Focusing: The Body Psychotherapy Of Eugene Gendlin
Body psychotherapies appeared in the middle of the last century as a reaction to the hegemony of behaviorism, psychoanalysis and humanism, which left aside physical sensations, a fundamental element of the human experience.
The tool called “Focusing”, developed by Eugene Gendlin is one of the best-known body psychotherapies, along with the character-analytic vegetotherapy of Wilhelm Reich and the bioenergetic analysis of Alexander Lowen.
Eugene Gendlin was born in Vienna in 1926; His original name was “Eugen Gendelin,” although he later anglicized it. His family immigrated to the United States when he was young to escape persecution by the Nazis.
After obtaining a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1958, he taught at this university between 1964 and 1995. Existentialism and phenomenology were the two currents on which he focused. Although did not obtain degrees in Psychology Gendlin became an expert in the field throughout his training.
During his studies at the University of Chicago Gendlin met Carl Rogers, founder of client-centered therapy and one of the promoters of the humanistic paradigm in psychology. Yes ok Gendlin had Carl Rogers as a teacher the influence of these authors on each other was reciprocal.
In addition to writing various books containing his therapeutic proposals, for which he was recognized by the American Psychological Association in 1970, 2000 and 2001, Gendlin was founder and editor of the journal Psychotherapy: Theory Research and Practice. He died on May 1, 2017, aged 90.
In the 1950s and 1960s Gendlin developed His most relevant contribution to psychotherapy: Focusing, a tool that aimed to help clients connect with their bodily experiences. This non-verbal technique is part of the group of therapies that we know as “body psychotherapies”.
Body psychotherapies
Throughout the 20th century, various therapies appeared that called for greater attention to physical sensations, which had been left aside by clinical psychology. In particular, the predominance of psychoanalysis and behaviorism had meant that attention was paid almost exclusively to mental contents and observable behavior.
For the theorists of body therapy, among whom Wilhelm Reich, Alexander Lowen and Gendlin himself stand out, human identity centers on the body, which constitutes its base and its core. From our bodily experiences we build personality and perceive the world around us.
Although in recent years body psychotherapies have regained relevance due to the greater focus of clinical psychology on the sensory aspect of human experience, these interventions continue to be seen as unscientific by a significant part of the psychological community.
Focusing and the “felt sense”
During his collaboration with Carl Rogers, Gendlin began theorizing about the existence of a type of experience that he called “felt sensation” (“felt sense”). He specifically detected that the maintenance of improvements in patients was related to them being able to access a global bodily sensation around the problem that made them come to therapy.
For Gendlin, felt sensations They are related to the bodily awareness of the vital process on a certain moment. According to this author, all people can access these general sensations about our body’s satisfaction with the current conditions of our lives, although it is easier to do so with training.
With this purpose he developed Focusing, the therapeutic method that would form the core of his career. Although its initial objective was to apply it to clinical intervention to improve therapy results, research in this regard showed that it could be useful in other contexts; Over time this made Focusing a popular tool.
The 6 steps of Focusing
In his book “Focusing,” published in 1978, Gendlin described six steps to access a felt emotion and use it to reduce psychological symptoms and personal development.
1. Clear a space
First of all you have to relax and pay attention to inner body experience. Next you have to ask yourself “How is my life going? What is most important to me right now?” and detect the sensations that appear, letting the responses flow. If feelings of concern arise, an emotional distance should be maintained.
2. Identify a felt sensation
The next step consists of select one of the vital problems that have arisen with the previous exercise; However, you do not have to “enter” it, but rather continue to keep your distance. The goal at this time is to notice the overall, as yet indeterminate, feeling that arises from the multiple individual sensations that will appear.
3. Manage the felt sense
At this point the goal becomes find a “handhold”, that is, a word, phrase or image that represents the felt sensation as a whole. This handle must precisely qualify the sensation felt.
4. Resonate
“Resonating” consists of alternating the focus of attention between the handle we have chosen and the sensation felt to check if the former truly represents the latter. If any of these two elements change spontaneously, they must be allowed to do so until the fit between them is perfect.
Next you will have to ask yourself a question: what gives this quality (the handle) to my problem as a whole (the felt sense)? Let the answers flow; you will notice that the one you are looking for appears when you notice a change in your physical experience possibly a feeling of liberation.
6. Receive the sensations
Once these new sensations appear, Gendlin advises remaining receptive and paying attention to them for a few moments. He continues to do this with the physical and psychological experiences that arise afterwards.
