The Living Process. Practices in Experience and Existence

AI and the process of thinking with Donata Schoeller. The Living Process with Greg Madison. Episode 32. This, 5th conversation with Donata, tackles the huge topic of AI - artificial intelligence, something that has now exploded into almost every area of human life. In our conversation, Donata stresses the importance of the process of thinking not just the outcome of thinking. Below are some points that feel most important and a link at the bottom to a document Donata offers as a summary. We both used chatGPT to help generate the points and the document and then refined what was produced so that it resonated with what we wanted to say, an instance of the use of AI that Donata is advocating! * AI discussions often compare it to human intelligence, but we need to improve our understanding of human thinking to use AI for our benefit.* Education should focus on understanding the process of thinking, not just output.* Teachers need to create assignments that imply real engagement and can't be easily done by AI, encouraging students to think. But how?* Thinking is often seen as vague and hard, making AI a handy tool to avoid it.* Eugene Gendlin's methods show a grounded, embodied way of thinking that connects with real experiences.* Hannah Arendt's political thinking stresses the need to use real experiences for clarity, encouraging engagement with life's complexities, including emotions.* Developing inclusive thinking needs courage and openness, with Gendlin's methods helping with this.* Joint attention and embodied resonance are key for cognitive growth, making thinking more inclusive, joyful, and trustworthy.* Embodied thinkers are connected to the earth and other living processes, a concept educators should promote.Episode 32. AI and the process of thinking, with Donata Schoeller: https://youtu.be/rBMkUm1hO_kDr Donata Schoeller is a philosopher who teaches internationally at various universities and is the academic director of the program "Training in Embodied Critical Thinking. In addition to her extensive work on Gendlin's philosophy, Donata has also published on Gendlin's philosophy and was involved in translating Gendlin's text A Process Model into German. She teaches Thinking at the Edge and is a Focusing trainer offering courses in Switzerland, internationally, and online.https://www.donataschoeller.comThe Living Process - all episodes and podcast links:https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvkDonata's document is here:http://youtube.com/post/Ugkx1VV5L6mVxdVZa61ybP3wQijRBa071O_4?si=DiFoqe-SA8aFgDhq#focusing #AI #thinking #Gendlin #The Living Process #Embodied #Philosophy of Embodied Critical Thinking

We Are Nature. Focusing and Ecotherapy with guest Adrian Harris and host Greg Madison. Episode 31In this episode, Adrian and I share an intriguing conversation about how the body is our connection to the other-than-human and how this embodiment can lead to a deep form of eco-appreciation and activism. Adrian describes what he means by ecopaganism, ecopsychology and lists the 3 keys to ecotherapy self-practice. We also touch on the question of how therapy might expand if it is practiced in nature rather than within four walls. Adrian's work compliments Gendlin's statement, ‘In sensing ourselves, our bodies sense our physical environment and our inter-human situations' (Gendlin, 2003. p.101).Episode 31 with Adrian Harris: https://youtu.be/0xu6x9u0bl4?si=ruRtFeGq9iQ1m_lSThe Living Process - all episodes and podcast links:https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/TLP YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQLThe Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvkDr Adrian Harris is based in Exeter, UK, and works as a person-centred, FOT and Ecotherapist in person and online. He also has a blog, Bodymind Place and the podcast Embodied Pathways. He has worked as a psychedelic retreat facilitator, lead editor of The European Journal of Ecopsychology and has published numerous academic and popular articles. His PhD research was on The Wisdom of the Body: Embodied Knowing in Eco-Paganism and the Embodiment Resources website has more information on his academic work and his website below has information on courses and offerings. https://adrianharris.orgHarris, Adrian. 2013. ‘Gendlin and ecopsychology: focusing in nature' in Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies Volume 12, Issue 4, 2013.Fisher, A., 2002. 'Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life'. State University of New York Press, Albany.Ecopsychology: restoring the earth, healing the mind, 1995, edited by Theodore Roszak, Mary E. Gomes, and Allen D. Kanner. Sierra Club Books. San Francisco, CA.This book includes Robert Greenway's chapter: 'The Wilderness Effect and Ecopsychology'  and Chellis Glendinning on 'Technology trauma and the wild'.Ollagnier-Beldame, M., (2025) 'Experiencing life and belonging to nature with Focusing', European Journal of Ecopsychology:https://ecopsychology-journal.eu/v9/EJE_v9_Ollagnier-Beldame.pdf'The Embodied Pathways of Connection' is Adrian's ongoing overview project:https://embodiedpathways.org/

Awakening to Embodied Living on The Living ProcessIn this episode Russell and I share a heartfelt discussion about the importance of the ‘physical body' and of going ‘beyond' it.  Russell talks of the development of his teacher Moshe Feldenkrais, his method and how ‘freedom' was his main goal. Russell emphasised the important of ‘not-knowing' and how this helps to navigate the edge between Guided Inquiry, Feldenkrais, Zen meditation and their integration into the practice of The Embodied Life. This is a learning programme offered by Russell and his wife Linda, influenced by over 50 years of immersion in these practices and his direct relationship with Feldenkrais, Gendlin and principle teachers in the Zen tradition. Episode 30, The Living Process with guest Russell DelmanThe Living Process - all episodes and podcast links:https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQLThe Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvkRussell DelmanRussell Delman is a well-known and valued teacher within the disciplines of Zen Buddhist meditation and Feldenkrais. He is also known in the Focusing world as a unique embodiment practitioner who integrates all three of these practices in his international training of The Embodied Life. He and Gene Gendlin also shared a warm friendship and Focusing partnership for many years.  Russell's exploration of the crucial importance of awareness in body/mind perspectives and psychology began in 1970 .His subsequent journey included gestalt, yoga, the first Feldenkrais trainings, work at The Esalen Institute, Focusing, and many mind-body experiences and teachings. Russell and his wife Linda introduced Feldenkrais method to India where they worked with Mother Teresa and brain-injured children at her Mission in Kolkata. Russell says his life learnings are greatly enhanced by his long and loving relationship with Linda his wife and their journey as parents to their daughter, Liliana. For more information on Russell's extensive training programmes see The Embodied Life: https://theembodiedlife.org

Focusing during wartime with Dan Schachter on The Living Process with Greg Madison. E29 Welcome to this episode of The Living Process, following quite soon on the last episode because of the topical nature of my conversation with Dan.  In our conversation, we speak mainly about the experience of living within the conflict between Israel and Palestine. We also talk about Dan's gradual transition from psychoanalysis to experiential therapy back in the early 1990s. Dan has trained in Somatic Experiencing and EMDR and works in a trauma clinic as well as privately.  We touched on what it is like to work as a clinical psychologist with clients who might have a very different perspective on the war going on around them. What it is like to be living in a society that is undergoing such a deep crisis which all clients and therapists are affected by on a daily basis? Dan talks about how crucial felt sensing, TAE, and Gendlin's underlying experiential philosophy have been as a resource in his attempts to navigate the complexity of feelings and attitudes amongst Israelis. We acknowledge how difficult it is to hold the tension between one's own truth and wanting to remain open to the nuances of other opinions with an awareness that even in this podcast we are inevitably stepping into this minefield of judgment and criticism. Dan mentions his participation in PsychoActive, a mental health group for human rights opposed to the occupation of Palestinian territory, and how taking such a stance does not close him to being curious about other ways of experiencing all that is happening in his region of the world.   Dan Schachter,  Is originally from Norway and has lived in Israel for many years, speaking English, Hebrew, and Norwegian fluently. Dan is a Focusing coordinator, a Focusing Oriented Therapist, and a clinical psychologist in private practice. He teaches Focusing, TAE (Thinking at the Edge) and the philosophy of the implicit and is well known in the Focusing community for his contributions to various projects including the International Focusing Institute Certification Weeklong core faculty. You can contact Dan at: DanS545@gmail.com  Episode 29 of The Living Process with guest, Dan Schachter. Focusing during wartime:  https://youtu.be/-jOAy_vYgPE The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Greg's YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQL The Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk #somaticexperience  #trauma  #Focusing  #Gendlin  #Bodytherapy  #warzone #israel #gaza #existentialism   #Experientialpractice  #bodymind   #thelivingprocess #psychotherapy #mindfulness

Focusing and Self-Discovery with Jeffrey Morrison on The Living Process with Greg Madison. Episode 28 In this episode, I welcome Jeffrey Morrison who is well-known in our community as a Focusing Oriented Therapist and Teacher of Focusing. Jeffrey and I outline his interesting journey from philosophy and theology through existential-phenomenological therapy into the world of Focusing and Gendlin's philosophy. We discuss the importance of structure when teaching a natural process, as well as psychedelics and the role of death awareness in developing spirituality. We touch on Jeffrey's interest in trauma, neuroscience, the role of the physical body, and also how Focusing can help us avoid joining the polarised conflicts that are plaguing our world. Jeffrey studied philosophy, and religion before concentrating on psychology after being exposed to Focusing. He has worked in various settings with adolescents, parents, and teachers. He has trained in Family System Therapy, Adlerian Psychology, meditation, aspects of Feldenkrais, Zen, and recently co-wrote a chapter on Polyvagal Theory and trauma. He operates his clinical practice as well as offering certifying courses in FOT in Seattle and Vashon Island, Washington, as well as online. He is a Certifying Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute. Episode 28, The Living Process with guest Jeffrey Morrison https://youtu.be/l9eLZ6pfg3k The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQL The Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk For more information on Jeffrey and his work: Seattle Focusing https://seattlefocusing.org Morrison Therapy https://morrisontherapy.com Focusing-Oriented Therapy for the Treatment of Trauma (Jeffrey Morrison and Riley Patterson) in the edited book Experiential Therapies for Treating Trauma (Eds. Senreich, Straussner, Dann, Routledge 2025). #somaticexperience#trauma#Focusing#Gendlin#Bodytherapy#Zen#Experientialpractice#bodymind #thelivingprocess#buddhist #psychotherapy#mindfulness #spiritualawakening #experientialpractice #thelivingprocess

The Living Process episode 27 with guest Jonathan Foust Energy Flow and The Pathless Path I'm very happy to welcome Jonathan Foust to this episode. Jonathan has a lifetime of spiritual practice to share. He has dedicated his life to yoga practices, Buddhist meditation, mindfulness practice as well as Focusing. In our conversation we touch on how Focusing fits with these various somatic practices and the spiritual understanding of energy flow in the body. Jonathan shares his own personal journey and questions such as what body are we working with and what does it mean to heal? We discuss Focusing as pointing to the pathless path and how close it is to the RAIN model as used by Jonathan and his wife, meditation teacher Tara Brach. We wondered whether therapy really offers much more than these other effective and compassionate approaches. Jonathan offers a weekly talk on his website and is working on guidance for being with physical pain. We end by talking a bit about how to respond to the uncertainties and suffering in contemporary societies.  Jonathan Foust, MA, CSA, is a guiding teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and a founder of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute in Washington. A senior teacher and former president of Kripalu Center, he leads retreats, trainings and classes around the United States and works individually with those interested in healing and spiritual awakening. He's trained in a wide range of healing modalities, including Focusing (Certified Trainer), Kripalu Yoga, Trager Work, Cranio-Sacral, Reiki and Polarity Therapies to name a few. He has a Master of Arts in Education and certifications in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Focusing and Dharma practices. He has spent decades in Ashram and spiritual communities and now offers body-centred inquiry on retreats and intensives. For many years he has lived near Washington DC with his wife psychologist and mediation teacher Tara Brach.  Episode 27, The Living Process with guest Jonathan Foust: https://youtu.be/Fz19hg-4oVc The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Greg's YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQL The Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk For more information on Jonathan, his talks and retreats, see his website and YouTube videos available at: https://www.jonathanfoust.com #somaticexperience  #trauma  #Focusing  #Gendlin  #Bodytherapy  #Zen  #Experientialpractice  #bodymind   #thelivingprocess #buddhist  #psychotherapy #mindfulness #jonathanfoust

The Living Process Episode 26 with host Greg Madison  Guest Rob Parker Paradigm Leaping Welcome back to The Living Process. In this episode, Rob talks about his interests in philosophy, especially existentialism, from an early age and it was this interest, combined with his desire to help other young kids like himself, that led him to Gendlin. Rob's first experience of the Focusing world was a 3-day Thinking at the Edge workshop with Gendlin at Stony Point. Unusually his interest in philosophy was his way into Focusing. We talk about Rob's interest in ‘meaning', his journey from the ideas of Gregory Bateson to Maurice Marleau-Ponty and Thomas Kuhn, and how these thinkers brought him to Gendlin and a unique opportunity to drop everything and learn from this new philosopher. In our conversation, we touched on how learning Focusing affected Rob's therapy practice. He also talks about learning from Mary Hendricks Gendlin how to slow down and work with the felt sense in sessions and we touched upon the political and social implications of The Process Model. Rob mentioned his modification of the EXP scale and his use of Zen and Focusing to work with The Inner Critic.   Rob Parker is well-known in the Focusing world and beyond as a clear thinker representing Gendlin's A Process Model and Gendlin's other philosophies to a lay audience. He has a longterm interest in Zen, spirituality, and science. For years Rob was a practicing psychologist, originally in the existential tradition, specialising in psychological trauma. In 2000 Rob found the philosophy of Eugene Gendlin, which he dedicated himself to understanding by meeting Gendlin every week until Gendlin died in 2017.   For information on Rob, his workshops, and his writing on Gendlin's philosophy, see: www.lifeforward.org Episode 26, The Living Process with guest Rob Parker: https://youtu.be/oAZh5uCe_Yo The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Greg's YouTube video channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0TgN6iVu3n9d9q2l43z1xBMYY3p9FQL The Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk #somaticexperience  #trauma  #Focusing  #Gendlin  #Bodytherapy  #Zen  #Experientialpractice  #bodymind   #thelivingprocess #existentialism #psychotherapy

The Living Process Episode 25 Guest Lynn Preston A Group Listening Revolution Welcome back to The Living Process and this episode with my friend Lynn Preston. Lynn had just returned from a Psychoanalytic Self Psychology conference in Rome, having caught covid on the flight back, so you may notice that her voice is a bit husky but only her energy is infectious. In this conversation, we discussed how to translate between her very different therapeutic communities and what she values from Kohut's psychoanalytic theories of development and the importance of empathy. Lynn mentioned a paper she wrote some time ago which attempts to bridge the different languages of Kohut and Gendlin's understandings and it went over very well with her psychoanalytic colleagues. The link to that paper, The Edge of Awareness is below. Lynn and I spoke mostly about her Community Empowerment group work. We discussed revolutionary listening and how groups could evolve to allow us to talk about our differences. We mentioned the ‘carrying forward' of the group process and how we know so little about this but one important principle according to Lynn is that not everyone has to agree. She suggests that we need Revolutionary Talking not just Revolutionary Listening in order to move beyond the dyad model. How can the practice of Focusing be expanded to practices of relating? How can the ‘us' of the group make the individuals more of themselves rather than less. How can we map the challenges of group interaction in the way that in Focusing we have mapped how to work personally and as a dyad? Is mapping out the group process the next step for us in focusing? Lynn believes this is the year to bring this further development into the world. Episode 25 with Lynn Preston: https://youtu.be/tY0fRybIWcM Lynn Preston is well-known in the Self Psychology community and the Focusing Oriented Therapy community. She has spent years teaching and writing about both forms of therapy and had a long-standing friendship with Eugene Gendlin. Lynn's recent efforts have included her Community Empowerment initiative as well as spearheading the Focusing Therapy Youtube channel. Lynn's contacts: lynpres@aol.com http://www.lynnprestonforp.com The link to the paper we mention is here: The Edge of Awareness: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247527307_The_Edge_of_Awareness_Gendlin's_Contribution_to_Explorations_of_Implicit_Experience Links to all videos and podcasts: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Focusing Oriented Therapies YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk

This is a different sort of episode of The Living Process where the usual host, Dr Greg Madison, swaps seats with Prof. Mia Leijssen and enters into a conversation about his own passions, experience, and history of Focusing. There were a few interruptions during the conversation which were edited out but referred to again at the end of the discussion, showing the importance of being able to find our way back from distractions to the felt sensing flow of a conversation. And of course, Elliott ensures he makes an appearance! The conversation turns out to be surprisingly personal while also commenting on Focusing oriented therapy and the uncommon integration of Focusing into existential practice. We touch on learning about self-disclosure from working in an acute hospital setting, the hope that listening skills can save our democracies from political polarisation, and the challenge of facing the end of life with awareness and presence. Thank you to Mia for her generosity in reaching out with this idea and her skill in deepening our conversation. Episode 24. Consistent Existence with Greg Madison: https://youtu.be/yke9KJttfFI All episodes of The Living Process: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ FOT Youtueb channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWv_jrEOS0luVPVhiS5T1pus Dr Greg Madison is an existential psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Focusing-oriented psychotherapist, and Coordinator for The International Focusing Institute. For some years Greg enjoys creative collaborations as an independent lecturer, contributing to various academic, community, and professional trainings internationally. He has written and co-edited books and articles on Existential Migration, Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy, Existential Therapy, and contemporary topics related to psychology and society. He is the founder of The London Focusing Institute, and maintains a client practice, teaching commitments, writing, and hosts The Living Process podcast. https://www.gregmadison.net https://www.londonfocusing.com Professor Mia Leijssen is the academic director of the massive Open Online Course: Existential Well-being Counseling: A Person-centered Experiential Approach. You can discover more about this course and contact Mia at these addresses: https://focusing.org/resources/mia-leijssen-fot-2023 www.existentieelwelzijn.be https://existentialwellbeing.com #focusing #gendlin #somaticexperience #existentialism #psychotherapy #existentialtherapy #experiential #gregmadison #thelivingprocess #death #focusingtherapy #personalgrowth

Delighted to welcome Judy and Nikos to this, episode 23 of The Living Process. Our guests are well known for their achievement of editing Senses of Focusing Volume 1 and 2, two fantastic resources featuring new writing and diverse perspectives on Focusing and FOT. In this episode, we discuss critiques of focusing, what is coming next for them both, and positive developments they would like to see happen in therapy generally and in the Focusing world. In our 3-way conversation, we touch on the way that other approaches like the person-centered approach, Internal Family Systems, or Emotion Focus Therapy might incorporate focusing as a technique without fully integrating the fundamental importance of the experiential response, felt sensing, and carrying forward. We touched on different words and understandings for theories of the body, for eg the Ancient Greek terms like 'pathos' and the difference it offers if we allow ancient philosophy to be experienced freshly. We raised questions regarding what we can do to be better understood by other traditions and to translate some of our discoveries so that therapists from other orientations can think further with them. How do we in FOT deal with abrupt or cathartic changes? How do we engage with theories? How can we build bridges with other therapeutic communities and philosophies? What is our view of the person? Is there a spiritual context for our understanding of human being? Can we stay open to other ways of thinking so that they stay open to us? What is the future of FOT and therapy? How to keep developing FOT ourselves after the work of Gendlin… In response to this Judy and Nikos are planning a series of seminars or a symposium to welcome critical thinking and deeper exploration of Focusing, FOT and our relationship to other ways of understanding. Nikolaos Kypriotakis has studied Physics and has been trained in Person-Centred & Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Person-Centred Supervision and Children Focusing. He works as an FOT therapist and Focusing Trainer for the Hellenic Focusing Center and he is a Certifying Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute, New York. Together with Judy Moore he edited the collective work Senses of Focusing, Vol. I & II and has translated into Greek the book Focusing by Eugene T. Gendlin. He was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Εποχή-Epoché (Phenomenological Psychotherapies), for the issues n.1 to n.16. Judy Moore was originally trained in the classical Person-Centred Approach on the first PCA professional training in the UK. She taught on the postgraduate Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling at the University of East Anglia (UEA) throughout the 1990s before, thanks to the work of her colleague, Campbell Purton, finally discovering the extent of Gendlin's contribution to the development of Client-Centred/ Person-Centred Therapy. As Director of the Centre for Counselling Studies at UEA she worked with Campbell to develop Focusing and FOT training at UEA in the early 2000s. UEA also hosted several conferences, including colloquiums on Gendlin's philosophy. Judy is a Certifying Coordinator of The International Focusing Institute, working in private practice and as a freelance trainer and consultant. In 2021 she co-edited (with Nikolaos Kypriotakis) the two volumes of Senses of Focusing. https://sensesoffocusing.weebly.com Focusing book in Greek translation: https://bit.ly/3Y9BtwM #bodytherapy #focusing #gendlin #experientialpractice #somaticexperience #psychotherapy #counseling #psychology #personalgrowth #rodgers

Ann and Barbara Untangling on The Living Process with Greg Madison. Episode 22  I am excited to launch the new season of The Living Process with guests Barbara McGavin and Ann Weiser Cornell, a very well-known partnership within the Focusing world and beyond. Barbara and Ann are both accomplished Focusing teachers, having developed the model of Inner Relationship Focusing and Treasure Maps to the Soul,  but they are also writers and in this episode, we talk about their first book together, Untangling. Untangling offers a very helpful description of the experience of being caught within some of life's most difficult and stuck patterns. The book then offers some specific skills and attitudes we can develop to help us release even these seemingly intractable dilemmas.   In this episode, we talk about how we get stuck inside of 'a tangle' and how we cannot solve or think our way out of it. Many of us can spend our lives within tangles, with no full sense of who we are. We talk about how these tangles always involve other people and how the key to loosening their grip is to develop 'self in presence'. Tangles are seen as a stoppage in process not a problem in understanding. It is a fascinating take on felt sensing and working with parts which I am sure Focusing people and those new to experiential approaches will find valuable.  Barbara McGavin and Ann Weiser Cornell have been discovering the processes of change that became Untangling® since 1994. Since then they've had the pleasure of offering Untangling® retreats and online classes for people seeking transformation all over the world. They are also the co-developers of Inner Relationship Focusing. Barbara has a background in humanistic psychology, teaching, fine art, and graphic design. Ann has a background in linguistics and humanistic psychology. They are both Coordinators with The International Focusing Institute. The Book: Untangling. How you can transform what's impossibly stuck. By Barbara McGavin and Ann Weiser Cornell https://focusingresources.com/learning/untangling-how-you-can-transform-whats-impossibly-stuck/ Courses on Untangling: https://focusingresources.com/learning/the-untangling-intensive/ Untangling with Barbara and Ann. Episode 22 of The Living Process: https://youtu.be/wUnvAlYHaGk The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ The Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk  #somaticexperience #trauma #Focusing #Gendlin #Bodytherapy #Innerrelationship #Experientialpractice #parts #ifs #untangling #annweiser #barbaramcgavin #thelivingprocess 

The Way of Curiosity with Peter Gill. E21 of The Living Process with Greg Madison I'm very happy to offer episode 21 of The Living Process with guest Peter Gill, a UK Focusing teacher and Coordinator. Peter came across Focusing in 2003, and he teaches Focusing as an approach to living, much more than just a therapeutic tool. Peter became a Focusing teacher in 2005 and is certified with the British Focusing Association (BFA) and a Coordinator with the Focusing Institute. Peter trained with Ann Weiser Cornell in "Inner Relationship Focusing" and Peter Afford in the UK. Peter also has a background practising and teaching awareness and meditation skills to groups and individuals in a Buddhist context. Peter is qualified in  Somatic Experiencing (SE), and has more recently been training in nature connection and in holding grief circles with Azul Valérie Thomé in Devon. He is currently training to be a Forest Guide. This episode centres around Peter's wonderful new book, The Way of Curiosity but Peter also teaches Focusing to individuals and groups - for more information on his teaching and his new book see: https://www.livingfocusing.co.uk In this episode Peter and I talk about his entrance into Focusing and how from the beginning it was a natural form of living practice for him. We touch upon his deep engagement with ecological and environmental work including facilitating nature connection, forrest bathing, and work on Focusing and climate change. We also discuss his interest in death awareness and openness to the everyday grieving implied in life. We touch upon his training in Somatic Experiencing and trauma. Many of these topics are covered in his beautifully-written book where he introduces the practice of Focusing to the general public in a way that feels natural and not like a special technique. I highly recommend it!  #somaticexperience #trauma #Focusing #Gendlin #Bodytherapy #buddhist #Experientialpractice #grief #environmentaltherapy #ecologicalwork #natureconnection #thewayofcuriosity #thelivingprocess 

EPISODE 20 - "THE WORLD WE ARE", WITH DONATA SCHOELLER, PHD. THE LIVING PROCESS WITH GREG MADISON, PHD.  I'm happy to announce The Living Process, Episode 20 with Donata Schoeller. This is the 4th, theme-based, conversation with Donata. This time we are picking up where we left our last conversation and talking about whether a person has an ‘inside'. Topics we cover include “what words do”, what is visible and invisible and how even the invisible can still be perceived. We touch on the interaction of symbols and body, the different spaces we live in, Gene's Process Model, the meaning of gestures, how this all works in the act of felt sensing. Later in the conversation we discuss how felt sensing is a dance and a primary process of making meaning. The general question we are exploring is whether people are separate? Donata expresses this in the beautiful statement:  “we are immersed in a common world net”. Near the end, Donata asks, “What makes this practice so beautiful?”  Where does the sincerity and integrity come from? We conclude the episode by agreeing on our topic for the next conversation.  Episode 20: ‘The World We Are' with Donata Schoeller, PhD. https://youtu.be/n1k3LrwnUck Dr Donata Schoeller is a philosopher who teaches internationally at various universities and is the academic director of the program "Training in Embodied Critical Thinking.  In addition to her extensive work on Gendlin's philosophy, Donata has also published on Gendlin's philosophy and was involved in translating Gendlin's text A Process Model into German. She teaches Thinking at the Edge and is a Focusing trainer offering courses in Switzerland, internationally, and online. https://www.donataschoeller.com The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk The Living Process is available on all podcast platforms, with free transcripts of each episode. #focusing #meditation #mindfulness #experience #Gendlin #existential #therapy #somatic

The Living Process Episode 19 Neuroscience and Felt Sensing with Peter Afford I'm pleased to share the next episode of The Living Process with guest Peter Afford. I've known Peter for many years as one of the “founding fathers” of the British Focusing Association and a well-known organiser and contributor to Focusing worldwide. Peter has been Focusing for most of his adult life, integrating it into psychotherapy, teaching workshops on dreams and TAE, and writing numerous articles as well as his recent book Therapy in the Age of Neuroscience. A Guide for Counsellors and Therapists (2019). Peter has recently closed his therapy practice but he remains interested in teaching felt sensing to organisations and groups, especially those involved in addressing climate change. Peter is a Certifying Coordinator for The International Focusing Institute and has served as a consultant at Board level. Peter is about to move from London to a new home in rural Devon in the south western region of the UK where he will continue to write and teach about Focusing.  In this episode Peter and I talk about his early discovery of Focusing as well as his recent work specialising in neuroscience and its application to therapy. We discuss the differences between right and left hemisphere approaches to situations, the use of neuroscience as a support to therapists as well as clients as well as the overlooked importance of felt sensing and how it could be applied in many different settings to help us creatively address human challenges, especially the impending climate catastrophe. Peter makes many fascinating distinctions in our conversation, for example the difference between handle words that arise from the left vs the right hemisphere. More information on Peter's work, writing and workshops: http://www.focusing.co.uk Episode 19. Neuroscience and The Felt Sense https://youtu.be/JUwUjrqzmC0 The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk The Living Process is available on all podcast platforms. Warmly, Greg Madison #FocusingInstitute #focusingorientedtherapy #bodymind #Somaticwork #Bodytherapy #Gendlin #neuroscience #Focusing #trauma #somaticexperience #neurotherapy 

Episode 18 The Living Process Living the Focusing Journey, with Nada Lou I am happy to share this conversation with Nada Lou as Episode 18 of The Living Process. Nada is well known throughout the Focusing world as a Coordinator, teacher of Focusing, a contributor to Biospiritual Focusing and early developer of Thinking at the Edge along with Gendlin. She brought Focusing to many new regions of the world and she has documented countless workshops and presentations by Eugene Gendlin and other Focusing teachers through her valued DVDs (see her website). Nada talks about growing up during a turbulent time in Yugoslavia and though not mentioned in the interview, Nada was on the gymnastics national team for Yugoslavia and was a long-time coach of gymnastics when the emigrated to Australia and then Canada. It was in Montreal that Nada was recommended the Focusing book and then met Ed and Pete from whom she learned and then taught Biospiritual Focusing. In the episode we touch on many of these events and her deep resonance with Ed and Pete's teaching of how to be ‘religious' or spiritual ‘with both feet on the ground'. This embodied spirituality echoed her own theological studies. She talks about meeting Gene, her video work,  and how for her the video documents represent her self-expression of Gene's teaching. Nada talks about her natural connection with Gene, the history of TAE and other fascinating points that will interest many of us in the Focusing Community.  Her website and DVD list… https://nadalou.com/about/ Nada is a prolific video maker of more than 45 DVDs featuring Gene Gendlin and other Focusing luminaries. Since co-presenting TAE workshops with Gendlin, Nada evolved a personal approach to the TAE course called THINK DIFFERENT – (TAE), and she remains in the forefront of spreading the “method” of this practice around the world. Nada is the author of  “The Grassroots Manual Introduction to TAE”. Nada is available to give workshops and presentations to groups around the world by invitation. In her teaching of TAE and Focusing, Nada highlights Gendlin's philosophical ideas and in this way, awakens interest for the wonderful complexity that this philosophy is capable of drawing out. CONTACT NADA:  nadalou@nadalou.com Episode 17 with Nada Lou: https://youtu.be/erYgpnDbQMs The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk The Living Process is available on all podcast platforms: For example, Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Pocketcasts, Youtube Podcasts. Most of these platforms now offer free transcripts of each episode. Transcripts are also available on Youtube videos.  Please spread the word about Focusing and The Living Process.  Warmly, Greg Madison #Focusing #Gendlin  #Bodytherapy #Experientialpractice #Awareness  #Somaticwork #bodymind #focusingorientedtherapy #TAE #Biospirituality #Focusingvideos #NadaLou #FocusingInstitute 

The Living Process Episode 17 Relating from an Authentic Heart, with John Amodeo, PhD I am very happy to share with you The Living Process Episode 17, with John Amodeo. John has practiced and studied Focusing since the late 1970s when he completed his doctoral work on Focusing and meditation. Over the years John has also worked and studied with well-known luminaries at the intersection of psychology and spirituality, including John Wellwood, John Bradshaw, Ed McMahon and Pete Campbell of Biospirituality, and of course Eugene Gendlin. John himself is well-known for his many books, The Authentic Heart, Dancing with Fire, Being Intimate, Love and Betrayal, as well as his widely-read regular column in Psychology Today. In this episode John and I talk about his experiences as a Marriage and Family Therapist, especially related to his work on shame, intimacy in relationships, how to receive, and the importance of staying with embodied experience. We also touch on his deep understanding of Buddhist practice and Taoism.   John Amodeo. PhD, LMFT, holds graduate degrees in both Clinical Psychology and Transpersonal Psychology. He has been a licensed marriage and family therapist for over 40 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in San Rafael and the Sebastopol area.  He is the author of four books and was a writer and contributing editor for Yoga Journal  for ten years.  He co-authored a chapter on EFT and Buddhism with Dr. Sue Johnson in her edited book, The EFT Casebook. John is a Certified Focusing Trainer and Certified Focusing-Oriented Therapist. He has lectured at universities internationally, including in Hong Kong, Chile, Thailand, and Ukraine. John has featured on national television and radio programs, including CNN, Donahue, and New Dimensions Radio.  He has led workshops at Esalen Institute, JFK University, The Omega Institute, and The New York Open Center, and was an adjunct faculty member at Meridian University.  He has written blogs for the Huffington Post and is a blogger for Psychology Today, with over 5 million total views of his 140+ articles.  He resides in Sonoma County, California. For more information on John and his work see: https://www.johnamodeo.com Episode 17 with John Amodeo: https://youtu.be/810vDOgn0i8 The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk The Living Process is available on all podcast platforms: For example, Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Pocketcasts, Youtube Podcasts. Most of these platforms now offer free transcripts of each episode. Transcripts are also available on Youtube videos.  #Focusing #Gendlin #Zen #johnamodeo #buddhist  #Bodytherapy #Experientialpractice #Awareness  #Somaticwork #Zenmeditation #authenticity #bodymind #buddhist #shame #couplestherapy #focusingorientedtherapy 

The Living Process Episode 16 Zen and Focusing as Personal Practice, with Christian Dillo I'm happy to announce The Living Process, Episode 16 with Christian Dillo. Christian and I were meeting for the first time in this episode. In this episode Christian and I speak about how he, even as an adolescent, would pause while speaking to say what he really meant and his later discovery of Gendlin's focusing and how it put into words a process that he was already engaged in. He was committed to authenticity and pausing and not talking in a way that alienated him from himself. He asks ‘What does the situation require from me' to carry itself forward. Christian's Focusing is self-taught - he Focuses has never taken a Focusing class or workshop. He has also studied Gendlin's philosophy and during the conversation, it's clear that he has a deep understanding of how the philosophy relates to the practice. Christian talks about why Zen practice was the way forward for him rather than going into the Focusing world and how he remains open to further collaboration with us. He also discusses his depression as a kind of shying away from intensity and how his Zen Buddhist practice was helpful in his discernment of ‘field' awareness and ‘focused' awareness. We touch on phenomenology as a transformative practice and both Focusing and Zen Buddhism as examples of that. We explore whether Focusing is a spiritual practice and about the possible drawbacks of thinking of Focusing as a ‘method'. Meeting Christian has made me wonder how many ‘Focusers' are out there on their own, without any connection to the larger community! Thank you to Iain Murdoch for suggesting Christian as a guest.  Zenki Christian Dillo Roshi is the Resident Teacher at the Boulder Zen Center. He started his practice at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1996. For 20 years, he practiced monastically at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. In 2013, he received dharma transmission from Zentatsu Baker Roshi. Since then, he has been the Boulder Zen Center Guiding Teacher. In 2020, he moved to Boulder full-time, where he now lives with his wife and son. Zenki Roshi teaches Zen on the understanding that, fundamentally, Buddhism is an embodied investigation of human experience with the intention of realizing liberation from suffering, wisdom, and compassion. He is the author of The Path of Aliveness: A Contemporary Zen Approach to Awakening Body and Mind (Shambhala, 2022). Episode 16 with Christian Dillo:  https://youtu.be/AEXpOUkmLO8 The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk #Focusing #Gendlin #Zen #ChristianDillo #buddhist  #Bodytherapy #Experientialpractice #Awareness  #Somaticwork #Zenmeditation #authenticity #bodymind 

The Living Process Episode 15 Using Parts Work to Untangle Stuckness, with Barbara McGavin. I'm happy to announce The Living Process, Episode 15 with Barbara McGavin. I first met Barbara in 1988 when she was co-leading a workshop in Focusing with Rob Foxcroft and since then we have developed a friendship as fellow Canadians and Focusing teachers. Barbara has been practicing Focusing since 1983 and she was a main developer of The British Focusing Association (BFA). She is a Certifying Coordinator for the International Focusing Institute and has a varied background in humanistic psychology, and art and design, and has developed workshops for creatives called Spark to Beacon, originally located in Bath, England. Since 1991, Barbara has a creative partnership with Ann Weiser Cornell developing Inner Relationship Focusing which later developed into the well-known Treasure Maps to the Soul. This work is now under the title of “Untangling”, which will be the title of a new book they have co-authored due to come out in August 2024. In this episode Barbara and I talk about her journey into Focusing and her eventual partnership with Ann, which continues to develop fruitfully. We talk about the importance of Self-in-Presence, Parts-work, and different forms of attention. Barbara touches on some of the upcoming contents of the book Untangling including their view that there are three kinds of parts and a distinction between parts and a felt sense. Near the end we also talk a bit about using this model for relationship work and what is similar and different in the professions of psychotherapist and Focusing Guide. More information about Barbara and her work with Ann: https://focusingresources.com/learning/treasure-maps-to-the-soul/ Episode 15 with Barbara McGavin: https://youtu.be/f3Cxap0f0-U The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk The Living Process is available on all podcast platforms: For example, Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon, Pocketcasts, and Youtube Podcasts. Most of these platforms now offer free transcripts of each episode. Transcripts are also available on Youtube videos. Please spread the word about Focusing and The Living Process. #Focusing #Gendlin #Selfhelp #Bodytherapy #Experientialpractice #Treasuremapstothesoul #Somaticwork #Partswork

The Living Process Episode 14, Series 2. The German Focusing Institute: How They Teach, with Klaus Renn. Klaus Renn, Director of the German Focusing Institute (Deutsches Focusing Institut DFI) describes details of how they teach FOTs. I am very grateful to Klaus for speaking with me in English. He put in a lot of generous effort to speak with me. The first Focusing Institute was formed in Germany and they hosted Gene Gendlin on many occasions. They started the first Focusing Summer Schools and they continue to run with large groups of participants. Most of our conversation explores the structure of their training and some of the exercises they do with their classes. For this reason, I suspect that the episode will be of special interest to FOTs and those of us who teach Focusing oriented Therapy classes. In this episode, we also talk about how Klaus first encountered Gendlin's work while engaged in his client-centred therapy training and he immediately knew that this was the right path for him. He pursued training in Focusing and then worked together with Dr Johannes Wiltksho. Due to the sound quality and difficulty in translation, I have added voice-overs to some sections so that the listener can get a clear sense of the important details Klaus is sharing with us. You might find that this episode is easier to enjoy with the video. Klaus has written a book “The Magic Moments - What Focusing Is”, but the only English version is via an online translation service. Their group also has an English translation of Gendlin's workshop teachings so many years ago, collated by Gerhard Cieslak. If you are interested in seeing either of these and perhaps helping to make them more widely available, contact Klaus. An excerpt from the book “The Magic Moments”, by Klaus Renn: “Writing this book has given me a lot of pleasure over 3 years. The book project gave me the opportunity to reflect on my 30 years of practice and teaching. I understood many things in a new and more essential way. Focusing inspired me while writing - so that the book actually wrote itself. With this book I want to let Gene Gendlin speak: his way of seeing and interpreting the world, experience, philosophy and psychotherapy. The rich treasure of his view goes far beyond my "carrying on" and interpreting. My wish is to point to him as an inspirer of new thinking…”https://youtu.be/MDssyD9ScgA https://www.deutsches-focusing-institut.de You can contact Klaus Renn directly at: k.renn@t-online.de The Living Process - all episodes and podcast links: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ Living Process on the FOT Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk The Living Process is available on all podcast platforms. Most of these platforms now offer free transcripts of each episode.

This is Part 2 of Episode 13. Donata Schoeller and I are doing a series of these shorter episodes on specific topics in embodied thinking and experiential practice. Part two explores questions of subjectivity and 'inside/outside' in our understanding of Focusing. In this episode, we address the misunderstanding of Focusing as merely a private and subjective practice. Donata offers an understanding of Focusing that is radically different from the old model of subjective/objective. This takes us towards our next topic of 'inside/outside' and whether the body can be thought of as having its own subjective 'inside' that is separate from the world. The episode is about 30 minutes and will, I think, be of relevance to anyone who focuses and how they understand their experience in fresh ways. Many thanks to Donata who proceeded with the episode despite struggling with the flu! Dr Donata Schoeller is a philosopher who teaches internationally and is the academic director of the program "Training in Embodied Critical Thinking". In addition to her work on Gendlin's philosophy, Donata was involved in translating Gendlin's text A Process Model into German. She teaches Thinking at the Edge and is a Focusing trainer offering courses in Switzerland. See Donata's website to keep up to date with her publications and courses: https://www.donataschoeller.com https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/

This is Part 1 of Episode 13. Donata Schoeller and I are doing a series of these shorter episodes on specific topics in embodied thinking and experiential practice. Part one explores the kinds of thinking usually associated with philosophy and especially how we can welcome more embodied critical thinking into philosophy. Part two, which follows, is entitled 'What do we find when we Focus?' and explores questions of subjectivity and 'inside/outside'. In this episode Donata introduces Embodied critical thinking, and how to include more of our experiences into all that we are thinking. We learn positions, arguments, and texts, but it is harder to integrate into thinking what we are experiencing from our own living. We discuss how Focusing and TAE are revolutionary methods to enter into the experiential ground from which our thinking grows. But that move is considered to be private, subjective, or therapeutic. The philosophical culture does not readily allow this feeling of thinking. How can philosophy open up to the felt experience without being accused of becoming therapy? How do we soften the boundaries between the disciplines of philosophy and psychotherapy? Donata names three competencies for this embodied critical thinking. We need a kind of reflective care and experiential listening rather than critical thinking to process our deep thinking. Dr Donata Schoeller is a philosopher who teaches internationally at various universities and is the academic director of the program "Training in Embodied Critical Thinking. In addition to her work on Gendlin's philosophy, Donata has also worked in depth on Meister Eckhart. She has published extensively on Gendlin's philosophy and was involved in translating Gendlin's text A Process Model into German. She teaches Thinking at the Edge and is a Focusing trainer offering courses in Switzerland. She lives with her family in Switzerland and Germany. See Donata's website to keep up to date with her publications and courses: https://www.donataschoeller.com https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/

Guest João da Fonseca Psychedelic-assisted Embodied Therapy. E12S02 of The Living Process with Dr Greg Madison. Our guest this time is Lisbon existential psychotherapist João da Fonseca. João is well-known as an existential psychotherapist and psychologist, supervisor and lecturer, and a pioneer in combining what he has learned from Focusing with his interests in spirituality and psychedelic therapy. He is also a Focusing Institute Coordinator in Portugal. João is at the leading edge of the use of psychedelics in therapy and he currently works at the ‘Liminal Minds' ketamine clinic in Portugal. João has also contributed to the first book in Portuguese on psychedelic-assisted therapy, Psicadélicos em Saúde Mental (2023). www.liminalminds.pt https://joaodofocusing.com More information on using psychedelics in psychotherapy: https://youtu.be/TIVIfQaqVG4?si=Drrx8sb5EIzLL3NL In this episode, João and I discuss his work at Liminal Minds and the principles of psychedelic-assisted therapy as well as the different impacts that different substances can have on the client. João talks about how Focusing can be used to support psychedelic-assisted therapy from the stage of preparing for a session to the post-integration of the psychedelic experience. João emphasises how the body can be a guide for therapist and client and how psychedelics can offer another avenue into the body's spiritual nature. Join us in this conversation about the place that substances like MDMA, LSD, ketamine, ayahuasca, etc. might have in therapeutic healing and what role a Focusing-oriented therapist might have on this journey. The work João refers to in the conversation is by Alicia Danford: Focusing oriented psychotherapy as a supplement to preparation for psychedelic therapy. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 2009, Vol. 41, No. 2 #psychedelicresearch #Focusing #Gendlin #TheLivingProcess #counseling #counselling #psychology #existentialtherapy #personalgrowth #Psicadélicos #focusingorientedtherapy #MDMA #lsd #ketamine

Guest Professor Mia Leijssen: The Subtle Energy of Embodied Awareness, E11S02 of The Living Process with Dr Greg Madison Our Guest this time is Mia Leijssen, Ph.D. - Professor (Emeritus) Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Leuven, Belgium. Prof. Leijssen learned Focusing early in her training many years ago at Leuven University. She is well known in the worlds of Focusing and Client-centred Psychotherapy as well as existential wellbeing and has published widely. Some of her best-known work is on Focusing microprocesses, spirituality, and professional ethics. She is a longtime Focusing Therapist, Teacher, and Coordinator for the International Focusing Institute. Mia is the academic director of the massive Open Online Course: Existential Well-being Counseling: A Person-centered Experiential Approach. You can discover more about this course and contact Mia at these addresses:  https://www.edx.org/course/existential-well-being-counseling-person-kuleuvenx-ewbcx www.existentieelwelzijn.be https://existentialwellbeing.com  In this episode, we talk about Mia's initial introduction to Focusing early in her training at Leuven U and how meeting Gendlin and participating in a demo with him was a turning point for her. Throughout our conversation, Mia emphasises the subtle energetic connection between the focuser and listener and the powerful impact this can have on the quality of the interaction. We explore the essence of living forward and its knowing of how we should develop, the art and discipline of therapy, and the issue of directivity in client-centred therapy. We also touched on the question of ‘parts' and not getting too concrete about parts and how living forward is asking for new organising, beyond structure. At the very end, we acknowledge the mystery of life itself in a way that respects its mystery. #existentialism #gendlin #psychology #counselling #existentialtherapy #personaldevelopment #focusing #selfcare

Experiential Wholebody Therapy with Glenn Fleisch, PhD. The Living Process S02E10 with Greg Madison, PhD. Dr. Glenn Fleisch has been a psychotherapist in private practice in California for over 35 years. Glenn trained with some of the leading figures in American existential and Buddhist psychology, including David Michael Levin, Rollo May, and John Wellwood. He also trained with some of the most experienced teachers in the Focusing world including Ann Weiser Cornell, Kevin McEvenue, Janet Klein and Gendlin himself. Glenn studied and teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies and remains active as an adjunct professor and supervisor in psychotherapy as well as a Wholebody Focusing trainer. In this episode, Glenn and I review how he encountered Focusing in his early 20s as part of his therapy training and then went on to learn Focusing in order to explore his own personal growth. He completed his training with Ann Weiser Cornell in Berkeley before studying and working with Kevin McEvenue for many years. He also learned Interactive Focusing with Janet Klein. Glenn talks about how his own practice and understanding of Focusing began to diverge from Gendlin's original descriptions. He goes into some detail in exploring his version of wholebody Focusing and how he offers it in a creative and expressive style with his clients. Glenn also shares many examples from his client work to show his attention to all bodily phenomena, his creative work with trauma, and his development of animistic psychology. I was glad to hear that we can look forward to a book outlining Glenn's work soon. Glenn offers online WBF seminars/classes for personal growth and professional development and trains other therapists to learn this method of therapy. For more information on his professional practice and courses, see: https://glennfleisch.com The Living Process can be accessed on Youtube as a video series or as audio podcasts at: Greg Madison's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@gregmadisontherapy/playlists The Focusing Oriented Therapy channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3FqA70kQWuHCHmEiZnkn1VcrRIPbcvk Or search on any podcast channel if you prefer audio-only. If you have trouble finding it, all the links are here: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ The Living Process is hosted by Greg Madison, PhD. An existential psychologist and Focusing Coordinator living and working in the UK. www.gregmadison.net

The Living Process Series 02, E09. Guest René Veugelers In this episode of The Living Process, René Veugelers met me from his home in The Netherlands. René specialises in teaching Focusing with Children to anyone working with young people in any setting. He emphasises the non-verbal world as a route into deeper experiences. René started out as an Art Therapist, a Psychiatric nurse, and a group social worker before training with Marta Stapert and others in Focusing. He immediately saw the potential to make his work 'focusing-oriented' and he began teaching parents, therapists, teachers, and others, how to be with children in a Focusing way. René also teaches adults how to (re)connect to their own inner child experiences, and how to integrate creativity and flexibility into their life and work - this training is called 'Being Seriously Playful'. His experiences as an art therapist embrace an expanded richness of creative elements and support a natural unfolding of the creative process. René works internationally and is well-known in the Focusing world. He offers The Children's Focusing Training along with Harriët Teeuw and their Team. Information on their training and resources at: ⁠https://www.childrenfocusing.org⁠  In this episode René and I speak about his main way of working with children and especially how the child's 'No!' is not a dead end to working more deeply, but is actually the best way to connect and relate more deeply. As René talks about his work it becomes clear that it is deeply relational and not in any way formulaic. I found the conversation inspiring and exciting. You'll notice that Elliott, my dog, once again makes an appearance and it shows a glimmer of René's style that he immediately incorporates Elliott into our relating and ending of the video. The Living Process page, with links to all videos and podcast platforms, is at this link:⁠https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/⁠ ⁠#counselling⁠ ⁠#existentialism⁠ ⁠#focusing⁠ ⁠#psychology⁠ ⁠#existentialtherapy⁠ ⁠#childtherapy⁠  ⁠#reneveugelers⁠ ⁠#gregmadison⁠⁠#thelivingprocess⁠ ⁠#therapy⁠ ⁠#somaticexperiencing⁠ ⁠#somatic⁠ ⁠#embodied⁠ ⁠#gendlin⁠  ⁠#personalgrowth⁠ ⁠#personaldevelopment⁠⁠#selfimprovement⁠ ⁠#selfcare⁠ ⁠#innerchild⁠ ⁠#innerchildtherapy⁠ ⁠#adolescents⁠ ⁠#counseling⁠

Wholebody Conversations. The Living Process Series 02, E08 with guest Kevin McEvenue In this episode of The Living Process, Kevin McEvenue speaks to me from central Toronto where he lives. I first really got to know Kevin many years ago when he and I were on the faculty of the Focusing Institute Summer School in Garrison NY - we taught together there for a few years and it was great fun, joking around and sampling the local beers. We hit it off and have been Focusing partners ever since. Kevin started originally in financial services but that never suited who he was as a person, so many years ago he took the brave decision to change his life and he moved to Europe to train in Alexander Technique before finding Focusing once he moved back to Canada. Kevin's unique combination of what he learned from Alexander and what he learned from Eugene Gendlin became known as Wholebody Focusing (WBF) for which he is now internationally known. At the age of 85 (we spoke just a few days before his birthday) Kevin continues to maintain a small practice and to contribute to the world of Focusing, and especially his community of WBF. The latest development of that practice is what Kevin calls Heartfelt Conversation. In this episode, we speak about the emergence of Wholebody Focusing and how Kevin came into the world of Focusing, and his first meetings with Eugene Gendlin. We go on to talk more about the practice of WBF and its slightly different interpretations of ‘body' and ‘felt sense'. This discussion leads us to a description of Heartfelt Conversation and some exploration of what it is that animates and moves the body when we have a felt shift. Heartfelt Conversation, like a few other recent developments, seems to highlight an increasingly relational aspect of Focusing practices. This episode is a warm and deep conversation that I think you will enjoy. More information on Kevin and his work can be found here: https://wholebodyfocusing.blog Kevin's publications and Wholebody Focusing manual, plus his book, Dancing the Path of the Everyday Mystic can be found here: https://wholebodyfocusing.com/publications The Living Process page, with links to all videos and podcast platforms is at this link: https://www.londonfocusing.com/the-living-process/ #counselling #existentialism #focusing #psychology #existentialtherapy #wholebodyhealth #wholebodyfocusing #kevinmcevenue #gregmadison #thelivingprocess #therapy #somaticexperiencing #somatic #embodied #gendlin #alexandertechnique #personalgrowth #personaldevelopment #selfimprovement #selfcare

Forgetting the Year the World Stopped. A Special New Year 2024 Episode of The Living Process. With Professor Ernesto Spinelli and Dr Greg Madison This is a 90-minute episode edited from two conversations between these existential psychologists that occurred in April 2020, a few weeks into the Covid lockdown, and April 2021, as the lockdown was easing in the UK. To celebrate the beginning of 2024 it seemed fitting to try to honour our Covid experience by trying to remember what actually happened during the pandemic, the day-to-day lived experience, the effect it had on us, and the hopes we may have had that a new, more compassionate world, would emerge from this shocking event. Recently Ernesto and I revisited these conversations and we shared the impression that society has mostly tried to forget the whole experience of the Covid pandemic, the deaths, the lockdowns, and our hopes and fears during that time. So we decided to re-issue an edited version of the two conversations, to retrieve some questions that arose during that unprecedented time and to assess how we have done as a species - Did we grasp the opportunity for change? Have we emerged more compassionate, more aware of ourselves existentially? Have we just scurried back to 'normal' in our search for certainty? The video explores some of the deeper significance of daily life events, and some existential themes emerging from the pandemic and the 'lockdown' of most of the world's population, Both men try to make sense of their feelings and experiences, noting that they have changed considerably and wondering about the longer-term psychological and existential impact of this strange period in human history. Although not strictly a conversation about Focusing and the philosophy of Eugene Gendlin, I think Focusing people will find resonance with the style of interaction and much of what is discussed. Professor Ernesto Spinelli is one of the leading figures in the world movement of existential psychotherapy. Originally from Canada, he has lived his professional life in the UK and received numerous awards for his work in existential therapy, existential-phenomenological psychology, coaching, and mediation. He has authored numerous articles, chapters, and books and is a frequent speaker at international conferences on psychotherapy and psychology. Greg Madison hosts The Living Process series of podcasts and is also an existential psychologist living in the UK. Greg is known, both in the Focusing and the existential worlds, as one of the developers of experiential-existential practice, an attempt to work phenomenologically by crossing existential therapy with the practice of Focusing and Eugene Gendlin's philosophy. We look forward to seeing your comments and especially whether you'd like the series to occasionally expand beyond the world of Focusing as I have done here? Also, there is the potential to edit another 30-40-minute video where Ernesto and I talk specifically about the impact of COVID-19 on therapy and our ideas about the future of therapeutic practice. The next episode in the series will feature Kevin McEvenue and be a return to the Focusing conversations usually featured on The Living Process.

Leslie Ellis, PhD, RCC, is a registered clinical counsellor, teacher and author who lives and works along the west coast of Canada, in beautiful British Columbia. Leslie has in-depth, specialized training in focusing-oriented therapy, and dreamwork as a treatment of trauma. She is a specialist in somatic approaches to therapy, and has studied somatic experiencing, the Hakomi method, and psoma yoga. She has developed a method of embodied, experiential dream work which combines focusing with Jungian active imagination techniques. Dr. Leslie Ellis is the author of A Clinician's Guide to Dream Therapy (Routledge, 2019) and offers many training opportunities in embodied, experiential dreamwork based on her book.  She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, with a specialization in somatic approaches. Her dissertation on using focusing-oriented therapy to treat PTSD for refugees with recurrent nightmares won the Ernest Hartmann award from the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Dr. Ellis has published numerous book chapters and journal articles on dreamwork in psychotherapy. She has also presented her work to a worldwide audience. She is vice president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, a Certifying Coordinator and past president of The International Focusing Institute. In this episode, Leslie and Greg talk about her journey into Focusing after her initial training in Jungian analysis and her training in Trauma-informed FOT with Shirley Turcotte. We speak a bit about trauma and working bodily with trauma events and also working with the dreams that can accompany unprocessed trauma. We spent most of our conversation talking about specific ways of working with dreams experientially, including getting help in the dream, retelling the dream from the inside of the dream, and sensing how the dream could carry itself forward. We also muse a bit about the profound and intriguing nature of dreams and how they extend beyond our way of understanding them. For more on Leslie's work see: A Clinician's Guide to Dream Therapy: Implementing Simple and Effective Dreamwork – 2020 by Leslie Ellis (Author). Routledge. New York. https://drleslieellis.com

Welcome to Episode 06 of The Living Process. Greg's guess is Yehudit First, a qualified Body Psychotherapist and Group Facilitator as well as a Focusing Oriented Therapist and a Focusing Coordinator from Israel. Yehudit is experienced as a therapist for individuals and couples, as well as a popular teacher and trainer of Focusing and FOT. She is well-known for her development of the Focusing space into explicit interpersonal interaction in the form of Social Oriented Focusing (SOF). In a gentle Focusing environment, SOF allows delicate issues of human relationships to be explored while really meeting each other. Yehudit teaches SOF online to international Focusers, and uses it to facilitate individual, group and couple therapy processes in her clinic and via Zoom. For more information on her trainings see: https://www.focusing-first.com/sof In this session Yehudit and Greg speak about her way of developing from a body therapist to integrating Focusing and felt sensing into her practice with individuals and also with couples. In the couple work Yehudit includes aspects of social oriented focusing (SOF) in order to help couples speak from their present moment experiencing and then respond to what the other person has shared about their bodily presence. She then describes the SOF process in some detail, with dyads working together in specific ways, and also with larger group work. It is a fascinating process of expanding our usual Focusing awareness into a broader awareness of how to be authentic with oneself and each other while feeling grounded and safe. The Social Oriented Focusing model is an exciting and needed development within Focusing and happily Yehudit tells us that a book is in process.

Dr Donata Schoeller is a philosopher who teaches internationally at various universities and is the academic director of the program "Training in Embodied Critical Thinking. In addition to her work on Gendlin's philosophy, Donata has also worked in depth on Meister Eckhart. She has published extensively on Gendlin's philosophy and was involved in translating Gendlin's text A Process Model into German. She teaches Thinking at the Edge and is a Focusing trainer offering courses in Switzerland. This is a shorter episode of The Living Process where Donata and I outline some of our mutual interests and especially some of her philosophical insights into Gendlin's work. She describes her experience of working with Gendlin on the translation of A Process Model and a little bit about the recent Gendlin Symposium which we both attended. Donata and I have laid out a series of topics that we think would be valuable to delve into more deeply and so we plan to offer a series of follow-up videos on these topics. Our hope is that offering a series of shorter videos rather than trying to pack too much into one episode, will help us to offer conversations that can act as outreach to people who are new to Focusing, Focusing Therapy, and Gendlin's philosophy. Keep an eye out for these upcoming offerings... For more on Donata's work see: https://www.donataschoeller.com

In episode 4 of The Living Process Greg talks with Claude Missiaen, a Clinical Psychologist from Belgium, in private practice, teaching Focusing to therapists (Focussen Vlaanderen) and on faculty at Leuven University. Claude is also on the International Leadership Council of The International Focusing Institute and is well-known across the Focusing community. Claude has been in the Focusing community as a Teacher and Coordinator for many years, having first been introduced to Focusing by Mia Leijssen, a former Professor at Leuven University and well-known Focusing pioneer. In this episode, we talk about many aspects of Claude's work, including the development of his work on Existential Demons as well as his innovative format for clinical supervision. He also describes some of his contributions to the Post-graduate training in client-centered/Experiential Psychotherapy at Leuven. You will notice that I first introduced Claude with the correct pronunciation of his first name but then in the conversation reverted to the English pronunciation (silent 'e' at the end), so my apologies for that oversight! You can find out more about Claude's work via his teaching website: https://focusingvlaanderen.be

The Living Process episode 03 with Lynn Preston. Lynn Preston, MA, MS, LP, is a focusing-oriented relational psychoanalyst, teacher and supervisor. She is a graduate of the PPSC Advanced Self Psychology program, a faculty member of the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy (ICP) and the founding Director of the Experiential Psychotherapy Project (EPP). Lynn has written and presented internationally on the integration of focusing and relational psychoanalysis. She also has an abiding interest in experiential teaching and integrative processes. Lynn has also founded a Community Empowerment movement in NYC as well as an international Help for Helpers group. In this conversation, we talk about Lynn's entry into the world of Focusing and how she initially met Gene Gendlin. We touch on the question of theory and what theory is and how it can be used in FOT - Lynn and I have a long-standing play fight about theory. We talk of working with the relationship, self-disclosure, forms of psychoanalysis, and ways of expanding Focusing and FOT beyond just the consulting room.

The Living Process is a series of Focusing conversations with Focusing people. In this episode, I talk with Dr Ken Bradford. Ken combines Buddhist psychology & meditation, existentially-robust therapy, and the nondual awareness of Dzogchen.  He began a dedicated practice of insight meditation in 1975, and Dzogchen. After earning a Ph.D. in Psychology at Saybrook University, Ken trained in Focusing with Eugene Gendlin followed by a decade-long apprenticeship in Existential Psychotherapy with James Bugental including co-teaching with him for several years. During this period, Ken developed a contemplative-existential approach to therapy intertwining Buddhist and experience-near psychology, enhanced through training in Nondual Therapy. Ken recently closed his psychotherapy practice and retired as an Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University and California Institute of Integral Studies, devoting himself to Dharma teaching, personal retreat, writing, and the contemplative life. His teaching is now primarily occurring at Mountain Stream Meditation, in Nevada City, CA, as a member of the Mountain Stream Teachers Council. For more information about Ken's current work, see: www.authenticpresence.net In this episode, Ken and Greg have a far-reaching discussion beginning with his correspondence with Gene Gendlin for about 5 years in the early 80s. In these letters, Ken and Gene wrote about their mutual interest in what they called ‘the openness' having met at a Buddhist retreat where Gene was teaching Focusing. Ken emphasises the meditative quality that focusing offers to the therapist and how Focusing addresses problems and Buddhism addresses the 'whole thing' but that this can cause a spiritual bypass that focusing catches. We discussed how each person has their own capacity to be present. And we practice a bit of what we are talking about during the conversation…. Ken mentions his training with James Bugenthal and how this could be considered an early form of FOT. Ken also discerns the difference between 'Understanding the experience and experiencing the understanding'. We touch on authenticity, Winnicott, and the importance for therapists to have their own experiential practice. About 10 minutes in you can see my dog, Elliott, re-making his bed. Usually, Elliott is an attentive listener but on this occasion, he was distracted...

Dr. Siebrecht is a professor of clinical psychology at Leuven University in Belgium, where he teaches counselling and psychotherapy from a humanistic and experiential-existential perspective. He is the director of various programmes and active in research into existential and meaning-centred issues. Siebrecht is also Co-director of the Meaning and Existence Research Centre at the university. He s well known in the Focusing community and was in fact the first person to receive the Gendlin Research Grant from The International Focusing Institute. We start our conversation by discussing our experiences of the recent Gendlin online symposium where Siebrecht was presenting on the experiential-existential approach that he and I share. We spoke about making space for darker subjects within the Focusing world and how Gendlin did not emphasise these aspects of existence. We explored how Focusing might gain something from the existential emphasis and how existentialism can gain from being experientialised. We touched on issues of optimism and pessimism. Siebrecht briefly introduces the work of Taft and Rank and describes his journey into Focusing and how it resonated with who he is personally. He spoke about his work with prisoners and about interaction first as a therapeutic understanding. Siebrecht outlined their research projects into the therapist's experience during therapy and how therapists can shy away from working with shared existential concerns. We discussed therapist vulnerability and existential empathy and touched on trust and spirituality and how Gendlin avoided addressing that explicitly.

The Living Process is a new series of conversations about Eugene Gendlin's Focusing method, with longtime Focusing Teacher and Psychotherapist, Dr Greg Madison as host. These conversations will feature people from the Focusing world and also those beyond our international community who might have something to say about the practice of Focusing, Focusing-Oriented Therapy, and Gendlins' philosophy. New episodes will hopefully appear every 2-3 weeks so if you subscribe and click notifications you'll know when a new conversation is up. These episodes are now also available as audio-only podcasts so that they are more convenient to listen to. You can subscribe in Youtube: @FocusingOrientedTherapies or @gregmadisontherapy . For more information about Focusing Therapy see www.focusingtherapy.org