an eye on the events listing on the TIFI website, https://focusing.org/events and on your mail boxes.
As the committee is at the beginning of its second decade there will be new needs and challenges ahead. The committee will always explore initiatives to meet these. The creativity and strength to devise and implement them can only come from a vibrant and committed membership. This committee is open to hearing your experiences of Focusing and suggestions for further possibilities.
Using Focusing in Everyday Life by Marian Burke
When I signed up for this workshop, facilitated by Mary Jennings. I didn’t really give any thought as to what it might be about. I guess the title appealed to me. Some people said it was exactly what they were looking for. Certainly, it is a skill we can all use and the more we practice, the better we get at it.
Rather than detail all the language Mary used, I will attempt to write what I took away and hope I got it right! Mary referenced a piece from Tom Larkin’s MA Thesis: Making space for the more, Focusing as Embodied Spiritual Practice. “Focusing needs to become a person’s natural “go to” response to life’s conundrums, not just discreet sessions alone with a Focusing partner, beneficial as they may be.”
Mary explained the difference between a Focusing partnership and everyday Focusing. In a partnership you may say something like; “Maybe you would like to take all that inside you” or “can you sense the whole of that?”
Listening to friend or neighbour you wouldn’t dream of saying anything like that. But you could say “That’s a lot for you to carry” or “you have a lot on your plate” (My words) Or “I’m sorry this is happening to you; I am happy to listen if it would help.”
Mary explained the need for us to notice when someone is struggling for a word to explain how they are feeling and to allow the space for them to find the right word or say what they are trying to say.
She also spoke about how helpful this can be in a meeting, if someone wants to share and is struggling with the language to use. I shared how this often happened to me, but I was often shot down by an unhelpful chair person or someone in the group.
Mary was suggesting listening in a Focusing way. For instance, pausing and clearing a space.
Coming from a place of curiosity and care. Checking our felt sense before we speak.
Let their words come into a Focusing space.
Pay attention to tone of voice, pacing, are we rushing? Let it flow naturally. Use reflective listening as appropriate. Notice their hesitations, use of metaphors, feeling word etc. It’s ok to experiment. If we feel it’s not resonating with the other person, pull back. It’s ok to get it wrong, they can correct us.
To sum up.
“Listening and responding in a Focusing way is not just for Focusing Partnerships ̶ it’s for life! You might like to try some of these ‘steps,’ and other ideas offered tentatively here in everyday conversation when it seems right. You can experiment yourself with your own sense of what would be appropriate. By being in touch with your own felt-sense and bringing curiosity and care to your interactions, you might find your conversations become a lot more interesting! We got a chance to practice all this in break out rooms.
In the workshop we also looked at having our needs met, asking for what we would like, without it sounding like a command or an order. Again, emphasis on tone etc.
Mary gave some examples like “would you be willing to? Would it work if you … How would it be for you?” My own favourites are: “I have a favour to ask, I know you’re busy, but… or softening the request with any chance…?! I might get “ What is it this time?” But it always works!
We also looked at saying “No” without feeling guilty. Some examples: “I’d like to say yes, but…..; I know this is important to you, but I’m not in a position to help right now, maybe we could explore options that might work. Or just be clear and direct and say I’m really sorry, but I can’t help.
I remember being at a workshop once, where it was said, we don’t have to give any explanations why we can’t do something. I am in a choir and sometimes we get big long stories as to why they can’t attend. I have taken on board the advice from the workshop and I just say; “I’m sorry, but I’m not available next Wednesday!” However, if it is family or close friends, I would usually tell them why.
We also got a chance to practice in pairs some Interactive Focusing, based on the work of Janet Klein. We listened to the story, then created what she called “An empathic moment.” This involves checking with the Focuser, if it is ok to share how their process touched us. This allows for more empathy and for the Focuser to go more deeply. They may choose not to reply, or correct us if we got it wrong.
Mary wanted to do more work about using metaphors and Thinking at the Edge, but she felt it would be rushed. She used some lovely poems by Seamus Heaney to illustrate her point. Mary was conscious she was rushing it, so it was suggested another workshop would be appropriate.
Since doing the workshop, it has refreshed my awareness for practicing better listening. I have also found it exciting catching myself when I listen accurately and reflect back appropriately. Recently listening to a friend telling me about when herself and her husband got clamped. It would have been very easy (maybe usually) for me to tell her my experience of being clamped. But I remembered our workshop and allowed her to stay with her frustration and I will do this more often.
Impressions of Spring In Person Day 2026
by Eibhlin Nic Eochaidh
Sunshine through a wall of stained-glass windows. Images in them I don’t recall. It’s the filtered light that stays. The space. The warmth.
We begin with chair yoga. Led by Rennie. Gentle movement in place. Sitting on our chairs, raising my arms out in front of me, I notice unfamiliar aches. The session ends with movements to “It’s a wonderful world”, embracing ourselves with generosity and gentleness. We have come into our bodies.
Now it’s too warm. We move ourselves and chairs into an inner room and begin a workshop on Stories of Resilience.
Tom and Margaret offered this workshop, setting off with “what comes when we think of the word resilience?” Images. Songs. A character in a book or film.
Immediately what came for me was the image of a child teaching themselves to walk. Falling. Picking themselves up. Over and over.
After exploring the word we divided into groups, each of us sharing a story of what came to us when we thought of something or someone that embodied resilience for us, returning to the main group with one story to share.
Stories of a journey to Ireland of a Palestinian Circus Group, the difficulties and challenges they overcame; a talk by an Israeli man whose young daughter was killed in a bomb attack; a sister-in-law’s resilience in grief; a sister who reinvented her life over and over. What stays with me now is how these stories moved us.
A question came up: are some people more resilient than others, or is resilience innate in some people and not in others? Something Margaret shared, of how a Palestinian woman said to her about how people empathise with what is happening to them but how deeply she resents being expected to be resilient, stayed with me.
Resilience doesn’t seem to be something embedded. How we navigate the “trials and tribulations” of our lives is partly shaped by our personalities, resilience a skill set we can acquire. We can learn it, lose it, find it again, discover what supports us not to drown in a dark hole of despair. Persistence appears essential. A willingness to begin again. To look for what supports me.
After a generous lunch, lots of chat and a marmalade cat, we returned to Focusing with the Enneagram workshop led by Therese.
Re-entering the room to find a map on the floor in the centre of the circle of chairs. Around the rim of the map’s circle were nine points. A voice saying “it’s a star map”. It was. A constellation of nine stars, each a cluster of personality traits, a pattern, representing Body types, Heart types and Head types.
Therese requested us to listen as she slowly read phrases describing each of the nine points. To feel how they landed with us, to notice and hold what we noticed: what we were attracted to and what we reacted against.
Up on our feet next, Therese guided us through gestures embodying each of the nine personality patterns, their high points. I found this illuminating – how good some gestures felt. How I rejected others. I found myself surprisingly attracted to the stance of 8, feeling myself taking up more space than I normally allow myself.
After this brief, embodied introduction to the Enneagram, we focused in pairs. What comes now is simply how wonderful it is to focus in person, “offline”.
We completed our day as we began with movements in place, and attempts at singing (!) to It’s a Wonderful World.
I returned home with a feeling of lightness in heart and mind, and a deep gratitude for the gifts of Friendship and Focusing.
Before I finish I want to tell you about something Tom mentioned, almost in passing, something someone in my life had previously mentioned – the idea of Glimmers, as opposed to Triggers – noticing and choosing to do things that help us to learn resilience.
The glimmers I gathered on this Spring day of In-Person Focusing were a moment during lunch break, sitting outside on the front steps, my eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face; a huge tree on the lawn, its many branches outstretched, an embroidered tablecloth of spring flowers at its foot and the man working in the canteen who drew my attention with such pride to the homemade tartare sauce for the salmon. And yes, it was delicious!
We had such a wonderful immersive day that we forgot to take a group photo, or any at all!
But there is something that resonates with the image below of this hug, with the experience of the day!
Here is a previous photo of Therese's Enneagram map from the Dublin Advance Weeklong 2022.
Focusing is usually a very quiet and personal affair. Even when partnered with another, increasingly our ‘bodies’ are not in the same room, as most partnerships occur via Zoom.
Our bi-annual in-person gatherings, therefore, are a real treat - a chance to meet face-to-face, reconnect, catch up on all things Focusing (and life); laugh together, lunch together, and partner in person. It was lovely to see some new faces there.
This September, we were gifted two excellent workshops, hosted respectively by John Keane and Mary Jennings, each offering rich group discussion, partnering, and individual work.
John Keane’s workshop, “Process Skipping,” was full of insight into how we often ‘skip’ over what most needs our attention. We do this every day, usually without noticing it: scrolling, making more tea, peeking in the fridge (food is my big distraction!) - all ways of avoiding an unwanted feeling inside ourselves. It’s an easy habit, especially in a culture that favours us always feeling ‘something better.’
I loved how John reminded us that we don’t need to drop these habits overnight or dive into a long inner process each time. Simply pausing to check inside before reaching for the familiar distraction can, over time, be quietly transformational. John shared a phrase from Fr. Ed McMahon (co-founder of BioSpiritual Focusing): “What in my body right now most needs my caring, loving presence?” A beautiful practice to carry into daily life.
Our second workshop, led by Mary, offered an inspiring introduction to the Olive Tree project - an initiative supporting community leaders working with Arabic-speaking refugees in Iceland to rediscover some inner safety. The programme grew from earlier work with community leaders in Palestine.
Blending Focusing with psychological first aid, mindfulness, and insights from neuroscience, the project offers a powerful, adaptable framework for anyone supporting people healing from trauma. We tried several of the exercises ourselves and felt their impact. (If you’d like to read more about the Olive Tree project and its origins, you can do so by clicking here)
As ever, meeting in person strengthened both our practice and our connections. We look forward to carrying what we learned into our everyday lives - and to gathering again in the spring. If you haven’t yet been, we would love to welcome you.
by Fiona O'Meara
Irish Focusing Network Members
John Keane
Mary Jennings
by Marta Fabregat
When you enter a Focusing community, something unmistakable meets you. It is not dramatic or announced, but an atmosphere shaped by people who have spent years learning to listen, deeply, quietly, and with care. The moment you arrive, you feel yourself arriving into that. It is as if you step into a living tapestry, woven from many threads of welcoming, of contact that is intact and gentle, and of the subtle possibility that something new might emerge. This ambiance is not about being positive or idealising the experience, nor about presenting Focusing as something mystical or exclusive. As I write, I am careful not to create the impression of a perfect or sectarian world. Growth and richness do appear in these gatherings, yes, but just as present are the life processes that are struggling, stretching, or seeking relief. Both belong.
In this experience, there is also something that, for many people, marks a clear before and after: the home group. These small daily circles act as a kind of temporary household within the Weeklong, a place where Gendlin’s philosophy becomes quietly embodied. There, without effort or pretension, one understands, through the body, that inner life has its own way of moving forward, its own signature, its own gentle drift that grows in companionship. In the home group, each person sits alongside others who do not interfere or direct, but accompany with a steady, supportive presence. This closeness allows us to recognise that existing authentically in the company of others is both simple and profoundly human. One’s own inner drift begins to take shape, and at the same time feels held by the calm presence of those around.
During the International Focusing Weeklong in Buenos Aires, what became evident was how the environment and the people were inseparable. The conditions that support living movement were available to us, and we, each in our way, were part of creating those very conditions. A community does not float above its participants; it emerges from them. Each person interacts with their own inner life, and with one another, in ways that make room for movement, for unfolding, and for a livelier sense of being. This is what stayed with me: a sense that the community continues long after the gathering ends, through the threads of contact that keep living in and through us.
It is difficult to speak of the magnitude of being part of such a Week, long enough for our pieces to find one another, meeting themselves in our company and in the company of others. Something happens in that span of days. At first it might feel mysterious, but perhaps it isn’t mystery in the dramatic sense. Perhaps it is simply life sensing us sensing it, a mutual awareness that gradually becomes visible. This sensing does not stay fixed or solidify into a repeated loop. Instead, it keeps shifting, responding, and opening. There is room in it for movement, for change, for something more to come. And in that gentle back-and-forth between our inner places, the presence of others, and the wider field, we sometimes feel life itself saying, almost with a smile: hey, welcome.
So yes, this is my poetic rant about a truly special gathering. The Weeklong took place from the 3rd to the 9th of October at Centro Loyola in San Miguel, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. This edition was fully in-person and carried the vibrant rhythm of simultaneous English, Spanish, and Portuguese translation flowing quietly underneath everything. It was designed for advanced Focusing practitioners, those certified by TIFI or well on their way, and included, as always, the annual certification ceremony. This moment was especially lively and joyful this year. Being in Latin America adds something unmistakable: the flavors of its culture, the rhythm of dance, and the music that seems to live deep in the bones. For someone coming from Europe, it offers a generous invitation to let the body move and to feel its own vitality in new ways.
Many nights unfolded into music, storytelling, and a very special last evening with a spontaneous folly performance that left us laughing and amazed. One could have wondered whether the performers had been rehearsing all year, yet it was entirely born in the moment. It arose from the simple delight of being together, acknowledging the joy of contact, and allowing playfulness to set the stage for us. Participants came from all across Latin America, with a small group from Europe and a few more from the United States, Canada and China.
I feel a deep bow of gratitude to the coordination team: Ceci Burgos, Joseph Sing, and René Veugelers, who accompanied the whole process with such care, artistry, and quiet dedication. And alongside them, Catherine Torpey was a constant, supportive presence who helped make this Weeklong unforgettable.
A big bow to all of them, and to all the community in Argentina for hosting us with such care and dedication, and to all who were there participating.
Human beings with human beings. Nothing more, nothing less. And somehow, that is everything.
When you enter a Focusing Weeklong,
All belong.
It’s hard to believe we are drawing near to the close of another year. I’m sure that this newsletter will brighten even the darkest day. Many thanks to Elaine and her team for the valuable work they do.
Our gratitude goes to those who facilitate our Refresher evenings which continue from January on the last zoom session of the month. A reminder that our associate members are very welcome to join these evenings and our online workshops too. We are also very grateful to our weekly Zoom hosts who help to provide the space for Focusing each week, we couldn't do this without you.
We would love to see you in these spaces. If you are a Focusing teacher and would like to lead a Refresher evening, we still have one or two slots to fill before the summer. Please get in touch.
Please save the date! Our AGM will take place on Tuesday, 27th January and we would love you to come. This is your chance to share what is important for you about the IFN, what you might like to see happen in 2026 and how you might be willing to help, even in some small way.
On behalf of the IFN committee I wish you gentleness and peace at this time of year.
We look forward to your continued presence and support in 2026.
Refresher Evening - November 2025
The IFN were delighted to host an online evening with Peter Gill recently. Peter is a Focusing Coordinator and trainer based in the UK. He is also a qualified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Nature connection Facilitator.
Peter’s workshop was titled “Welcoming Grief”. This is a theme he has explored through Focusing for many years. Peter began the workshop by reading the poem 'When Death Comes' by Mary Oliver and invited us to notice our body’s response to the words.
In breakout rooms we discussed our relationship with grief. It was powerful to hear our commonalities and differences. Peter described how indigenous communities honour the grieving process through ritual. In our society, we seem less able to welcome and allow space for grief.
Peter described grief as a living process which needs to be contained and released. The analogy of water needing a channel in order to flow resonated with me. Focusing, in offering a space where the body brings what needs to be heard, offers a container for grief. The gentle presence of another can help us acknowledge loss and release our grief. Nature too can be a container for grief.
Peter referred to a book by Francis Weller called 'The Wild Edge of Sorrow'. Weller describes different kinds of grief which he names “the five gates of grief”. I found this a powerful way to move beyond my familiar and narrow concept of grief towards a more interconnected experience of loss.
After exploring the theme of grief together as a group, we had a welcome opportunity to Focus in a partnership on our personal experience of grief. It felt like this workshop touched tender places for many of us. I found the image of the container reassuring - Focusing offers me a safe space to be with loss and helps me welcome grief as a natural and important part of my living process.
by Therese Ryan
Wild Edge of Sorrow - Francis Weller’s book :
https://www.francisweller.net/the-wild-edge-of-sorrow-the-sacred-work-of-grief.html
On 10th June, 2024 my father died.
I’d like to share how Focusing helped me process the pain of losing him. It feels especially relevant now, after Peter Gill’s ‘Welcoming Grief’ workshop for the IFN in November.
I sat with him every day in the week leading up to his death. A farmer all his life, I’d been used to him being tall, strong and father-like. Now, after months of hospitalisation, he was like a little bird in the bed, alive, but tiny and helpless. Skin sagged from his stick-like limbs, his body was lost amongst the pillows and his mouth gasped loudly for breath. He couldn’t speak, and looked consumed by pain, although the nurses said he was comfortable.
He was eighty-one and had severe dementia for years. Dying would be a release for him, I knew that. But as I sat beside him, my own pain kicked up fiercely inside me. I’d never been on this earth without him, and any hour now he would be gone.
Never again would I feel his arms around me, welcoming me home, or hear him laugh at my banalities when I called him for a chat. He had been a sensitive, kind man, who liked to love and be loved. Now, I felt like I had not fully appreciated his regard for me, but had come to expect it like some kind of movie star. I was filled with remorse.
A part of me wanted to flee the enormity of the loss that was coming. David Whyte in his essay Solace asks - “...how will you bear the inevitable that is coming to you? And how will you endure it through the years?”
I did not know how I would endure it. In my pre-Focusing life, I had done what most people do when pain feels unbearable - I unconsciously cordoned it off inside, and tried to think positively. But I'd seen how those painful places only became sealed-off, frozen in a point in time, forever calling to be experienced.
This time, at least, I knew it was better to feel the pain - if I could.
We were so lucky to have a private room, in a quiet part of the hospital. My mother sat with him for nearly ten hours a day for over three months. He very rarely became irritable with us, even though he was in grueling pain due to a spinal fracture and had no understanding of what was happening. He was forever trying to climb out of bed and get back to the farmyard. It had been a full-time job trying to stop his escape.
But now he had got an infection and wasn't responding to the antibiotics. It was clear he hadn't long. A terrible swirling sensation began inside me, and it felt that - if I weren’t careful - at any moment I could become engulfed by it.
Something habitual in me began to try to avoid, deny, reassure… (I saw now how often I had sought refuge in what John Keane calls ‘process skipping’). But thanks to all the years of Focusing, I was able somehow to step into the centre and feel it, now, before it all got sealed away.
I wept a lot in the weeks leading up to Dad’s death. It was a relief to be able to cry so freely - I could not do that in my pre-Focusing years. I regretted all the moments I had rejected him - the times I had perceived him as ‘weak’, or inconsistent, or too keen to please. How I wished I could have appreciated him a little more, just as he was, instead of thinking he should be a little different. As I cried by his bedside, he no longer knew day from night. But he wiped the tears from my face with a blanket from his bed.
After it was all over, and Dad was finally free of his suffering, I did not experience the exhaustion that seems to be the norm after a funeral. Instead, I felt more alive. Alive to who he really was, and to my family and to myself as we are now. I think something happened as I sat with him, something special, that left me changed.
by Fiona O'Meara
“Do you see what I see?”
Stepping out in December means finding a branch near the river’s edge where water has dripped along the branch and has frozen in the form of small bells.
"Ice Bells" by Denise Durocher
On the banks of Le Lièvre River, Québec December 2024
Listen to the river ripples as they break along the branch, and
.. “Do you hear what I hear?”
the ice bells are ringing a soft melody for you at Solstice and Christmas time...
The more I think about this Christmas song …
It starts with: “Said the night wind to
the little lamb”…
And the questions follow:
“Do you see what I see?”
“Do you hear what I hear?”
“Do you know what I know?”
As I live alone, I realize that to better see, hear and know, I need to head outside. Especially in December when my reflex is to hibernate, I still must leave my cave of indwelling and go meet wind, snow, river, trees, people, birds, stars, moon, family, friends, music, etc.
My Focusing partners have helped me “see, hear, know” whenever I move into the ZOOM space and go to meet them. So often, I have no idea what will happen during our session, but when I step out of my “cave” and go towards the ZOOM meeting space, I know I will find some surprise waiting for me.
For me, to better see, hear and know, I need relationship: to nature, to individuals, to community and in particular, the IFN community.
Does this ring true for you too?
by Denise Durocher December 2025
by Denise Durocher
The Scroll by Denise Durocher - Old bobbin, black fabric, white backing, embroidery floss.
I started this fabric scroll which is four inches wide and about 2 meters long. My only parameters are using gradients of embroidery floss colours and a wave design. It is a slow process since I’m making so many stitches, and it kind of feels like a useless project. But I read something the other day: "This is worth doing for no other reason than that it is nice to do. So do it." (Can’t find the author, sorry).
It's a bit like my Focusing Sessions since for both, I don't know exactly how they will end. What will be revealed to me? Focusing has a method, I also gave this piece some structure: colours, waves. But will I like it once I'm done? I don't know. But as I stitch, something is revealed to me in the simple fact that I’m showing up to do it. As sometimes we don’t know why we decide to participate in a Focusing Session on a particular day. We just show up and most often than not, are amazed by what is revealed to us during that time.
Maybe some of you who read this will notice that in your own life, you are also working on something that hasn't fully revealed itself yet. I think that the fact that you are showing up, investing the time, the effort and the love, is in itself a revelation worth considering.
Video of what the scroll looks like so far!
Fr. Peter Campbell
On July 5, 2025, the Focusing community lost one of its brightest lights with the passing of Father Peter Campbell. For more than fifty years, Father Peter devoted his life to teaching and living Focusing from a deeply Biospiritual perspective. His vision and dedication were instrumental in spreading Focusing worldwide, particularly throughout the 1980s and 1990s, as he and Father Edwin McMahon led countless domestic and international BioSpiritual education programs. Their efforts profoundly shaped the understanding of Focusing, highlighting its transformative potential for individuals and communities alike.
Father Peter was not only an educator but also a prolific author. Along with Father Edwin McMahon he co-authored many articles and books—BioSpirituality: Focusing As a Way to Grow, Beyond The Myth of Dominance: An Alternative to a Violent Society, and Rediscovering the Lost Body Connection in Christian Spirituality—that continue to inspire, heal, and guide readers across the world. The Nada Lou collection of his BioSpiritual videos further showcases his depth of insight, authenticity, and willingness to share his own vulnerabilities for the benefit of others.
Even in later years, when travel became impossible, Father Peter embraced technology, using a website (biospiritual.org), Skype and Zoom to continue sharing his wisdom. His commitment also led to the co-founding of the BioSpiritual Institute, ensuring that the BioSpiritual legacy would endure and flourish for years to come.
Above all, Father Peter embodied what he taught. Those fortunate enough to meet him in person experienced his genuine compassion and kindness. His ministry was dedicated to making “mysticism for the millions” a reality, empowering countless individuals to connect with their Inner Divine Wisdom and experience what Gene Gendlin called the “grace” of the felt shift.
The Focusing community will continue to benefit from the inspirational light of his presence, now lived out in all those who caught the fire from him and continue to practice and share Focusing. His light will also guide and uplift us, reminding us of the profound impact that one life, lived with faith, purpose and love, can have on the world.
Thanks to Joe Colletti for sharing this with us
by Therese Ryan
The Enneagram is a powerful psychological and spiritual system which helps us recognise our ingrained patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. Decades ago, when the Enneagram began to be widely taught, type patterns were something to be gotten rid of. Now, in the Enneagram world, it’s all about understanding, appreciating and befriending our type patterns. And this is where I get very excited about how the Enneagram and Focusing compliment each other and invite us into a deeper relationship with ourselves.
Discovering my Enneagram type was the beginning of an ongoing exploration of the mainly unconscious survival strategies that helped form my personality. I lead with type six patterns. There are certain themes that resonate for everyone who lives with these patterns – doubt and anxiety among many others. And yet my lived experience of my “sixness” is unique to me, to my inner world.
Sometimes it seems that there’s nothing new for me to know about doubt. Focusers, however, understand that what our body has to say about who we are and how we are is often a surprise. When I take this word, doubt, freshly inside, Focusing makes it possible for me to peer into doubt’s dusty corners, to teeter at its edge and to discover something in me that’s strong and assured, an inner platform of support. In this way, the felt sense of a familiar theme is a doorway to who I am beyond my patterns.
We encounter our Enneagram patterns in all areas of our lives and of course they show up too when we Focus, perhaps in our anxiety about doing it “right”, or the gush of overwhelming emotions, or the difficulty in sensing into the body at all, or the push to get somewhere. Understanding my Enneagram patterns has helped me recognise and understand what gets in the way of me being present, not just when I Focus but in life.
The Enneagram unflinchingly points out our blind spots too. My suspicion for example, has been difficult to honestly acknowledge and yet Focusing enables me to attend kindly to whatever I discover within myself. My patterns often feel fixed and limiting, a block to my living process and yet through Focusing I’ve come to trust that that they too hold an implicit intricacy which offers freedom.
Both the Enneagram and Focusing see each person as a living process, always changing, longing to live life forward. Focusing with the Enneagram has enhanced my experience of both. Together they offer a way to navigate life. The Enneagram is a map showing us where we are, how we get stuck and pointing us in the direction of growth. Focusing is the compass that helps us find our way.
By John Keane
In April and May this year, I offered an online workshop on the subject of Process Skipping. The group (40 people) met each week for 4 weeks for 2 ½ hours each week.
In my years of teaching BioSpirituality, I have come to appreciate the importance of this process to healthy human development. And, I have come to the sense that it is a process that needs time, space and gentleness to fully engage with it.
This program examined Process Skipping, a process identified by Eugene Gendlin and further developed by Frs. Peter Campbell and Edwin McMahon. Process Skipping is characterised by an unconscious avoidance of uncomfortable feelings or emotions. As such it can be a barrier to being lovingly present to what may need our attention. By understanding and addressing Process Skipping behaviours, individuals can find freedom from control and domination, engaging more authentically with reality.
Program Structure:
- Personal Exploration: Participants are invited to identify their own Process Skipping behaviours.
- Cultural Context: Examination of how cultural structures influence Process Skipping.
- Alternative Perspectives: Investigating love and its embodiment as alternatives to control and dominance.
The essence of this process is that it is now a maladaptive stress response. Its initial purpose was to prevent or minimize some perceived conscious or unconscious pain. This process becomes habitual over time.
Process Skipping can operate on a number of levels which we explored during the program.
- Mental or Rational Process Skipping
- Activity or behaviour Process Skipping
- Emotional Process Skipping
- Physical Process Skipping
At the beginning some of the participants expressed their reluctance about exploring this well defended aspect of our living. I acknowledge that it requires courage to engage with this program. BioSpirituality is not about doing therapy (although many therapeutic benefits can be gifted to us in this process). So, it is important to stress to participants, that if they discover process skipping mechanisms that may be harmful to themselves or others – they should seek the appropriate therapeutic help and guidance.
As the workshops progressed the support of the group was important as participants became aware of their process skipping patterns. There was the realisation that we all do this – and many shared that it also gave them an understanding and an empathy for friends and family that have their own expressions of process skipping.
There was a sense of wonderment in the group about how clever we were to protect ourselves initially when we encountered danger or stress. But also, a sense of relief, that we don’t need to do that anymore. Those parts of ourselves that were lost can become our greatest teachers and treasures.
It was also clear that the group developed a sensitivity and appreciation about the relationship between process skipping and addiction. Pete and Ed always stressed that some element of process skipping is evident in most cases of addiction. We are no longer powerless about this when we become aware of this process that is initially unconscious.
It was also clear that this program did not provide enough time for people to explore as deeply as they desired. This was the first time I have offered this workshop, next time I will provide more time. Time for refection between sessions, and more sessions to engage with the intricacies it reveals.
In essence, awareness and exploration of process skipping in both personal and cultural terms is a call to live into and develop a sensitivity for love and gentleness. It is akin to a kind of conversion experience, when we discover that we no longer need to control and manipulate our feelings. Living into these feelings and experiences can set us free. We begin to live life as it is – and not how we might wish it were. There is freedom beyond control…
by Ann Harte Barry
Last June I attended my first IRL (in real life) focusing event since Covid. And what a wonderful re-entry it was!! I was really happy to meet old friends, to meet Zoom companions and to meet focusers I had not met before - and to feel that all 17 of us are all on the journey together.
The Children and Focusing Introduction Day, led by René Veugelers and Elaine Goggin, was held in the Dominican Retreat Centre, Tallaght – a very suitable venue in terms of welcome, comfort and accessibility.
The advertising blurb stressed that the training was not only for professionals working with children but ‘also supports and deepen your own process’.
That was so true! I personally found that while there was some stress on children all the exercises and teaching everything spoke directly to the various levels of child in me! It was immensely helpful. We were told that ‘you can’t move faster than your slowest process’. This is such a helpful starting point as often I am impatient, wanting ‘results’ and forgetting that other piece of wisdom shared: ‘the answer is already unfolding underneath’.
The day was very helpful in helping me remain with the process and allowing what needed to emerge to emerge! The resources were creative and well designed and really helped my process. Of course the highlight was the use of emoji balls which ticked so many boxes!!
During the course of the presentation I did become very clear how focusing can be a powerful positive energy in working and being formally and informally with children.
René’s powerful sharing on his work with a young person demonstrated the power of living focusing attitude, creative process suggestions and staying close to the felt sense, all done in a dynamic sensitive and fragile setting. We were blessed to receive this sharing and deep within I believe that in some mysterious way that we were compassionately present to the young person’s life and who knows how the power of that energy has rippled out from our group supporting his search for fulness of life.
The Invitation: to consider training for focusing with children. It was clear that the day was a ‘taster’. Certainly I am very convinced of the potential of focusing with children and can see that the training would be stimulating, deepening and enjoyable.
Group attending Children and Focusing Introduction Day in Dublin - 28th June 2025
Facilitator Renè and Elaine
by Margaret Quinn
Where to begin……
The story of how we found ourselves leading a training course for people who would facilitate a programme designed to promote resilience among refugees and asylum seekers in Iceland begins in another place and another time.
In 2011, Mary Jennings and Gerry Conway were invited to travel to Gaza to work with the Palestine Trauma Centre (PTC). The initiative was sponsored by the Quaker Community in Galway and the UK and had the aim of teaching basic Focusing skills to the personnel of PTC. In 2013, they returned to Gaza, this time accompanied by Rene Veugelers, to explore ways of using Focusing with children. The team then created a twelve session programme for community groups which would be offered by PTC. Delivery of that programme was led by Ghada Radwan, who translated the programme into Arabic and worked to ensure that it was culturally appropriate and included multi-modal approaches – using art and drama for example.
Over time, Ghada developed an interest in deepening her Focusing practice and becoming a Focusing Trainer herself. Her great desire was to share Focusing with others in Gaza, particularly those who could bring Focusing to their work as psychologists, teachers etc. Ultimately, she hoped to train Focusing trainers in Gaza. Mary undertook to support Ghada through her initial training process and became her primary mentor. It was during this time that Ghada connected with the newly emerging Irish Focusing Network. Some of you will have met her during online courses she joined during the pandemic.
Having completed her Focusing training, Ghada invited Mary, Tom Larkin and myself to support her in preparing a training programme to expand her work in Gaza. When we had completed the first part of this work, Ghada began to work with a group of psychologists. It was interesting to hear that they found the Focusing approach fresh and different. Many wanted to continue their training. We were beginning work on the second phase of that project when war broke out.
There are so many ways that work can be disrupted, or projects derailed – illness, relocation, personal circumstances. What actually happened was beyond anything we could have imagined. Not only did the work stop, but, for long stretches of time we lost contact with Ghada and were left wondering if we would ever hear from her again. We worried for Ghada and her family, we felt helpless to offer support other than the messages we sent. Destruction of the communication infrastructure in Gaza meant that very often those messages were met with silence. We would wait, sometimes for weeks, for any response which would let us know that they were still alive.
As the months passed and we watched the horror unfold, Ghada and her family were displaced several times, two of her nieces died when a bomb targeted a house close to where they were sheltering, food and water became more difficult to find and communication remained sporadic. Finally, Ghada, Mohammed, Eilia and Elite were displaced to a tent in Rafah.
Our Focusing project was stymied, so Ghada turned her attention to the other needs she saw around her. It came as no surprise to us to discover, in occasional messages, that she was supporting mothers in Rafah to access food and supplies for their babies. Accessing support from “Challenge to Change” she was able to help 50 families to keep their babies fed and clothed despite the awful circumstances. Above all, her energy was focused on keeping her daughters well and encouraging them to retain hope of a better future. She has told us that drawing on Focusing during this ordeal was a great support. As the assault on Rafah began, however, Ghada and Mohammed decided that, to protect their children, they had no option but to leave Gaza. The story of how this was achieved would take a novel and strain belief. Suffice it to say that the efforts of many friends and the brilliant co-ordination of efforts by Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, who works at the university of Iceland, and Donata Schoeller, who many of you know from her courses with the Focusing Institute, resulted in the family leaving Gaza on the day before the Rafah crossing closed for good – making departure impossible.
In Cairo, Ghada once again had access to the internet and I can still remember what it felt like to see her on Zoom during that first meeting. I remembered the story Ghada told us about the woman in Gaza who said “I am not waiting for death, I am seeking life.” This resilient little family despite having to leave behind home and family, sought to live meaningfully in this no-ones-land that was their time in Cairo.
This was when our shared project entered a new phase. Never one to waste time, or stint energy, Ghada wanted to offer some support to displaced Palestinians in Egypt. Our thinking was that we could best support them by creating a programme designed to reclaim or re-build resilience. The Olive Tree project was born.
While it was difficult for Mary, Tom and me to imagine how this could be organised, Ghada was already in touch with groups like “Challenge to Change” (a Swiss charity) and exploring ways to offer the programme to online to Palestinians in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. She’s not a woman to let the grass grow under her feet. We went back to our planning meetings and hammered out an approach which blended Focusing with Psychological first aid models, mindfulness practices and insights from neuroscientific research.
While it was difficult for Mary, Tom and me to imagine how this could be organised, Ghada was already in touch with groups like “Challenge to Change” (a Swiss charity) and exploring ways to offer the programme to online to Palestinians in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. She’s not a woman to let the grass grow under her feet. We went back to our planning meetings and hammered out an approach which blended Focusing with Psychological first aid models, mindfulness practices and insights from neuroscientific research.
As the work continued, it became clear that remaining in Egypt long term might not be possible and, thankfully, Ghada’s friends in Iceland again came to the rescue, supporting her application to study at the University of Iceland.
So what now for the Olive Tree Programme? Online offerings were a possibility, but how to do it? The programme was coming together and we believed it would be useful, but, as Gendlin might put it: “What’s possible now?”
We reckoned without the creativity and “go-for-it-ness” of Ghada, Sigríður and Donata as well as the generosity of the Icelandic government and “Challenge to Change”. An application for funding was successful and before we knew it, Ghada was asking us if we could be available to travel to Iceland to train a group of facilitators to deliver the Olive Tree Programme to Arabic speaking refugees and asylum seekers there! Who could say no?
In late May, as we took our seats on the plane, Mary turned to me and observed – in a tone of complete astonishment – “We’re going to Iceland!” There had been so many obstacles and challenges along the way. What had started out as “notes for Ghada” had to become a manual which would be accessible to people who knew little or nothing about Focusing – it took months! This new iteration of the programme also involved adding a layer of facilitator training – another manual for us - no small task in itself. Then there was the organisational end – travel arrangements, venue and the rest – all brilliantly handled by Una Þorláksdóttir. The decision to proceed was not without its worries either. We were setting out to offer training to a group we had never met, about whom we knew very little except that several of them worked with Arabic speakers through the Red Cross or Municipal authorities in Iceland. A small number of the group were Icelandic and were familiar with Focusing or TAE.
We need not have worried. From the moment of our arrival, our Icelandic friends went out of their way to make us welcome and to ensure we had every support for the work. Ghada, Mohommed and the girls welcomed us like family and it was wonderful to have an opportunity to spend time with them. We are grateful to Sigríður, Una, Elsa and Gugga for all they did to support this project. And then there was the group of trainees….. welcoming, interested, engaged – all we could have hoped for. The six day training was intense and demanding. They met every challenge and working on the programme became one of those wonderful experiences of collaborative effort.
We are currently in conversation with this group as they prepare to offer the Olive Tree Programme to their clients. Translation into Arabic and (we hope) Icelandic is underway, which will make this easier for the facilitators and more accessible for those who can benefit most. What the future holds for the programme is an open question, but our experience over the past several years, particularly the most recent, have left me thinking that anything could happen – and feeling open to that. For now, it is enough that this lovely group of people will carry the programme forward in Iceland while we explore how it might make an impact in Ireland and/or elsewhere.
Reflecting on the entire experience, I am, above all, grateful that this project offered a way to do something useful at a time when – perhaps like many of you – I felt utterly helpless in the face of the daily images from Gaza. That the situation continues to worsen by the day still shocks and horrifies me. Ghada remains deeply concerned for her family members who are still in Gaza – suffering the fear and privation we see on our screens every day. This project is, for me, an attempt to light a small, frail light in an encircling darkness and I am deeply grateful for that. As I am grateful for the opportunity to work with Ghada, whose resilience, determination and generosity continually leaves me awestruck – and inspired.
From left: Ghada Radwan, Margaret Quinn, Tom Larkin, Mary Jennings.
In front, from left: Guðrún Arnalds, Helga Arnalds, Guðbjörg Jóhannesdóttir, Osama
Mubarak Al Hijazy,
Standing, left to right: Ahmad Seddeeq, Mohammed Raheem, Reema Abdalhakeem, Kerryn
McMurdo, Tom Larkin, Margaret Quinn, Ghada Radwan, Elsa Haraldsdóttir, Mary Jennings,
Salah Kareem Mahmoud, Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, Soumia Islame
Here is a wonderful documentary on our project
by Therese Ryan
Welcome back everyone. We hope you had a wonderful summer and we’re looking forward to seeing you again very soon.
Our weekly online gatherings will recommence on Wednesday, 3rd September. Please take a moment to revisit our Guidelines as we get ready to Focus together again. If you require any support or advice in relation to these sessions, please email
Our weekly zoom sessions couldn’t happen without our zoom hosts. Many have been volunteering for quite some time. We recently sent out a request for new hosts. Many thanks to those who responded. The more hosts we have, the less often each person needs to host. Might you be willing to step forward and become involved even for a few months? If the tech side seems daunting for you, we will happily support you as you become familiar with hosting. This might be the perfect opportunity for you to contribute to our network - please get in touch if you’re interested in finding out more.
We’re happy to share the news that our Focusing Refresher evenings will return. They are a fantastic opportunity to develop and deepen our Focusing practice in community. If you haven’t come before, please join us on the last Zoom session of the month. Everyone is welcome, whether you have a lot or a little Focusing experience. We’re very grateful for our Focusing trainers who voluntarily facilitate these sessions. If you’re a Focusing teacher and would like to volunteer to lead a session, please let us know.
We look forward to seeing some of you in person at our Autumn Gathering on September 27th at the Dominican Retreat Centre in Tallaght, Dublin. Something magical happens when we come together on these days. We have two wonderful workshops planned and would be delighted to have you join us. More details below.
Next year, 2026, will be the centenary of Gene Gendlin’s birth. To celebrate this event, The International Focusing Conference will be held in Gene’s birthplace Vienna, from 3rd to 7th June 2026. Some members of the network are already planning their trip, you might like to join them. You can find more details here.
